Webinar with Andrew, Mateo & Brenda
Spotlight on Split, Croatia
Spotlight on Split: Life in Croatia with Our Local Team
What's it really like to spend a month living on Croatia's sun-soaked Adriatic coast? In our recent Spotlight on Split webinar, The Good Life Abroad founder Andrew Motiwalla sat down with Split Community Manager Mateo, along with program alumna Brenda Wilson, to give registrants an honest, in-depth look at what daily life looks like inside one of our most beloved destinations.
Here are the highlights from the conversation—and why Split keeps drawing our travelers back for more.
Living Inside Living History
Split's Old Town isn't a museum piece kept behind glass—it's a functioning neighborhood built around the walls of a 1,700-year-old Roman palace, and it's where Good Life Abroad travelers spend their month. Restaurants, shops, and daily errands all happen within its ancient walls, just steps from the Riva promenade and its postcard-worthy waterfront views. Alumna Brenda Wilson described discovering just how close everything really was: cafés, the harborfront, and Marjan Hill's hiking trails were all part of a normal week, not a bucket-list day trip.
Meet Your Community Manager
Mateo grew up in Split, played water polo professionally in the U.S. on a scholarship to USC, and moved back to Croatia with his wife Stefanie ten years ago. Together, Mateo and Stefanie run the Split program day to day—she's an American of Croatian descent who went through her own adjustment to living there, which makes their combined perspective an especially well-rounded resource for travelers navigating a new culture, even though Stefanie wasn't able to join this particular webinar. Beyond organizing activities, they're available by phone and WhatsApp during business hours and are, in Andrew's words, "like having a friend or family member in town."
Housing With Room to Choose
The Split program is built around studio apartments in a single building just an eight-minute walk from the Riva, with amenities like air conditioning, a communal garden, and a 24-hour front desk. For travelers who'd prefer something different—a hotel room, a larger apartment, or a splurge on a waterfront penthouse—the Bring Your Own Housing option lets you book your own accommodations while still receiving every other layer of program support: the Community Manager, the group activities, WhatsApp community access, and travel medical insurance.
A Month Built Around Community, Not a Checklist
Split's program cohort typically runs 10 to 15 people, roughly a third of them solo travelers, and the group builds its own rhythm through a shared WhatsApp community. A few touchpoints are built in—including the Tuesday Lunch Club, a market-to-kitchen cooking class, wine tastings, and a historical walking tour—but the rest of the month is intentionally left open. Brenda recalled how her cohort turned that flexibility into a standing women's coffee meetup on the Riva, an ad hoc Croatian coffee lesson from Stefanie, and a progressive dinner across four different apartments.
"You really can sink into the culture when you do a month-long experience like this," Brenda said. "We came back weighing less than when we left."
Beyond the Five Things on the List
Andrew's philosophy is simple: tourists check off landmarks, but a month in Split lets you find your own rhythm—whether that's a regular coffee spot where the waiters start to recognize you, or discovering picigin, the local beach game with no winners or losers, played daily by locals just outside the Old Town. Brenda's group used their free time to explore at their own pace, taking day trips to Hvar, Vis, and Krka National Park, often coordinating through the group's WhatsApp thread rather than following a fixed itinerary.
Getting Around Split
Split is centrally located on the Dalmatian coast, just 30 minutes from the airport and well connected by ferries and catamarans to the islands. Within the city, Brenda described it as an easy walking destination—cobblestones and a few hills aside—with taxis available for anyone managing mobility considerations. Community Managers help travelers navigate the bus system, ferries, ride shares, and day-trip logistics, so getting to Hvar, Vis, or nearby wine country never feels like a solo project.
Ready to Experience Split for Yourself?
Split's Good Life Abroad program runs in the spring and fall, outside of Croatia's peak summer tourist season, with bookings now open through 2028. A $495 deposit holds your spot, and pricing includes 30 nights of housing, weekly cleaning, high-speed Wi-Fi, your Community Manager, scheduled group activities, and travel medical insurance.