Mostar Trip Takeaways (1)
Find an Energizing Thing
“You’re posted in the country where you can easily travel across Europe, but you travel less,” my friend said during the phone call.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll regret it after your mandate has finished?”
These are the common questions that I get from my friends — often.
Well, my alibi was always:
I don’t have a conversation partner if I travel alone, so I’d rather spend my time through phone calls or sitting down at a coffee shop with my Croatian friends.
Somehow, I’ve never got the motivation to travel alone after my friends asking that kind of question or scrolling their traveling IG posts.
I just got back to my elements when I had spare time:
Exercise. Read a book. Hang out. Call a friend.
But this time, seeing my colleagues had plans to travel overseas during the Eid Al-Fitr long holiday, I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone.
I booked a round-trip Flix Bus ticket, which routes Zagreb-Mostar.
I booked two nights’ accommodation near Mostar Old City.
I challenged myself to do uncomfortable thing for myself: travel alone.
Once I entered the bus at Zagreb Bus Station, I was not so enthusiastic.
I walked down the bus aisle, looking for an empty seat.
My negative inner voice said:
“Here comes the boredom. Welcome, loneliness.”
After I found one empty seat on the left side of the bus, I put all my belongings on the window seat while I sat in the aisle seat on the right side.
The boredom lasted at least two hours until I had a conversation with a 16-year-old girl from Graz, Austria, during a trip break at a gas station.
From that moment, the conversation continued within the bus, trip break, and immigration checkpoint.
I learned how she studies at the United World Congress (UWC) in Mostar.
I learned the perspective of a young girl who wanted to make an impact through theater.
I also shared my story related to her life, like I got my bachelor’s degree in international relations, like her sister.
I’d noticed a change in my mood. My energy increased. Somehow, I got the motivation to maximize my trip to Mostar.
This energizing feeling led me to set my objective throughout my trip to Mostar:
- Take the best pictures of 3 famous sites that I would visit (Old City, Mosque, and Old Bridge)
- Write two articles in Medium (including this one) before going back to Zagreb
- Work out in front of accomodation house before I go to Old Town
The conversation that I had with that 16-year-old girl reminded me of the insight that I got from Ali Abdaal on his best-selling book Feel Good Productivity: How to Do More What Matters to You.
To energize, so we become more productive, he believes there are 3 Ps that are important to put into our lives:
Play, Power, and People.
I couldn’t agree more with the concept that people gives a tremendous effect, especially inducing an excellent feeling.
While people sometimes become the source of unproductivity (because we tend to have conversations for hours with friends instead of finishing a task at hand), Ali believes that people, actually, energize us.
Contrary to popular opinion, he believes when we’re working on something, we should not be afraid if there’s some little interruption by our co-worker.
Ali believes allowing little interruption from people around us might give some “feeling good” energy. So, after we finish chit-chat with our co-workers, we can work faster & better due to great feeling.
He calls this energising distraction
That’s why he always opens his door while working on some project and does not mind if his co-worker come over just for a trivial conversation.
In my case, on my way to Mostar, a conversation gave me sparks that allowed me to switch my mood and helped me to enjoy the moment better.
When I strolled around the Old City of Mostar, I sometimes took a break from taking photos and writing my medium article through conversation with local sellers.
With my broken Croatian language (yeah, Croatian and Bosnian have a similar language), I asked questions ranging from the price of goods to their background.
It helped energize me to enjoy my trip.
After traveling back to Zagreb, I realized that finding a thing, to me, it is a connection, can be found anywhere.
I actually could connect with people from any background and at any moment.
After all, in this connected world, I should not have been afraid to do things that seemed lonely because I could reach the phone to call or text my support system anyway — in case I’m really craving connection and no one is around.
While a trip to Mostar was not my first time doing solo traveling, I felt this time I was energized and became even more productive.
Compared to my previous solo traveling to Plitvice National Park, for instance, I spent a lot of time wandering the lake without a purpose, contemplating for hours, and did not produce any single medium article.
I believe because I did not find a thing that energized me. And I was not trying to find any when I felt bored during my solo traveling.
So, the biggest takeaway that I got from the Mostar trip is I need to include people often, whether my support system or strangers, in the middle of solo traveling so it would never be a daunting trip — anymore.
Derian Antonio Daniswara is an Indonesian junior diplomat currently posted in Zagreb, Croatia. While most people from Indonesia call him Derian, Croatians tend to remember his name easily when he introduces himself, Antonio. He loves sports, especially football, and playing them is a second nature to him.
