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This summer, we spent 10 days vacationing with 28 family members on my father’s side. In Croatia. You’ve heard me talk about these epic biannual family reunions (and I’ve shared pictures before from Italy, Canada, Greece (https://jayemclaughlin.com/2019/09/moments-of-the-month-cottage19/) , and Breezy Point (https://jayemclaughlin.com/2022/08/moments-of-the-month-summer-2022/) here in the past). Today I finally put together a slideshow of photos I like to make and shared it with everyone.
What I Want to Remember
The things I want to remember about the trip — the feelings, the relationships, the details, the fun … all of it — are best contained in that slideshow. The truth is, though, that the slideshow is LONG and really only interesting to people who were on the trip. (What, you REALLY want to see it? OK, it’s HERE.) There’ll be a book, too, eventually. Come on over. I’ll show you that, too if you like.
That’s for my personal memories. But it occurred to me as people have asked about this epic trip with the thought of planning thier own trips to beautiful Croatia. Why not save those recommendations in one place?
There’s a huge caveat here. You cannot have my 27 family members. THEY are what makes the trip awesome every single time. I mean, obviously I love my family … but that’s not even what I’m talking about here. Our group of 28 inludes:
- a professional travel advisor
- the head chef at the American Academy or Rome (and several other excellent cooks)
- a bunch of great musicians
- several talented photographers
- multiple skilled bartenders
- an Ayurvedic masseuse and yoga instructor
- great dancers
… basically the kind of people who would make any vacation, anywhere great. We sure are lucky!
I can’t provide these kinds of people for you. But! Maybe you know people like this in your own life! Here are some links to some wonderful things we did. These might help in your planning!
Villa in Zadvarje
The villa is about 40 minutes outside of Split. While the rooms themselves are not at all fancy, this villa has everything you need for 28 people to spread out, relax and have fun. Think massive pool for swimming, lounging and water polo, a party room with a disco ball, karaoke and foosball, a ping pong table, multiple projectors for movie nights, a trampoline, a playground set, a hot tub and sauna, an outdoor kitchen and bar, and several seating areas. All with views that knocked our socks off.
Restaurants
The food, the views the fact that they were able to accomodate our massive group!
https://www.konoba-galinac.hr/
Pod Odrnom
Boats!
We learned during our Greece trip in 2024 that ‘boat days are the BEST days’, so this time there were TWO boat trips. The first involved two slow boats to beautiful swimming holes caves and towns on the nearby village of Brac:
https://www.clickandboat.com/en/boat-rental/jesenice/motorboat/krilo-jesenice-motorboat-86829k2
And the second one was three speedboats that took us as far as the larger island of Hvar:
https://palladium-makarska.com
Tours
My favorite thing about taking a tour in a new place is the tour guides. They’re enthusiasts who know and love the place or thing they’re guiding us through – it’s infectious. We did a great tour of Split with Neves and a really fun tour of Dubrovnik with Kresimir. Look them up if you’re in town!
Dubrovnik Old Town: https://www.airbnb.com/trips/v1/1742734041448658774/ro/EXPERIENCE_RESERVATION/TACWEXRR
Diversion Through Rome
I’m not being dramatic when I tell you that we came as close as I have ever come to a plane crash as we tried to land in Dubrovnik. High winds had the massive plane swinging from side to side and at the VERY last moment (literal feet from the runway), the captain aborted the landing and we lifted back up in the air. The captain soon came on the pa to inform us that we’d be diverted to Rome for a night. This, of course, soon felt like an extra pre-planned surprise. You can’t plan this suff, but boy did we make lemonade. And on the shuttle bus to the terminal in Rome, I found this AirBnb at a crazy intense day-of discount: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1568018083397582763?guests=1&c=.pi129.pkpast_trip_share_virality&s=67&unique_share_id=8f31800b-226d-447b-8964-66db89d044a3
It was definitely an epic trip. You can see some video faves in my “Croatia 2026” highlight here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcOREbEFo7O/
Thanks for looking,
Jaye
Jaye McLaughlin is an award-winning newborn and family photographer serving Westchester, NYC, and beyond since 2010. Her work focuses on natural, lifestyle photography that helps families slow down and remember the beauty of everyday life together.
