We were productive this year, and we crafted a blog per month in 2023. The December one is dedicated to the recap of all the great stories we had during this year. Let’s dive into them and thank you for the inspiration!
January – HERITAGE DEPICTED IN LOVING PIECES – YOUR EASY PATH TO LEARN ABOUT MONTENEGRO
February – AN UNEXPECTED DIGITAL DETOX AND HOW TO SURVIVE IT – RURAL COLIVING IN MONTENEGRO
March – STAYCATION & WORKATION AT FITCAMP MONTENEGRO
April – THE DEVELOPMENT GOALS OF FITCAMP MONTENEGRO
May – HIKING ADVENTURE WITH MY DOG TO NOZDRA AND GOLIJA IN CENTRAL MONTENEGRO
June – GUIDED STARGAZING EXPERIENCE IN MONTENEGRO
July – WELL-BEING HOLIDAYS: THE HEALING POWER OF NATURE & TRAVEL AT FITCAMP MONTENEGRO
August – HOW WE GAVE BIRTH TO “WOMEN WHO PLAY” OFFER
September – CO-LIVING IN THE FITCAMP COMMUNITY
October – 6 REASONS WHY FITCAMP MONTENEGRO IS A GREAT SPOT FOR SOLO TRAVELLERS & DIGITAL NOMADS
November – 6 REASONS TO JOIN A WOMEN’S RETREAT IN MONTENEGRO IN 2024
Thank you so much for your trust! We will do our best to share more amusing moments through stories in 2024! Happy holidays and best wishes for the upcoming year!
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One feels so beautiful by being accepted and creating connections with complete strangers around the world. Montenegro has a big soul, ready to heartwarmingly welcome you at any moment! Let’s check the story from our coliving guest Lisa, who was that kind to write the story for our website and share it with all of you! 💚
FitCamp Montenegro Hosts
Going hiking to the remains of the old Ottoman Fortress and back to FitCamp – that was the plan.
In the morning, I packed my small backpack with some food and water for me and our dog Bailey and we took off. The first bit of the hike I knew already from the previous walks. I was super excited to go again, and this time even further to explore the fortress.
The weather was absolutely amazing – summer feeling in the air. For Bailey it was a bit too warm, so we were faster in the beginning to reach the higher peaks of the mountains as I already knew there was a little pond, and I planned to take a break, mainly so that Bailey could cool herself down by swimming.
And so we did. After the break, we made our way through the stunning landscapes with a bit of wind. While the first part was more rocky, we soon passed to a beautiful valley, with grass and trees all around. We passed a few old farmhouses (katun), some presumably still in use during summer. Once in a while, there were small ponds with water for the cattle, which Bailey also happily used.
After approximately 2,5 hours of walking, we could have seen the ruins of the fortress high up in the mountain above the valley. If we wanted to make the way up to reach the ruins, we needed to leave the hiking road and do a short walk up the mountain. I decided not to walk there as I already had a wild idea in my head. I wanted Bailey and me to save our energy for the adventure ahead.
Enjoying the beautiful weather and curious as I am, I called my partner. I quickly introduced her to my idea and was super happy to hear that she agreed to help out. Instead of turning to the fortress, I decided to go on, curious to see more of this beautiful mountain area. I wanted to dive deeper and enjoy this energy, nature and remoteness. Of course, previously, I checked the map that said it was possible to continue on the same hiking road for about 13 km to reach the main road again. From that point to FitCamp, there was about 21 km and I knew we couldn’t walk that distance on the same day, so that is where I needed my partner’s assistance. We were planning to meet on the main road that evening and the pick-up was with our camper van. After planning it all, Bailey and I took a break, ate some snacks and enjoyed the sun.
Heading on, the landscape was changing again and again, from rocky, to small forests and then a beautiful, wide and open valley. I could see that Bailey loved this just as much as I did, as she was bouncing and running a bit in front and around me. I could not believe that there was no one around, just us.
