This doesn’t happen to all men…But at 23 I’ve reached a point where my beard hair is thicker than my head hair…

This imperfection has been pointed out to me by strangers, acquaintances, friends, really anyone. I remember the first comment I ever got was from a girl named Marae, some of my friends and I were just jumping on a trampoline when she says, “nice receding hairline Connor” Her comment came out of nowhere, just like that, I don’t even know how I responded, I think a confused “uh…thanks?” was my retort, haha. I was 17 or 18 and unaware that I was even loosing my hair at that point…

Years passed and comments akin to those continued to flow. Malicious intent or not those comments had managed to fester themselves into a major insecurity of mine. It was/is out of my control and that’s what pissed me off the most…Fucking genetics!! Why me?? Why this young?? I was self-conscious about it, but I knew I wasn’t going to Donald Trump it or seek security by wearing a hat everywhere I go for the rest of my life.

I can say that the past 50 or so days of traveling around Europe meeting complete strangers and consequently turning the majority of said strangers into gaggles of awesome new friends from everywhere in the world gave me the courage to just one day wake up, find a barber shop in Korenica Croatia, a place where most people only speak a language I can’t begin to comprehend, face my fear of becoming “baldielocks” as I was once called, point at a 1/8th inch buzzer attachment, give the lady thumbs up, and let er rip!

This was the finally product.

I was honestly so stoked walking down the street after leaving the barber. I felt great. There was no longer anything to cover up, hide, or worry about. Strolled on down to the hostel, had a shower and packed up my things to head out that evening to Split, Croatia. I had bought a bus ticket to go to Split from Korenica, around 150 mile (~245KM) trip. The bus was supposed to leave at 5:10…So I stroll on down to the bus station, it was about a 20 minute walk from my hostel. I show up at 4:45, plenty of time to make sure I was in the right place. 5:10 comes and goes and finally a bus rolls in at around 5:30 sporting the same logo as my ticket. I jump on and talk to the driver, he tells me that this was the wrong bus. The one that I had a ticket for had, “broken down.”

Sweet, just what I was hoping to hear!!! haha… I kept it mellow and sought a solution using logic. I walked into the store next to the bus station, grabbed some paper and jotted “SPLIT” down in the biggest letters that would fit on the piece of pastry paper I’d obtained, began walking to my hostel holding my thumb and sign out the entire way. Just as I am about to turn off the main road towards my hostel a guy in a sick Skoda pulls over and tells me to jump on in.

His name was Mario, he told me that he wasn’t going all the way to Split, but to a town about 40 KM short of Split called Sinj, there were busses running roughly every hour to Split. Mario was a bad ass, I am sad that I didn’t take a photo with him. He was 19 or 20 and just beginning his studies in Mechanical Engineering, he likes to shred, loves motocross, and cars, we got along fine, to say the least.

So Mario drops me off at the bus station in Sinj, Croatia. The next bus wasn’t for over an hour when we showed up and he had somewhere else he needed to be. He said he felt bad that I had to wait, I assured him I was just happy to be closer to my final destination, and that an hour wait was nothing. He wouldn’t accept money, a drink,  or anything, he said he just wanted me to enjoy my stay in his country and was happy to help out. That’s the type of thought people should have when they see tourists, the people over here are so welcoming and hospitable, I love it!

I figured I could wait grab some coffee and chill in Sinj for the next hour or try my luck with the trusty hand written pastry bag sign again. So there I was walking through Sinj thumb and sign out, seeing what would come next. I set a timer and told myself I’d give it 15 minutes then head back and grab some coffee.

The timer went off so I began walking back towards the bus station, sign and thumb still out when a women driving Fiat 500 pulls over and says jump on in! Her name was/is Petra, and she was on her way back from flight school that day. I could instantly tell she’s brilliant just from the first few sentences spoken, she used to model, but didn’t like the scene surrounding it. Instead she obtained a bachelors degree in Cartography, a masters in GeoPhysics, currently in school for another degree and doing flight school on the side to fill her time off work. Oh yeah, she works 6 weeks on 6 weeks off with a Norwegian company that employs geophysical techniques to locate probable locations of oil reserves at the bottom of oceans.

She informed me that she always sees people with signs trying to get to Split when she is leaving flight school, but had never really given any of them rides. She said she stopped because, “I looked friendly and trusting.” And she, “was worried I wouldn’t make it there if she didn’t pick me up that evening.” That made me feel good, I thought I might look scary having more hair coming out of my face than my head. Guess I still give off that trustable vibe, it’s been working wonders for me this trip!

Turns out Petra lives 5 minutes from the hostel I’d booked in Split, she even knew where it was without a map, turns into a night club in the off season I guess. Random right? They take walls down and put them back up every season, seems like a lot of work to me… Anyway, Petra tells me that she is going to pick up her friend Hannah (from Wales) from the airport and was worried that her friend, Hannah (from Wales), wouldn’t have anything to do while she was at flight school the next day. So we exchanged information. Hannah, Petra, some of her other friends and brother, and I end up going out for drinks that night in Split. It’s really sweet to go out with locals in a city. I had some of the best food of the trip that night.

This is called Cevapi its a veal sausage sandwich covered in a savory sauce of your choice. So bomb!

