While the whole world is coming to Plitvice, Tamara went to the world

TESTIMONIAL BY TAMARA HODAK, FOUNDER OF "NO ADDRESS FOR TRAVELERS"

I spent my whole life in Plitvice. It`s a beautiful place, no doubt about that. However, beauty alone was not enough. Growing up there was both easy and difficult. The small community was warm and pleasant, but limiting.

Coming there for touristic reasons is a lifelong memory that will always make you smile. Living there did not make my dreams come true. So let me tell you my story. The story of how I always thought: „I can’t.“

I’ve always admired places around the globe I could see on Facebook, Instagram, National Geographic, BBC and similar. I always thought I’d never been able to reach those places. The picture that was created in my head looked quite unreachable, distant, unachievable for me, being so small.

And I always had an excuse: I can’t, I don’t have any money. I can’t, I have to work. I can’t, I have to study. I can’t, my family needs me. I can’t, I don’t know how. I can’t, I can’t, I just can’t… Years went by and „I can’t“ was all I had. I felt trapped working seasonal jobs, being surrounded by the same people all the time while we were spinning in circles, stuck in a routine. I wanted more!

Step by step, I got a chance to go to Turkey. Turkey has never been on my bucket list, but at that point in my life, I had no justification for saying no. It was the right moment to get out of my (un)comfortable zone.

All I knew was that I was going to spend a week among people that I’ve never met and the money spent will be refunded. I didn’t care much because I was sinking. The desire to know what was across the Croatian border was just too great.
That is how it all started.

There is one wonderful thing the European Union came up with. It is called the youth exchange. That was my beginning. Turkey was my first. It was definitly one of the biggest life-changing experiences.

After Turkey I visited Italy, Poland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Romania, Belgium, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, San Marino, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Macedonia, Austria, Malta… I can’t even count all the countries I’ve visited. I was addicted. The more you have, the more you want. And you go and get it.

„Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life“. – Michael Palin.

After I traveled far and wide, I decided to share my experiences and encourage others to visit the places they’ve always wanted to see. For some time now, you can follow all these events on Facebook and Instagram. A travel blog called No Address For Travelers has also recently been founded.

The aim of the project is to create a platform which will serve as a source of travel information based on the experiences of different people who visit amazing places in a different way, including non-touristic or typically unpopular areas that are just waiting to be discovered.

We will present personal impressions, reliable reviews, unforgettable anecdotes, inspiring stories, financial options… And all the content will be supplemented by photos and videos. No address for travelers is an inspiration to create courage. Courage to help you step out. Once you do that, you will find places not even Google maps knew existed.

I hope you find the motivation to travel and find yourself visiting all the attractions you always dreamed of. For those who already travel, I hope you find new ideas and places you didn’t know existed.

To sum up:

  • I stayed in Turkey for a week longer due to bad weather and all the cancelled flights. The best week of my life in the biggest European city. It healed my mind.
  • In Southern Italy, I was sitting on the terrace of the hotel, drinking my coffee, having the most beautiful view of the valley and the sea.
  • In Western Poland I lived in a 300-year-old castle. It looked like Adam`s house.
  • In the heart of Greece I watched the sunrise at the beach and then jumped into the sea, even though it was the end of November.
  • I found out Stalin was Georgian when I went off-road and stumbled upon his family house.
  • Oh, Lithuania… I went to a sauna in a lake house around midnight. It was -4 Celsius, but it did not stop me from jumping into the lake. Btw – I can’t swim. And I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat!
  • The most beautiful sunset is in Macedonia.
  • I almost boarded the wrong airplane without checking in my luggage and having no boarding pass in Budapest. Security was confused, the flight attendants even more so. Not to mention myself. See you next time, Abu Dhabi!

All of this is available to you too. Instead of admiring someone else`s adventures, set out and create your own.

Good luck!

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