Interview with Sanel
As a lead guide on Rick Steves Best of the Adriatic tours, Sanel has become legendary for the walking tours he leads through his small hometown of Stolac in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He turns Stolac into a hands-on lesson in the dramatic changes people in the former Yugoslavia have lived through since the 1980s. The Stolac experience is also at the heart of Sanel's personal mission: to open doors and bring people together around the world. He shares that passion with our tour members, inspiring them to learn more.
What was it like to be a child in the middle of a disintegrating country?
Growing up in what is now "ex-Yugoslavia" actually started out pretty cool. My family still lives in a small town in southern Bosnia-Herzegovina called Stolac, and all of my dearest memories are tied to that place. My friends and I had quite an innocent childhood — streets were full with kids, and everyone knew everyone.
I was nine when the war started. Bombs, sniper fire, ethnic cleansing — it all felt surreal. Watching people die is not something any child should witness. I remember wondering at the time what I'd done to anybody to deserve such a fate. I'm still not sure I can answer this question!
One of the weirdest things from the war was the silence that followed. After four years of going to sleep with gunfire and shelling, all of a sudden…nothing. It was quiet, peaceful — and that actually felt unsettling for a while! We had to learn what it was to live in a "normal" world again!
I think I could write an entire book describing how it was to grow up in a war.
What made you want to become a guide and where has this journey taken you?
Honestly, being a guide was not my choice — it actually chose me! In the spring of 2009, some Rick Steves staffers were in the region looking for interesting places to include in their Adriatic tour. My town of Stolac is quite a spot for that: full of history and monuments, but heavily scarred by war. My name kept popping up when they talked to locals as I was a student of English and literature, and deeply involved in the social life of Stolac. They asked me to show them around, and afterward they decided to start routing their Adriatic tour through Stolac, with me serving as each group's local guide. And now I'm working as a lead guide, taking people through the whole region for two weeks at a time.
From the first day I had a group in my town up through today, I'm living a dream. Rick Steves' Europe was one of the first companies to bring people to Stolac again, and this has made such an impact on our little community. Prior to the war we were pretty well known as a tourist destination, but with war and destruction we've been struggling to get back on our feet. It was a huge deal for us, kind of a first step toward having a normal life again.
Getting this job was a changing moment in my life, bringing me not just financial but also psychological stability. I truly found myself as a guide. I love every aspect of this work, and it's opened a brand-new world for me, where you can achieve so much with your own work — and most importantly be treated with lots of respect and mutual understanding. What more can you ask of life?
What things do you think make the Rick Steves tour experience different?
Magic is in the details: the way we run our tours, how we work with people on a day-to-day basis, and most importantly how we educate our tour members. This is not a "let me take you on a trip by holding your hand" tour! Oh no. A huge emphasis is placed on educating people by exposing them to real life, and providing opportunities to taste life beyond their comfort zone, and that's what makes all the difference. I also believe that our tours are well-balanced between group time and free time, so everybody can do what they dream of doing in Europe, and make some personal discoveries at every place they visit.
All the locations and itineraries are well-planned and introduced to our tour members from day one, so they know exactly what they are getting for their money. Our philosophy is to deliver maximum experience on every trip, and not waste any time on trivial things.
Rick's honest approach, well-prepared guides, great office support, and the hard work that happens behind the scenes all add up to a one-of-a-kind travel experience.
Tell us more about why Stolac has become such a highlight for tour members.
I am very passionate about Stolac, and proud of how we've handled our challenges. After all, we have gone through so much suffering with war — killing, ethnic cleansing, devastation on huge scale, segregation in schools, mistrust, and lots of other trauma.
From that adversity comes the great opportunity to build bridges and tear down the walls between people, and my work as a volunteer in our local nongovernmental organization focuses on that. During our walk through town I take tour members to visit that NGO, to see for themselves how much can be achieved when you have strong-willed people engaged with hope and faith in a better tomorrow. People often are really moved by what they see there. One tour member was so impressed that she and I worked together after her tour to create a partnership project between her Rotary chapter and my NGO in Stolac.
What is a "wow" moment for you as a tour guide?
One of my favorite parts of my job is seeing the look on tour members' faces at the moment they realize that something they'd been certain of turns out to be completely different in reality. Whether we like to admit this or not, all human beings travel with baggage in the form of little prejudices and false certainties. The moments when this curtain lifts are when I know I'm doing a good job. A successful tour provides people with enough information and experience to spark a real change of heart. That, for me, is the true purpose of traveling. We get to learn, grow, and expand our understanding of this world we share.
Here's what Sanel won't tell you…but his tour members will:
"Our guide Sanel was incredible in every possible way! We appreciated his insights, stories, personal history, advice, and fun humor. He is a wonderful human being and excellent representative of this region and RSE tours."
— Best of the Adriatic tour member