We Love Croatia - But Couldn't Live There

When we started planning our recent Croatia trip, we were not only choosing somewhere for a holiday, we also wanted to test a bigger idea. Could part of Croatia become somewhere we return to for several weeks or months or even longer during the European summer? Now, we already know that Cape Town makes sense to us during the Northern Hemisphere winter, but we still have a question about the summer, and could Croatia become part of that answer? And how has Brexit made the search more complicated for us? And why do we simply not want to stay in the UK during the summer? Now this is a question I want to answer because many of you have left comments asking that very question, and I promise we will answer the question later on in the video. Because this trip has made us question more than Croatia. It's made us question whether the way we currently travel still suits the life that we want. Let me start by explaining why Croatia was on our list. We had briefly visited Croatia during a cruise a few years ago, but a few hours on a cruise ship tells you very little about ordinary life. Now, we have seen the photographs, we've watched the videos, we've heard people talk about the coastline, the historic towns, the islands, and the remarkably clear water. We also watched Game of Thrones like so many, and and it introduced us to the beauty of Croatia. It looked like the type of destination that might offer a slower European summer lifestyle, and our, our idea was simple. We already know that we want to spend the Northern Hemisphere winter in Cape Town. Could we then spend part of the Northern Hemisphere summer somewhere in Europe? We've already tested places like Italy, Spain, and Greece. Now we wanted to test Croatia. On paper, it appeared to offer many of the things that we wanted. As I said, beautiful coastal towns, absolutely warm and clear seas, which are very different from the freezing water in Cape Town, ferries connecting the islands, an outdoor lifestyle, easy access to other parts of Europe, and we assumed it might also be more affordable than some popular destinations in France, Italy, or Spain. We imagined quiet mornings with a coffee, we pictured ourselves walking to local restaurants, spending time beside the water, and building a normal routine. We wanted somewhere social without being overwhelming, warm warm without being unbearable, popular without feeling overly packed, and affordable enough that we could stay for several months without watching every single euro. That was the idea, but the reality was very different. Now, if you've watched our individual videos, and I'll link the playlist here, you already know how we felt about Split, Hvar, and Korčula. The useful question now is what those destinations showed us when we looked at the trip as a whole. Split made us realize how tiring heavy tourism and cruise crowds could become during a longer stay. The Old Town is impressive, the history, the atmosphere, and there's absolutely plenty to explore. But parts of it felt focused more on short-term visits, photographs, and a constant flow of tourists. And to be honest, it felt way too Instagrammy for us. That might be fine for a few days, but it's different when you imagine returning every year and trying to create an ordinary life routine. Hvar Town confirmed similar concern. It's absolutely beautiful, the harbour is impressive, but it was busy, expensive, and full of visitors arriving for the day. Once again, we struggled to imagine it as being somewhere we would choose for a longer summer stay. Now, there were two places that came closer to what we wanted, and Stari Grad was my favourite. It felt calmer, it had more breathing space. I could imagine having that coffee, going for a walk, sitting beside the water, and feeling that we were somewhere where people actually just lived their normal lives. And Korčula James's favorite. It had charm, atmosphere, and plenty of character. But even in those two places that we like the most, the same concerns remained. And the first one was heat. We experienced temperatures around 35 to 40 degrees, and the heat affected how much we wanted to do. Walking around in the middle of the day became super tiring. We found ourselves thinking about shade, cold water, and air conditioning. We wanted warmth We want outdoor life, but we do not want to organize every day around avoiding extreme temperatures. And we were also told that in July and August it could be even hotter and even busier. That matters because those are exactly the months when we might want to visit a European base, and it would be pointless finding somewhere that we loved in May if we couldn't enjoy it during the period when we wanted to stay in sort of June, July, August, September. The second concern was cost, and this really, really surprised us. Food was often more expensive than we expected. Cocktails were super expensive. Even some ordinary things such as Coke Zero could cost a surprising amount, especially compared to