Walking on, we reached another valley with a huge flock of sheep. So, we were not alone in the end…
Slowly making our way towards the flock, I was looking for the shepherd. Also, I could not see any dogs, even if I was sure that there must be some. The sheep were all over the place.
There weren’t any other options to pass further, but going directly into the flock. So, I took Bailey to my side and went slowly straight on. One moment, as we came closer, all sheep looked at us, forming a half circle. This was impressive. Even more impressive, when Bailey and I continued and I realised that the sheep were closing the circle behind us. I felt Bailey’s tension and was so grateful that she is such a calm dog, in most situations. On the other hand, I was not used to sheep and having them walking behind and around us, so I just wanted to get through the flock and out.
Holding Bailey and walking, I talked aloud to calm down both of us. We speeded up a bit and finally made it out and turned away from the flock.
I was super happy we made it and then I heard dogs and saw a shepherd approaching us. I waved and greeted him in my few, newly learned Montenegrins words, saying „Dobar dan“.
He waved and greeted me with a big smile, obviously surprised to see us. He went on talking, gesturing – I tried and wished I would have learned more Montenegrin. Anyway, I just smiled and followed him as he was inviting me towards the house nearby. Meanwhile, Bailey and his dogs had also greeted each other.
Bailey stayed outside while I went inside, following the shepherd. There was one room. Simple but cosy, with a bed, couch, basic stove and cooking area. We sat down, continuously trying to talk to each other. He even tried to call a few of his friends to help out translating. Unsuccessfully, but it was nice of him to try his best. He offered me what I thought was water and Fanta. I decided to go for the water but a few seconds later I realised when he was serving it in small glasses, that this was no water. This was rakija. Later, at FitCamp, I learnt that this is a typical alcoholic drink from Montenegro, usually made of grapes (but it can be made of other fruits) and intensively strong.
I remembered I had a muesli bar and offered him half. Then I slowly packed my bag and signalled to him that Bailey and I need to go on. He wasn’t happy as I believe he thought we planned to hike to Bosnia with just a small backpack. That was my guess, at least. Trying to communicate that everything was just fine – I thanked him. As a memory of this adventurous moment and this hospitable and welcoming shepherd, he left me to take a picture – both of us smiling and then waving goodbye.
I checked on the map and saw that we had about 1 hour of walking left. We took a small break, enjoying the beautiful views. After a while, I could already see the spot where the hiking road was intersecting with the main road, down the mountain. Pivoting down, we passed a few houses, reached the main road and then relaxed on the grass while waiting for our ride back home.
The whole day and this hike turned out to be absolutely what I did not expect. And yet, this was just the perfect thing to happen that made this hike even more precious and unforgettable for Bailey and me.
Hvala Montenegro!
About author
Lisa Lützen is an Access Bars Facilitator, nature lover and adventurer. She spent a month at FitCamp Montenegro as our coliving guest, and we enjoyed the time with her, her partner and their lovely dog Bailey. We were amazed at how well they got the idea of our coliving concept and are more than happy to have made new friends. We are enthusiastic to welcome them again! To learn more about Lisa, click here.
https://fitcamp-montenegro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hiking-at-fitcamp-montenegro-4.jpg5601600montenegrofitcamphttp://fitcamp-montenegro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/fitcamp-logo-300x102.pngmontenegrofitcamp2023-05-12 08:41:592023-05-12 10:16:07Hiking Adventure with My Dog to Nozdra and Golija in Central Montenegro
Being a crazy ant is not an easy job. All of us crazy ants know it, but we usually wouldn’t do anything different even if we could turn back the time.
‘…most of the ants in the nest are creatures of habit (workers). They mark their routes with scent trails and only follow routes where another ant once walked. So they obediently finish their work list. They will mainly work harder and harder but do nothing structural about the problem.
Fortunately, there are always several crazy ants (scouts) in a nest. They deviate from the fixed routes and, therefore, find new places that the ant people need to survive. The crazy ant is the one who will find a new place. But how does he convince the other ants to help him move the entire nest?’
