Duino Aurisina / Devin - Nabrežina

There’s something changing about this journey now.

The mountains of Switzerland are behind me. Tuscany already feels dreamlike. Venice arrived in heavy rain and sudden sunlight, like a scene from an old European film. And tonight, parked near Trieste with rain softly tapping against Vanilla’s roof, I can feel the next chapter beginning.

The road now turns south toward the Adriatic.

🇮🇹 Trieste
🇭🇷 Rovinj
🇭🇷 Zadar
🇭🇷 Split
🇭🇷 Dubrovnik
🇧🇦 Mostar
🇧🇦 Zenica

And somehow the whole atmosphere feels different now. Slower. Warmer. More romantic.

The weather ahead looks wonderfully dramatic too. Storms and dark skies around northern Croatia first, then gradually the warmth returns. Sunshine. Twenty-five degree evenings. Palm-lined harbours. Adriatic sunsets. Open café terraces glowing late into the night.

Exactly what this trip was supposed to become.

The pace is slowing now as well. No frantic driving. No racing through countries. Just a couple of nights at a time, drifting gently south through Europe.

Morning coffees beside harbours.
Late-night music outside the van.
Bratwurst sausages sizzling beside Alpine campsites.
Bowls of proper ragù in little Italian streets.
Huge glasses of cold lager after long coastal drives.
And breakfasts made from ridiculous amounts of Alpine muesli while staring at mountains that genuinely don’t look real.

That’s the beauty of travelling like this.

You stop collecting destinations and start collecting moments instead.

And every few days Europe changes completely again.

One week it’s snow-covered waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen. The next it’s cypress-lined Tuscan roads glowing in evening sunlight. Then suddenly you’re standing beside the Adriatic watching fishing boats drift into old Croatian harbours while warm air rolls in from the sea.

It no longer feels like a holiday now.

It feels like life has briefly become bigger, slower and far more interesting.

📸🍝🍺
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