Albania…It Borders on the Adriatic
Moving to a place you’ve never visited is a new one for us. We made the leap across the pond after a two month visit to central Europe. We loved the culture, we loved living without the need for a car, we loved the pace of life. And when we found an opportunity to make good money, get a residence permit, and live in a mid-sized city we had visited previously, we did it.
It wasn’t easy of course. We sold off most of our belongings and packed the rest into one little pallet. We left behind wonderful family and friends. But pre-Covid, it was totally doable and we have loved living here.
Then Covid.
We have been privileged to work from home and make good money for the area we live in, but doing that on a full night shift schedule with an almost full lockdown at the same time has taken its toll. We need to make a leap again. Having researched the options, and with no desire to return to the USA, we found Albania to be a good fit.
We hope.
Having never visited, we are relying on research and some conversations with those who have lived there. For most Americans (especially of a certain age), their knowledge of the company is limited to a little song sung on an old sitcom. There is obviously much more to it.
For those who don’t know, Albania allows US citizens one year of residency with no visa paperwork. This allows for plenty of time to settle in and research what to do next. Our plan is to look for ways to help out locally through volunteering, keep improving our own skills with the goal of being able to have an income regardless of our location, and perhaps look at ways to travel and volunteer at the same time while keeping a “home base” in Tirana (the capital). Whatever we do, we want to be good guests and add more than we take from our new home.
Tirana itself looks to have a lot to offer. It is a medium to large city with all the conveniences that entails. Albania itself has mountains, hills, beaches, and a rich culture influenced by Greece, Italy, and the Balkans themselves. And, at least for now, the cost of living for Americans with a relatively meager passive income looks doable. We won’t be living the high life, but we don’t want to. We want to be comfortable and fit in wherever we happen to be at the moment.
We should have an address locked down within a week and then its on to the moving company and getting there through the maze of Covid paperwork. An adventure for sure. But so far, our life together has involved some kind of major change about every two years so thematically this fits right in.
Wherever any of us end up, hopefully we are all striving to make that place better in some way…not by changing it to fit our ideas but by adding something new while taking in new ideas at the same time. In the end we are all just trying to make it through life as best we can. Please be kind to those around you and kind to yourself. It helps.