You Learn More From a Thousand Mile Journey Than a Thousand Books
By: Anastasia Nazarko
This week, as I was carrying out the research that naturally comes with my job description, I came across a fascinating website syndicated by the Lonely Planet Guide. It was a travel log of two individuals, Glenn and KF, who embarked on a 63, 000 km journey around the world. Notably, their path crossed through Albaniaطhich they concluded was the friendliest country (along with Columbia) they had encountered.
After skimming with amusement through their detailed description of Albanian adventures, I decided to get in touch with Glenn to learn the background behind their spectacular travels. Though this featured couple is no longer in Albania, once you read their account, I’m sure you’ll agree that they have a fantastic story to tell. Thus, it is my pleasure to present you with the real story behind the 63, 000 km adventure, as well as Glenn’s personal travel log which Tirana Times has been given exclusive permission to print:
Q: Why did you decide to embark on such a journey?
We have always loved backpacking and dreamt of seeing the world on an extended journey. In previous travels, we met people who had been traveling for months and always envied. Then we were backpacking in Scandinavia once upon a Christmas and came across a book by a Japanese free-spirit who traveled across the world. We dreamt of doing the same, only I already had a “dream” job in an “elite” corporate career program that allowed us to live around the globe. It was the business class of travel, see the world in style & comfort. We were already “globetrotting”; it would be silly to give this up.
Or would it?
Like every backpacker-at-heart, we knew seeing the world this way just wasn’t the same. We wanted to vagabond corners of the earth because for us, “roughing it” is not just a lifestyle; it is an attitude to life. It is about being young, being free, embracing uncertainty and more importantly – letting go.
Life is a series of lessons in letting go. Letting go of things that you cannot take to the grave in pursuit of things that are truly important – like dreams. So we confronted our first fear – letting go of our jobs and a financially secured future – and bought one-way tickets to destiny unknown. Who would’ve thought that a dream to see the world would eventually evolve into a 63,000km overland journey to our rootsŠwe learned the ultimate lesson: when you let go, you gain so much more.
Q: What was your biggest fear about making such a life changing decision?
Losing our careers, job security, financial future, and getting in some serious trouble when we’re out thereŠsuch as being accused of espionage in Iran or dying of dengue fever in a ghetto hospital.
Q: Where did you find the courage?
We thought, wellŠwhat have we got to lose? At the end of the day, life itself is a journey and everybody shares the same final destination. Steve Jobs once said death is “very likely the single best invention of life”.
I see my parents grow old and it’s like watching highly successful people slowly shed their surface of hard earned social status and just going back to basics, back to being children. I realized as you grow older, many things start losing their importance. What seemed to matter no longer matters.
We hear sad news of people getting sick, we’ve been shocked by sudden departures. Nobody knows when time is up. You can only do so much to prevent, but you can do everything to live a fruitful life. We don’t want to regret things we never did.
Realising you really have nothing to lose is the biggest motivation to get out there and do something your heart has always wanted but your brain was never able to rationalize.
TRAVEL LOG
Day 190: Albania, land of the warmest smiles
Didn’t sleep well last night. Not sure what kept us up more: the coffee and raki (aniseed flavoured liquor sipped straight up, this is the albanian vodka) that Mario invited us to, or the thought of leaving this country which unexpectedly became our home away from home, our family away from family.
Like a soulful bowl of chicken soup, Albania is one of the most heartwarming places in this world. I was blown away by how friendly people are. Maybe because we stuck out as Asians, maybe because the country had historic ties with Mao Zedong era China, or maybe simply because Albanians are a welcoming, curious, genuine and sincere bunch.
We felt like we were in Colombia again. All too often, locals would approach us with a genuine interest. Smiles here are contagious – give a little smile to acknowledge the stranger walking by and be guaranteed to receive a warmer one back. Be it on the street, a bus, or in a kebab joint, we received curious stares which always turned into beaming grins after a simple “pershendetie” (hello in Albanian).
Friendly Albanians were all over the country. The Harushas in Theth village; Diane in Tirana who found us a place to stay at her friend’s, her friend who also unexpectedly prepared us a simple breakfast the next morning; Siku, Cinderella, Anissia and the other beautiful girls of Berat who were so excited to take pictures with us (actually with KF, not me unfortunately); Franz, Gierz, and Piro, cool dudes I stumbled upon who were rolling up on a dark street, asked me to join, threw me a beer and taught me “gzooar” (cheers!); Rino, an Albanian Bruce Willis who ran the hostel in Saranda with the kindest heartō
And friends were easily made in Gjirokastra. I walked by a small local cafe one early morning when a table of old folks waved me over and sat me down with them. A glass of raki was served, courtesy of the cafe owner. This was the typical Albanian start to the day, an alcoholic breakfast. I couldn’t imagine a better way to initiate myself into Albanian culture.
There’s also XL sized Mario and his caring mother we called “nonna” (Italian for grandma) who ran Hotel Castelo. Nonna watched disapprovingly as KF scraped away the cheese from inside her burek (a bread-like pastry), explaining with the funniest body language (and horrific sounds) that it would make her throw up. Nonna frowned and walked away, only to return with a basket of plain bread and dish of cheese on the side. She sat down with us to eat, explaining that this particular cheese was clean and good on the stomach. She gestured us to eat, then forked up a piece, literally forcing it into KF’s mouth. We burst into laughter when nonna said we should leave a comment in her guestbook about how she fed KF like a baby!
XL Mario was like-mother-like-son. He invited us to coffee and raki. Surprised and impressed by a drinking woman, he insisted that KF also smoke a cigarette. I should rephrase: he forced KF to light up. Mario gave KF full instructions – the proper way to hold a cigarette, the right facial expressions to have, when to take a break, “parking” the ciggie on an ashtrayŠIt was Smoking 101 with Professor Mario, the funniest, most hilarious thing ever to watch.
Then there’s businessman Arjan and his two girls Eva and Angel. He took us out to dinner, ordered excessive food, told us about his Chinese friends & biz partners, took us out for ice cream after a day of swimming, and showed us his little workshop warehouse of imported Chinese lamps. He shoved us two bottles of wine to take home to “baba” & “mama”. Disappointed that we were unable to accept his generosity, he ran out to his tiny makeshift farm outside the warehouse and picked the ripest bunch of grapes for us.
This is the type of warmth that connect people, no matter how different or far apart we are. It’s the type that make us human.
Albanians represent human warmth in the most heart-melting way. I hope tourism, globalization nor commercialism will change this, the way they have changed many many other a people.
Faleminderit Albania and miropavshim!
