The Croatian blogging community is quite small. So small in fact that when a journalist from the national media asked me for suggestions of other quality foreign bloggers a couple of years ago, it took me a while to come up with three.
But I was sure about the first name, a crazy Australian lady in a small village somewhere near Zadar, who had not only relocated halfway across the world to a country where she did not speak the language, but had done it with a small child, while building a home and embracing a new culture.
And STILL she managed to blog.
Prodigiously.
Several people have told me that the increasingly popular Chasing the Donkey blog is the best in Croatia, and who am I to disagree. Sarah-Jane Begonja has taken to her task of discovering all aspects of Croatia and all parts of Croatia with such gusto that I am surprised she has not been snapped up by the national tourist board as a real asset (ok, it is the national tourist board we are talking about - perhaps not so surprising..). SJ, as she is better known, has an extremely positive and humorous outlook on life in Croatia, and her blog is extremely entertaining and a must-read for anyone thinking of moving to Croatia or trying to learn more about life here. While I dither between Pinterest or Instagram, and depend on auto-tweeting to cover my Twitter needs, SJ is a social media machine, somehow able to fit everything in with her duties as mother and house-builder.
I know she doesn't have much spare time, but I thought I would ask if she would be interested in working with us at Total Croatia News, and I was more than delighted when she said yes, and even more delighted when she sent her first contribution - a great article about Opatija - two days later. Thanks for your support, SJ, and I look forward to that relaxing bottle of wine and chat very soon. A little about SJ, by SJ.
"Sarah-Jane Begonja packed up her life as Marketing Manager in Australia and now along with her husband and son calls a small Croatian village home. SJ first fell in love with Croatia in 2000 and now shares her passion for discovering Croatia on her travel blog called Chasing the Donkey where you'll find hints and tips about travelling Croatia, and making Croatian food. Connect with her on Twitter or Facebook."
Why not join us? We are launching soon and eager to welcome people with a positive contribution to make to this idealistic project. Or why not follow Total Croatia News on Facebook?
