The Delightful Surprise That Was Albania.

Albania- Yes, Albania. If you would have told me last year at this time that over the course of the next 365 days I would have been to Albania, I would have done one thing. Looked quizzical at you and said you were crazy. But here I am 365 days later, Albania has came and gone in my life and taught me things I didn't realize were going to happen.

I am a firm believer you never go into a country's border and out of the border the same person. That experience happened in Albania. The minute we crossed over into the country, everything changed. The landscape, the poverty, everything was drastically different from Montenegro.

We had spent the morning driving along the Montenegrin Riviera in a bus without air conditioner. The word to describe Albania upon first glance was rough and dry. The Alps seemed stepper and more rocky. The ground went from an earthy green to a harsh hue of yellow.  The countryside was lined with small homes with their laundry out to dry. The more into Albania we ventured, the more the communist roots showed. There were abandoned bunkers on hills and concrete structures in the middle of construction left to be worked on another day.

Albania lacked everything Europe stood for. It lacked romance, character, and the quintessential story book charm. Nothing about it looked inviting and yet, at the same time it was alluring. It was alluring in its vacancy and it's ability to be something. Albania was so vulnerable. A place where scars showed but they were being pulled back to expose new growth on the horizon.

Our first stop was in Tirana, the capital city. As we made our way into the city, we found an environment that was very comparable to northern Africa. The buildings were short, colorful and dirty. A lot of people find "third world" destinations repulsive to travel to, but I find something uniquely intriguing about other cultures and their lack of cleanliness and food restrictions. In America, we are so trapped with laws, qualifications, and rules. The question begs to be asked, "Our we really free at all?"

We spent the first few hours touring the city on foot. Walking through the city market where fresh cheese, fruit and meat were sold in abundance. I had all these expectations of Albania and most of them created from watching the movie Taken. I wasn't looking forward to Albania at all, but it was probably the most important part of my Adriatic adventure because it was the place that made me feel the most uncomfortable. The place that made me feel like a real traveler, traveling for experience rather than comfort.

 We only had about 16 hours in Albania's capital, but it was the place were our group of ten strangers became a group of ten friends in an outdoor patio of a hostel. This was the turning point in our 9 day trip and this 16 hours brought us together mainly because for all ten of us, we were stepping into our unknown.

 Each time I travel I find myself more and more accepting of trying things I don't feel comfortable with and I think that is the true test of why it is so important to travel. Books, the internet, and routines can't prepare you or make you grow like traveling can. Traveling doesn't have to be elaborate. Something can change your perspective as simple as a home-cooked meal full of flavors you can't recognize and ingredients you can't pronounce. One bite and your walls come down and you find yourself not questioning anything anymore. There is something so ironically comfortable about putting yourself in uncomfortable situations.

 As we left Tirana, I was excited to venture more into this mysterious country. It was now time to head to the coast. With it's crystal clear water and rocky beaches, the Albanian Riviera is a beautiful yet underdeveloped resort destination that is a secret to the Western world. Albania is a secret. I think it enjoys its mystery and aloofness.  People who want to discover it will, and what they will find is a treasure along the Adriatic sea.

Simple Adventures in the Bay of Kotor

Before departing the United States, I had not heard of Montenegro but maybe a few times, but now I feel as though my heart has been left there and one day I will return to gather up again. I leave pieces of myself in every place I visit. Each journey is special because it teaches so many lessons. Montenegro is not a place of extravagance, it is a place where simple is prime.

Upon leaving the red tile roofs of Croatia, we passed into Montenegro. Our journey was scenic with miles and miles of vineyards, hues of green, and the rolling hills of the Dinaric Alps contrasting against the bright hue of the August sky. We arrived in Igalo/Hecerg Novi on the Bay of Kotor in the early afternoon. Immediately, we found ourselves in the murky sandbar in the bay and watched locals cover themselves in the dark black mud to exfoliate their skin. It was in that moment as I saw the panoramic view of the Dinaric Alps that I first felt far away. I was in a place where Americanized tourism had left untouched. Where fruit was sold in abundance on every corner, fried sardines were cooked on the street, and ice cream was displayed like small works of art.

We awoke the next morning for kayaking across the beautiful Bay of Kotor and after a delish meal filled with the local meat dishes a few of us decided to take the bus to Kotor. Kotor was an hour bus ride from Hecerg Novi. I always find the best way to get in touch with a place is through public transportation. Our bus was 44 degrees Celsius which is well over 100 degrees in American terms. I don't think I have ever been so overheated from sitting in my entire life. After the hour trek in the sauna we had for a bus, we arrived and up on first glance Kotor's old town had the similar charm as Dubrovnik only on a smaller scale. The most noticable observation on arival was the tall mountains and the fortress wall scaling across the top. Like a moth to a flame, this mountain girl was excited to climb to the top of the fortress.

After a small tour of the city and a stop for water, we ventured up the staggered stones that made up the road tot he fortress. About 1/4th of the way up I was starting to over-heat but in my true stubborn fashion I wasn't giving up. (On a side-note, never wear jean Bermuda shorts on a 100 degree day to climb a 45 degree bank for over a mile.)  On the start of our climb, we looked over the old town of Kotor and there was laundry drying, loafs of bread outside rising, and a whole new way of life was being exposed from this vantage point. We continued on up and with every meter something new arose over the horizon. It was a sunny day with a hint of haze but the haze made the red tile roof and green Cyprus tree contrast stand out as the blue mountains and bay faded into the distance.

