Exactly ten years ago, I wrote my first blog. It was a short text about the Tivat Salt Pans—just a few photos and sentences describing them. I wrote it mainly as a test to see if I could technically pull it off. And it worked. What followed were texts about Mount Rumija, then Lake Zabojsko, and so it continued.
In the beginning, these were short posts meant for my Facebook friends. Then, exactly a year later, after 35 written posts, I received a call from Srdan Kosović from Vijesti, asking if their portal could republish my blog about Lake Zminičko. Of course, they could. I was happy that more people would have the opportunity to read my text. That first republished post reached around 2,000 readers. And then, I “stepped on the gas.” Every week, I wrote a new article, as if it were my job and someone was pushing me to do it. But I had a schedule, and I didn’t want to disappoint the readers who had started following me regularly.
And so… Over these ten years, I have written a total of 233 articles, mostly about locations in Montenegro.
My initial ambition was to visit all the lakes in Montenegro. Even after 25 years of hiking, I still haven’t reached them all. The lakes of Mratinje, Abdijino, and Tatarijansko remain on my list—perhaps even a few more tiny, seasonal ones known only to locals. In total, I have visited about forty. My top lakes are: Crno, Hridsko, Trnovačko, and Pešića Lake.
Alongside lakes, my loyal companion Duško and I slowly started venturing into the mountains. We climbed many peaks before I even started writing about them. Some we climbed multiple times, while for others, we said: Once in this lifetime is enough! The competition is much tougher here than with lakes, and I could create rankings based on different criteria: difficulty of ascent, summit views, elevation gain… It’s hard enough ranking mountains, let alone peaks. However, Durmitor and Prokletije stand above the rest for me, though I also love the Morača Mountains, Komovi, and, of course, Orjen.
I have also written about rivers. In this category, Mrtvica has no competition, but the canyons of the Bistrica and Cijevna Rivers and the Ljutica River are also beautiful. The canyon of the Mrtvica River has long been recognized as one of Montenegro’s greatest natural attractions. However, not many people know that its source is absolutely stunning—especially in autumn.
We’ve visited numerous waterfalls, scattered from the south to the north. Some are easily accessible, while others require effort to reach. Some can be seen all year round, while others must be “caught” at the right moment. The waterfalls that left the strongest impression on me were Crnjak on the Bijela River near Šavnik, Lještanica, and Skakala (Sušica).
During these ten years of blogging, I have gone through various phases. One of them was an Austro-Hungarian fortress phase. When I started visiting them, I sought out every one I could find. The book Werk – Austro-Hungarian Fortresses in Montenegro by Radojica Pavićević helped me a lot in this search. Through these explorations, I learned many historical facts that were never mentioned during my schooling. The Crkvice fortifications were a particular revelation, but I was also amazed by Goražda, Dvrsnik, and many more. Some fortresses date only from that period, but many, due to their strategic locations, changed hands multiple times—such as Španjola, Haj-Nehaj, and Crvena Stijena.
Another “phase” that has never left me is my interest in stećci (medieval tombstones). I started in Žabljak, then searched for them throughout Piva, both in the lowlands and highlands. They have yet to receive the attention and treatment they deserve—especially considering that, since 2016, they have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Bridges have often been the focus of our walks and road trips, appearing in my stories—sometimes even as the main “characters.” Such are the bridges on Moštanica, the Tsar’s Bridge, Danilo’s Bridge on Mrtvica, and, of course, the Đurđevića Tara Bridge.
While traveling across Montenegro, I have discovered many monuments I never knew existed. I often thought: Most people probably haven’t heard of these either. This led me to write several texts about monuments. The ones that left the greatest impact on me were:
The Dola Memorial Complex, preserving the memory of 520 civilian victims, including 107 children, massacred in World War II.
The Memorial Park of the Uprising and Revolution in Grahovo, featuring a monumental tribute to Sava Kovačević and others who perished in the Battle of Sutjeska.
The monument to Vuk Karadžić in Petnjica near Šavnik, the supposed ancestral homeland of all Karadžićs.
The Barutana monument, designed by Montenegro’s renowned architect Svetlana Kana Radović.
Montenegrins love to travel. Thanks to affordable flights from our airports and nearby Tirana, many have seen the world—yet they know much less about their own country. Many fantastic villages I’ve visited and written about (Žlijebi, Kozica, Kralje, Godinje, Bobovo, Duži, Mali and Velji Zalazi, Trmanje) are known only to those with family roots there. These stories especially resonated with people reminiscing about their childhoods spent in these villages, now living far from their homeland—some even on other continents.
Many of our villages have nearly emptied. The best witnesses to this change are abandoned school buildings, often quite large. Photos of empty schools are among the saddest images I have captured during my travels.
I have also written about cities—there was plenty to say about Herceg Novi, Kotor, Bar, Ulcinj, Pljevlja, and even Petrovac. In most cities, the biggest attractions are historic buildings, fortresses, old town sections, and parks.
Whenever I was lucky enough to spot an animal, they would become the stars of my posts. Most often, these were birds at Ulcinj Salina, but also horses, cows, goats, sheep, and the occasional shepherd dog. On Durmitor, we would occasionally glimpse a chamois. Fortunately, we never had close encounters with dangerous animals, though we often saw traces of their presence.
For the first few years, nearly every post ended with a “bouquet” of wildflowers—a collage of photos I had taken along the way. Not everyone appreciated these floral tributes, but I remained persistent.
Looking back after ten years, I realize that I have written so much about certain areas of Montenegro that I probably deserve the title of honorary citizen of Plužine—and at least a small apartment in Žabljak! Plav and Gusinje might get away with awarding me a commemorative plaque on their municipal day.
Jokes aside, the greatest reward has always been when someone told me they managed to reach a destination thanks to my blog. During the pandemic, when we were restricted to our municipalities, I helped readers discover places to visit without breaking the lockdown rules—a series I called “When This Is Over”.
And now… ten years have passed. My “bucket list” is still growing. In recent years, more places are being added than crossed off, and I fear it will stay that way. Perhaps the next logical step is to write a book.
At the very end, thank you, Ana and Miloš, for explaining to me what a blog is and for believing I could do it—even when I laughed at the idea, thinking I was too old to embrace new things.
Bonus video:
