Couple Visited 47 Nations, Then Moved to Their Underrated Favourite

This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Alicia Walter, 28, and Nathan Stark, 41. The couple has visited 47 nations and moved from San Diego to Tirana, Albania, in 2023. Collectively, they run The Passport Couple, a travel-advice weblog.

This interview has been edited for size and readability.

Alicia: My husband and I’ve traveled by way of a lot of Central and South America, elements of Africa, an excellent portion of Europe, and most of Southeast and East Asia.

We have visited 47 nations, however our favourite is Albania, an underrated nation within the Balkans.

Albania is completely beautiful and nonetheless feels untouched by mass tourism, particularly in comparison with different European locations like Barcelona, Paris, London, Rome, and even Prague. The meals is a few of our favourite anyplace, and the locals are extremely welcoming and have handled us like household.

It isn’t good. The nation remains to be growing after its communist period ended within the Nineties, so you will nonetheless see bunkers scattered throughout cities. A significant earthquake close to Tirana, the capital, in 2019 additionally destroyed many houses, condo buildings, and companies, so there’s nonetheless loads of ongoing development.

That is a part of what makes it so distinctive — each time we return, it appears like discovering a brand new place.

Albania has gorgeous nature and good climate

Alicia: Albania is throughout the Adriatic Sea from Italy, bordering Greece and Montenegro.

It is a comparatively small nation, in all probability concerning the measurement of Portugal. You possibly can simply street journey the complete nation in every week or two.

It has a gentle local weather, typical of the Mediterranean area. Winters are usually delicate, and summers can get fairly sizzling inland, however alongside the coast, the climate is rather more comfy.

The nation might be greatest identified for the Albanian Riviera — a stretch of shoreline alongside the Ionian Sea with crystal-clear blue waters. Theth Nationwide Park can be gorgeous. We drove by way of it within the fall, and it felt like {a magazine}.

Albania has mountains, together with the Albanian Alps, the Korab Mountains, and the Tomorr Mountains. Whereas there are not any ski resorts, the mountains get snow and are nice for mountain climbing.

It is simply so stunning right here. Each time we head out into nature, away from the town facilities, we’re blown away by how gorgeous it’s, and the way little we would heard about it earlier than.

Albania’s structure is sort of numerous. In cities like Berat, generally known as the town of 1,000 home windows, you will discover well-preserved Ottoman structure — white stone buildings with dark-tiled roofs and wooden-shuttered home windows, some courting again almost 2,000 years.

In distinction, Tirana’s structure is a mixture of types. There are stays of communist-era buildings and new, trendy developments with many inexperienced areas.

Dwelling in Albania is extremely reasonably priced

Alicia: We moved to Tirana in February 2023. We had been touring full-time for 3 years, simply residing out of suitcases, and wished to settle in Europe.

We stay in a brand-new condo advanced in a totally furnished 740-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit. We pay 450 euros, about $520, in month-to-month lease. Utilities — web, water, and electrical energy — price us round 100 euros, or $115, month-to-month.

Housing in Albania is far more reasonably priced than within the States. In 2019, earlier than touring overseas, we lived in San Diego and rented a 630-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit about an hour from the town heart for $1,250 a month — the most affordable lease we may discover.

The worth for cash right here is unbelievable.

Worldwide meals within the metropolis is usually a bit costlier, however conventional Albanian meals are tremendous reasonably priced. You may normally get 5 or 6 shared dishes, served family-style, together with a liter of wine, or some beers, and barely spend greater than $50.

Public transportation can be nice and reasonably priced in Tirana.

Nathan: I have been shocked to see what number of electric-vehicle taxis are right here; they’ve develop into the primary ride-share kind.

Alicia: The town was lately added to Google Maps, which has made navigating even simpler. Using a bus throughout the metropolis prices simply 40 cents per trip. There are shuttles for journeys to different cities — we took one to the port metropolis of Durrës for about $10.

We are able to stroll most locations and do not actually need a automotive in Tirana

Alicia: Our neighborhood is tremendous walkable, with bike lanes and sidewalks virtually in every single place. Our day-to-day wants are inside strolling distance, which is wonderful coming from San Diego.

We have got a grocery retailer simply down the road, a bakery the place we are able to get contemporary bread for about $1, and a produce stand close by for fruits and veggies. There’s even a bookstore that sells English books a couple of 25-minute stroll from us.

There is not a lot of a nightlife scene in Albania. Although to be honest, we’re not massive nightlife individuals ourselves.

As an alternative, individuals right here actually worth what are generally known as “third areas.” Many Albanians stay in multi-generational houses, the place prolonged households stay collectively. These third areas are sometimes inexperienced areas inside condo complexes, like shared courtyards, the place everybody gathers, particularly round sundown.

There’s one thing referred to as “xhiro,” which is like a night social hour. At the moment, everybody heads exterior: youngsters play; mother and father chat; neighbors catch up. Folks typically go to cafés, that are a giant a part of the tradition right here. They will order an espresso and a glass of water, and simply sit and calm down for hours.

There are some trade-offs to life in Albania, however the execs outweigh the cons

Nathan: The cash we save on meals and residing bills in Albania has significantly affected our lives.

It is allowed us to journey and make investments extra in our journey enterprise. A part of the explanation we left the US to pursue this dream is that we merely could not afford to do it there.

There are some trade-offs to residing right here, although. For instance, we now have to go to completely different locations to get all the pieces we’d like: one retailer for dry items, the produce marketplace for vegetables and fruit, a bakery for bread, and one other grocery retailer simply to get espresso. Comfort is usually a problem.

We additionally do not have transport right here. There is no dependable strategy to get packages delivered as a result of we do not have correct addresses — only a avenue identify that everybody on the road makes use of.

Nonetheless, there are loads of benefits to residing right here.

A giant one is Albania’s visa coverage. US residents get a 365-day visa on arrival. Plus, our Schengen visa days reset each time we depart Albania and journey to the EU. For instance, we are able to take a $100 flight to Rome for the weekend, and after we return, we are able to begin contemporary with extra time within the EU.

Alicia: Past that, locals have been extremely supportive and genuinely useful to us getting settled right here.

Finally, our dream is to purchase a house in Italy, however there are loads of steps earlier than we get there. Proper now, we’re simply actually blissful right here in Albania.