As many in our surroundings characterised us as crazy when we left the coast and headed up to the Adriatic hinterland of Central Montenegro to develop FitCamp, we wished to write this blog and explain our reasons, or better say goals!
GOAL 1 – Local Community Involvement & Development
Seeing the potential and optimal growth in rural tourism development of Montenegro, one of the leading thoughts of our business idea was to include the local community in all that we do.
Offering only local products to our guests and visitors is what we crave, but taking in mind that our production is not that big to cover all the needs yet, we saw an opportunity for everyone in the village producing anything from fruits and vegetables to cheese, meat, marmalades, juices, rakija, wines and similar.
This goal includes long-term effects that are equally positive to our business development as to the city’s economic empowerment, a larger tourism inclusion and better rural product placement.
We frequently hear how the city of Niksic, where we are located, is not touristically developed, so we want to motivate people from this city to understand the potential of the area and plan their agricultural and other activities following all the possibilities that the modern market offers.
The mal-influence of tourism on the environment has become very clear, taking in mind massive movements, cruising travels increase and similar. Some of the greatest minds in sustainable tourism development are now finding a way to regenerate the travel market and decrease the poor effects of the travelling crowds that used to happen from the 70s of the 20th century up to today.
From the very beginning, FitCamp Montenegro had a clear idea in mind – development in touch with nature! All our efforts to find a remote place and cultivate it further paid off when we landed to today-location of our well-being centre. We clicked with this area and saw all the small bits and pieces needed for the puzzle that we started to put together.
Firstly, we were enthusiastic that the village where we are now located doesn’t have a city water supply system. Most of the people we work with and our partners told us – oooh, but the water might be a problem there. We nodded and made it one step closer to our vision.
Most of the people living here are collecting the rainfall and snowfall in underground containers from which they distribute it further to their barns, houses and gardens. The same is with us. Our property has a 44 m3 water container built underground in the backyard, and it is connected to the house by an electric water pump. So, when you are inside our premises, you can’t feel the difference as it seems the same as in the urban areas. In reality, it is not the same, as we take as much as nature has given us and reuse it in our daily life. The best about it is the reaction of our guests and visitors and how fast they learn to collaborate in saving water and protecting natural resources.
Furthermore, we started planning a sustainable irrigation system for our gardens, orchard and future cattle. We dag a pool in the valley of 150 m3 size that will soon be our addition to recreation on the FitCamp estate, as well as a secure water supply for all the produce.
The system is planned with a SMART addition so that we can control the water flow even remotely.
A solar plant is something we keep for the near future, but it’s been on our list since the very beginning. The reason for postponing it is the investment that it requires. That piece of the puzzle will close the circle of self-sustainability and give us the title of the possibly only self-sustainable place in Montenegro, especially in the commercial market.
Thus, nature will give us:
– electricity from the power of sun and wind, and
– water from the rainfall and snowfall.
This will shape our small system as a perpetuum mobile.
GOAL 3 – Diversified Travel Product
As parts of our team have been working in tourism for years, we are aware of the clutter and fuzz that follows travelling. The effects of tourism on nature are not flattering, but luckily, the latest generations of travellers seem to see this problem and react to it.
Even before the pandemic, FitCamp Montenegro’s idea was shaped around the fact that nature has a healing effect and that we should let that fact into urban lives that are stale and dusty. We didn’t want seasonal work or to offer the same services as everybody else in the rural areas of Montenegro, so it took us time to shape the whole program and system with our partners and friends. From 2018 up to today, we didn’t stop working on this idea and sharp-shaping it for the market in the best way we possibly saw it could go.
All our programs are based around the benefits and inspiration that nature gives us, and we invest ourselves in the best combination of silent time within the forest, hiking, swimming, outdoor adventures, yoga, fitness, healthy food & nutrition, and mindful workshops. We immodestly consider that we crafted a unique travel product for the Montenegrin market, and we are fanatical about the reality that our demand is responding so positively to what we created for them! That gives us further inspiration and motivation to never stop and always introduce novelties to our products and the Montenegrin travel market in general.
