Getting the Bosnia Team Rolling
Alright, so today was all about getting this Bosnia project team thing actually moving. Felt like herding cats for a bit, but we got there.
First off, just getting everyone in the same room, well, virtual room, was a task. Emails back and forth, finding a time that worked. Finally landed on mid-morning. Grabbed my coffee, logged in. Took a few minutes for everyone to show up, you know how it is. Sarah was having trouble with her connection, typical.
Once we were all there, I kicked things off. The main goal today was simple: map out the first phase. What are we actually doing first for this Bosnia research thing? Felt like we talked in circles last time.
Down to Brass Tacks
So, I pulled up the shared document. We started listing out the key areas we needed info on. Stuff like:
- Finding reliable local contacts in Sarajevo.
- Figuring out travel logistics between Mostar and Banja Luka.
- Getting a handle on potential language barriers outside the main cities.
- Budgeting realistically for food and local transport.
Mark was really focused on the budget. Kept bringing it back to costs, which is fair enough, someone has to. Maria had some good ideas about contacts she might have from a previous project. We spent a good chunk of time just brainstorming names and how to approach them.
Then we hit a bit of a wall trying to decide the actual route. Sarajevo first? Or start south in Mostar? Lots of back-and-forth. Honestly, it got a bit messy. Everyone had an opinion, and they weren’t all lining up. It’s tough when you have passionate people, good problem to have I guess, but still slows things down.
We pulled up some maps, looked at driving times versus buses. Realized some of the travel might take longer than we first thought. That definitely threw a wrench in the budget Mark was working on.
Wrapping Up (Sort Of)
After about two hours, my brain was fried. We didn’t finalize the exact route, but we did agree on the first couple of steps.
Here’s what we decided:
- I’m going to draft two possible itinerary options based on today’s discussion.
- Maria will reach out to her potential contacts this week.
- Mark will refine the budget based on potential travel times we discussed.
- Sarah, once her internet behaves, will research visa requirements again, just to be safe.
So, progress? Yeah, I think so. It wasn’t smooth, felt a bit like wading through mud sometimes. But we moved the ball forward. Better than just talking about talking about it. We meet again next week, hopefully with more concrete stuff to chew on. Small team stuff, always an adventure.
