Honest Impression of Albania – 10 Shocking Facts (Travel,Prices,Crime,Sights…)

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[Music] so let’s talk about Alania guys I have to tell you in some ways I feel like it’s one of the most underrated countries on the other hand there is let’s say pros and cons to every place and here on the channel I talk about building a life of Freedom around the world and I just want to talk to you a little bit about the past a little bit over two weeks in Albania the things I really love the things when the first time I came in 2020 then I came back in 21 I was just so surprised I didn’t expect I would like this country as much in the experience you can have here yet there’s maybe some small drawbacks and also generally a certain reputation that Albania maybe has in Central Europe there’s not that many people coming to visit some don’t know how amazing and beautiful the nature is the beaches the value you can also get here obviously cost of living is a lot also what I cover here on the channel going to places that offer more and today want to talk to you a little bit about the time here honestly talk about things like safety whenever I’m in Albania for some reason people people tend to ask me [Music] that and um let’s say like that it it has been the third visit the very first time I came here I didn’t really know what to expect and I love just the authenticity of the country so pretty much just like a little side note on Albania’s history sitting on a main square right now you seeing some of the old communist buildings back in the day this country has been closed off for a very long time so they didn’t really talk to anybody and until the end of pretty much the dictatorship here the country has been super isolated and I think the somewhat result of that is that it’s one of the few places that feel very different so just from a travel perspective a little bit of an adventure perspective seeing and feeling something new one of the best places let me first talk about let’s say the parts that I absolutely love the first time around and nothing much has changed about it while on the big picture A lot has changed again sitting on the main square if you just look around you there’s huge construction sitze like really ambitious projects I really like let’s say new developments and old buildings as well sometimes I like talk to people and they’re like hey I love new architecture and there’s people like no I don’t like new architecture for me personally I really like both it’s good to see a lot of development maybe I’m going to show you like a drone shot right now a lot of things has changed a lot is developing we’re going to get back to that but first of all let’s say like what we did this time you can check out the previous two videos first one’s from tyan and second one is a road trip this country was born for road trips taking the car out going to places like Vora the viw you can go up the mountains I think Albania is one of the most mountainous countries at least in Europe not even in the world no matter where you go you see like a mountain backdrop especially also here in tan and uh from there I would say Let me let me knock out a little bit the highlights for you just in terms of the trouble experience you’re taking your car out you’re driving they have actually restored a lot of roads are like perfectly needless um whereas like in 2020 2021 sometimes you go a little bit Offroad which can be also a lot of fun sometimes I even miss these roads but in terms of driving it’s pretty chill in the city can get very busy a little bit tricky narrow roads but um going through first of all duris then the town of Dy stayed a couple of days there seriously the scenery the way it looks is absolutely um on the one side fairly One of a Kind on the other side it looks like one of those like super let’s say high-profile European destinations which then are usually absolutely flocked and filled with tourists cameras everywhere the prices are crazy whereas here all the neighboring Villages of dery also very authentic on the one side but on the other hand also the prices like if it’s a fancy place then you pay like a regular European price but if it’s local you get away with like dinner lunch or couple dollars or5 for any dish pretty much and this is really a big selling point on the ones that said it’s fairly quite authentic I’m slightly out of the tourist season which I obviously recommend with most people filming right now as of [Music] October rolling into Alania let’s say it like that guys we’re on the roof right now of the hotel and speaking of the fact we’re here with the carry-ons from Level eight8 so if you’ve been watching this channel you probably have heard about them before my go-to luggage for over year now first of all the aluminium carry-on absolutely the most elegant piece that I’ve ever had but also the quality of it it’s super sturdy you can pretty much sit on it roll on it but also there are other cases like the level 8 Pro carryon has a laptop sleeve so often also traveling a lot with that as you see currently on the road with both also obviously if you need a check luggage they have like a the Voyager design I think looks really cool with the white handles so next to these suitcases looking absolutely slick I have to tell you they’re offering lifetime limited warranty so if something happens you can reach out to them their customer service is available at all times and as of right now for a limited time only for Black Friday they’re offering