Avoiding the short seasonal work, our doors are not open only to travellers and our programs are not crafted just for short-term rentals. We are happy to share that winter 2022/23 was more than successful at our estate, with numerous digital nomads who have chosen coliving stay, entrepreneurs and MSMEs who have chosen our team buildings and workshops and last but not least – our volunteers, who help us and at the same time live the life with us, by applying the same set of rules and goals we crave for FitCamp.
We do hope to welcome you here and spread our love for nature and all it gives us with you, introduce you to our elderly neighbours and their delicious products and heal you by being one with our Planet Earth.
Approaching Earth Day, we wish that this blog enlights you in your future travels and motivates you to only travel with purpose!
https://fitcamp-montenegro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PROGRAMS-FitCamp.png15003000montenegrofitcamphttp://fitcamp-montenegro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/fitcamp-logo-300x102.pngmontenegrofitcamp2023-04-17 17:04:442023-04-17 17:04:45The Development Goals of FitCamp Montenegro
We are currently living in a world of chaos. Some of us are aware of it, while some see this chaos as a favourite reality. It is hard to point out the worldly values and all the great things that humankind has achieved, while the planet is shaken by numerous awful events such as the pandemic, wars, climate change, economic crisis, and energy crisis… We wonder when will positive vibes swap all this negativity.
We started our new location preparations and renovation in the middle of this chaos. Was it hard? Supremely hard! Was it worth it? Oh yes! Every step of this road made our team become better persons, better hosts, and better friends. A neverending learning process has started with the opening of FitCamp Montenegro at its fresh-new location, and this is the first blog written from our lovely Community House. We can’t wait to welcome you here so that you can see in person all that you will read in this blog today, plus the beauties of the FitCamp estate.
Led by an idea of restorative and responsibletravel, we left the overcrowded Montenegrin coast and settled in the fabulous coastal hinterland, in Central Montenegro, with a promise to give our best to manifest local customs and traditions and include the local community into FitCamp Montenegro development. One of our guiding ideas, since the very beginning, was to motivate locals to join us in the efforts of creating a sustainable environment for the travellers by cherishing and regenerating what the almighty Nature has given us!
So, for the first blog of the year, and the first blog written from the FitCamp estate, let us present you with our favourite literature pieces, manifesting the best of the local community and showcasing the efforts of some great individuals!
Tara and The Magic Tree enjoying their life at FitCamp Montenegro
Tara and The Magic Tree
Written by the Montenegrin author Zarko Vucinic, and illustrated by the students of Petar Lubarda Art School in Cetinje, this book is an eco-tale about fighting for a cleaner Planet while teaching the basic concept of the Zero-waste movement. The main characters of the book are brought to life in the shape of the Znuggle eco toys, handmade of local wool by lovely Montenegrin women, dyed with plant pigments and available at FitCamp for you as perfect souvenirs from Montenegro.
This book is equally important and a good read for children and adults perfectly demonstrating FitCamp’s attitude towards nature.
Living in a patriarchal society is hard and you see it best when you are a woman. Especially in small, conservative societies like the one in the Balkans. Fighting for equity and equality has become a reality for every woman in the world, nevertheless on Montenegrin women.
The UN development program in Montenegro together with the European Union, Ministries of Montenegro and the Capital of Podgorica supported the publishing of this piece of art, showcasing the historical timeline of all the great women who lived, created, ruled and influenced Montenegro.
The local artist, Tijana Todorovic, together with her mother Olivera, has gathered all the information and helped design the book that was published in Podgorica in 2022. The book Women of Montenegro was created with the desire to depict women’s role throughout Montenegrin history and it is the first collection about the identity and women’s struggle for their rights in society.
The goal of this book creation is similar to one of FitCamp Montenegro’s goals – motivation and encouragement of the modern woman to continue this historic struggle for personal and social progress. It is dedicated to all men and women who are on the path of modern and emancipatory actions.
