Oh the Places You'll Go: The ferry to Croatia

Before the cheap flight companies reached their way to Croatia, my friend Joss, Lindsay and I decided we wanted to spend a week there. We were all poor London types, scraping enough together for happy hour and the cost of indie discos on Saturdays. The only way to get there on the cheap was to fly to the coast of Italy and take the overnight ferry.

One squishy flight, a hot bus ride and a long walk with a misbehaving suitcase, we made it to a rough port with groups of holiday makers like us. Well maybe a bit more road worn than us but at that moment we were all in the same boat. Or were about to be.

We only bought seats on the outdoor benches but most people found a bit of floor inside and slept between the seats. I decided it would be romantic to sleep on deck and watch the sunrise. The others stayed with me but as the night grew bitter, the wind catching cold from the water, they implored me to come in.

I refused. This may be the only time I'd get to see the sun rise over the coast of Croatia. They thought I was crazy. I pulled out my sleeping bag, curled up on the hard plastic bench and slept with my head on my backpack.

F*** me it was cold. So cold. I looked to the doors leading inside. So warm and inviting even in flickering fluorescent. But I wouldn't budge. If I walked into the warmth, I'd sleep, yes, but I'd never see the sun. I knew I'd miss it. Plus I'm stubborn. My friends said I couldn't do it but I had to show them I could.

So I curled back up and shivered my way through the rest if the night.

The sky lightened before I could see the sun, but the chill lifted enough that it woke me. There were hundreds of islands (or so it seemed) guarding the coastline of Croatia. Treed sentinels rising out of the blue green water.

I set up my camera. Snapped picture after picture in an attempt to capture the exact moment the sun crested the hilly islands and continued its assent into the sky.

My friends found me later on the deck not far from where I slept. The sun was firmly intrenched in the sky and I stood there staring forward, half shivering from a night of cold, abuzz with the adventure ahead of us.