Our sailing trip for 2027 will be AMAZING, but only for those who really enjoy and love the summer.
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It will be hot, no doubt, there will be some crowds in some spots like Dubrovnik, but we will spend mornings swimming and cooling off and this is the best time to sail, which is the whole point of the trip.
We will be on a boat most of the time, stopping for swims and beaches, and putting on some clothes to step onshore in the later afternoons every day.
This is a trip for those who are agile and active, and who really LOVE the summer. Those who love to get wet, have salty hair, walk barefoot, swim to rocky shores and pebbley beaches, and have lazy meals and long dinners.
This is not a trip for those who don't like or can't stand the heat, who prefer to travel offseason and avoid the crowds, or those who have mobility issues or want a tight schedule.
The seas are calm, but the boats are stacked at port in Croatia so you do need to walk across several boats to reach yours at every port, and the towns are all cobblestoned, full of stairs and slippery surfaces.
I am having to ear sneakers in Trogir because the cobblestones are SUPER slippery.
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For a summer lover, this is the trip of a lifetime. For someone who does not do well in the heat, this will be a miserable week.
Check out what I mean on Instagram stories!
Keen to come? We will only offer the trip once in 2027 so join the waitlist to be the first to know when the trip goes live in the next couple of weeks.
On this week's newsletter:
- Last spots on our 2026 and 2027 tours. We only have a few spots left this year, so come join us!
- How I travel differently at 45 than I did when I was younger
- On this week's podcast episode Meg and Anastasia talk about how to better take photos of yourself
How I travel differently at 45
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I have been traveling since 2001, and as a frequent flyer since 2005, spending half of the year on the road.
I always loved to travel because of the chance of learning something new, connecting with people and appeasing my endless curiosity.
While the curiosity that got me started is still unwavering, the way I travel has changed quite a lot in the last 20+ years.
I was never one to tick off top-10 lists or follow social media trends. In fact, you will rarely find me at crowded spots, and, as years go by, I am less interested in monuments and landmarks and more in people, culture and ways of seeing the world.
I book day trips and excursions, but only rarely and usually once I am on site, seeing the vibes and making sure they make sense since many of these take you to landmarks anyway.
I prefer food tours and experiences over going to see famous places.
This last week in Croatia was filled with exactly everything I love about travel: slow, long days, deep connections and low key moments soaking in the culture, without any tourist adaptations.
At 45, I am far more interested in these kinds of moments than I am about anything that is trendy, popular or saved a million times on social media.
When I started traveling, I had a Lonely Planet or other guide with me. The internet wasn't prevalent yet, so recommendations for things to do or places to visit came from friends, from locals we'd ask, from the hotel concierge, from guides, and from guide books.
Some would still suggest the most popular things, but they would not center their recommendations on the prettiest, most Instagrammable or social media famous place.
Going somewhere simply because it is famous and because many other travelers have been was not something that we used to travel for.
Now it seem that we all travel where other travelers have gone, following crowds and popularity.
There may have been some spots made famous by the media, a book or a celebrity, but they were more iconic, with background stories to tell instead of pretty angles and perfect shots.
At 45, I find myself looking for those kinds of moments and spots more than ever before.
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I want to visit a place by the hand of a local friend.
This is not new, most of us mention meeting locals as one of the main reasons to travel. But I don't look just to meet someone, or to hire a professional guide, but to spend time with a real friend, or a friend of a friend, someone who is opening their world to me not just for profit but for kindness and hospitality, for the pleasure of sharing.
I don't need to go home having seen the top-10 most popular places, in fact, I am pretty happy skipping them all together.
Instead of FOMO (fear of missing out), I have JOMO (joy of missing out).
I will happily trade tickets to a museum or landmark in exchange for a couple of hours with someone who lives where I am visiting, sharing their favorite places with me, the women who are rebelling against the patriarchy or doing something out of the ordinary.
I will swap food from an insta-famous spot with a slow home cooked meal in great company.
I swap the carefully planned days for serendipity and wander.
You are now probably thinking that this is great in theory, and probably something many of you would love to do too when you travel, but is extremely hard in real life. Who has a friend in all the places they visit?
That is quite hard in itself, even for someone with a long international career and expat life and friends in many corners of the world.
And then they need to be keen, available and the kind of person who loves to share their world with others.
Luckily, through Solo Female Travelers, I have had the chance to meet many women who have been that local friend for me.
It is incredible what happens when you bring likeminded women together, and the women we meet through our tours are just the right mix of crazy enough to go against the current and passionate enough to commit to that craziness.
I have met so many amazing and inspiring women by looking for locals who share our passion for doing things differently, our form of feminism, and our entrepreneurship values.
This last week in Croatia was just perfect, and it reminded me of the joy of travel.
There were two moments that stood out for me.
An afternoon in Korcula
Stella and I spent an afternoon in Korcula with a friend of hers called Petra who is also a guide and knows everyone. Stella had met her while on tour years ago and had not seen her in a long time.
