Living in Croatia

January the 25th, 2023 - When it comes to life in Croatia, especially for a foreigner, there are many ups and downs that you won't be remotely acquainted with. The special little quirks of life in Croatia (be they good or bad) are the spice of life. Sometimes those spices are invigorating, and other times they just give you diarrhoea. One trap you will naturally end up falling into, whether you express it or not, is comparing Croatia to your home country. This is something that is absolutely unavoidable and we all do it. Anyone who tells you that they…

January the 18th, 2023 - In this edition of How to Croatia, I'm going to take you through some of the sometimes rather surprising and unpleasant motions (and emotions) living abroad can stir up. From expat groups to dealing with homesickness and more, making it work means getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. Remember when you were a kid and it was enough to tell another random kid you’d never met before that you liked his toy dinosaur and that was it, you ended up being friends with no questions asked. How simple life once was. As adults who obsess over…

January the 11th, 2023 - In this edition of How to Croatia, I'll take you through the topic of Croatian LGBTIQ+ rights, as well as laws, amendments, and the steps the country has taken as an EU, Eurozone and Schengen member state to align its domestic laws with those of the wider bloc. Croatian LGBTIQ+ rights have expanded considerably over more recent years, with Gay Pride parades and associated events now generally taking place without much incident, which wasn’t the case at all several years ago. The Croatian Constitution defines marriage as being the union between a man and a…

January the 4th, 2023 - In this edition of How to Croatia, we're going to be exploring the reasons why you should make the effort to learn the language, and that Croats having an excellent grasp of English should never a be a get out of jail free card. I’ll be frank, learning Croatian is difficult unless you happen to have a Slavic language as your mother tongue. It has been listed as among the most difficult languages to pick up in the world on multiple occasions, and I’ll also be frank when I say many expats don’t bother trying…

December the 21st, 2022 - When it comes to purchasing Croatian property, there are (rather unsurprisingly) numerous things to note. Some of them are very, very important. From lawyers to the Ministry of Justice and zoning (read on, it will make sense eventually) - here's what you need to know. First of all, foreigners are able to buy property in Croatia, with more and more of them snapping up real estate on the glorious Adriatic coast and using them as summer homes or indeed renting them out as a way to make back what is usually a heft investment. While…

December the 14th, 2022 - In this edition of How to Croatia, let's explore the numerous ways you can get from point A to point B (and to the points dominated by a few other letters, as well), be that by using the roads, maritime transport, or the air. For such a small country, Croatia has numerous transport options which are generally very good. An array of bus companies, both domestic and foreign, operate on Croatia’s roads, and while Croatian trains are another kettle of fish entirely, bus, maritime and even domestic air connections and the ease of which public…

December 7, 2022 – In today’s edition of How to Croatia, we are bringing an overview of the Croatian education system from early childhood to higher education. The Croatian education system starts with childcare or formally with the preschool year. While the earliest that children can be enrolled is at six months in jaslice (Croatian term for nursery), the mandatory aspect of education typically starts at the beginning of the year before the start of primary school at the age of 6 and lasts until the age of 14. Secondary and higher education in Croatia are accessible to all but…

November the 30th, 2022 - Imagining yourself lounging around on a Dalmatian beach with a cold beer in hand is all well and good, but unless you've won the lottery or have a foreign wage or pension coming in every month, how do you fund it? Here's how to get a job (legally), in this edition of our How to Croatia series. I know, it might be funny to read ‘working in Croatia’ considering the reality that the Croatian economy isn’t exactly booming and an enormous number of people are out of work for various reasons. There is a demographic…

November the 23rd, 2022 - In this edition of How to Croatia, I'll take you through the ins and outs Croatian emergency services, be there a fire, sudden chest pain, a broken down car or an emergency out at sea. Forget your 999s and your 911s. 112 is the number you’ll need to memorise when it comes to the Croatian emergency services. While we always hope no tragedy of any kind will befall us, the chance is always there. 112 is a free phone number which can be called 24/7 from a fixed phone (landline) or mobile phone to reach…

November the 16th, 2022 - Croatian wildlife is abundant, and while the vast majority of the furry, scaled and feathered inhabitants of this country are harmless, there are some characters that you'll more than likely never even catch a glimpse of, but if you do happen to run or swim into one - you'd better know what to do. Nobody can really talk about mountains and the less inhabited areas of Dalmatia without talking about some rather venomous residents of those areas, and I’m not talking about a local baka armed with the latest gossip about who is getting divorced…