I came to Croatia to participate in the Island Birds project and learn more about birds and conservation, gain more experience, learn new methodologies, and improve my skills in communication and environmental education. But what I will bring back home is this and much more!

This project made me jump a lot from place to place. With my things in a backpack, I travelled a lot in ferries, bus and car. In my free time, I kept doing the same – is there a better way to have fun?

Living in another country means getting to know a new culture, and as I visited different regions and lived in the South and in the North of Croatia it was curious to notice the differences between them. Moreover, I meet people and volunteers from different countries and we all shared our cultures, languages and food – it’s funny to discover the differences and what we have in common, for example that Croatian people also like a lot to drink coffee. Throughout this trip, I had great moments as a biologist, like when I was on the boat and saw Yelkouan and Scopoli´s shearwaters flying so near us or when we hold them to help ringing and put satellite tags, but I improved more than only my biologist skills. I learned history and a new language, I did new activities and found new challenges, I did things that I thought I couldn’t do it, I cooked for a group of more than 10 people and it wasn’t a disaster, I visited new places and added more to my wish list, I discovered new music, films and books, I made friends, I wandered, I discovered more about myself. And I grew up!

This journey was much bigger, beautiful and fantastic! And I will come home full of good memories!

I hope to see you again.