Montenegro is a Hidden Gem of Europe

It is a scary time, but it gave me something. It made me stop, rethink things, reload batteries and make new choices. I like my life just as it is. I like living in a camper, I like parking next to a beach or on a parking, I like being with my family in a small place, I like working while looking at Mia playing and I don’t mind not having too much of my personal space. I like my minimalist life, lack of comfy gadgets, looking for a Laundromat once a week, looking for a place to park each night, for playgrounds for Mia, for spots for my morning walks. I like meeting new people like each day, I like talking to my friends and realising that they still like me, even though they haven’t seen me for months or years. I like standing in front of my camper in my pyjamas and I like saving water like all the time because we never know where, when we will be able to load some more, which includes 3 minute showers each 3 days.

Right now we are parked in a parking for campers. We do not have grass here, just sand and rocks. Each three days we drive somewhere for a walk, somewhere where there are not many people or no people at all. It is not easy to work, as Mia wakes up early these days. I guess she has too much of energy because of not enough running. Soon we will be able to go back to our regular life (kind of) and it makes me smile. Sometimes I had doubts if I am doing the right thing, if it was smart to take my kid away from friends, if she won’t be anti social because of this or won’t have issues with other people because of her unconventional upbringing. Right now, since I can see her happy while she is spending this time in 12m2 I guess it is all good. 

Going through my shots from Montenegro was a blast from the past. We drove there to run away from a heat. We were so tired at that moment, that I could do 1000km to escape. I did way less, and magically the temperature dropped by 15 degrees. It was such a relief that it instantly made me super happy. We chose Crno lake as a destination and a small family campsite located just next to it. I woke up early and I realised that I am cold, which for the first time in my life made me happy. I grabbed a sweater and a hat and went for a walk to see the lake. At 5 am there was no-one there, I had all the view just for myself. I kept drinking my cold coffee and thinking how beautiful world is and how grateful I am for a lack of crowds. There is a very similar lake in Northern Italy – Lago di Braies, which even at 4am is crowded… this is what tourism has done to places for the past years. That day Mia and Tomasz took advantage of the low temperature and slept till late. I took them back to the same place and it was still fairly empty. We could sit on the rocks, play with sticks walk around and enjoy the quiet. We wanted to stay there forever and I think that someone up there was listening to me, because when we’ve decided it’s time to go, our camper refused to start. We could not call for ADAC (which should be obligatory for each camper enthusiast because it’s not expensive and saved us many times), so the only option to get help was to walk around and ask the locals. It worked pretty well, because a couple of hours later a specialist came and fixed Thelma. We still had to replace one part, which kept causing problems, but as it was a difficult one to get, we were very grateful for this temporary fix and all the tips we got. I will remember Montenegro as w very beautiful and friendly country. I guess within years, it will become very popular among travellers from all over the world, but for now it is a hidden gem, just like Romania.