It was only last week that I found myself staring at a few old photographs sent to me by a friend in England. These weren’t just any photos—oh no, these were the kind of relics that, when they land in your inbox, have the uncanny ability to make you feel both nostalgic and slightly nauseous.

The photos, apparently discovered in the loft by my friend’s daughter (who, naturally, asked, “Dad, who is this in the photo?” with all the horror of someone discovering a forgotten family member from a bygone era), date back to around 30 to 35 years ago.

Back when, believe it or not, I was an Englishman living in England, still remarkably unburdened by the weight of middle age, and sporting a physique that, let’s just say, hadn’t yet been conditioned by too much pršut!

The photos were taken during a trip to Cornwall, back when my Croatian wife and I were not yet married (ah, the wild and carefree days of pre-marital adventures). We had travelled down to the wilds of the English coast in a VW camper van that, frankly, looked more like a tin can on wheels than a reliable form of transportation.

We camped in a tent, because apparently we thought the best way to experience the great outdoors was to sleep on the ground and pretend we weren’t one emergency blanket away from contracting hypothermia.

And the whole thing? It looked like an audition for a 1970s film about Woodstock, with all the bohemian charm you could imagine.

Of course, in those days, we didn’t have the luxury of a mobile phone to document every passing moment of our lives.

That’s right, children, there was no "selfie culture"—no Instagram to post a photo of our tent or the slightly damp, saggy sleeping bags we fought over. No, we had to rely on these mysterious objects called cameras—those clunky, film-rolling devices that, when you took a picture, required a trip to the local chemist to develop the film and see if you’d managed to press the shutter button at all. If you were lucky, you got 36 chances to capture life, and you only realised how bad your shot was when the photos came back a week later.

And don’t even get me started on waiting to see how many embarrassing shots you had taken with your eyes half-closed.

Ah, the innocent bliss of pre-digital life. But I digress. The real revelation here is how young I looked. Not just younger in the way that people often say, “Oh, you’ve not changed a bit”—a sentiment that, frankly, you only hear from people who haven’t actually seen you in years—but young in the way that only people under 30 can appreciate. I

had the kind of energy that could only be summoned by a carefree world without social media to compare myself to everyone else. I wasn’t yet weighed down by existential dread about the future. The only real questions were whether I had packed enough snacks for the road and how soon I could get my hands on a pint of warm, flat beer after a long day of surfing.

But oh, how the world has changed since then.

Now, in 2024, I’m an expat living in Dubrovnik, where the sun never sets, the walls of the Old City remain forever Instagrammable, and everyone’s hair is more well-groomed than it has any right to be. Life has somehow turned from a series of spontaneous, off-the-cuff adventures to an endless stream of carefully curated posts, tagged memories, and algorithms designed to tell you what to wear, eat, and believe.

Who needs an AI-enhanced photo when your memories are etched in a far more meaningful way: the way we lived those moments, without needing to post them in real time or worry about whether they’d get enough likes?

What would I tell my 20-something-year-old self?

I suppose, in retrospect, I might say something like: “Buy some stock in Amazon, and for heaven’s sake.” But ultimately, perhaps I would tell myself the most important thing: Don’t take it all too seriously.

The world will throw a thousand shiny gadgets and AI breakthroughs at you, but it will still be the moments, the human connections, and the absurdity of it all that will make life worth living.

As Albert Einstein so wisely put it, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

Read more Englishman in Dubrovnik…well, if you really want to

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About the author

Mark Thomas (aka Englez u Dubrovniku) is the editor of The Dubrovnik Times. He was born and educated in the UK and moved to live in Dubrovnik in 1998. He works across a whole range of media, from a daily radio show to TV and in print. Thomas is fluent in Croatian and this column is available in Croatia on the website – Dubrovnik Vjesnik

In the Republic of Croatia, today, November 18, 2024, is observed as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Homeland War and the Sacrifice of Vukovar and Škabrnja. It is a national holiday dedicated to remembering all those who suffered during the Homeland War, particularly in Vukovar and Škabrnja.

