You can plan as much as you want, but in the end, it’s still just a plan.

I had been looking forward to a month of bikepacking with friends in Montenegro, until a fall from a canoe left me with a fissured coccyx just days before the trip. Suddenly, everything I’d prepared for was off the table. Rest, patience, and painkillers were the doctor’s orders. But the idea of returning home (having already made it to my friend’s place in Switzerland) to lie still for weeks felt like an unbearable defeat.

Instead of giving up entirely, I decided to adapt. Sitting on a saddle with a broken tailbone wasn’t ideal, but I discovered that with the right position and an easy pace, I could still ride softly and carefully, within my limits. That realization led me to keep driving farther, to Croatia, close enough to make an easy exit if riding turned out to be impossible, yet unknown enough to me to feel like an adventure.

What began as a compromise slowly turned into a new and enjoyable way of traveling. I traded remote mountains for gentle trails, long multiple-day rides for short loops, and the challenge of endurance for the challenge of restraint. Between quiet bike paths, seaside towns, and evenings spent camping by the water, I learned to enjoy a slower rhythm—one that made space for things I wouldn’t normally take time for on a bike trip, like walking or cycling around towns and learning more about the history and culture of the places I was visiting.

Though it took a while, Croatia slowly revealed its charms through a few warm encounters and countless small natural spots that I got to enjoy on my own. Each completed short trail felt like a small victory, making me want to add a little extra challenge to the next one. One thing became clear to me: healing doesn’t always mean stopping completely, but rather keeping on moving—just differently and more consciously.

In the end, this trip taught me that a bikepacking journey can take any shape and still feel thrilling, beautiful, and exciting if your mindset is in the right place. For those few weeks, I kept telling myself, “just do what you can,” and that became the essence of this trip, which turned out to bring all the joy I needed, and wasn’t expecting to find.

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