A Thank You To Balkan Locals

Anyone who travels will profess the importance of connecting with the locals (although it is extremely difficult if you are trying and generally happens by chance).   I have spent the past few days in a constant state of luck where I have continually made local friends and had very unique experiences.  I think that this “luck” can also be contributed to the Balkan hospitality.  

I have never felt so cared for and assisted as I have in the Balkans. In Tirana I asked a cab driver to take me to a certain part of the city to catch a mini-bus to the boarder town of Pogradec and he didn’t just take me to the mini-bus.  He made sure the right mini-bus drivers were approaching me and that the right ones took my bag.  He then called an English-speaking woman and put me on the phone with her to make sure that I understood where this bus was going and what I should do after.  A cab driver took time out of his day to make sure one ignorant tourist did not end up stranded in the wrong part of Albania.  It seems like a small act of kindness, but for one tourist who is unsure of where to go and how to get there, kindness like this feels like winning the lottery.  But, as I’ve seen countless times over the past few weeks, this was not a one-of.  This is a constant culture of warmth towards travelers that seems to know no limits.    

In the following entries I will write more about antidotal incidents, but I cannot even begin without addressing and thanking the kind people in this region who have made me want for nothing.