As I was walking down a crowded street, a question popped up in my mind: “Is there a single good reason for living in Croatia beside the fact that my beloved lives here?” And I was surprised by the reasons that immediately came to my mind. First, people here live at a leisurely pace. Right now, Zagreb is crawling with people. It is so balmy that there is hardly any place left in outdoor cafés. Croats are not about work, anyway. Second, life is relatively cheap here. With the exception of food, that is. Everything else is nearly a bargain. Third, street crime here is hardly a problem. One can walk around the Croatian capital without fear even in the middle of night. In fact, I know no-one who has ever had a problem with robbery and the like. At this point I stopped counting, though. “Yes,” I responded to my question with a touch of bother, “there are at least three good reasons for living in Croatia beside the fact that my beloved lives here!” The trouble is that I am likely to come up with many more good reasons as time goes by. And against my will.

Addendum (April 22, 2016)

A bit more than four years later, this piece is still right on the money. The three reasons for living in Croatia are pretty sound, I am convinced to this day. But I have just come up with yet another good reason for living here: the misery of moving anyplace else. To begin with, I would have to sell my house in Motovun. Ever since the onset of the global financial crisis, the property market is in the doldrums across Istria. Finding a buyer willing and able to cough up enough money would not be easy. Next, I would have to find the right place to move to and buy another house there. The house would most likely need some refurbishment work, too. All this would take a good chunk of time, no doubt. Finally, I would have to move all my belongings to my new abode. The very thought of finding a mover and packing everything up makes me cringe. Considering the original three reasons, the fourth one now strikes me as the clincher. If I ever come up with one more reason for living in Croatia, it is likely to be rather superfluous. Or so I figure against my will once again.