Our Year 3 Travel Plan – Big Changes Coming!
Crazy as it sounds, our second year of full-time slow-travel is almost over!
And what a two years it has been.
Latin America and Spain have both been wonderful. But we think it is time to move onward to parts of the world that DON’T use Spanish as a primary language.
And what we have planned may surprise you.
Our itinerary is pretty wild!
So our plans for year 3 are largely set in stone, except for the last couple of destinations and any emergencies that may come up.
And what may be interesting to some is that for about 5 weeks we will be indulging in (gasp!) FAST travel!
That’s right, for several destinations in a row, we will stay only 1 to 2 weeks per location. This is due to external influences on our schedule, and the number of small Balkan countries we can visit in the limited time we are there.
It should be a fun year! Here’s hoping we don’t feel the burn during the fast-travel portion of our schedule.
So everything begins on July 27, when we fly from our Airbnb in Madrid, Spain to…
Belgrade, Serbia
1 Month – August 2024
This will be something different.
Different culture, different language, and a different alphabet!
We’ve wanted to visit the Balkans for a long time, and now is as good a time as any. Especially since there are so many reasonably priced flights to and from Western Europe!
Belgrade (Serbia) should be an interesting start to our Balkan travels.
Belgrade is a city with a long history in a country with pro-Russia/USSR (and anti-NATO) leanings. This should make for interesting cultural observations, needless to say.
This will be the greatest number of cultural and logistical differences we’ve encountered since first going to Guatemala in 2022. But we are very experienced travelers now, and we expect the adjustment will be MUCH less stressful.
And Serbia’s role during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s has made it less than popular with most of the neighboring Balkan countries nowadays. We aren’t worried about any of these socio-political tensions. But rest assured that we won’t be talking politics with anyone!
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
1 Month – August/September 2024
When our time in Belgrade is over, we’ll hop on a bus and head across the border to the city of Sarajevo, in nearby Bosnia & Herzegovina.
About as politically and culturally opposed to Serbia as you can get, Sarajevo is a city that was HIGHLY recommended by our digital nomad friend Ashley.
And it was an easy sell, to be honest.
Gorgeous countryside, a beautiful old city, and many outdoorsy day trip opportunities make Sarajevo a pretty safe choice for us.
Mostar, Bosnia & Herznegovia
~1 Week: September 2024
When our month in Sarajevo is over, we will take a train or bus to the small city of Mostar, nestled in the countryside of Bosnia & Herzegovina.
An ancient medieval city, it is known for spectacular river views, UNESCO world heritage bridges, and quaint old town area. And with national parks within an easy distance, we hope to rent a car and get some proper hikes done.
Kotor, Montenegro
~1 Week: September 2024
When our time in Mostar is over, we’ll take a bus across the border to the port city of Kotor, in nearby Montenegro.
Kotor is popular with tourists and has gotten a little pricey. So we will stay here no more than 7 nights to enjoy the beaches, take in the scenery, and have fun exploring the old town area with all it has to offer.
And the steep terrain should get our legs in great shape!
Shkodër, Albania
~1 Week: September/October 2024
Next, we will get on a bus to the small city of Shkodër, just over the Montenegro border in northern Albania.
Our goal here is simple: rent a car to explore the Albanian Alps!
Tirana, Albania
~2 Weeks: October 2024
We’ll be wrapping up our first tour of the Balkans by taking a local bus to the nearby capital of Albania, Tirana.
Being the largest city in Albania, we will spend two weeks exploring the city, as well as making day trips in the countryside. Albania is supposed to have epic-level hikes available, so long as you have a rental car to reach them!
Taboada, Spain
2 Months: November/December 2024
In late October we will fly out of Albania to reunite with our Workaway hosts Lisa and Stewart in Taboada, Spain!
We’ll spend the next 9 weeks helping them out and enjoying their company during the holiday season.
Barcelona, Spain
~1 Week: January 2025
When our Workaway stay in Taboada is over, we’ll fly to Barcelona, Spain for a quick 5-night tourist run.
Such a popular location among tourists and expats (and proportionally expensive), we had to visit to see for ourselves what this place is all about.
Sarandë, Albania
2 Months: Early January – Early March 2025
By the second week of January, it will be time to fly to the coastal city of Sarandë, located on the Albanian Riviera.
Normally we wouldn’t come anywhere near a place as popular as this with tourists, but it will be in the low season when tourists are scarce and prices are MUCH more reasonable.
Sure, the weather will be more like that in New England (USA) in the Fall.
But considering that we will have spectacular ocean views from our apartment and that we are colder climate-biased people, this looks to be a really fun stay.
And the fact that we will be having friends stay with us for a couple of weeks will be the icing on the travel cake!
London, Great Britain?
~2 Weeks: March 2025
Up to this point, our itinerary is pretty much set in stone.
What is still up in the air is our schedule after Sarandë, Albania.
Conceptually we’d love to get a housesitting gig in Great Britain (London ideally) for a couple of weeks. It would be great to explore that area (especially London) without the extreme accommodation overhead costs.
That, and the cheapest direct flights back to the USA tend to be from there.
But we need to see what luck we have finding accommodation alternatives before committing to this.
Orlando, USA
2 – 4 Weeks: April 2025
Yes, we’re coming back to the USA!
Probably sometime in April, or perhaps late March.
We will return to our home state (Florida) to take care of business and visit nearby friends and relatives for the next 2 – 4 weeks.
The plan is to rent a car, or buy an old used one for cheap and then sell it, and travel around doing what needs to be done.
Time will tell for exactly how long we stay because we have appointments that need booking, and we can’t do that until probably December.
So if you are one of our friends or relatives in the area, please reach out!
We’d love to visit.
Ohio/Connecticut, USA
2 Months: May/June 2025
As we always do when we return to the USA, we will spend about 1 month with each of our respective parental family units.
We’ll do all the usual stuff during our hometown reunions, but visiting parents and taking care of things that they need is top of the list.
Needless to say, we will be all over the place over the next year or so!
To put our travels in a geographic perspective, here is an interactive global map showing all the places we have financially committed to or have mentally planned on:
Anything Else?
Who knows!
After all this is done we are thinking about returning to Europe for another stretch, especially if we can arrange some housesitting gigs to help with accommodation costs in the more expensive countries.
Or we may return to Mexico for an extended stay. And then perhaps move onward to Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. We have unfinished business in South America from our last visit there, and there is so much more to explore in Mexico!
Or life may throw us a curveball and we will be forced to do something completely different.
But at this point, as long as our health is good, the health of our parents is stable, and nothing truly wacky happens on the global stage, we plan on continuing our international slow-travels for a while.
That said, we admit that we are starting to feel the itch to full-time RV in the USA, Europe, or Australia. 🙂
We’ll see.
Until next time…
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4 thoughts on “Our Year 3 Travel Plan – Big Changes Coming!”
Can recommend you contact Zeni at Go Rent Albania for a car rental. You should be able to pick it up in Shkodra and keep it right until your time in Tirana is done and drop it off at the airport. Much more convenient that trying to take local transportation in Albania.
Will do! We remember your rental exploits from your first times in Albania and have already made some queries with them. Thanks for blazing the trail!
WOW, Will love following the two of you as your adventures continue.
To infinity and beyond! 🌠