Croatia reflects on one of the darkest days in its recent history, when in 1991, after 87 days of extraordinary resistance, the defense of the City of Heroes was overcome, and the city was subsequently occupied by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serbian paramilitary forces. In the "Column of Remembrance," thousands of people from Croatia and abroad will march from the hospital to the memorial cemetery, paying tribute to the victims in a city that will forever remain a symbol of defense during the Homeland War.

Ryanair has announced a new seasonal service connecting Zadar and Rome Fiumicino, launching on May 3. Initially operating twice weekly, the frequency will increase to three times per week in June. This marks the return of flights between the two cities, last operated in August 2023. Rome becomes Ryanair’s 52nd destination from Zadar.

Additionally, the budget carrier will introduce a new route between Zagreb and Palermo, with tickets now available. Both routes are part of Ryanair’s continued expansion in Croatia.

Major media outlets are leaving X, formerly Twitter, citing disinformation and a toxic environment under Elon Musk's ownership. Musk, a vocal supporter of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, has faced criticism for aligning the platform with Trump’s political ambitions.

The Guardian, La Vanguardia, and Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter have stopped publishing on X, accusing it of promoting far-right conspiracy theories and harmful content. Experts note that X now facilitates polarized discussions, damaging journalistic credibility.

Meanwhile, millions of users are flocking to Bluesky, a decentralized alternative, which gained over a million new users in just 24 hours. However, Bluesky’s 16 million users remain a fraction of X’s audience.

The departures highlight growing dissatisfaction with X and concerns about the platform’s role in enabling misinformation ahead of Trump’s administration.

According to data from the eVisitor system, around 2,600 tourists are currently staying in Dubrovnik, 26% more than at the same time last year.

The most numerous visitors are from Croatia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Montenegro.

Since the beginning of the year, Dubrovnik has recorded 1.318 million arrivals and 4.191 million overnight stays, a 10% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

The average net monthly salary in Zagreb reached €1,513 in August, marking a 0.5% increase from July and a 13.3% rise year-on-year, according to city statistics.

Workers in the crude oil and natural gas sector earned the highest average salary at €2,207, while those in leather manufacturing had the lowest, at €861.

Zagreb’s average net salary was €189 higher than the national average of €1,324. The median salary in the city was €1,308, meaning half of employees earned less and half more.

The average gross salary in Zagreb rose to €2,160, up 0.7% from July and 13.4% compared to August 2023.

Consumer prices in Croatia increased by 2.2% in October compared to the same month last year, according to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS). This marks the end of a five-month trend of declining annual inflation rates, which had dropped to 1.6% in September.

The largest annual price hikes were seen in restaurants and hotels (+10.6%), followed by miscellaneous goods and services (+6.7%) and education (+5.3%). Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 4.8%, while energy prices fell by 4.5%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased by 1.1%, with clothing and footwear leading the surge (+10.5%).

Inflation measured by the EU-harmonized index (HIPC) stood at 3.6% year-on-year, highlighting ongoing cost-of-living challenges.

The Dubrovnik-Neretva County Tourist Board showcased its offerings at the prestigious Nordic Roadshow 2024, held under the slogan "Meet the World." This promotional event took place from November 11 to 14 in the capitals of the Nordic countries—Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, and Copenhagen.

With significant support from the Stockholm-based marketing agency Aviareps, which extended an invitation to the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Tourist Board for the fifth time, the county was presented as an attractive destination for Nordic travelers.

The presentation program began on November 11 in Stockholm, in the impressive Palmsalen congress hall. The next day, November 12, the event moved to Helsinki, where meetings and discussions were held in the Kulttuurikasarmi hall. On November 13, the program continued in Oslo at the Continental Hotel, with the final presentation held on November 14 in Copenhagen, at the Scandic Kodbyen Hotel.

All presentations were highly professional, attended by numerous agents and media representatives. Participants were offered structured opportunities for individual discussions, further encouraging networking and collaboration.

Visitors from Scandinavia have recognized the beauty of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County; in the first ten months of 2024, 96,566 tourists from this region visited the county, generating a total of 439,250 overnight stays. These figures highlight the growing interest of Scandinavians in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, with the Nordic Roadshow serving as an ideal platform for further promotion.