BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

Bosnia & Herzegovina is a country that I knew very little about before recently visiting. I am embarrassed to admit that everything I knew about the country stemmed from the Bosnian war in the early 90s. I had imagined it being a war-torn place that I would never visit - another world away. In fact, I probably couldn't have pointed to it out on a map. Bosnia & Herzegovina is now the 39th country that I have visited and I have my opinions about it.

NEUM | BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

If you have ever looked into planning a trip to Croatia, you may have noticed that to get from Split to Dubrovnik, you have to drive through Bosnia & Herzegovina.  This small sliver of the country that extends to the Adriatic is home to the vacation town of Neum. When planning our trip through Croatia, I was a little nervous about driving through Bosnia & Herzegovina and didn't really know what to expect but knew that I wanted to take the chance to cross this country off my list. So, we added a day in Neum to the agenda having done little to no research.

Crossing the border from Croatia into Bosnia & Herzegovina was uneventful and we were now in a place that looked no different from the last few hours of driving. As we approached Neum, we could see a hillside town that was filled with resorts. We decided to grab some lunch and spend a little time at one of those resorts.

HOTEL SUNCE | NEUM

We noticed that Hotel Sunce had an incredible pool overlooking the coast so we decided to stop in for a visit. The town seemed empty for a resort town in early June but we enjoyed having it basically to ourselves. Amanda soaked up the sun in the pool while I got some drone shots of the area. Afterwards, we walked a few of the streets to visit some of the shops and talk to some of the locals. And, of course, get a souvenir magnet. We decided on an outdoor restaurant down by the water for lunch. The food was amazing and the staff was incredible. We were sad that we hadn't decided to add a night in Neum to our itinerary but it was time to continue on to Dubrovnik.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

I am so happy that I was able to See Bosnia & Herzegovina for myself and form my own opinions about it. I find that too often we make judgements of people and places based on things that we hear and see on the news and other places. Each place that I have been that I was a little nervous about traveling to has pleasantly surprised me and fueled my desire to see more places. Traveling has really opened my mind and made me a more tolerant and understanding person towards others that may not be exactly like me. I think that it is an experience that you can only gain by doing it and think that everyone should make it a point to venture outside of their comfort zone. In the end, my answer to the question about whether Bosnia and Herzegovina is safe to travel is YES!

If you want to follow along with our 25-day wedding / honeymoon trip, you can see more of our adventures in Malta, Italy, the Vatican, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro.