Couple Visited 47 Countries, Then Moved to Their Underrated Favorite | Invesloan.com

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alicia Walter, 28, and Nathan Stark, 41. The couple has visited 47 countries and moved from San Diego to Tirana, Albania, in 2023. Together, they run The Passport Couple, a travel-advice blog.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Alicia: My husband and I have traveled through much of Central and South America, parts of Africa, a good portion of Europe, and most of Southeast and East Asia.

We’ve visited 47 countries, but our favorite is Albania, an underrated country in the Balkans.

Albania is absolutely gorgeous and still feels untouched by mass tourism, especially compared to other European destinations like Barcelona, Paris, London, Rome, and even Prague. The food is some of our favorite anywhere, and the locals are incredibly welcoming and have treated us like family.

It’s not perfect. The country is still developing after its communist era ended in the 1990s, so you’ll still see bunkers scattered across cities. A major earthquake near Tirana, the capital, in 2019 also destroyed many homes, apartment buildings, and businesses, so there’s still a lot of ongoing construction.

That’s part of what makes it so unique — every time we return, it feels like discovering a new place.

Albania has stunning nature and good weather

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

It’s a relatively small country, probably about the size of Portugal. You can easily road trip the entire country in a week or two.

It has a mild climate, typical of the Mediterranean region. Winters are generally mild, and summers can get quite hot inland, but along the coast, the weather is much more comfortable.

The country is probably best known for the Albanian Riviera — a stretch of coastline along the Ionian Sea with crystal-clear blue waters. Theth National Park is also stunning. We drove through it in the fall, and it felt like a magazine.

Albania has mountains, including the Albanian Alps, the Korab Mountains, and the Tomorr Mountains. While there aren’t any ski resorts, the mountains get snow and are great for hiking.

It’s just so beautiful here. Every time we head out into nature, away from the city centers, we’re blown away by how stunning it is, and how little we’d heard about it before.

Albania’s architecture is quite diverse. In towns like Berat, known as the city of 1,000 windows, you’ll find well-preserved Ottoman architecture — white stone buildings with dark-tiled roofs and wooden-shuttered windows, some dating back nearly 2,000 years.

In contrast, Tirana’s architecture is a mix of styles. There are remains of communist-era buildings and new, modern developments with many green spaces.

Living in Albania is incredibly affordable

Alicia: We moved to Tirana in February 2023. We had been traveling full-time for three years, just living out of suitcases, and wanted to settle in Europe.

We live in a brand-new apartment complex in a fully furnished 740-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit. We pay 450 euros, about $520, in monthly rent. Utilities — internet, water, and electricity — cost us around 100 euros, or $115, monthly.

Housing in Albania is way more affordable than in the States. In 2019, before traveling abroad, we lived in San Diego and rented a 630-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit about an hour from the city center for $1,250 a month — the cheapest rent we could find.

The value for money here is incredible.

International food in the city can be a bit more expensive, but traditional Albanian meals are super affordable. You’ll usually get five or six shared dishes, served family-style, along with a liter of wine, or some beers, and rarely spend more than $50.

Public transportation is also great and affordable in Tirana.

Nathan: I’ve been surprised to see how many electric-vehicle taxis are here; they have become the main ride-share form.

Alicia: The city was recently added to Google Maps, which has made navigating even easier. Riding a bus within the city costs just 40 cents per ride. There are shuttles for trips to other towns — we took one to the port city of Durrës for about $10.

We can walk most places and don’t really need a car in Tirana

Alicia: Our neighborhood is super walkable, with bike lanes and sidewalks almost everywhere. Our day-to-day needs are within walking distance, which is amazing coming from San Diego.

We’ve got a grocery store just down the street, a bakery where we can get fresh bread for about $1, and a produce stand nearby for fruits and veggies. There’s even a bookstore that sells English books about a 25-minute walk from us.

There isn’t much of a nightlife scene in Albania. Though to be fair, we’re not big nightlife people ourselves.

Instead, people here really value what are known as “third spaces.” Many Albanians live in multi-generational homes, where extended families live together. These third spaces are often green areas within apartment complexes, like shared courtyards, where everyone gathers, especially around sunset.

There’s something called “xhiro,” which is like an evening social hour. At that time, everyone heads outside: kids play; parents chat; neighbors catch up. People often go to cafés, which are a big part of the culture here. They’ll order an espresso and a glass of water, and just sit and relax for hours.

There are some trade-offs to life in Albania, but the pros outweigh the cons

Nathan: The money we save on food and living expenses in Albania has greatly affected our lives.

It’s allowed us to travel and invest more in our travel business. Part of the reason we left the US to pursue this dream is that we simply couldn’t afford to do it there.

There are some trade-offs to living here, though. For example, we have to go to different places to get everything we need: one store for dry goods, the produce market for fruits and vegetables, a bakery for bread, and another grocery store just to get coffee. Convenience can be a challenge.

We also don’t have shipping here. There’s no reliable way to get packages delivered because we don’t have proper addresses — just a street name that everyone on the street uses.

Still, there are a lot of advantages to living here.

A big one is Albania’s visa policy. US citizens get a 365-day visa on arrival. Plus, our Schengen visa days reset whenever we leave Albania and travel to the EU. For example, we can take a $100 flight to Rome for the weekend, and when we return, we can start fresh with more time in the EU.

Alicia: Beyond that, locals have been incredibly supportive and genuinely helpful to us getting settled here.

Ultimately, our dream is to buy a home in Italy, but there are a lot of steps before we get there. Right now, we’re just really happy here in Albania.