I stood in line for my flight to Frankfurt and pondered on what would come about the next two weeks. How could this possibly beat the experience I had in Thailand? I stepped out of line in search of a water fountain. My dad had given me a Xanex to help me sleep on the flight. He advised me to break it in half but I wanted to make sure I slept the entire flight. I took the entire pill and washed it down in one big gulp. After waiting in line to board my flight, I reached my seat and had already began to to feel the affects of the pill. The woman in my row introduced herself as Susan. She was from Poland and grew excited that we had an empty seat between us for the ten hour flight to Frankfurt. I buckled myself in and fell into a deep sleep within seconds. I woke up to Susan tugging at my arm. Only an hour into our flight, it felt like minutes. Our dinner was being served. Groggy and barely awake, I thanked Susan for waking me and quickly ate my chicken dinner. I curled up in the empty space between us, laying across the two seats and fell asleep for another six hours. I felt another tug on my arm, Susan woke me up for breakfast. I guess the Xanax was for a two hundred plus man and I only needed half because I was knocked out and barely remember my first flight. Once I reached Germany, I bought a cappuccino and boarded my flight to Dubrovnik. I got lucky enough again to have an empty seat between the other passenger and I so lay across the two seats for the final three hours to Croatia. The eighteen hour flight to Croatia wasn't bad at all. In the blink of an eye, I had arrived to my destination.

I stepped off the plane, and a stairwell led us onto a runway with a huge mountain in the distance. I hadn't done much research on Croatia so had no idea what to expect. I had wanted to be surprised on my trip. I shook my head in amazement as we walked across the runway to the airport. Croatia was beautiful and I had only reached the airport.
Walking through the airport, I felt like I was in a designers paradise. They had beautiful shops, modern fixtures and advanced technology. Large touch screens lined the baggage claim with tourist attractions. I grabbed my backpack and reread the directions on my email from the hostel. "Two options 1) To reach the hostel you can take the shuttle bus (ticket price 35 Luna) from airport to the Pile Gate, then city bus from Pile Gate to the hostel city(ticket price 15 Luna) or option 2) Private taxi from airport straight to Villa Divine Hostel (200 Luna). I opted for the adventure and went with option one.
I walked out the airport front doors and saw a huge tour bus. I walked up to an airport employee and asked if that was the shuttle bus to Pile. They asked with confusion with perfect pronunciation, " You mean Pe-lay?" Trying to hide embarrassment, I nodded. The airport clerk nodded yes and that it was the last one until nine o'clock tonight. I ran up and the driver took my bag, tossed it in the storage underneath and guided me on the bus. As I got situated on the bus, I felt lucky. Everything on this trip was going much smoother than previous trips. I didn't get lost finding the bus. I did not run into disastrous problems and my bag didn't get left in another city. I was beginning to think maybe I've become an expert, flawless traveler.
The bus drove us out of the airport and onto the winding cliff road up the coast. After a few minutes, I experienced my first jaw dropping moment. The first glimpse of the Adriatic Sea was the most stunning view I have ever seen and I could have never been prepared for it. The coast line of Croatia is magical. We drove along the sea, through natural rock tunnels and I was in awe. I had no clue Croatia would be so incredibly beautiful. It made me realize how important it truly is to travel. The unexpected, jaw dropping surprise an environment can have on you gives you the chills. It put every single unimportant thought that crosses my mind during the work week in dead last. I suddenly didn't care about anything but making sure I could capture every single glimpse of the little islands we were passing before we made a turn into a rocky tunnel.
