"Have you been to Albania?" - Part 1

After 26 years in the classroom and at 58 years old, I found myself staring out the window of my public high school in Reno, Nevada, contemplating an uncomfortable reality: retirement in America wasn't looking financially feasible anytime soon.

My teaching career had been rewarding, but the math was sobering. Even after 30 years, Nevada teachers receive only 75% of their salary in retirement—and 75% of a teacher's salary isn't exactly impressive to begin with. Most of my retired colleagues had been forced back into part-time work just to afford health insurance and basic living expenses. With a 5-year-old son from my late-in-life marriage, the traditional retirement timeline felt like a luxury I couldn't afford.

But international living wasn't foreign to either my wife or me. She'd spent a decade teaching in Turkey before we met, fully immersed in expat educator life. I'd been a Fulbright Scholar in Sri Lanka after university and had even lived abroad as a child in South Africa. In fact, we'd already taken the leap once—accepting positions at an international school in northern India in early 2020. Then March happened, and Covid shuttered our dreams along with the rest of the world.

So on that spring afternoon, I found myself back where I'd been before the pandemic: researching the "best places to retire" for American expats. The usual suspects appeared in my Google searches—Panama, Portugal, Costa Rica. But then something unexpected caught my eye: Albania.

Albania? Beyond the Hollywood stereotype of "Albanian gangsters" in action movies, I knew virtually nothing about this small Balkan nation. Intrigued, I dove deeper.

What I discovered was fascinating. Albania offered incredibly easy visa access for Americans, with stunning geography that seemed almost too good to be true. The mountain ranges looked epic—and coming from someone who'd lived in the Sierra Nevada, that's saying something. The coastline appeared to rival the best Mediterranean beaches, with crystal-clear waters that reminded me of Lake Tahoe. The cost of living was remarkably low by European standards, partly because Albania hasn't joined the EU yet (though that may change in the coming years). And Tirana's international airport provided direct flights throughout Europe, making the rest of the continent easily accessible.

I texted my wife, who was teaching at a different Reno school: "Have you ever been to Albania?"

"No," came her quick reply, "but I've seen it from Corfu. Why?"

I shared what I'd discovered, and within minutes, she was down the same rabbit hole.

"Why isn't Albania talked about more as a destination?" she wondered aloud that evening.

The reasons became clearer as we researched. Many Americans struggle with world geography and might confuse Albania with Algeria or other countries entirely. Albania also carries the baggage of decades under harsh communist rule, and it's simply not on the typical Balkan tourist trail. Travelers are far more likely to visit nearby Greece and Italy (both just a ferry ride away) or the increasingly popular Croatia and Montenegro.

But for us, Albania's relative obscurity was actually appealing. Here was a European country with Mediterranean access, dramatic landscapes, affordable living, and—crucially for our family—proximity to quality education options.

Which brought us to the obvious question: where would our son go to school?

A search revealed limited but promising options. One international school in Tirana stood out with excellent reviews and a solid reputation. When we visited their website in April—well past the typical hiring season for international schools—we couldn't believe what we saw: job postings for teachers with exactly our qualifications and experience.

It felt like the universe was nudging us forward.

After months of research, countless YouTube videos, and long conversations about what we wanted our family's future to look like, that text message had evolved into something much bigger. Albania wasn't just a retirement destination we were considering—it was becoming our next adventure.

​Part II coming soon...