My crazy #RoadToHiveFest

I knew I would go to the HiveFest as soon as it was announced. That is, I will do everything to go. I can't tell what motivates me more - the sea that I miss so much (Split is a lovely ancient Croatian city on the shores of the Adriatic Sea) or the unforgettable ambiance and my friends from Hive that I miss even more. 💔 I met with some of them in Krakow last year as I couldn't make it to Mexico. Thanks to the magical abilities of @Gandalf and the hospitality of @hallmann it was a memorable gathering during the charming fall season, and I often think back to those days. I must confess that @arcange was absolutely right when he convinced me to go to my first HiveFest in Amsterdam in 2022 saying that after experiencing it once, I would never miss it. 🙂 At least, not of my own free will. 😅 This is absolutely true.

Also, there is a personal reason for visiting Split. Vacation in Split was my first experience in planning and organizing a solo trip abroad for me and my future hubby. It was 15 years ago! I think it would be nice to re-visit it and find out how much I remember and how much this city and we have changed.

✅ Making a decision. Done.

I was not active on Hive lately. I guess this is because I badly need a pause, a break, a vacation - whatever you call it. And I supposed HiveFest would be my long-awaited escape from my daily madness but this is the case when before you can get relief from stress, you have to go through even more stress.

Besides, I made the task more complicated this year (therefore more difficult) by deciding not to go alone but with someone from the family. My daughter @nataliabuchynska is a big sea lover on one hand and a hardworker on the other hand. My hubby is in the (war) military on the one hand but supposed to have a leave on other hand. They have stayed in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war, and I believe that they deserve a rest no less than I do. So I really wanted one (or two) of them to go with me.

So, the next step was to choose transport. Due to the war, the airspace over Ukraine is closed. Otherwise, it would be a direct flight Kyiv-Split. Now we have to choose between bus or car (very bad idea), trains (not a good idea), and plane + train(s) (the best available).

I chose Warsaw as the departure city. This is the largest nearest airport and the most congested route from Kyiv.

✅ Plane tickets Warsaw - Split - Warsaw. Done with some remarks.

I forgot that my daughter changed her last name after marriage when I bought the ticket for her. And she forgot to reissue her foreign passport. So I had to apply for a name change. And now we hope that her passport will be ready in time.😬

Next is to get to Warsaw.

✅ Bus tickets for my daughter. Done.

This was easy as there are lots of private buses from her city available in advance.

Accomodation. There was a tempting offer from the HiveFest organizers, good accommodation and a discount. Unfortunately, I could not use the chance when someone (thanks @lordbutterfly, @roelandp and all behind the scenes!) had already done all the work for me. We needed some additional options, so I had to do it myself. And it was a difficult search given the available wide range of choices. As a result, I pre-booked 2 apartments as I could not choose just 1 with the intention of canceling one of them later. Finally, I canceled them both yesterday and paid for the 3rd.😜 No refund. No regrets. Hopefully. 😁

✅ Accommodation in Split. Done.

Time to get tickets to HiveFest2024, isn't it? Seems the most straightforward stuff but it was not there. I bought the ticket for me for HBD. My daughter is a minnow and has not enough HBD. And it turned out that reduced tickets are not available for fiat.

✅ HiveFest tickets. Done (with the help of my friends 💖)

The last but not least - tickets to Warsaw. And the part I hate the most.😖

Our local operator introduced a nice-looking latest-greatest app for buying train tickets since my thorny path to HiveFest two years ago. But this is a false impression when it comes to the purchase. It is still impossible to buy train tickets to Warsaw in their app or without it. Due to stress, I hardly slept for the last 3 nights. The sale started today at 9:00 a.m but I could not make it in their app. Thank goodness for my hubby. With his help, we got tickets to Warsaw a ticket to Warsaw via another Polish city. It will take us more time and nerves but this is the price we pay now for everything...

✅ Train tickets. Done.