A Man in the Making
Zoran Vilović
Learn more about me
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
-Lao Tse
Learn More About Me
Tourist Guide, Explorer, Adventurer and Author
I am a tour guide by profession, as well as an author and world explorer, and my passion for it began in my early years. At the age of 18, I completed my education to become a tour guide, inspired by the advice and support of my mother, who teaches tourism at a high school in Karlovac. I set off on my own path, exploring various careers, until, at the age of 37, I realized that my mother’s advice was correct. In tourism, I found my true passion and calling: something that fulfills me and connects me with people and places in a special way.
About me – My First Steps
I graduated in Marketing from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, but soon realized that this path was not for me. Although I gained a solid education, I couldn’t find what truly fulfilled me in the world of economics.
Economics did not reflect who I was or allow me to express my true character. Fortunately, I discovered my real passion along the beautiful Adriatic coast, where I found meaning and satisfaction as a tour guide. Along the way, I earned the title of “cruise director.” As a cruise director, I was a psychologist, comforter, friend, and mentor, who passionately and enthusiastically presented the rich history and culture of each place we visited. My job was to create unforgettable experiences, showcasing the beauty and magic hidden in every corner of our beautiful country.
Time at Marina Frapa
Before becoming a tour guide, I had the opportunity to work at Marina Frapa, which was then considered the best marina on the Adriatic. My role involved managing the reception, sales, and providing customer service to marina guests. In this dynamic and challenging role, I had to ensure that all aspects of guests’ stays were flawless, from the initial contact to their departure. Working at Marina Frapa allowed me to develop my communication skills, build relationships with guests from various parts of the world, and learn to handle different situations and demands.
Although I found great satisfaction in this job and recognized my talents in working with people, the financial aspect was not what I had hoped for. I felt most at home in that environment, but the reality was that the earnings were insufficient to continue in the same direction. It was clear that staying in that position would mean stagnation, which was not an option for me.
Beginning of Entrepreneurship
In 2019, I decided to step into the world of entrepreneurship and launched my first private venture. It was an exciting moment in my life, full of hope and enthusiasm for the future. Unfortunately, just a year later, the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought unforeseen challenges. It took away my opportunity to work and earn, leaving my business under severe strain.
Despite all the difficulties, I did not let circumstances discourage me. During 2019, I discovered a specific segment of the tourism market – “Mini Cruises” in the Adriatic. This segment opened doors to new opportunities, and soon I started collaborating with my first agency, “Katarina Line.” It was the beginning of my entry into the world of cruising, where I could combine my passion for tourism and the sea.
As my experiences in this field expanded, I found an opportunity to collaborate with the company “Grand Circle,” which organizes two-week cruises through Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece. This collaboration allowed me to work internationally, expanding my knowledge of different cultures and regions while guiding guests on unforgettable journeys through these beautiful countries. During this period, I also completed a skipper course, further enriching my skills and broadening the range of services I can offer my clients.
Tour guide
I’ll briefly explain how I started working in this profession: a journey that completely changed my life, broadened my horizons, gifted me with new insights, brought visits to wonderful places, collaborated with new colleagues, and had fascinating encounters across five continents.
It all began 27 years ago when I enrolled in a tour guide course. However, after attending the lectures and passing the exam, I didn’t actually start working in the field. Why? Due to knee problems, I couldn’t sit for long periods on buses, which is often an essential part of traveling. But I must also admit that, at the end of my teenage years, the passion for travel hadn’t yet truly captured my heart. In the years that followed, I only traveled privately to neighboring European countries, mostly with family or friends. The key turning point that eventually led me down this path came after the end of a short but rather dynamic political career in late 2017. That’s when I finally began asking myself the right questions about how to continue, or rather, how to create my future career. After some honest soul-searching, I decided to become a tour guide.
If anyone thinks this decision was easy or straightforward, they’d be mistaken. I had always thought of guiding as something suited to younger people, and I used to see it more as a hobby than a real career path. I had to overcome my ego, which was casting doubt and fear over this choice. I kept wondering… where will this path lead me? What will others think that I’m starting something like this at the age of 38? But the belief in making the right choice eventually overcame the doubts and fears. Persistence and dedication to my goal soon brought the first results. My life changed, and a growing sense of joy began to shape a new perspective. A feeling of lightness, freedom, enthusiasm, and optimism, like never before, began carrying me forward into new challenges!
Cruise manager
After finishing a short work stint on river cruises sailing between Amsterdam and Budapest, I began further training to become a tour guide and travel agency manager. I spent much of the fall and winter of 2018 at the family home of a former college roommate in Dalmatia, in the suburbs of Split. I passed one exam after another, and during one of the lectures, a fellow student, whom I hadn’t met before, sat next to me. During the lunch break, we chatted about all sorts of things, and eventually, he suggested a job as a cruise manager, a role we both still do to this day. I liked the idea right away, and the rest is history.
I’m still working in the most beautiful “office” there is, sailing the Adriatic Sea, among hundreds of islands, helping my guests discover this wonderful and, for many, still hidden corner of the world.
Boat skipper
I’ve always loved the sea, and, thanks to my parents, I’ve spent my entire life regularly vacationing on the beautiful Adriatic coast, where my love of the sea slowly and irreversibly became a part of my DNA.
