Long bus rides are not my thing. I envy those who can fall asleep, tune out someone’s else’s headphone music, or news from the driver’s radio. There’s always that one person who refuses to turn off the sound of the shutter on their phone. Seriously – how many pictures do you need to take of the same ocean? God, I suck at falling asleep on a bus.

We were chasing clouds on our way from Split to Pržno. I’ve never seen clouds just sit along the road for, what must’ve been, hundreds of miles. And, if you’ve never taken a bus from Croatia to Montenegro, you’re in for an adventure. Our bus driver was fearless. Or reckless. It really depends on how awake you are during the entire drive.

It rained that whole day. In retrospect, the road must’ve been slippery. So I wondered for 4 hours straight whether or not we would end up careening off a cliff. I kept turning over to Chris to see if he’s awake. No joy. I had so much time to myself, I started to feel like I was invading my own mental privacy.

There’s something funny about having limited visibility. It’s like running through fog. You’re careful at first. You wonder if there’s something in front of you or behind you. But, eventually, it feels natural to run fast through it. Slowing down actually feels a lot sketchier. I can’t help but wonder if our driver felt the same way.

He was fearless. And on time.

I think I was the only person awake during the entire trip. The seaside towns played hide and seek. We’d have limited visibility every few minutes before getting a split-second view of something – small islands, fishing villages, secret beaches, abandoned churches.

The whole trip was about 7 hours including an hour and a half stopover in Dubrovnik. It’s probably the shortest trip I’ve ever taken for 5 stamps in my passport on the same day. At this rate, I’ll be needing a new passport the next time I’m in New York.