Her brother, Jere, was bad ass, but Hannah (from Wales) and I felt really short, Petra is 6’2”, Jere is 6’9” and his friends were all 6’5” and up…He played college ball in the US in Florida, Alabama, and Iowa, I believe. He is going to be playing for a league in The Czech Republic this September! He is a talented and driven guy. They knew all the rad spots in town and a lot of people as well, a bar we went to was an outdoor bar and is frequently used as one of the corridors in The Game of Thrones.

The night winds on down and we make plans to meet up in the AM to go to the beach and see the city. I tell Petra’s brother, Jere, to add me on Facebook and he adds me and just starts laughing in disbelief. He says, “You know Hannah Schorr?!!?” Here I am hanging out with some locals in Split, Croatia meeting the brother of the girl that I hitched a ride from Sinj to Split with, and we have a mutual friend from Ogden, Utah. Yeah, I’d gone to school with Hannah Schorr from 7th-12th grade we are actual friends too, not just a Facebook friends haha

I think I showed Jere this photo of Hannah (from Utah) and I to prove that we are indeed real friends. Haha

So I sent Hannah (from Utah) this photo

It was probably pretty hard for her to comprehend how we met in the first place, let alone figuring out how we both knew her… The back story of hitching two rides over 150 miles from random people makes it that much sweeter!

Woke up the next morning, met some of the dudes in my room before heading off to the beach with Hannah (from Wales) and Jere. One of the dudes from my room (Matt from Texas) changed his plans to leave Croatia, instead he’s going to come out Hvar and stay in the same hostel as me. Gonna be a solid 4th of July, I mean the dude is from Texas!! Heeelllll yeaaaahhhh brother, Independence Day!

Jere picked me up out front of the hostel and we went to the swim in the Adriatic. Did some cliff jumping and chilled out. Hannah and I explored the city most of the day and then that night Hannah, Petra and I all met up for a concert. I don’t even really like concerts, especially when I don’t know the music, however, the atmosphere of this venue and all of the people made it great. Petra reckoned that Hannah and I were the only non-locals there, we felt just as welcome either way.

Photos from exploring the city and a video from the concert.

The next morning after the concert Jere invited me to go work out on the beach with him and some basketball mates. I hadn’t worked out in over two months, and don’t like getting up early, but I took him up on the invite, man that workout kicked my ass! Haha after the workout I went and check out of my hostel, grabbed another Cevapi and went to catch a ferry to head to Hvar, an island just off the coast of Split. The ferry I chose to take was the 3 PM ferry, when I walked up to get on the boat there were two dudes from New Zealand that I had met in my hostel in Korenica. I knew they were headed to Hvar, but didn’t think I’d see them in line for the ferry, what are the chances, there are at least 10 ferries per day.

Travelings helps you to realize just how small this world really is. Turned out Matt (from Texas) was also on the same ferry and his buddy Charlie, from Australia, was on board as well. Out of the 400+ people on board the two different groups of people I knew were sitting in the same row! I found them and took the closest seat I could find to them. Turned out that Charlie was staying in the same hostel as the New Zealand guys. The closest seat next to them was next to a girl that was traveling with 5 of her girlfriends. Turned out they were staying in the same hostel as Matt (from Texas) and myself. Hostel Villa Skansi, its a super sick hostel, as is the island of Hvar!

This is probably the funniest video I’ve taken, just listen to some of what’s being said hahaha I couldn’t believe they had fireworks over here to celebrate Americas independence from Great Britain, nothing to do with Croatia at all.

I’m not really into clubbing and dancing, but I actually knew the songs in the video so…I was pumped!! Haha

I met her very briefly in Seville, Spain about a month ago… Glad we both remembered and recognized each other!

Fell asleep on some outdoor lounge furniture after crushing that bottle of “Room” in an Independence Day celebration. I gave a few shots to the Candians I was dancing with, I think Matt had a pull or two as well, either way I woke up to the sun rising and sound of crashing waves in the distance…Paradise…Took a nice nap in the room for a while then headed down to sea, took a dip, strung up my hammock, put on some tunes and jotted down some thoughts and read a good chunk of Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell.

All of my experiences thus far in Europe have helped me to realize that anyone who goes around pointing out or talking about other people’s flaws ultimately have problems with their own self image in one way or another. So for those who want to continue to judge me, laugh at me, talk about how I look old, call me baldielocks, whatever it may be, be my guest. I don’t know how/why I ever let it get to me in the first place.

The Chinese philosopher Laozi says it best,

“Care what other people think about you and you will always be their prisoner”

Or if you’d like a more contemporary way of putting it Dr. Dre says it well too,

“What’s the difference between me and you?…We can scream ‘I just don’t give a fuck’ and see who really means it”

In Dr. Dre’s words, I just don’t give a fuck what others think and I really mean it. It feels great, I’m a prisoner to nobody as Laozi would state it, anyway you’d like to think about it Laozi or Dr. Dre have a profound message that I’ve just now come to understand and accept.

I have control my own thoughts and nothing else, therefore that should be my only concern. Anyone reading this is probably curious how it took me anytime at all to pick this wisdom up, it’s not quantum physics or anything…However, I am certainly stoked that I did figure it out, even if it took me 23 years. I am who I am and I finally feel completely comfortable in my own shoes and I love it. Can’t wait to see what the next 50 or so days here in Europe brings.

-Cbutter