the biggest discount that they are doing with the code bf20 you can get 20% off many of their iconic different pieces I will leave the link L down below together with the code just check out the [Music] website intoa quite something let’s [Music] roll and just to break down a little bit let’s say the Highlight experiences of this trip again check out the previous videos but we’re going to put some footage on top of it right now um from dery drove down there was beach towns like himara which I person didn’t enjoy as much just because like the beaches is nice but it’s a more regular town but then if you keep driving the country changes completely and this is the crazy thing about Albania we’re going to places like Sara it looks almost like Greece again castles of thousands of years sometimes built by the Ottomans uh basically the Ottoman Empire has been here and you see really see the history like thousands of years and uh Sara amazing base this where this time again I stayed for a couple of days longer just because it’s a big town fairly convenient good places and also pretty good Wi-Fi like I’m always so surprised how sometimes I’m sitting in Central Europe I’m sitting I don’t know I’m sitting somewhere France Germany the Wi-Fi is not that great then you’re sitting in Albania some random Airbnb and you have like three times the upload speed and you’re like okay okay to be fair it’s not in every like Airbnb like that I don’t know different providers whatever it may be but sometimes I’m still surprised of how good it can be even just the mobile data is getting you far and um this was a little bit the coastal trip then boom again driving through the mountain going to towns like jeto CER going to towns like bat just the history there like seriously I’ve been traveling with some people in there like this is the first time I’m seeing something like that it looks a little bit like eul on this one side on the other side looks a little bit like Greece and just the whole mix of it very often they like kind of like um split the country uh not split the Country Split like cities there’s like a mosque right next to it there is a church and then sometimes between the lake it’s kind of like the Muslim and the Christian side back back in the day but these days actually this also a big question and I had people people asking like hey is Albania a Muslim country and the thing is you see mosques you see churches but you don’t really feel like it’s a say an ideologically very concentrated country I think again due to the communism you don’t really feel it on the streets in that sense and just to get the safety factor out of the way of everybody’s concerned let me tell let me tell it to you like that uh because it’s a very tight country and it’s fairly homogenic in the sense of it’s mostly Albanian people living here kind of feels like one big family walking on the street of never had an issue never had people looking at me even if you drive like in a nicer car or something I have to tell you personal experience I always felt absolutely safe I can feel like sometimes people are like Oh I’m a Solo Traveler da d d honestly I think you’re going to be just fine just because also even though the tourism is lower it’s certainly far from low if you’re in the in the towns especially in the tourist season Sanda dery everything it’s full Joc Custer this time around absolute party going on there like it feels extremely safe in especially in those places if you go obviously a bit Offroad you might feel a little bit like let’s say o he getting adventurous here but personally I think there’s absolutely not to worry about from that standpoint and let’s get a little bit into the pros and cons now that you have a little bit my experience that I had here on the ground I would say a huge Pro for me personally is that you see the country evolving and growing and you see it also really on theground first of all in small details like nice little cafes and shops popping out and done in a really good way which I personally haven’t even seen that much in a neighboring countes like Bosnia or Montenegro like Montenegro is super developed super touristy absolutely perfect clean place in terms of like tourism staying there a lot of people also choose to like live there make a base but Albania is really surprising me in the sense that we’re here in the city center like I mentioned before within 2 years they have finished a bunch of absolutely amazing structures this one is just being erected right next to me it looks like some Bangkok futuristic building like this would be a highlight in Bangkok and uh it’s just really really good to see there also has been like a lot of kind of like destroyed communist buildings like the pyramid in the back they made it into like kind of like a walking free time area and uh it’s really good to see the Alania is developing like crazy they’re like cleaning up behind me here a little bit we’re again sitting on a main Square what you may be seeing also is a gigantic golden Intercontinental was not open yet but the construction is pretty much finished and uh that is another thing that used to make Albania very special and I think it still is they don’t have Starbucks they don’t have McDonald’s I just checked Burger King or something only open here in 2019 I haven’t seen a single store now I see a couple of them so from that sense look I don’t like obviously all over the world there McDonald’s everything no problem but the thing is for me it’s just like a little symbol of the fact that Albania is