Here I am. In a foreign country completely out of my comfort zone, I feel alive. I am happy, truly happy. I am living, not just existing. In most countries we visit even with the language barrier, it’s pretty easy to navigate. Here in Albania, the bus system is not supported by google maps. There is no bus information schedule, route, or anything, anywhere in the country. You just know because you have lived here long enough to know.
Coming from the airport we had no idea where to get off the bus and what local bus to take to the Airbnb.
I do not speak Albanian. I asked the flight attendants on the bus with us since they were from here and having a stopover before their next trip. Almost the entire bus irrupted in chatter going back and forth about the best way for us to go.
One younger girl took us under her wings. She walked with us about 5 mins to a bus stop that would take us to our destination and told the conductor where to let us off. From there I had tons of pictures and videos from the Airbnb host of how to get to the apartment from the main square.
Same thing when we were going to the mountain and today when going somewhere else. I asked one person and 3 or 4 people chime in to give their opinion and help on the best way to go. Today the lady made sure the conductor also knew where to let us off and he came over and motioned for us to get off at the stop because we had arrived. Yeah, there are no stop names so you just get off on the side of the road and get on at the side of the road lol.
The younger generation in Albania is pretty fluent in English, so just ask a youngin and you will be fine. EVERYONE tries to help. EVERYONE. If I stop to look at my phone for too long 3 people come up to ask if I am ok and where I want to go and direct me.
I swear these are a different breed of people. A helping hand is literally always held out waiting to help.
I feel completely safe. I am not scared of being taken, being taken advantage of, tricked, bamboozled, nothing.
Yes, the struggle is real when I think about getting around, not speaking the language, and such. BUT the huge heart of the people of Albania diminishes all fear. Every step you take is a coffee shop. Every coffee shop is filled with people sipping coffee, wine, eating pastries, and chatting. ALL DAY every day all you see is people legit just chilling, laughing, and having a blast. The same vibe I got in Turkey. The people in the Balkans are truly a different breed.
Albania was never on my list of places to travel to. But since I am aiming to get to every country eventually it would have to be at some point. And I am so glad I have been going off the beaten path and visiting these less talked about places. Man if only the “elite” countries could take a page out of their book.