It gives us a huge joy to be able to offer you to read this jewel showcasing Wise Brave and Special Women of Montenegro, during your FitCamp stay.
Mountainous Flora of Montenegro
Botanical Gardens of Mountainous Flora of Montenegro
Another amusing story comes from the east of Montenegro, a place called Dulovine near the city of Kolasin. There, in the intact mountainous nature, the loving Vincek couple collected living plant materials from around the Montenegrin mountains and brought these to their botanical garden, shaped and formed out of their pure love for nature.
The collection of the plants was continuous for a 2-decade time during which Mr Daniel, together with his wife Mrs Vera, created an angelic permaculture garden that contains 15% of all flora of Montenegro or about 450 different species, including endemic, rare and special ones. Unfortunately, both Daniel and Vera have passed away, but the garden keeps living. This garden is located at 1000 m altitude, and for us at FitCamp Montenegro is a perfect example of how to grow and maintain your garden.
We hope we will have the similar motivation of these two amazing individuals and grow a botanical garden at our property – smaller in size but with a similar proportion of love!
***
Commence your journey of discovery and well-being, and by learning with us, we promise you will leave FitCamp knowing a lot more about the lifestyle, local rural communities and the social structure of Montenegro.
https://fitcamp-montenegro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/reading-time-fitcamp-montenegro-scaled.jpg13812560montenegrofitcamphttp://fitcamp-montenegro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/fitcamp-logo-300x102.pngmontenegrofitcamp2023-01-10 12:31:432023-01-10 12:47:18Heritage Depicted in Loving Pieces – Your Easy Path to Learn About Montenegro
Did you know that Montenegro is eco-country by its Constitution? On September 20th 1991, the Declaration was adopted in the city of Zabljak and Montenegro became the first eco-country in the world. The next year, this Declaration was presented in the UN Conference for Environment Protection.
Montenegro indeed has such stunning natural beauties and it’s all clear once you are here why this is eco-country. Unfortunately, Montenegro experienced 2 wars after the adoption of this declaration (luckily without serious consequences), so the actual actions on this topic were lacking or were minor and performed by some individuals, although the country has this idea as the main goal of the longterm development.
FitCamp Montenegro Developing Sustainable Tourism
We have a sustainable tourism idea as our top goal for FitCamp Montenegro development. We started building our estate to bring a new dimension and fresh energy to the tourism in Montenegro, by living in accordance with nature and use it only in a proper way by respecting it.
Our guests are invited to give their input and help us be better, so that is why we are including them in what we do at the estate, from food production, waste management, clean-ups and so much more! We want to bring you to the next level of vacationing – which is all combined in this concept of travelling with a purpose. See more here.
Growing Food
Eco-friendly
How do we succeed in being-in-accordance-with nature?
First of all, we don’t use city water system, but we collect rainfall in our huge underground containers. These are plugged on e-pumps that are bringing the water inside the community home and accommodation units.
We produce our food in 2 gardens that we have at the moment, with plans of expanding the production area once we have more accommodation units, to be able to supply the food for our guests. We grow fruits and vegetables and we supply milk, eggs and meat from the local community. Other than this, we grow medicinal herbs and we are treating all our guests with professional nutritionists’ classes during their stay.
Our Maggie hunting
Eco Fashion by FitCamp Montenegro
We want our guests to have an amazing time in Montenegro. With experiencing the next level of vacation, there must be the next level of souvenirs from travels! Thus, we create our souvenirs out of natural materials only and these are available to our lovely guests!
FitCamp Montenegro Clothes
Amongst our team members, we have people talented for various sorts of things, amongst which is drawing too. We came up with an idea to put our drawings on T-shirts, underwear and sportswear, so you can have it as a souvenir from your trip to FitCamp Montenegro.
To ban single-use plastic is very easy! And it’s even more affordable to live without it, just think of it! At FitCamp Montenegro, we have branded our reusable water bottles, perfect for sports activities, to days in nature and every-day outdoors life!
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