For years, I watched sailboats and speedboats only from the shore, believing that the courage and skill required to operate such vessels were meant for others, true sea dogs born by the coast. Over time, my desire to sail grew, and I finally took the first step after leaving my job as an auditor, when I flew to faraway New Orleans (USA) and began sailing the world’s oceans aboard the Carnival Fantasy, a tourist cruise ship.
Although my seafaring journey began on a large cruise ship, I discovered the true magic aboard smaller cruises along the Adriatic coast, and especially on sailboats and, eventually, catamarans, which completely won me over.
The COVID hysteria brought global tourism to a standstill, including my newly discovered job as a manager on small cruise ships. I used the year-long business pause to do things I either hadn’t had time for before or hadn’t dared to try. So, in the spring of 2021, I passed the skipper exam and set sail on a sailboat for the first time, later also trying my hand at catamarans. I still consider myself a beginner, but I fully intend to keep sailing in the years ahead. One of my dreams is to sail to Istanbul, Gibraltar, and Alexandria: key points of Mediterranean navigation and human civilization through the centuries. On one particular voyage from France to Gibraltar, while a colleague and I were asleep and the third crew member was on watch, we collided with a large steel ship… but that’s a story for another time.
Author
For quite some time now, I’ve felt the need to write, though up until now I’ve only written short posts on social media, something I never really gave much importance or attention to. I see writing a book as a small personal achievement, and I’m interested in a wide range of topics. My longest journey, 88 days during which I visited 11 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and the most popular Central American country, Costa Rica, gave me plenty of inspiration for my first journey. I still find myself re-reading the text I wrote a year ago, spotting mistakes, poorly phrased sentences, unnecessary parts, and so on. I want to achieve flow and readability before I send it off for editing and printing. The book will be available in both Croatian and English, and I also hope to create an audio version in English. Certain priorities and a lack of focus have slowed down the completion of the book, but I promise to put in more effort and finish the project as soon as possible.
Biker
As a child, I learned to ride a moped, but even back then I dreamed of one day buying a real motorcycle, a dream that finally came true in 2020. After the 2019 season, I had some savings in the bank, and COVID-19 had completely shut down my work in tourism. I thought to myself, if not now, then when?
I called a friend who imports motorcycles from abroad and ordered a Suzuki V-Strom 650. Less than two weeks later, I became the proud owner of my first deep blue beauty! I was over the moon, and before long, I was hitting the road and clocking my first kilometers.
I traveled across most of Croatia, and the most memorable ride took place along the Adriatic coast, including visits to several islands like Korčula, Lastovo, and Dugi Otok. Unfortunately, I had a minor accident while riding on a road I didn’t know about, on my way to the coast. I had taken an unplanned detour to explore an interesting area near the beautiful Zrmanja River. I was riding slowly, but after a small bend, the road suddenly curved to the left. The moment my tires hit the unexpected sand, the bike just slipped out from under me, and I crashed onto the road.
Despite a shoulder injury, I somehow managed to continue riding, and just two days later, I started a long working season.
Over the next two years, I barely found time for a short ride here and there. The first year I rode 8,000 km, but the following two, not even half as much. So, I sold the Suzuki. Still, by autumn 2024, the urge to buy a new ride returned.
I stopped by the same friend who had sold me the Suzuki, and in his yard, among several other bikes, one stood out, a stunning green-and-black Kawasaki Versys 650, the very model I had been dreaming of for a long time. My eyes lit up, and the moment I sat on it and started the engine, I knew, it was mine.
History Enthusiast
From my earliest days in primary school, I developed a love for geography, and especially history. Two teachers in those subjects planted the seeds of the life I live today. Without the love of distant and unfamiliar lands, unique cultures, and fascinating traditions that they helped awaken in me, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
The first book that truly sparked my imagination was Tutankhamun, the story of the discovery of the young pharaoh’s tomb, untouched by looters and offering archaeologists an incredibly rich and diverse collection of artifacts over 3,000 years old. That was when I first wanted to become an archaeologist, to search for lost cities and the final resting places of famous rulers, much like Indiana Jones. However, it turned out that my dust allergy was an insurmountable obstacle to such a lifestyle. Still, my love of history never faded. It simmered quietly over the years, supported by a considerable number of books I read, and eventually played a decisive role when, at the age of 38, I drastically changed my career path and became a tour guide.
Journeys That Revealed the World Through the Eyes of Adventure
- USA – Gulf of Mexico, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Nashville, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Route 66, Alcatraz, Oregon, Cannon Beach, Portland Japanese Garden, San Diego, Arizona, Illinois, Hollywood
- ITALY – Venice
- SPAIN – As Catedrais Beach, Barcelona, Madrid
- PORTUGAL
- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Abu Dhabi, Dubai
- SOUTH AMERICA – Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina
- MONTENEGRO
- HUNGARY – Budapest
- NETHERLANDS – Amsterdam
- DENMARK – Copenhagen
- CROATIA – Šibenik, Dubrovnik, Ston, Korčula, Hvar, Split, Zadar, Opatija, Trogir, Rovinj, Pula, Motovun