{"id":874665,"date":"2023-08-28T10:23:30","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T09:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/?p=874665"},"modified":"2025-07-10T10:39:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T09:39:43","slug":"leith-and-davids-balkans-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/leith-and-davids-balkans-diary\/","title":{"rendered":"“Don\u2019t wait until you\u2019re retired to travel.” – Leith and David’s Balkan’s Diary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The lucky winners of our Trafalgar Unlocked Awards<\/a> have set off on their fabulous 12-day tour of the Balkans<\/a>! One of the winners was Leith from Australia, who took her husband David – her \u201cbest friend and forever travel buddy\u201d. We caught up with Leith and David while they were on the road in the Balkans, to find out how they were enjoying the trip and what they love about traveling with Trafalgar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

My story begins just outside of Bergen in Norway\u2026on a beautiful farm owned by the Ovre-Eide Family. This was the destination for our \u201cBe My Guest\u201d Dinner on our \u201cScenic Scandinavia and it\u2019s Fjords\u201d trip with Trafalgar in May 2019. The farm has been worked by the same family for five generations. My husband David and I were two of the lucky twelve that had the privilege of dining down in their 500 year old meat and food cellar! If you are ever asked to volunteer to \u201cdine in the dungeon\u201d do it! You just might be pleasantly surprised! It was truly special. We both came away saying \u201cwhat an absolutely amazing, once in a lifetime experience!\u201d Thank you to the Ovre-Eide Family for making our visit to your home so memorable.<\/p>\nLeith’s Trafalgar Unlocked Awards entry<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

EXPERIENCE IT: <\/em><\/strong>Balkan Delight<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED CONTENT: ‘If you ever get asked to dine in a dungeon, do it!’ \u2013 Trafalgar Unlocked Award winner Leith’s story<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leith<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What has been the highlight of the trip so far?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leith:<\/strong> One of the highlights for me is the sense of family with our fellow travelers and it\u2019s just amazing and I really love Dubrovnik. It\u2019s just stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David: <\/strong>The coastline and the islands are just majestic and breathtaking and there\u2019s really nothing like it that I\u2019ve seen in any of my travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED CONTENT: Beyond Dubrovnik and Sarajevo: 10 off-the-radar Balkan towns to explore with Trafalgar<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CueojYZARu3\/?hl=en\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What were you feeling on the plane to Zagreb?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David:<\/strong> Gee I can\u2019t wait to have a shower! But we were definitely looking forward to landing and starting this fabulous tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Ct_y3zUAqIG\/?hl=en\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What are you most looking forward to?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David: <\/strong>Dubrovnik was definitely one of our highlights that we were looking forward to. But every place that we\u2019ve been to so far has been an eye-opener because this is our first time in the Balkans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leith: <\/strong>I\u2019m actually looking forward to going to Split and finding the Pandora shop so I can get a Croatia Pandora charm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED CONTENT: Experts tell us why the Balkans should be on your list of places to visit<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leith<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you give your younger selves when it comes to travel?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leith: <\/strong>Travel while you\u2019re young. Don\u2019t wait until you\u2019re retired to travel. If you can do it, do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David: <\/strong>Definitely, there are younger people in our group who just put in the hours and walking is no issue, and they do it to the nth degree, and I guess that\u2019s the advantage of being young. But even when you\u2019re older you\u2019re still enjoying it. There\u2019s a whole range of people on our tour. Age doesn\u2019t have to be a barrier but certainly the younger you are, go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED CONTENT: Why you shouldn’t wait until retirement to start travelling<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leith<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any travel advice?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David: <\/strong>My message is don\u2019t get hung up on possessions, rather life should be about experiences. Going with Trafalgar gives us so many great memories to cherish for the rest of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leith: <\/strong>My advice would be to definitely do a tour with a company like Trafalgar because the only thing you have to worry about is getting your bags out, say 6:30 in the morning, and getting on that coach ready to leave. The rest of the day, Trafalgar will absolutely look after you amazingly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED CONTENT: <\/em><\/strong>The Trafalgar diaries: On tour in the Balkans with our winners, Pt. 1<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leith<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How would you describe a Trafalgar tour in three words?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leith: <\/strong>Amazing, amazing, amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David: <\/strong>I can describe it in one word with three letters: Wow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED CONTENT: <\/em><\/strong>The Trafalgar diaries: On tour in the Balkans with our winners, Pt. 2<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you to Leith and David for sharing their story on the road in the Balkans! You can read more stories from our guests on the Balkans trip on <\/em><\/strong>The Real Word<\/em><\/strong><\/a> blog. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lucky winners of our Trafalgar Unlocked Awards have set off on their fabulous 12-day tour of the Balkans! One of the winners was Leith from Australia, who took her husband David – her \u201cbest friend and forever travel buddy\u201d. We caught up with Leith and David while they were on the road in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":874675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4909],"tags":[22601,199,22626,22442,19867,12351,21980,1689,12350,22495,22552],"class_list":["post-874665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-stories","tag-balkan-delight","tag-balkans","tag-balkans-tour","tag-balkans-travel","tag-trafalgar-community","tag-trafalgar-guest-stories","tag-trafalgar-guests","tag-trafalgar-tours","tag-trafalgar-travel-stories","tag-trafalgar-unlocked-awards","tag-trafalgar-unlocked-awards-winner"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLeith and David's Balkan's Diary - 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