the UK, and the UK isn't exactly cheap at the moment. However, local beer and wine were usually more reasonable, but it was the total cost of an ordinary day that concerned us. A coffee, breakfast, lunch, a couple of drinks, dinner, local transport or a ferry, then of course you've got accommodation on top of that, and a holiday budget can absorb those costs for a week or two, but a retirement longer stay budget has to work differently. Now I can't judge the whole of Croatia from one trip. I'm sure there are less expensive areas away from the main tourist route, but our test was about places that we had seriously considered, and our experience gave us a clear answer. Croatia didn't fail as a holiday destination. It's absolutely beautiful. It failed as the answer to our summer destination. And that distinction matters. You can enjoy visiting somewhere and still decide that it would not work as part of your life from an everyday perspective, and I definitely recommend Croatia as a short-term travel, as a place to go on vacation. It is stunningly beautiful, and we will no doubt be back. The Croatia trip gave us 5 tests that we'll use when we consider other destinations. They may also help you if you're thinking about retirement abroad, a second home, or longer seasonal stays. And the first test is to visit during the season when you would actually live there. I know that sounds obvious, but some people really miss this one. Don't judge a summer base in April if you plan to spend July and August there. The weather will undoubtedly be different, prices will probably rise, and crowds may completely change the character of the place. You need to test the reality rather than the version that exists during quieter months or ones that you see online. The second test is to calculate the cost of an ordinary day. Don't just look at flights and accommodation. Price groceries, coffee, local transport, meals, drinks, going to the gym, and other basic activities. Then multiply that routine across 4, 6, 8 weeks, or even more. Can your budget support the life that you actually want rather than what you can afford? The third test is to visit more than one area. Had we only visited Split, we might have left with a very limited view of Croatia. Stara Grad showed us a quieter side. Korčula gave us another type of experience. But visiting several locations also helped us to see which problems were specific to one town and which were just part of a wider trip. Now the fourth test is to imagine life without sightseeing. What would you do on a normal Tuesday? Can you walk to a supermarket? Can you reach a gym? Would you still enjoy the local cafes once the novelty has worn off? And can you build a social life? Would you like the place when you're doing laundry, you're answering emails, or you're buying toothpaste? That's the difference between testing a holiday and testing a possible home destination. And the fifth test is to ask whether you can afford to enjoy being there. Being able to pay for accommodation is only the start. Would you avoid restaurants because they're too expensive? Would you stop ever going out? Would you spend the whole stay worrying about money? A seasonal base should improve the quality of your life. It shouldn't become another financial burden. Now there is also a sixth issue that sadly British travelers now have to consider: how long are we legally allowed to to stay. Since Brexit, the British passport holders no longer have the same freedom to spend extended, extended periods of time in the European Union countries. We can only spend 90 days in the Schengen area during any rolling 180-day period, and of course Croatia is part of the Schengen area. It also creates a choice: would we want to use most of our allowance for one fixed base, or would we want to keep some days available for traveling elsewhere? Where in Europe. Brexit doesn't make a European summer base impossible, but it does make the planning much more complicated. The legal limit now has to sit alongside other things like weather, costs, healthcare, and everyday life. Now this brings us to the question several viewers have asked before. If Croatia isn't the answer, and Brexit limits how long we can spend in the Schengen areas, Why not simply just stay in the UK during the summer? Listen, I absolutely get this is a really fair question. The UK is home, our friends and family are here, we know how everything works, we've got access to familiar services and healthcare, there are many beautiful parts of the country, and the long summer evenings can be lovely. And we're not pretending that the UK has nothing to offer, but we don't want it to become an automatic choice every summer simply because it's familiar And to be honest, we've kind of fallen out of love with our home country over the past 10 years. Why? Well, the first issue is cost. Everyday life in the UK appears to be becoming more and more expensive all the time. You can spend a lot of money without feeling like you've done very much at all. And of