Balkan Summer: Three Month Check-In
Three months of Balkan Summer — gone. 26 places. Done and dusted.
Prices dropped. Temperatures… also dropped. (Though it’s still warm in Albania this time of year.) And while I am by no means ready for the darkness of winter, I am ready to unpack my bags, and be still.
For now.
I hereby present the final round of unedited excerpts from my notes app: Balkan Summer edition.
SHKODRA
cool. Immediate positive vibe
solar power, bicycles, minimal catering to tourism. NICE. casual
Shein store????
crazy communism craaaazy
NENE TEREZA
these hostels including full dinner and brekkie is hella hella
All these people who plan entire vacations around hikes….
VALBONA/THETH
the Albanian flag SHOUTS communism
romantic and funny and cliche in that classic sort of self aware narcissistic male self-therapy kind of way
I am so glad I did this with a group
the road up to Konami woah bumpy
take nausea pills/patches if you get motion sickness
I want to socialize but I don’t want to at all
cozy mountain cabins & family dinner (in the dark!)
The hike was absolutely gorgeous. Did it in less than 6 hours WITH breaks (and getting driven to the trailhead) — stunning.
best hike I’ve ever done so I think. I’m very happy
Whenever you need to come back to yourself, to remember that you are YOUR OWN, you know what to do. Xo
TIRANA
a bus appeared and I got on it having no idea where it’s going. and it brought me exactly where I needed to be
sometimes I’m just an American girl who needs a burger and a large beer at the end of a long travel day
penguin suit
why all the lights (changing colors)
bumper cars
smoking in the plaza
BERAT
1000 windows (1000 breakfasts)
no WHY is the yogurt WATERY
Faleminderit - thank you
Gezuar - cheers
“really good communication though”
sitting here alone right now, something felt different. And I think I’m not anxious for the first time in a month
Unspeakable raki tasting results
cute town, approved
HIMARË
(no notes. was busy. the following were written up entirely after the fact)
coastline: officially gorgeous
valo’s meatballs
airbnb squatting (nice hack, hurts no one)
moussaka 😍
SARANDË
me to an American woman at the bus stop: “I know I’m not going to like it there”
Her, with disdain: “Yeah it’s like Fort Lauderdale”
“Oh. Ew”
“And I’m from Florida”
biggest town on the riviera and the water is still pretty clear
alright I mean. It’s not ugly
NO ONE IS HERE ITS PHENOMENAL
lots of Scandinavians
not many people can say they came to Sarande and worked the entire time they were here. But I can
GJIROKASTRA
CUUUUUTE
so many French?
THE TRILECE WAS UNEXPECTED
the thing is, I don’t want to go to this museum. I would rather eat cake and work
top castle
oshaf (rice pudding but with figs)
last Saturday night: in bed before 10
KSAMIL
ghost town. love it. let me be
the guys here are fucking mega creeps
I can feel the seasons changing (wind, life)
the cult of Asclepius
everything is closed free the beach!!!!
me 🤝 half liters of white at lunch
my new definition of digital nomad: the financial flexibility to take a direct mini bus across the country instead of dragging your bags on the crowded city bus to catch a 3 euro cheaper connection
TIRANA II
and then you’re back again, and you know how much a bus ticket costs. And you know everything (except which bus to take, so you get on the first one that comes and take an hour long lap around the city)
It’s been three weeks and I still feel like Albanians are always angry when they’re speaking
why have I seen like 4 different people with nose job bandages
I’ve heard “everybody’s gotta live” playing literally everywhere in this country. Coincidence? I think not
how are Albanian olives absolute trash when Montenegro’s right here with some of the best olives in the world? asking only real questions now
new ritual: massage at the end of a backpacking trip to thank my back for all the hard work
I’ve never been so happy to go to an airport ever. But it’s nothing personal, Albania. I promise. It’s not you. It’s MEEEEEEEEE! (Elphaba voice)
—
So, there we have it. Balkan Summer.
It’s amusing to see the outwardly valuable, educational quality of these notes decline as the months pass. It’s accurate in the sense that a constant influx of new-ness at all times stops feeling new at a point. The novelty rubs off, and thus the insights fade.
In sum: I am fulfilled. I conceived of the idea of this trip some time early last year, and now it is done. I am done.
There is not much left to say.
Just the thing that never stops being true, that will always be true.
It doesn’t matter if you’re on the other side of the world or in your bedroom: quality time with yourself — with both your delusional and not-so-delusional thoughts — is priceless.
Don’t forget it.
ONWARDS,
Mag