maintaining a certain authenticity for some reason they’re just not allowing Starbucks in and the Coffee Culture in this country I tell you is a reason for itself to come here first of all they’re it’s kind of like Italian coffee they’re very uh thick very strong espressos very espresso based like you order regular Cafe they’re always going to bring you an espresso and they have the millery chain and the maner chain like this Albanian chains they were absolutely everywhere the coffee starts with like 70 80 cents for an espresso like I don’t know like $140 for a cappuccino and it’s not just cheap coffee it’s absolutely some of I would say the best coffee value in in the world must be Albania hands down makiato so good so let’s talk a little bit about like let’s say remote living perspective uh recently I’ve been to Georgia and uh spent quite a lot of time there and it’s reminded me in some way of Albania in the sense of Again country has mountains kind like even people look a little bit similar to a sense um but I have to tell you personally this is kind of like the conclusion that I have made Georgia I find slightly more aable from the perspective of it’s more International more already kind of like there’s International Community a lot of uh let’s say online entrepreneurs digital Nomads also in terms of visas and everything Visa Alania is also very easy if you’re American you can stay here for up to a year absolutely Visa free Georgia also has this like one-ear Visa free for a lot of people but even though I have to hands down say Albania for me for traveling has to take like let’s say has to take the price home for me the mountains and the beaches is just is something that uh mountains yes but beaches like the beaches in Albania are really world class to some extent um that Georgia couldn’t compete for me just the overall travel experience because it is more developed it lost a little bit of its unique charm but in terms of living I have to tell you toron is probably an amazing place to stop by for a couple of weeks if you’re working remotely which a lot of people that watch me kind of like this is what I talk to um Albania is an amazing Place good Wi-Fi connection really really good value we’re going to talk about the cost of living in a second but in terms of International Community sometimes you go in Albania without seeing any Foreigners for days if you’re in some like slightly more towns outside in tyan you maybe see a couple of tourists out like within the tourist season probably more but this is what I absolutely love you’re feeling like you’re entering other people’s world you’re seeing their culture just yesterday we’ve been walking around here they had a football game like just put up a huge party here and it feels really nice to be able to kind of be part of a little bit of a different world and really see and feel um yeah a little bit something different because I feel like a lot of country they lose that very very quickly and the ones that still very much maintain it they don’t offer a certain level of comfort and convenience that Albania at this point really does and uh so yeah this is as let’s say as a slight drawback on the other hand again if you’re just coming here to travel just coming for a fancy fancy like Europe vacation what you’re going to find is that some of the tourist uh places and beach towns are still not at like let’s say certain super high standard in terms of like maybe accommodation or hotels but still everything is very good it’s just that also local tourism is very very heavy so it feels like a little bit of a different brand of uh let’s say you can just imagine very heavy domestic tourism versus International tourism from everywhere just a different vibe that’s just something to keep to keep uh in mind which I personally enjoy just to like I don’t know kind of like I’m not vacationing I’m like never really vacationing I’m always working on the side but just to be like let’s say in the crowd of Ganan people being on vacation and then there’s you with your laptop and your little coffee and you’re just like sitting in their world it’s kind of cool and um cost of living I have to tell you uh accommodation you can get really good deals sometimes you pay 30 40 bucks for a little Airbnb it’s not that great just like a little small room couple nights ago not great then you can pay 30 40 bucks you have like a 60 square meter apartment with one or two people amazing location back there I’ve actually just got some shots I was like wow this is like absolutely amazing fully equipped kitchen living room uh for 50 bucks we can always get a nice apartment pretty much all over Albania if you go up 70 80 90 in Sanda we stayed at a really nice places they also have like really let’s say good airan bees and that’s again some countries you just feel like especially in Europe they’re not really putting in the love or the energy to create like a nice concept for you whereas in more emerging economies I just feel like they have more hunger more excitement to do something interesting and I really much feel that in Albania as well and I’m extremely interested like if Albania would start to attract more let’s say International tourism and especially like more long-term people maybe the Visa situation offer some like type of digital Nomad Visa or something like that I feel like this is the only part that I’m lacking for me to be like yo I could totally see myself even like spending a lot a lot more time here and um cost of living during the seasons like just by being here