We started with a drink atop a medieval tower where drinks are brought up with an ingeneous pulling system from the base of the tower.
Admittedly, this was a very IG friendly place, but it was also a chance to enjoy nice sea views, a fantastic cocktail and a slice of history.
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We then met her friend who gave us a short walking tour of the fortified medieval town sharing interesting bits and pieces, showing us some of the coolest spots, debunking the myth that Marco Polo was from Korcula, talking about life in the fortified beautiful city, and then taking us to a female owned wine bar where we had a glass as we discussed the meaningful things we could do in Korcula.
She told us about this mid-year carnival celebration that will hopefully align with our trip, and showed us videos of the fantastic dresses, and then took us to visit 2 stores owned by local women.
One was a crayon store selling super cool crayons Stella had bought 6 years ago when she last visited Korcula. We chatted to the store staff about the owner's story and how she innovated in a very old industry and bought some more to take home.
We continued to a coral jewelry store owned by a 3rd generation Croatian woman from Korcula who inherited the store from her grandad against her father's will.
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She was fascinating, spoke PERFECT Spanish and was so much fun!
I bought 2 pairs of coral earrings, learned all about how these pieces are created and can't wait to take the group to meet her next year.
Petra insisted that we go to her house for a drink, cake and to meet her husband, and drove us there through the panoramic vineyard-lined rural roads where we got a sample of local life. I loved the Mediterranean landscapes, the greenery everywhere and the sea views, and they reminded me of home.
At her house, with the most amazing bay views, we had one of the most delicious cakes I have ever had, met her adorable dogs and shared a glass of sweet dessert wine with her husband while chatting about tourism, local life and dreaming about moving close to the sea.
We continued to a Michelin recommended local place for dinner. A real gem in a tiny village in the middle of the island that felt like visiting grandma.
The pasticada was phenomenal, but I couldn't even finish half of it...and after all the wine, I was exhausted, and also reminded of the beauty of travel.
The chance to intimately meet another culture from the inside, to get behind closed doors, share wonderful food and drinks in beautiful places while learning a different way of seeing the world is the entire reason I travel.
Food tells you so much about a place, and in the Mediterranean this is truer than anywhere else.
An afternoon in Hvar
Besides Korcula, we also spent an afternoon in the center of Hvar island with a mother-daughter duo that are bringing back traditional agriculture and food to the jet-set famous island of Hvar.
Based on the grandmother's recipes and a plot of land in the UNESCO-protected area, Korneljia started to organize private diners among the lavender and olive oil fields and the vineyards.
She experiments with ingredients and recipes, and learns how to grow vegetables and fruits by trial and error.
Some green tomatoes fell on the floor, so she pickled them. The dry cheese of the island can get pretty tough and dry, so she baked it in honey just like the Greek who invaded this part of Croatia centuries ago, did. Some of the wild herbs can be preserved to deliciousness, and olives are prepared in so many ways I lost count.
Morana, the daughter, picked us up from the port and took us to the family property for a late afternoon that was all about heart and tasty food.
We tried several of their creations, toasted to powerful rakia liquor and local wines and cuddled their fluffy two dogs, Paco and Lola.
Kornelija told us about the struggles of cultivating in a protected landscape area and showed us how to cut lavender with a sickle. We walked among the herb garden and touched the red earth.
The layered baked eggplant, cheese and tomato was amazing. The fresh zucchini pasta with the traditional tomato sauce Hvar is famous for was healthy and to die for. The octopus stew with polenta, a heritage dish hard to find, was so good.
We left with 4 pieces of the lightest lemon cake to take back to the boat for next day's breakfast and so much inspiration from their project, their dreams, their commitment to succeeding in a traditional, male dominated environment.
They want to bring people together to this beautiful, organic slice of paradise for connection, fun, cultural exchange and a shared love of food.
As the wind blew the cotton curtains shading us from the sun and shone a light on the pale white wine, I knew I couldn't keep this a secret and had to bring the group next year.
We had the best time, made genuine friends for life out of the shared passion for breaking the mould, connecting with people and bringing them together around the table for a farm to table meal cooked with love and bare hands.
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This kind of moments are what I look for now.
Age has not changed that, I was always happier with slow, deeper travel, but it has removed any interest in all the rest.
I don't care about the famous spots, or the latest and newest things to eat or do. I care about stories, moments, connection.
I don't have anything to prove.
I don't need to show off on social media.
I don't need the internet's approval or the prettiest shots.
I am happy missing out on what everyone is talking about because I want to talk about the stories that aren't told anymore.
A repeat guest wrote us a beautiful email this last weekend after her tour to Bali praising the efforts we make to bring women together around this shared passion for moments that are heartful, meaningful and memorable.
I hope that all our tours can be exactly the kind of travel that makes me feel alive and joyful.
Tags: Solo Female Travelers
