A BLOGGER FROM SPLIT CITY ( CROATIA) MEDITATES ON HER LIFE.....
Hello, dear readers and fellow bloggers. In this post, I'll let my thoughts wonder a bit as I touch on a number of subjects. In other words, I'll get philosophical. I started this post writing about my multiple moves, but somehow it has grown into meditations about identity. It all started with a move, though. I moved seven times in the last six months. Each move was different, and for different reasons. All of them were in some ways work related, and each move was challenging in its own way.
First I moved from Mostar to Medena (near Trogir), then from Medena to Seget Donji (also near Trogir), then from Seget Donji to island Hvar. First I stayed at a friend's house because accommodation is hard to find, and then I moved to another apartment that flooded, so I had to move again into another rented house. Life lately was quite eventful, resulting in lots of wonderful memories acquired in a short time, but also lots of stress and thinking. Every time I had to drag all my things, clothes, cooking appliances, all of it with me. During those moves, the stunningly beautiful Split city served as a sort of basis.
Of course, Split is not just a place to keep my stuff. Split is my hometown. It is still the place I live in, at least part of the time, mostly on weekends. The other part of the time I live on the island now. I kind of still live in Mostar as well. So, I'm split between multiple places now, and two countries. When I choose Split as my 'blogging' or pen last name, this is the meaning I meant to capture, this feeling of feeling 'split' (and also of course the reference to Split city I'm from). I still feel 'split', and I suppose all of us do at some time in our life. We all wear lots of hats, especially as we get older. It's part of the adventure that is life.
Fun, right? Well, sometimes it is fun. Sometimes it is exhausting, but that it life. At the moment, I'm ok with my life despite the challenges. I do not feel like I have a right to complain about anything anytime, not when everyone is fighting their own battles, and especially now when I'm quite lucky in some ways. This sometimes fun but often exhausting life is always filled with decisions, decisions, decisions. Big ones and small ones. They all seem to matter. Every day, new decisions to be made. Every day an opportunity to rebuild, destroy or wrack ourselves.
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| A little gif that shows me wondering from Port Captain's building to Split city promenade (on my way to catch the bus) |
Browsing my photographs, one might be inclined to assume I'm on a vacation. I know I'm blessed to live in places that seem to scream vacation destination. The truth is that I haven't had a vacation in a very long time. I certainly didn't have one this Summer. I had a working Summer, and my Autumn has been quite busy so far as well. Not that I'm complaining, for I might have a vacation soon. Having a job is something to be grateful for in this economy. Moreover, I'm working more standard hours this Autumn, not like my long working hours in the Summer.
I'm well aware that I have a lot to be thankful for. I really am. There is always something to be grateful for while we are alive and breathing. Perhaps these days I have more to be grateful than in some of the past ones. Hopefully, I learnt a thing or two over the years. Experience does have a way of making life easier. I can think of a many a year that was harder in more ways than one. Why am then so surprised if I feel tired? The year 2025 was an Odyssey journey of sorts so far. It really feels that way. One should be allowed to feel tired after such a journey. It is possible to feel both tired and grateful.
It all started with a job change. It was very hard for me to leave my job because a number of reasons. One of them was that I had a great relationship with my colleagues and everyone. I had worked there for almost three years at that point and really established myself. However, I felt there was no future there due to a number of factors I do not plan to discuss right now. So, that first job change in this series was in the last December.
Funny how when I did a recap of year 2024, I predicated that 2025 will be a year when I will work a lot. My prediction certainly came true. I worked a lot and I moved a lot as well. I started January at a new job in Mostar. Again, I really hit it off with my colleagues and a part of me wanted to stay, but I decided to go forward. Right away, I knew this was not the place for me to stay for long, so I told the boss that I will stay for as long as it takes for them to find a replacement. After two months, I moved forward. Leaving my previous job was not an easy decision, leaving this one wasn't either, but I knew I had to keep moving. When I left those those two jobs, I left with gifts and good wishes from the colleagues. It is hard to leave good coworkers, but we choose our work based on more than that. Once you get going, it gets easier, though. You can always stay in contact with your ex-colleagues. It might not feel the same as working with them every day, but it can still be really nice.
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| This photograph was taken last March in Split (about the same time as these brutalist ones). |
Anyhow, after those two job changes, I freelanced for some time while looking for a new job. I applied for a few different jobs, got accepted at them all, but I declined them because I knew they were not the ones for me. I worked freelance for a time, dividing my time between Herzegovina and Croatia until I started my new seasonal job in late April. This job was a seasonal one and in some ways it was easier to opt for it because it was temporary. I choose it after declining some other offers, so this one was not chosen without thought either.
