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Travel

Tour de Balkans

Four friends, nine countries, one caravan; that was the mission for our two-weeks-long summer vacation. Maybe a bit too ambitious, maybe a bit too insane, but hey we call it Adventure and we go! In that 15 days of traveling we would find ourselves in some of the most popular Balkan destination, small villages, wild nature, climbing on castles, wandering on beaches, feeling happy, sad and angry (sometimes all at the same time)!

THE PLAN.
Cross Slovakia, make one stop in Hungary, four stops in Romania, a week in Bulgaria (home sweet home), rest of the days we will split between Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and maybe Austria.
Sleep at friend`s and family, meet some ESNers, camp, plan better day by day, experience local food, see some sights, enjoy the nature.

THE REALITY.
I am always a bit too ambitious with my travel plans, but I want to experience as much as I can in the (short) time I have. Yet I am ready to sometimes slow down the trip and just enjoy some places (or people). Our days/night were as following:

Day One (9. August): Cross Slovakia; Night One: Miskolc, Hungary;
Day Two (10. August): Check the city, continue on the way; Night Two: Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
Day Three (11. August): Cluj-Napoca City tour; Sânmiclăuș private church tour; Night Three: Sânmiclăuș, Romania;
Day Four (12. August): Rasnov, Night Four: Wild field somewhere in Romania;
Day Five (13. August): Brasov, Romania Night Five: Bucharest, Romania;
Day Six (14. August): Ruse, Bulgaria; Night Six: In the wild, Tyulenovo, Bulgaria;
Day Seven (15. August): Balchik, Bulgaria; Night Seven: Laguna Camping & Villas resort, Golden Sands, Bulgaria;
Day Eight (16. August): Varna, Bulgaria + Sunny beach; Night Eight: Nesebar, Bulgaria;
Day Nine (17. August): A day in Neseber; Night Nine: Nesebar, Bulgaria;
Day Ten (18. August): It’s a long way back home; Night Ten: Pleven, Bulgaria;
Day Eleven (19. August): Pleven tour; Night Eleven: Pleven, Bulgaria;
Day Twelve (20. August): A day in Sofia; Night Twelve: Sofia, Bulgaria;
Day Thirteen (21. August): Night Thirteen: Serbia
Day Fourteen (22. August): Night Fourteen: Croatia
Day Fifteen (23. August): Night Fifteen: Ljubljana Resort Hotel & Camp, Ljubljana, Slovenia;
Day Sixteen (24. August): Night Sixteen: Sweet Bed of mine, Zlín, Czech Republic

Full map on the trip.

Caravan parked on a cliffy shore.

PERSONAL NOTES.

– You can plan as much as you want, read all travel blogs, make a packing list, make a bucket list, do hundreds of checklists to help you not forget things, pack more than you need, prepare maps etc. etc., but there will always be something unexprected happening, and trust me look at it with a smile, because those are the best lessons!