Manns in Croatia

After travelling with each other 24/7 for three solid months through Australia and Greece, we totally found our groove in Croatia. We don’t know if it’s that we were nearing the end of our journey, or that we’d grown so accustomed to always being with each other, but there’s something about everything we experienced in Croatia that seemed heightened… our sense of adventure, our closeness to each other, the depth of our everyday experiences, our ability to soak in the amazing-ness of everything around us, and most importantly, our clarity around what’s important. We feel an overwhelming sense of pride for our kids every single day, but it’s not very often that we feel this same level of pride within ourselves as parents. We are so proud of ourselves for making this trip with our kids a priority and turning our dream into a reality. We first started talking about this trip 8 years ago during our honeymoon (a 3 month climbing road trip through Canada, the US and Mexico). Despite all apprehensions and reservations, the trip exceeded our expectations in every way. We are so happy, and will do everything in our power to carry this mindset into our everyday lives.

Here are just a few of our favorite memories from Croatia:

– Arriving in Zagreb to discover that Croatia is home to some of the world’s best Pizza and wine.

– Plitvice Lakes. Thousands (literally) of waterfalls between hundreds (literally) of terraced lakes. Despite the crowds (insane crowds), it is one of the most magical places on the Earth.

– Meeting Nikola and Martina, two of Croatia’s most talented wedding photographers. Every once in a while you meet someone (or in this case, some couple) and instantly know that you’ll be lifelong friends. Nikola and Martina, we miss you!

– Diocletian’s Palace in Split. Game of Thrones was filmed here!

– Living out of a sailboat for 6 days while exploring all the cool little islands in the Adriatic Sea.

– Docking up on the Island of Hvar next to a sailboat with a Slovenian folk band, who entertained us with their live accordion music and singing, while our kids danced on the dock… a moment we’ll never forget.

– Chilling out on 1600 year old church steps while listening to beautiful, live classical guitar music echo through the narrow stone walls of Dubrovnik. Perhaps our favourite memory of the entire trip!

– Visiting War Photo Limited, and viewing some truly impactful imagery.

– Meeting up with Kate McElwee, our first ever wedding photography inspiration, on the Island of Vis.

– Swimming, with Madelyn, in a shard of aqua blue sunlight beaming into “the Green Cave” on the Island of Vis.

– Swimming to the natural wave-powered sounds of the Sea Organ and frolicking on the psychedelic lights of the Sun Salutation in Zadar, two very cool public art installations.

– Spending our last evening making and eating homemade Gnocci and discussing the beauty of life with Nicola and Martina.

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