I moved to Medena near Trogir and worked there in a tourist camp for a few months. It was not easy getting used to a new place to live in but on overall I enjoyed my job even if it was naturally challenging at times. Another move was to come there, because from there I was moved by my boss to another location (Seget Donji) where I worked until the end of the Summer. It was a good experience, but by the end of it was quite tired. I lived apart from my significant other for months, and that was certainly an experience that was out of the ordinary. This job was seasonal so I did not think too much about it, I always knew it was temporary. I finished my job there in pretty good spirits. I really hit it off with one Argentina coworker, and we had really a fun time before she flew out of the country.
Anyhow, Summer was coming to its end, I had a few job options and I was trying to decide on the right one, when an unexpected opportunity presented itself. I decided to accept it despite the challenges, the move and everything. I'm still not sure will I have to move again soon, but that is life. Renting can be an adventure. I do have a place of my own, a house, but we cannot always be fortunate enough to live in our home. We try to make the most we can with what we have, and find some beauty in life in the process. The beauty is always there, present in one way or other, but we cannot always see it.
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| A collage of my two catamaran outfits. The Autumn sun was kind, so I could pose without the coat. |
| My oil on canvas dating back to 2014! I was just learning how to use oil paints here, but I had to paint my beautiful Split. |
Other notable places I illustrated in Split city include:
ZENTA MARINE MATEJUŠKA, SPLIT CITY (CROATIA) //, SPLIT CITY (CROATIA) / ŽNJAN BEACH, SPLIT CITY (CROATIA) // A SEAVIEW FROM A PARK (SPLIT, CROATIA) // PHOTODIARY: EN PLEIN AIR SKETCH// OIL PASTELS VS. WATERCOLOUR PENCILS (SPLIT, FIRULE ) // FASHION AND LOCATION ILLUSTRATION (SPLIT)
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| I seem to really love illustrate Split city...and can you blame me? |
Let us not forget about this oversized tartan scarf (New Yorker if I remember well) I nicked from my husband!
1-2) The first post where I have actually worn it and I styled it two ways with two different coats and same jeans:
https://modaodaradosti.blogspot.com/2019/02/two-casual-ways-to-wear-oversize-tartan.html
3) Last year around this time with a vintage skirt and a tweed jacket:
https://modaodaradosti.blogspot.com/2024/12/merry-christmas-and-happy-holidays-with.html
4-7) You can also see two recaps featuring this tartan scarf in 3 outfits:
https://modaodaradosti.blogspot.com/2021/12/5-december-outfits-mini-fashion-recap.html
https://modaodaradosti.blogspot.com/2021/01/january-recap-10-outfits-i-loved-wearing.html
So, originally I wanted to share the two recent outfits I wore for the catamaran ride, but then I decided to squeeze in another outfit that I wore back in March. It is very similar to my second catamaran styling, with the same leggings, boots and a coat. It is sort of my get to outfit, is it not?

I already linked up most outfits from this styling above, so I'll only put links for this blue ruffled mini dress.















Lindos atuendos. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteYou look so beautiful! 😍
ReplyDeleteIvana, thank you for sharing the complexities of your life and telling us about your numerous moves. Of course, this can be exhausting, even for someone as active as you.
ReplyDeleteI read in a book that moving is like a fire. When you move, you have to give up a number of things that you later look back on with regret. I'm writing about my many moves back then, when I was a student, and then after I graduated and went to work at a school.
ya que te has referido muchas veces a las limitaciones, es la primera vez que leo un post tuyo de un tirón a pesar del tiempo limitado que tengo (son la 1:50 de la madrugada) y hace 50 minutos que debería de estar acostado; pero no me quejo, pues ha sido un placer leerte, saber cómo piensas, tus reflexiones acerca de la vida, de las mudanzas, los diferentes cambios de trabajo que has tenido y conocer los bonitos lugares por donde transitas.
ReplyDeletetu post me hizo acordar sobre una reflexión que le hice a un bloguero argentino que también trató sobre el tema de la vida: "en esta vida se hace lo que se puede y la mayoría de veces nos equivocamos."
me han gustado tus dibujos.
un abrazo.