I spent my 1st day in Zadar working from my bed. I spent my 2nd day in Zadar hiking the national park 2 hours away. My 3rd day in Zadar? I was trapped in my hostel wearing only Nike shorts and a tank top.

Because I was exposed to bed bugs, I needed all of my laundry to be washed in hot water. The hostel obviously offered to do it, and I gladly took them up on their offer. It would take three hours to wash and dry, and then I could pack everything away and catch a bus to Zagreb.

I gave them the items of my backpack tied up in trash bags at 8:30am and went back to bed. I woke up at 11:30am (I slept hard since I didn’t get much sleep with the bed bugs the night before), and I went to reception to ask about my clothes.

The owner of the hostel told me that they still weren’t in the dryer yet, but they would be soon. Another hour.

I went back at 12:30pm. Still not done.

1:30pm. Still not done.

Finally at 2:30pm my laundry was delivered to me in a laundry basket. As I was going through my clothes, I didn’t recognize certain items. And that’s when I realized – some of my darker clothes have bled through to my lighter clothes. And now they’re a lovely dull gray.

Luckily for me, I own a lot of black, and it didn’t effect those. And the things that did change colors are items that didn’t super matter. Undergarments, a shirt that I didn’t like much, etc.

I can’t control what happened, you know? I had bed bugs. My clothes got a little ruined. But I can control my attitude towards it. So instead of getting frustrated at the hostel owner for the many woes she’s bestowed upon me, I packed up my bag grateful to be rid of the horrible little bugs and moved on.

And now I’m taking a bus to Zagreb where I’ll be staying at an Airbnb for the night before flying out in the morning. The host has generously offered to pick me up from the bus station AND drive me to the airport in the morning. Next level service right there.

So my priorities tonight are:

• Get snacks for the plane tomorrow (long day ahead)
• Pick up some dinner
• Relax in the massive Airbnb bathtub.

Gonna be a good night.