Solo Female Travel in Albania

Like all of you, I am yearning to travel again in the post-covid world. So now more than ever, I am reminiscing on my past travels. This post is particularly about a solo travel experience from last October.

This segment of solo travel began in Kotor, Montenegro, when my sister got in a cab for the airport and returned to the USA. It was now my second major solo travel experience, but in a region of the world far different from my New England roots. The sun beamed through the mountain peaks as it had throughout our trip, but this day had felt different. I was suddenly more alert and honestly, slightly fearful that I could miss my bus.

A few hours after my sister left, I checked out of our AirBnb and walked to the bus station. I had previously printed my boarding pass for a 7 hour journey to Tirana, Albania. Once at the station I joined a line to board the busses. A driver looked at my ticket and instructed me to go into the station for a passport check. The man inside asked for €2 and then stamped my passport. I did not read about this in my research beforehand, so it was probably a scam. Luckily, I had a coin and was able to board the bus.

With a banana and a few snacks in hand, I joined the six other travelers on the 50-seater bus. There was a young couple, two male backpackers, a female backpacker, myself, and the bus-driver. I settled into my row, the bus-driver took my ticket and after confirming with the female backpacker that the bus was going to Tirana, I put on my headphones to zone out.

The drive was gorgeous and followed the Montenegrin coast visiting cities like Budva and Bar. There were bridges and cliffs, mountains and piercing blue skies. Honestly, the 7 hour journey flew by. Towards the end of the drive the female backpacker and I began speaking about our travels.

She was in her early 20s and had began her travels from her home in Northern Germany on foot. She hoped to walk to Greece, but a few set backs led her to take this bus-ride. Her travel philosophy was very take it as it comes and did not have a set duration for her stay in Albania, nor a place to stay for the night. On the other hand, I had memorized the path to my well researched hostel (in case I did not have phone service). I offered for her to join me on the walk and check out the hostel (which was only $9 USD per night).

We got to the hostel and she decided to stay. At this point we were quite friendly and were placed in the same shared room. I had to submit a college essay this evening so I stayed in the hostel while she went to explore for about an hour. I fell asleep just after she had returned and in the morning we ate breakfast together at the hostel.

At breakfast we met a Dutch man who had cycled the peninsulas of Europe and whose next destination was China. He explained that his father was coming to join him soon, and he was going to take a 2 week break in order to obtain the necessary visas for the next countries. He said that he would have to get through one of the countries in just 5 days because of the limited visas he had to apply for. Most strikingly, his inspiration for the trip was limited to just what felt right. This is an inspiring message because it shows that not all paths are defined and lead directly to a career or life event. But, sometimes to do something that deep down feels like the right next move in your life, is the most fulfilling.

I felt a bit out of my element at this breakfast. I (a college student traveling on busses/planes with a planned itinerary and booked accommodation), sitting with two people on soul searching journeys that spanned months and who physically and mentally endured traveling through rainstorms and passed over mountains. They asked me "how long have you been traveling for" and I replied "um... a week" (yikes). Yet, their stories inspired me to travel with more of a purpose and see it as a journey.

After breakfast, we all parted ways and I went to explore the city. By explore, I mean try every gelato shop that I could (they were just 50c each!). Most restaurants and cafes were filled with men drinking small coffees, so the first shop I saw with women I entered and ordered a coffee. Of course the interaction was slightly confusing with the language barrier but I sat down and received a coffee for just 45c. Afterwards I explored the streets some more and went to the national museum. In the late afternoon, I had another bus journey planned. This time it was a 2.5 hour journey to Ohrid, Macedonia where I would fly to meet my friend in Milan.

Once again, I had memorized my route to the bus station and arrived with plenty of time. I found the small bus with an Ohrid sign and stood outside. A young man arrived to wait for the same bus and asked in English if I would watch his bag as he went to buy a water. I was startled by the trust he had in a stranger but I agreed. He then returned and we boarded the bus.

The bus ride was quite eventful as one couple began verbally fighting with the driver in Albanian. Of course, I did not know what was going on, but the man from earlier was explaining the situation to me in English. It turned out the couple wanted the driver to make a stop at the Ohrid airport as most of the people on the bus were headed there. The driver was asking for €5pp in return. Angrily, the driver stopped close to the airport and the couple did not pay (the rest of us did).

Once at the airport, I realized almost everyone on the bus was on the same flight to Milan (including the man that was translating for me). The airport was very small and the flight was delayed about 3 hours. There were no food options open except for a vending machine but I enjoyed some chocolate croissant-type food.

Since the flight was delayed, once we arrived in Milan, there were no more busses headed to the city. So in order to avoid a €220 cab ride, I stayed in the airport for 5 hours with the man who had translated for me, and a younger traveler who spoke very little English. A few hours later, we got out of out metal seats and boarded the first bus to Milan and I joined up with my friend.

What started as fear, swiftly pushed me out of my comfort zone and met people whose worldly stories were awe-inspiring. It was these brief 3 days of travel that transformed my outlook on solo travel and made me question broad life questions.