The bus reached the old town of Dubrovnik, a castle like structure bordering the sea. The stop read Pile Gate and I grabbed my pack, jumped off the bus and walked across the street to transfer to the city bus stop. This was entirely too easy traveling around Croatia. I walked up to the bus schedule and looked for my hostel stop. The email from the hostel read "Bokeljska 16 Dubrovnik" I looked at the list of stops and nothing seemed to match. I reread the email from the hostel. "1) To reach the hostel you can take the shuttle bus from airport to the Pile Gate, then city bus from Pile Gate to the hostel city. There was nothing listed with the street and we were in Dubrovnik, so now I was officially confused. I pulled up the address on my phone and asked a few strangers at the bus stop. No one spoke English and no one had heard of The street Bokeljska. I waited in line for the next bus that stopped and showed them the address on my phone. He shook his head with confusion and asked someone else on the bus in Croatian. He turned back to me and told me to wait for bus number six. I jumped off the bus and reread the bus schedule post. Bus six read "Babin Kuk". I would have never put those pieces together. I waited another ten minutes for bus six and jumped on, handing the driver another 15 Kuna. As we drove through the country, The bus stopped every few minutes. I had no clue what my exit would be for my hostel. I asked a man next to me if he heard of Bokeljska. He shook his head no, at that moment I thought I might as well me the annoying tourist and just ask the bus driver. I didn't want to risk missing my stop. On the next stop, I ran up and displayed the driver my iPhone with the email. Just before closing the door completely, he reopened the lever and pointed to the right. "This is your stop." With little to no direction, I hurried off the bus on a country road in the middle of nowhere.
The streets reminded me of Italy, beautiful countryside with houses lining the waterside. I knew the hostel overlooked the water so I started walking west. Aimlessly passing street after street, the weight of my backpack started to sink in and the heat was becoming a bit much. I walked down an alley that led to a dead end and was beginning to wish I had just paid for the private taxi. Here I was lost in Croatia and the fun adventure part was turning into a slight nightmare as I was losing daylight. The last thing I wanted was to get lost in Croatia at night with my backpack. I asked a couple walking on the sidewalk if they were familiar with Bokeljska and they shook their head no. I spotted a cafe up the street and as I drew closer, I saw a sticker on the window that read "Free Wifi". Relieved, I ran inside and it was empty. Music played from the kitchen and no one was in sight. No customers, no workers. I felt like I was in some scary movie but the alternative was to keep aimlessley walking in the heat before it became dark. I walked back toward the kitchen calling hello a few times and a man walked out startled. I told him I was lost and asked if I could jump on their wifi. He couldn't remember the password so said he would call the owner. I listened as he called and began to feel antsy. I spoke way too soon on the bus when I said this trip was going to much easier than Thailand. After a few rings, he hung up and apologized. The owner did not pick up and he had not heard of the street Bokeljska. Deflated, I headed back on the road and this time walked down the alley toward the water checking every street for Bokeljska with no luck. I asked a woman walking out of a building and she told me it sounded familiar but I was in the wrong part of town. She instructed me to walk back up the hill to the bus stop and it was a few kilometers away. I'm not an expert at converting kilometers to miles, but I knew that sounded like I could not walk it out. I asked her if i could maybe just take a taxi and she shrugged her shoulders and told me it is rare to see one in this neighborhood but wished me luck. Close to tears of frustration, I headed back up the hill with my pack feeling much heavier. I was beginning to sweat and I was running out of ideas. Here I was lost in Croatia and it was day one.
I walked back toward the bus stop and passed a barber shop with old men conversing on the patio. I walked up and asked if they may be able to point me in the direction of Bokeljska street. The owner pulled one of the men over and pointed toward the direction I just walked from. He spoke very slowly and told me it was very confusing however, instructed " You will come to the rounded about, veer right, then make your first right and then you will pass the Pimo Market. Once you reach Pimo, Bokeljska street will be on the left. " I thanked them old men and walked back down the street with more optimism. I passed the cafe again and came to another dead end. Growing tired and a little nervous, I was kicking myself for not just taking the taxi. I came to a body shop and asked for help. The two mechanics looked at the address and also had no clue. If I could just get Internet, all of of this could be figured out in a matter of minutes. I thanked the mechanics, adjusted my pack and took a new path I had yet to try. As I approached a big sign that read Pimo Market, I grew excited. After passing the market I made a left and read the sign 10 Bokeljska. I felt rush of relief. I counted down each house until I reached 16. A beautiful little stone cottage rest on the edge of a hill. It didn't look like your standard hostel.
