We’re down to our last 100 hours here in Tirana, and the Rain Gods have been telling us, “It’s time to go.” BUT, today dawned beautifully, and I had a nice walk around the lake with temps in the low 30s, and shared time with some old hiking friends along with some new. Kathleen has been working diligently packing us up as we do something different this time: two suitcases will be left behind with kitchen things and winter clothes, and one suitcase will go with us to Athens on Thursday, followed by Singapore the next day, then Bali for 60 days. Then onward to Da Nang, Vietnam, for possibly 12 months. We’ll see.

Overall our 7 months here have been wonderful, and we truly fell in love with Tirana, and, except for these winter temps as low as in the 20’s, the town checks off all the boxes we need to find what we want. We will return, of course, but it’ll be about 15 months, since it’s time to explore Asia a bit more and venture into the north: Taiwan, Japan, China, and possibly, Korea. In a bit more than a month we’ll celebrate 7 years on the road and the importance of finding “long term stays” has become a bigger priority. The days of “fast travel” are behind us for the most part, unless it’s very short term with a few select stops.

Hopefully we’ll stay in touch with all you that stay in touch with us!