for 3 weeks I’ve seen kind of like the vegetables and the fruits changing in the markets the markets are absolutely everywhere globally together probably with Bali my favorite fruit and vegetable stands just because absolutely everything fresh and locally and at ridiculously low prices obviously everything organic you know you would go to Whole Foods and pretty much spend your grandma’s life savings to like eat there and here everywhere you get absolutely Super Fresh stuff and uh again meat uh meat stores everywhere fish freshly fish from the Seas uh of the region like I’m walking by these shops also like uh baked up some fish in my oven like those are things that are really important for me because you get super high quality organic stuff you get the experience of buying it and those are things that you don’t really get in Central Europe to the same extent you have to go to like a super fancy local farmers market and it just doesn’t feel the same so overall what else is there to say Albania I always felt like the country has a lot of potential it’s already quite a nice destination for me it was more in terms of Adventure travel but when I came back and I started to see just how they develop both in terms of infrastructure all over the country as well as especially their capital and their heart tyan very often Capital Cities don’t have such a draw where I say like hey let me stay a couple of weeks here so nice but here it’s kind of like a nice mix where it doesn’t even feel like uh a boring Capital City because you have the mountains you almost feel like you’re staying in like a mountainous town and then you have like you walk into one of the many streets and you have like a nice cozy neighborhood but then boom you have these like huge skyscrapers coming out in some districts they’re kind of like all centered around the Center Center and makes it a very very livable City in many ways I would say it’s in my top 10 for sure out of like I mean like not to like brag too much but like whatever like recently I counted the countries like 50 something countries in Albania no doubt about it top five for adventure travel because they also have the mountains kind of like a little bit Switzerland looking up in the north and just the diversity of different let’s say experiences you can have in one town you feel like you’re in Greece in another town you feel like you’re like in some Ottoman Empire absolutely kind of like fairy tale Town Jaster Barett and uh in terms of remote living it’s definitely still in the top 10 I would say it’s just slightly lacking in terms of some type of International Community um personally I always follow the approach of kind of like build up multiple bases around the world where you like to be and in the Balkans I have to tell you I like all the neighboring countries have a lot of love for let’s say just neighboring Bosnia Montenegro Serbia they’re all cool but Albania just feels so different where I’m just hoping that something is going to give me a reason to come back here more often in the coming years it has been drawing me back and here I am sitting on the main Square so guys this has been a little bit my honest opinion of Albania I didn’t just want to say like oh everything is so absolutely super amazing the thing is um the thing is there is still like if you go into the outskirts Tonto overall it’s fairly clean like not super like whatever like clean to the itch like Scandinavia or something but um uh definitely not an issue in toron if you drive out a little bit there’s obviously going to be sometimes like some trash disposal issues where you have a nice scenery but unfortunately there’s just some things but I’m sure this is something that’s going to be taken care of in the next couple of years again just something to keep in mind but that’s kind of like the pros and cons and uh yeah if you have never really thought about visiting Albania I think this video will give you a good idea it’s not like a perfect super let’s say no at this little part l so guys I hope you enjoyed this Little impressions check out the previous videos I’ve done in Albania if you want to go all the way back 20221 see me looking a bit more funny um there’s I think I visited most of the major towns in this country I hope it will give me a reason in the next couple of maybe next year next couple of years to be back I have a feeling it will happen on that note YouTu got a world to see and um yeah good place good place guys if you want to see where I am right now my Instagram is always up to date and as mentioned before here on this channel we talk about building a life of Freedom around the world going to places that offer more in Albania in terms of that [Music] place in terms of the apartment actually I just got like a couple of shots cuz I really enjoyed it I got like I got it for like a little bit over 30 bucks and like I think it looks super super super cool like sometimes that’s again the Ballon a little bit under the radar places you get so much value for your money this is generally what I talk about here on the channel if you’re new here I document my life around the idea of building a life of Freedom around the world and I would say instead of just standing around in the apartment yes the view is night out of the nice out of the window let’s go into the city let’s [Music] talk oh guys we’re here at the main Square to having some type of concert pull up like big things cool place you see all the new [Music] buildings [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] ah