Matt McCormick

I'm currently in the AIESEC office writing with my last few hours in Bosnia.  At 18:30 I'll be hopping on the bus to Skopje, Macedonia.  I have no idea how it gets there but I'm 99% sure it goes through Kosovo.  But don't worry.  I've been assured that its safe.  It can't be any more dangerous than the bus ride from Dubrovnik to Mostar.  Man, those drivers were crazy and the narrow winding roads along the mountain side didn't make it any more comfortable.

Croatian/Bosnian differences

I've noticed a couple major differences between the people of Bosnia and Croatia during the few days I've spent in Mostar and Sarajevo.  The obvious is that Bosnia is made up of a lot of people of different religions (Catholics, Moslems, Jews and Orthodox) whereas Croatia is basically all Catholics.  I find it adds a certain bit of culture to the country and reminds me more of Canada in that regard than Croatia does.

Another major difference is that Bosnians host you differently than Croatians.  In Bosnia usually one person picks up the bill for everyone and then people are expected to pay different times.  I haven't seen that happen in Croatia.

Also, in Croatia its very normal for people to wish you a good meal before you start eating (Dobar tek).  But in Bosnia its not so common for people to say that.  I was told that its usually only said if a person actually cooked the meal and its not said in general.

Anyways, there is lots I'd like to write but I must be off to the bus station now.  After a 14 hours bus ride I'll be in Skopje where I'll be staying with Patty.

I have 6.5 minutes remaining on my internet access for this hour.

Camping is going quite well although much more tiring than I thought.  Having the birds wake you up at 4am makes you realise that you should go to sleep earlier than midnight.  Add to the fact that I'm doing much more physical activity than normal and not eating as healthily, this means I'm bordering on the edge of sickness.

But its all fun.

I notice I have a lot of time to think which I'm really enjoying.

Dubrovnik is the most expensive place in Croatia I've visited so far so I'm only going to be spending one night here.  I'll leave tomorrow for Mostar, Bosnia at 5pm.  Which should still be enough time to see everything.

Actually, I haven't camped all the time.  Going to Zadar the ferry was an hour late leaving and then somehow managed to be 2 hours late arriving.  So I didn't get there until almost midnight.  In conclusion I splurged for the hostel!  Very relaxing!  I had a 3 person room all to myself....mmmmmm.

So far my route has been Rijeka - Mali Losinj - Zadar - Sibenik - Dubrovnik.

Off to Mostar tomorrow, Medugorje the day after followed by Sarajevo.

Time's up!

No Pula.  Since there is no ferry from Pula to Zadar.  So I'm skipping that and will be taking the ferry from Rijeka to Losinj tonight and then on to Zadar tomorrow.  The bad thing is that the ferry leaves in the afternoon which means I get there at dusk.  Since I'm camping this means I'll need to setup my tent in the dark both nights.  Let's hope it all goes well.

My trip has started!  Right now I'm in LC Rijeka's office checking some emails.  I took the 2.5 hour bus yesterday from Zagreb.  I realised something.  Although I'm lived in other places thanks to AIESEC, this is the first time I'm really traveling on my own - setting my own pace and schedule.  I will be staying with friends along the way but its a great feeling to be doing something new.

It's been great to meet the AIESECers from Rijeka again - especially just for relaxing and not having to worry about AIESEC...even though we talk about that :)  They're so friendly, hospitable and welcoming.  Its a great start to my trip.

Today I'm off to Opatija and will be heading to Pula tomorrow and most likely Zadar the day after.

I have a month before I will be in Warsaw for working on AIESEC's International Congress Committee as Transportation & Logistics Team Leader.

During that time I plan to visit:

Romania, Macedonia (Skopje & Ohrin), Belgrade, Bosnia (Sarajevo, Mostar, Medugorje), Croatian coast and Budapest.

Its quite difficult arranging travel in the Balkans as it is hard to find over the internet whether its possible to travel from one point to another.  But hopefully things will all work out.

With Chris Haynes setting up his own blog, I got inspired to add something to mine again.

I am almost exactly one week away from ending my term here in Croatia.  Overall its been an amazing experience here.  After National Planning Conference during our MC transition, people had told me that I had grown a lot during this year.  I guess its tough to see development in yourself without some kind of reference point (eg. going back home after a stay abroad).  I have learned a lot.

Amazingly, one of the biggest adjustments I've learned to make has been to live without a computer or television at home.  I must say I like it now.  I've had more time just to relax and think which is something I don't get the chance to do much of if I'm constantly occupied.

For my next steps, I have been selected to the Congress Organising Committee for AIESEC's International Congress to be held in Warsaw.  I'll be working as a Team Leader for Transportation and Logisitics from July 4-Sept 7.  It should be another amazing experience.  I'll be working with my own team of 9 people on a committee of dozens organising a two week conference for hundreds of delegates.  I can't wait!

Outside of that, I have been reading about Dubai which sounds like an incredible place to be right now.  So much so that I am starting to look into jobs there as an alternative to going back to Canada.

Well, its time for a blog update even if its a quick one.

So in the past couple months.....a lot of stuff has happened....

I'm now in Germany for the holidays and am spending them with Jenny.  Its good to see her again and I'm going to enjoy just relaxing and having some time off from AIESEC.  We've been out sightseeing since I arrived on the 21st and I'm sure there'll be more of that to come.

Last night Jenny actually took me to their LC meeting.  And here I thought I could get a break from AIESEC.  They even made me do a roll call :)

On a good personal note for me today, I had a chance to buy a couple (hopefully) good books.  I'll be looking forward to reading them over the holidays.

Will upload some pictures tomorrow and post pics of the Christmas Markets.  But for now, I'm going to sleep.

Thanks to Craig I now have an interest in internet entrepreneurship. The interest stems mainly from reading various entrepreneur blogs. These are people that post their money goals and ideas for all to read about. Some exampes are:

http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/">http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com
http://www.nevblog.com
http://retireyoungandwealthy.blogspot.com

Its pretty cool if you're doing something like that. Posting it up publically holds yourself accountable to the goals you've set.

Anyways, I was reading the entrepreneurs journey one today and stumbled on this site - http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com

In one month, this 21 year old university student has made almost $200,000 from selling ad "pixels"! I was blown away when I realized it!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4259504.stm

A suspected letter bomb attack on the UK embassy in Zagreb, Croatia, has left one man with minor injuries.

It wasn't that difficult after all.  I think it was covered up the first time I went looking cause they're doing construction there.  Only 4 more to go!