I arrived to Slovenia around 10pm without proper planning. Got my Hyundai i20 with stick shift (manual transmission) and started driving very slowly to Bled, my first destination. My GPS took me through some very curvy countryside roads until I realized the toll avoidance was on. I was so happy I found that out because the roads were getting curvier and narrower by the minute. Also, there is one very lucky deer, that nearly met its maker tonight, running around somewhere.
In Bled there was no place to stay that was open. The “Sobe”s (as they’re called) are usually privately managed and the owners go to sleep the same time as the guests. Eventually I found a hotel around 12:30am with a very nice woman at the reception who saw I was strung out and helped me a lot (mostly explained me about the surroundings, which calmed me down.)
I like being out of my comfort zone, e.g. driving in an unknown place in the middle of the night, looking for a place to stay and nearly deciding on sleeping in the car. But I only like it if I can get back to my comfort zone and there’s a happy ending. Live to tell the tale, so to speak. Today was a little frightening. 6 out of 10 in getting out of my comfort zone. Not too bad for day 1 of this trip :)