Dubrovnik is definitely a place you should visit before you die. UNESCO World Heritage listed, the old town is a Byzantine celebration of marble, with the ancient center encased by just shy of 2000 meters of defensive wall. While back in the day these were heavily guarded, the city walls of Dubrovnik now make a truly breathtaking backdrop for a quick swim in the Adriatic sea.

On to the bathers! I'm extremely picky about swimwear as I take tanning very seriously. I always go for bandeau style with detachable straps - I think I would actually die of embarrassment if I had strap tan marks! I find that recent trends are heavily leaning towards laser cutouts and mesh panels, which I find so impractical for swimwear. Actually I feel this way about all summer clothing and footwear I don in the sunshine haha. No weird cutouts for me unless it's nighttime! I do have a pair of racerback speedos, but those are strictly for swimming training. Indoors. (Yes, fat and a swimmer! ^.^ ) This leopard print beauty however is from a K-mart / Target-esqe store in the UK called Primark. I have mentioned them before here. Before traveling I lived in the UK for 9 months, and can highly recommend them for decently priced, trendy clothes (plus sized and otherwise) when in Britain. This one piece was about $20AUD!

  I traveled with my boyfriend, and we were literally swimming amongst ancient ruins. It was such an incredible experience, I highly encourage you all to visit Croatia! And may I just comment, there is absolutely NO stigma in Europe about plus size women going to the beach in bathers. Everywhere we went - all around the Italian coastline to Slovenia then Croatia and Montenergo - plus size women were out on the beach rocking bikinis and bellies and not giving a fluff. It was refreshing, and contributed to me taking on their SO WHAT, I'M HERE TO TAN attitude at the beach.