"BackPack" vanelic's Profile

«Backpacking? What's that?», that was my line several years ago when one day I entered a backpacking website by accident. It was totally unkown area not only to me but also for the people around me. I started reading that site, then another one, and another one after that... And that's how my huge love for backpacking started...

Clock Tower in Rijeka, Croatia

Hi! My name is Vedran and I am a 22 year-old guy currently living in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. I was born on September 8th 1981 in Rijeka, a city in the north Adriatic, where I finished elementary and high school. In 2000 it was time for my first big step. I moved to Zagreb, away from my family and entered the Zagreb University, the biggest and most important in the country. It wasn't difficult to choose which subjects to study as I was always interested in History and Spanish language and literature so I decided to have a go. And I love it! My first touch of backpacking phenomena was in 2001, although I visited several countries earlier in my life through different organized tours. That year, in September and October, I decided to put my internet backpacking knowledge into action. I went 7 days to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. My first guidebook was Lonely Planet's guide to Central Europe and I found it very useful. From that point I became inseparable with Lonely Planet's guidebooks and highly recommend them to everyone. Next year, that was 2002, I went to several one-day trips what was crowned with September/October trip to Romania and Turkey. This time my intention was to backpack few days longer than the year before and at the end it was 14 days. So far this has been my dearest trip ever with Turkey, as an incredible surprise. People were nice, food as well, monuments among the most beautiful in the whole wide world ? and everything was so cheap... What more can one ask?!

St Mark's Church in Zagreb, Croatia

And now, we're in 2003. A year that brought so many new things into my life again. This year I decided to connect my biggest passion, travelling, with some paying job. And a friend of mine suggested me to become a tour leader. I went looking around for the info and soon enlisted into 6-month school to become one, seeing it as an excellent opportunity to travel and at the same time being paid. In April 2003 I received my tour leader licence and have travelled since, leading groups around Croatia and abroad. It isn't an easy job, that's for sure. But its positive things outcome the negative ones. In October 2003 I went travelling for 12 days across the Balkans visiting Serbia-Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia-Hercegovina. Year 2004 was a year of my biggest backpacking adventures. First in March 2004 I spent 10 days travelling across Ireland, Italy and Belgium and then in October 2004 I went 4 weeks to Africa - Morocco and Mali. Great countries and even greater people, very kind and hospitable. My recomendation to everyone!
26 countries, 26 nations, 26 different cultures so far... And more to come...

Intro Updated Jan 16, 2005
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Comments (13)

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sachara Sep 7, 2008 at 10:55 PM

Vedran, happy birthday greetings from the Netherlands !
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ani_istanbul Sep 8, 2005 at 1:03 PM

*happy birthday*
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jmhenry1123 Sep 8, 2005 at 9:37 AM

Happy Birthday from Chicago! Happy travels.
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shintarojon Sep 8, 2005 at 3:17 AM

Maligayang Kaarawan! Filipino way of saying Happy B-day!! Greetings from 7,107 Islands Philippines!!
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carfan Sep 7, 2005 at 11:51 PM

Birthday greetings from Scotland
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SaschaSER Jan 23, 2005 at 4:11 PM

Pozdrav Vedrane. Poslao sam ti mail, nadam se da je stigao do tebe. Poz
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diocletianvs Sep 8, 2004 at 8:05 AM

Sretan rodjendan!
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dharmabum222 Sep 8, 2004 at 7:35 AM

Happy birthday wishes from New York!
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seattlesmiley Sep 7, 2004 at 6:59 PM

Happy Birthday wishes to you! Hope you have a very special day with your loved ones and a year full of exciting travel adventures. :) Susan in Sydney
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ovejaras Jul 28, 2004 at 12:10 PM

Backpacking, haha :o). Nisam ni ja znala do prije neki dan! Pozdrav. Isidora