course, the second issue is climate. And whilst the weather this summer has been amazing, one warmer summer doesn't address the wider problem for us. We want to have a reliable outdoor life. We want to make plans without constantly wondering whether it's going to rain, turn cold, or change climate by lunchtime. At the same time, Croatia reminded us that extreme heat is not the answer. We don't want to be living in 40-degree heat every day. We also don't want to spend July checking 3 weather apps before leaving the house. So we're looking for something in the middle— warm enough to live outdoors, cool enough to walk, explore and enjoy the day. Now there is also a more difficult subject, and I definitely don't want to make this video, video a political one, but we have to acknowledge the political mood of the UK affects how we feel about our future here. James and I are both Remainers. Brexit has had practical consequences for us, including the 90-day limit that I just explained, but it's also changed how we feel about the direction of the UK. We have concerns about life after Brexit. We also feel quite uneasy about the possibility of politics moving further to the right. Now, we know that some viewers will have different opinions, and this absolutely isn't a political channel, but it would be dishonest of me to say that it doesn't affect our feelings about the UK. So that's why we don't want to be in the UK. We've talked about Croatia. So what exactly are we looking for? Well, Croatia made the answer clear. We want somewhere less crowded. We want more affordable everyday cost of living. We want summer temperatures that allow us to just operate on a day-to-day basis without darting into air-conditioned shops or homes. We want access to cafes, shops, a gym, a really good transport system, and of course healthcare. We want somewhere we can feel comfortable as a married gay couple. And we want our retirement money to work for us and stretch. Now, we're not looking for the cheapest possible destination, but we are looking for good value and good quality of everyday life. Despite our experience in Croatia, we're not absolutely ruling out the idea of a European summer base. We're just ruling out Croatia for us for now. There may still be other places that gives us the balance that we want. It could be inside the Schengen area in the EU. It could be somewhere with a suitable long-stay option. It also could be in a European country outside of the Schengen area where different rules apply. That is something that we need to research properly, and the Croatia trip has made our search more focused. Before Croatia, we were mainly asking one question: which place should be our summer base? Now we're asking something broader: what type of life are we actually trying to create? It cannot be another expensive sense of commitment. It has to give us freedom. The freedom isn't just about money, it's about time, it's about legal limits, it's about whether staying in one place would genuinely suit us. There are also practical changes ahead that unfortunately we can't yet discuss, but we will in the next few weeks. You know what, sometimes learning where you don't want to live is as useful as finding somewhere that you absolutely love. So Croatia isn't going be part of our summer base. Stara Grad came closest for me, and Korčula was James's choice, but neither really solved the problem of the heat, the cost, and the busy summer crowds. So we're still looking for that base that feels calmer, offers better everyday value, and it has more manageable temperatures. And we also know that spending every summer in the UK doesn't feel the right answer for us, certainly in the mid to long-term future. But this wasn't a failed trip. We absolutely loved Croatia, and we went there to test an idea, and we received an honest answer. It also started a much bigger conversation about how we want to travel and live in the future. Now, as I said, there are some things that we can't publicly talk about yet, but changes are being discussed, and when we can share more, we'll explain the full plan. For now, we'd love to to know what matters to you most. Have you ever visited somewhere beautiful, then realized that you wouldn't want to actually live there for the long term? And if you were choosing a European summer base, what would you choose, and what would be most important to you? Cost, climate, healthcare, transport, community, visa rules, or indeed something else? Let us know in the comments. We love hearing from you guys. As you know, I answer every every single comment, and if you found somewhere in Europe that stays warm without being unbearably hot or crowded, then absolutely, we're listening. We'd also like to hear how other British travellers manage the challenge of the 90-day Schengen rules. So other than that, thank you so much for watching today. I hope you found this kind of wrap-up video useful, and James is working next door, but this is James and Rob signing off for now. We'll see you next Sunday.