Shkoder - Belgrade

The day finally arrived to say my goodbyes yo my Albanian family and leave for the summer for my next adventures. My Miçi boy knew I was leaving and gave me lots of cuddles and didn’t want to leave my side and it made me miss my cats a lot and reminisce on how big he has grown.

I threw my sandals away as well after 4 long months and 3 continents of walking because they were absolutely TRASHED! My bus was at 1pm but kept getting delayed which only made the goodbye even worse in my opinion. I thankfully met a guy from my hostel who was on the first bus with me so that made the leaving a little easier and no more tears shed as I cried the night before. Anyways, I said my goodbyes and Lina also went to the bus stop with me to say goodbye.

The bus had shit AC so I used my pashmina to cover the window because I am a genius and I had a 3 hour ride to Podgorica, Montenegro and then sat for 2 hours before my 9 hour bus to Belgrade, Serbia. The second bus wasn’t bad and I slept the whole time so I couldn’t complain. I arrived at like 4 am and took a taxi to my hostel and got a bed super early so STEAL!

My time in Shkoder, Albania has too many words to describe it, but I have left a piece of myself there and taken a large new foundation of myself along with me from there. As cliche as it sounds, it truly was the time of my life and I can’t wait to go back again one day. At heart I am now Albanian and I will always find comfort and peace when talking about Albania, especially Shkoder. My first Balkan country and my favorite to say the least. I have learned so much about myself from being there and I am honored and grateful to have had the experiences I had there with everyone.

To bitter sweet memories and Raki shots… faleminderit Albania ❤️🇦🇱Read more