Next stop: Croatia

Trepidation. That's the word I was looking for.

Everyone's asking me if I'm excited about my trip to Croatia with my mother. (We leave tomorrow morning). "Excited" isn't really the word.

Here's the thing...I'm used to traveling alone. No one there to check if they're having a good time, no one to make me late for a flight, no discussions about how early is too early to get up or too late to be out.

It's just me. And except for a few trips with Firecracker, I usually prefer the solo route.

Coming and going on my mother's time will cramp my style, but I can live with that, I guess. But my mother isn't a young traveler (78!) and she's used to putting her luggage in the hall and having it magically appear at the next destination. I had to remind her that I didn't pack a valet.

I have a Croatian colleague who's been advising me on my travel plans. Well, yesterday I asked about tipping in Croatia. In some countries, leaving a tip is tantamount to wearing a t-shirt with an American flag on it and blowing your nose with $50 bills.

Suffice to say, I should be careful with my money in Croatia. It seems, at least according to my colleague, that all Eastern European nations have a tendency to cheat the tourists. "That's just the way it is," he said.

Fabulous!

After my trip to Spain, I got a little more comfortable with the euro, so I thought 'this will be easy.' But NOOOOO!!! Croatia doesn't use the euro, they use the kuna! One kuna equals about 17 cents American.

How's your math?

Smart girl that I am, I created a wallet-sized cheatsheet of kuna/US dollar conversions. By looking at this, we should at least know not to spend $80 on a sandwich and a Coke. Hopefully.

Usually, I get very excited and can't sleep the night before I take off on a trip. I don't know if I'll sleep tonight. Maybe a vodka and tonic will help.