It’s 7pm on a Sunday night when I step into a Croatian villa―my accommodation for the week―and find a group of strangers already living inside.
How do you greet a group of people you’ve never met in your life in the middle of a country you’ve never been to in your life? By waving? With handshakes? Hugs? As my mind whirls through my options (Emily Post, where are you when a girl actually needs you?), I opt for the most American choice and start an awkward round of handshakes. What else could I do?
You may be curious how I got myself into this situation. Or you may even be asking, like a dear friend of mine, “what on earth possessed you to show up at a villa in a strange country and move in with nine strangers for a week?!”
But although this situation sounds like a reality TV show―maybe The Real Bloggers of Split, Croatia or Big Brother: Blogger Edition―it was actually my reality for one week as I joined nine other talented content creators, bloggers, and videographers at the luxurious Bohoho for the first Kaptain Kenny Collab Camp.
What is a Kaptain Kenny Collab Camp?
The talented Phoebe of Kaptain Kenny Travel invited each of us to join her at The Bohoho to participate in her first Collab Camp, a week-long event to celebrate the authentic community of her hashtag #teamkaptainkenny and to bring this same community mindset into an offline space.
From this hashtag’s beginning in late 2017, Phoebe’s goal was to build real, active, engaged, and helpful community between Instagrammers and to facilitate friendships on social media. For the week at The Bohoho, the same principles held: we were coming together to collaborate as a group, share our knowledge with one another, enjoy fabulous Croatia (of course!), and create content to showcase the beauty of The Bohoho. And let me tell you, that last one wasn’t difficult as The Bohoho is definitely beautiful!
The Brilliance of The Bohoho
From the moment we entered the villa, it became clear that this is a place unafraid to make a splash―a place where bold, vibrant colors and patterns mix with the beauty of symmetry and order. It’s honestly a dream.
Each of the bedrooms has a unique and dynamic theme: from one with incredible parrot wallpaper, to a room straight from the tropics, to one with neon colored pillows, to a room full of decorative patterned blues. The rooms are all as delightful and Instagrammable as you could hope for in a boutique, luxury accommodation.
Throughout the villa, little details surprise at every turn―like an ornate and antiqued mirror in the Blue Room, or a vivid pink and green tropical bathroom on the ground floor. From the elegant to the audacious, every detail in The Bohoho adds up to create a captivating interior.
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But the fun doesn’t end with the interior of the house…there’s also a rooftop perfect for enjoying views of Split and the ocean, excellent for eating dinner and watching the sunset, and, according to Leo and Boyan, also very nice for sleeping outside and watching the stars.
The pool overlooks the town of Split as well and is a refreshing place to enjoy swimming or lounging on a sunny day. And although you might feel lazy and/or guilty for just relaxing by the pool like this, there are a few things to keep in mind:
1) If you’re at The Bohoho, you’re on vacation.
2) 50% of the profits from booking The Bohoho go toward animal organizations and causes.
So just by being here you are contributing to helping all the sweet little cats that run around this neighborhood and in the town of Split! (And other animals too, but the cats here are adorable and when you see their tiny little faces I’m sure that will be reason enough to be happy that your money is helping them!)
The Upshot of it All
Somewhere between wandering the streets of Split, jumping on beds for Instagram pictures, playing in the pool, and taking an all-day boat trip…
Somewhere between taking way too many photos, preparing dinners, washing dishes, and little routines of Instagramming and working around the table in the evening…
Somewhere in all this, we, the ten members of the Kaptain Kenny Collab Camp, turned from strangers into friends and The Bohoho became our home. (I’m not kidding. Seeing other people staying at “our” villa now makes some of us act like dragons on a hoard of gold)
How did this happen? How did we all become attached to each other in a week?
I think there are several reasons.
First, The Bohoho is clearly a space that brings people together. From its open living spaces, to its bright and happy interior, to the pool perfect for lazing around and enjoying the company of your fellow vacationers, this villa is designed with people and with community in mind. We are so grateful to Dani for inviting us to spend the week here!
Second, Phoebe is a mastermind of creating and facilitating friendships both for herself and between others. Her skill at inviting others into her community really shines through, and this was a key aspect of why this Collab Camp was such a success. Between The Bohoho’s lovely spaces, Phoebe’s hard work behind the scenes, and everyone’s openness to collaborating and making new friends, it would have been more astounding if we hadn’t decided that we all liked each other in the end.
From awkward handshakes in the beginning to hugs in goodbye, The Bohoho and Kaptain Kenny Collab Camp really became our home and brought ten very different strangers together. We became a type of family…and dare we say a blogging dynasty?…so go ahead, follow our new reality show: Keeping up with the Kaptain Kenny Collab Camp. It’s more real than anything you’ll ever see on TV.