We Do Adventure

This morning I was in the Sainsburys that used to double as our local corner store, browsing the magazine section, when my eyes fell on an unexpected keyword: Bosnia. I've waited a long time to see a UK magazine write a positive article about the country that has been home to us for the past four years. I almost found one last year, an online version of an article snowboarding around Sarajevo by Outside magazine , but that didn't count as Outside is an American publication! What you see here is the January 2013 issue of The Great Outdoors . "Snow trekking in Bosnia" is one of the cover stories. Having already bought The Economist , Wired and Onboard (a snowboarding magazine) in the last two days I wasn't about to buy another magazine just for the sake of one article of interest. However, I did stand there and skim read the story to confirm it was, indeed, a positive one. We've long recognised that the great outdoors is one of the treasures of Bosnia ...

The other day Rowan was given a brochure for Green Visions – ‘Your guide to responsible travel in Bosnia and Herzegovina’. Slouching on the sofa today I picked it up and was idly flicking through the pages when I landed on a spread screaming ‘ride free...’ Just a few hours early I’d made the decision not to ride despite the sunshine outside. With my saddle now reunited with my mountain bike after four months of separation I’m still look for the perfect opportunity for my first ride over here. The brochure indicates I could be joining ‘a small circle of dedicated bikers’ if I can work on the dedication bit. It paints an enticing picture of country side that is not crawling with recreational users, unlike the south of England! And so I won’t leave it to many more sunny days before I check it out for myself. After all, it is a novelty to live near mountains on which to ride my mountain bike!