Sarande, no more riding

Dear friends and family,

I sit on the balcony of my apartment in Sarande, which is a resort town near the bottom of Albania, near the Greek border. I rented a place on the fifth floor, right in the center of town, only about a couple of hundred feet from the seaside promenade and the beach. There is a bakery below me, sending up lovely smells to override any car exhaust fumes.

The price is right as the daily rental is only $20 USD per day. If I rented for the whole month it would be close to only half that amount. With a full kitchen, I can make myself breakfast and lunch, then go out to dinner to try the local foods, saving even more money.

This place is about 800 square feet, two balconies, a separate bedroom and a large living room. Everything I could want, and more.

As in other cities of Albania, every other business (very little exaggeration here) is a coffee shop. A coffee overlooking the sea, under the palm trees is from $2 to $3 dollars. Food at the waterfront restaurants is double the price of a restaurant a block inland, but still inexpensive by US comparable prices.

I have ridden my last ride of this tour. I so enjoyed the riding in the south of Albania, with much less traffic and wider open spaces.

When I get to the top of a hill and survey the roads ahead it is enough to take my breath away literally. The combination of the remoteness, the wide open spaces, the aloneness, all conspire to hold that breath. By now the riding is so normal a part of my life that I just sit down, flip that pedal to take my shoe and move on down the road. My job, my life. 

I did notice that even though I have gotten stronger in my legs from four months of riding (training), I am getting tired earlier on each ride. I guess there is some physical wearing out going on as well as mental tiredness from riding. Two years ago in riding across the US, I went for 2.5 months, in Colombia last year for 3 months, and this year for 4 months. 

I realize that one big reason to bike tour these days is to see what I am capable of. Seneca had the belief that  “It is necessary for a person to have a true self-estimate, for we commonly think we can do more than we really can”(Seneca, on the tranquility of mind). 

Goethe’s maxim goes, it is a great failing “to see yourself as more than you are” but also stated that it is equally damaging to “value yourself at less than your true worth”

So, I push myself to my limit to learn about myself. Yes, I often think I am stronger than I am, find out otherwise and have to realize that I am not. A true assessment and a true learning. And only occasionally thinking that I really am more, but just had an off day 🙂

That being said, even though off the bike for a whole two days, I see it in my living room and miss getting aboard. 

From here I pack up the bike and will take public transportation to the capital city of Tirana, where the main airport is. I leave in only 14 days, which seems stressful as it comes near. I can almost remember when a whole vacation was 14 days!

I am quite comfortable here, even though it is too big a city for what I normally enjoy (the official population shows less than 40,000 residents, but looks like closer to 100,000). The last town stop of Himare, with only about 3,000 residents is more my speed and comfort with masses. Still, I am enjoying my stay and exploring the city and surrounding areas. Maybe knowing that the wilds of Alaska are coming soon allows me to enjoy the city fix for now. The difference these days of living foreign like this is that I have unlimited books in English (Kindle) and all the knowledge and news of the world at my fingertips. Gone are the days of finding books in English at local bookstores or other English speakers to swap books with. They were all mystery novels anyway, not my favorites. The news, well, might be better off not knowing some days right now. 

I can see why Albania is a new favorite for expats from both the UK and the US. Easy to stay, priced right, good climate (for most), and over 300 days per year of sunshine. A studio apartment near the beach sells for about $75,000 US, a one bedroom for between $100,000 to $125,000, and up for two bedroom places or penthouses. They are all allowed to be rented short term like on Airbnb or Booking.com, and right now there is more demand than supply. How that will continue if prices rise closer to the rest of Europe or the tourist numbers slow because of all the growing availability of waterfront vacation accommodations across these Mediterranean countries is a question I have. For now, a great deal though and a great deal if one would plan on staying put in a paid for apartment in a beautiful place. If only I could stay put.

My parents sure did a good job of raising a good catholic boy because I sure feel a lot of guilt for enjoying my life so much.

Sending love,

Charley