This illuminated globe installation near the entrance to Dubrovnik’s Old Town spoke to me as a symbol of the journey ahead . Note how I chose to picture it with Australia front and centre
This is the start of my journey, though not quite the start I had planned. Qantas delays and missing luggage made sure of that. But as Monica Willis would say, it is all about how you reframe the flips. So instead of calling it a disaster, I am calling it the warm-up act. Life is like the river, wild and unpredictable, and I am choosing to treat this as my “amazing swim.”
I have learned that the things that linger are not usually the harbour cruises or the cable cars.
Those are fine, but they rarely reach the heart. What stays are the moments that make you pause, think, and see the world differently.
I am travelling with Tauck, a company that prides itself on smoothing out the travel bumps. The logistics, the schedules, the tickets, all of it handled. That part is easy.
What matters to me, though, is something else. Will each day give me an experience that stays with me?
The first evening gave me something more than a welcome drink. We met as a group of twenty-three. I am the only Australian and the only solo traveller. Everyone else is American. This is the third time I have joined a group like this, and each time I have noticed the same thing. The first thing Americans do is apologise for being American. Then, often, they share their frustration that the world only hears one version of their story, Trump, the right, the extremes. What is missing, they tell me, is the voice of middle America, the lives of ordinary people who do not fit the headlines.
When voices in the middle are drowned out, a society begins to lose its balance. History shows us that when extremes dominate the story, it rarely ends well. What is happening in America has echoes in other places and other times, and too often it has led to deeper division, conflict, or even collapse. It rarely ends well.
Travel is not just about learning where you have come to, it is also about listening to the people beside you.
My favourite part of the evening was Dr Lovro Kunčević, a Dubrovnik historian. In fifteen minutes he gave us a clear, unsentimental preview of Balkan history, the kind of framing you need before you set foot in a place like this. Then, instead of leaving, he joined us for dinner, moving from table to table.
Each group had twenty minutes with him to ask questions. He made history personal and present. It was the perfect reminder that travel is so much more than sightseeing. It can be understanding.
Take-Home Lesson
“The Balkans demonstrate how fragile peace and coexistence are. Prosperity, openness, and dialogue are essential to prevent old divisions from turning into new conflicts.”
— Dr Lovro Kunčević
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