I walked in and was greeted by a young girl. She told me the host was on his way but asked if she could get me some juice as she guided to the outside patio. She instructed me to drop my back my the door and relax outside while she got me a drink.
I walked through the modern living room and walked through the glass doors to the stunning view of the canal. This was by far the nicest hostel I have ever stayed in. Patio furniture lined the balcony overlooking sparkling water with boats cruising beneath us. On the far side of the canal, houses lined the steep hill across from us.
I may have got lost, I may have questioned if I had made a big mistake by doing another trip solo but the view quickly cured all of my doubts. A few minutes later, the host joined me on the balcony. Pero broke down all the must sees in Croatia and circled everything on the map that he recommended I do in Dubrovnik. He gave me the key to my room, let me know breakfast was served at 8am and that social hour was at 9pm tonight in the living room. He showed me to my room, I threw my pack on my bunk and put on my swim suit. We were right on the water and the first thing I wanted to do when I arrived was jump in the sea.
As I dashed out the door, two Canadians were checking in at the front desk. Pero introduced me and then I headed down the stone staircase to the stone dock. It was dark but I didn't care, I jumped in the warm water, swam around and cooled off in the sea. After eighteen hours on a flight, two hours wandering around the city- I had finally arrived to Dubrovnik.

Relaxed I walked back up and it was a few minutes to nine o'clock. Pero reminded me of the social hour so I jumped in the shower, threw on a dress and joined all the other guests in the living room. I introduced myself to everyone in the group. The house was full of travelers from Australia and Canada. Everyone was extremely friendly and we all sat around drank Croatian beer and listened to music while Pero served us banana splits. While mingling with everyone, I found it so crazy that just yesterday I was in San Diego and now today I was sitting around a table with people I never met, in a hostel overlooking the sea in Croatia. No matter where you are in the world, one thing that remains the same is the music people listen to. It's always American songs blasting on the radio. In no time, we all got to know each other better. I shared with the group my fiasco getting lost. Cassie, an Australian told me that I was lucky. She arrived during the day a few days ago and was also lost but in the heat. It took her three hours in the scorching sun with her pack to find it so she said to come in when the sun was not as strong was a blessing. Everyone agreed the directions were a little vague for backpackers but was well worth it. This hostel was a gem.

Pero had circled a few clubs on the city map and since I slept the entire way from the U.S, I was eager to explore. The girls all were headed to bed and promised to go out tomorrow night. I turned to the Canadians, Mike and Andras as they nodded in agreement. The three of us headed to Old Town. We took a few wrong turns down alley ways and got lost but found our way back to Pimo Market and then bought a ticket on the city bus. We approached the Pile Gate exit into Old Town Dubrovnik. This is exactly where I got lost earlier this afternoon so I was very familiar with the area.
We bought a Croatian beer from the newsstand and walked along the old stone alley ways into the walls of Old Town. Within the city walls lay narrow stone alley ways of beautiful cathedrals, museums, fountains, bars, restaurants and shops. Hundreds of people drank on patios and throughout the stone structures. I felt like we had gone back in time and we were wandering throughout a never ending castle. Every turn led us into a different magnificent building with the most intricate detail. We arrived to the club Pero recommended. It was an old castle called Revelin. Imagine any sweet club you would see in L.A but the entrance is a large stone stairwell into enormous wooden double doors, leading you into a magical castle. The club was phenomenal. The club had tall stone archways, dancers in life-size martini glasses, lights flashing every direction and a several rooms branching off the dance floor. We danced the night away, got late night pizza and sat in the alley talking to people from other countries about our different worlds until the early morning.

I had no idea what to expect when I booked this flight to Dubrovnik. It's funny to think when I was on the flight yesterday, a small wave of fear had come over me. I worried that I may not meet people similar to previous trips that inspired me. After all, the the people are who alter your perspective, open your eyes to new experiences and make your whole trip worth while. Getting to know the girls in the hostel the first night was a gift. Wandering around old stone alley ways of Dubrovnik with the Canadians was a gift. This was by far the best first night I could dream of asking for in Dubrovnik.