Our story · November 19, 2025 · 6 min
Why Albania?
The honest answer isn't research and romance. It's exhaustion, a photo of palm trees, and a promenade that made us say — I want to live there.
“Why Albania?” is the question we get every single time we tell someone this is home now. And honestly? Fair. The average person back in the US knows next to nothing about this country, and before we lived here, neither did we.
We wish we could give you a story of careful research and romance — a heart heeding some call to adventure. The truth is more mundane. Our move to Europe, and eventually Albania, was born out of burnout, not a bucket list.
We chose Sarandë, specifically, because it had palm trees. That was the entire vetting process. Tony saw a photo of the promenade lined with palms and said, “I’ve never lived somewhere with palm trees. I think I want to do that.” A few YouTube videos later, the decision was made.
What was meant to be a six-month recovery has turned into two-and-a-half years. We opened businesses, gained residency, bought an apartment, and — for the first time in a long time — became part of a community.
That’s the real answer to “Why Albania?” or, more accurately, why we stay: community. People’s words and actions carry weight here. Learn a few words of Albanian and neighbors warm to you fast — ours hand us fresh fruit from their gardens just because we say hello.
So: why Albania? How about — why not? We found our place. Now we want to help the animals who share it.