The Bay of Kotor

As we climbed closer to the top, we decided to rest before doing the final leg of the climb. It was then we noticed a small hole in the fortress wall and a small stone church in the distance. We unanimously agreed to explore the old abandon church and thus starts the lesson that everything in life is better when it is unplanned. 

We climbed through the whole in fortress wall and passed several goats grazing in the rock terrain to reach the church. Completely in solitude, the church with its mossy roof and its beautiful but fading details could not be in a more random but perfect stop so high above the town in the mountains serving as a symbolic gateway to heaven. As we walked around we noticed a sign in red paint that said, "Goat Cheese 50 m." All of us being naturally curious people we decided to go on a quest for the goat cheese.  The 50 meters turned more into 150 meters and as we walked along the rocky path we were greeted by a horse, a cow, and then of course the goats. We turned a corner and appeared on the side of the mountain a small house made stone with the laundry drying outside. The owners, not speaking a bit of English, invited us in with so much hospitality. 

We drank juice, coffee, homemade raki, and then it was time for the main event; their homemade cheese. Now, I am a cheese lover and of all the cheese I have tasted this aged-goat cheese was an sensory experience for my palate. This was hands down the best cheese I have ever tasted. We all sat there soaking up the simple moment and completely blew off going to the top of the fortress. 

This whole experience was the highlight of my trip. Proving the simple and unplanned moments of your life can be the most rewarding. It was a turning point in how I look at myself as a traveler. Language shouldn't be a barrier. I could not physical communicate with this lovely couple but yet we still communicated through our trust and openness in mankind. How many American families would ever welcome strangers into their home like this? I realized I can't be afraid to go to places that will make me uncomfortable or places I am afraid I won't be able to understand. I think that is how travelers differ from tourist. Tourists go after what is observed, while travelers seek something of more understanding from the unseen. This place we found is not in a guide book or Trip Advisor but it is hands down one of the top ten experiences of my life that I can't even fully put into words.  

I learned that planning things and being scared to go off the path may mean you miss out on the small surprises along the way. Montenegro was never I place on my bucket list and being there in the first place was unexpected but the lessons I took away from Montenegro will stay with me for my whole life. This entire Balkan region is a jewel to the world. A place of amazing food, amazing art, gorgeous landscapes and extremely humble and welcoming people. A piece of my heart was left here in these rocky mountains and one day I will return to gather it again and share the experience with my children or grandchildren. Life is about going off course and finding out something as a well-crafted wheel of aged goat cheese can have a profound impact on your life. 

To the small adventures...

New Eyes, New Places

There are several experiences in my life that make me stop and take a photographic memory in my life, this past month I have had several of those. I recently traveled to the Adriatic Coast and the entire experience was amazing. I will individual break down those moments in future posts but what I want to concentrate on today is what changed inside my soul during this journey.

Each quest I take has a unique effect on me. I doubt anyone can open themselves to new experiences and come back to their daily life and feel the same. Currently, I feel as though my entire life I have been living with a coating of gray over my eyes and after this journey I feel I see colors I didn't before and my palate has experienced flavors distant to it in my previous life. Everything I saw and ate on this trip was amazing and flavorful. The fruit was sweeter, the sauces more dynamic, and everything tasted fresh. I came back to a world of processed foods and a keen sense for tasting added sugar in things I previously was unaware of.

My most important observation is that my entire daily life lacks the passion I need it to have. I have no outdoor cafes on every corner, no street music echoing through the town, no outdoor fruit stands selling blackberries and raspberries for 1 Euro. My entire regular life seems overpriced and over processed. I have reached a tipping point where I don't want my life to be any of those things. I want the art of growing food, I want to smell fresh herbs. I don't want the quick way anymore but the detailed way. I want to eat something that has substance and I watched it grow from start to finish.

There are a lot of things I love about America, but the concept the faster the better is not one of them. I have been sucked into this way of life for so long that I think my best options are my quickest options. Nothing in life should ever be done fast for the sake of ruining the quality of it.  I sometimes feel so out of place and I realize when I travel I doubt my residence in the good ol' USA. I don't fit at all with anything my society is trying to shove down my throat. There are so many books I want to read, so many symphonies I haven't listened too, and so many places I haven't visited yet.

My Year of Contentment in Review

Just shy of my 26th birthday I stumbled upon a quote that stated, "Don't travel for a new life, instead focus on a life you don't have to run away from." That struck a nerve deep inside me, because for me I travel to experience new cultures and to expand my mind but deep down the truth was I was wander because nothing was keeping me happy at home.

I decided of all the year's this year would be my year of contentment. A year where I would value all the things I take for granted and learn how to be happy without making goal lists every month, week, day, or sadly hour. I am a true dichotomy of extremely anal and spontaneous. For me I wake up with at least 5 goals and go to bed never satisfied with what I have accomplished. Truthfully, it is a living hell.

I guess I am like a hummingbird, still in a moment yet constantly in motion. The quest for me to find contentment began and now 10 months later I do believe I found out something: I don't like being content. So how did I begin this journey, I put down my pen and I stopped making strategic plans for my life. I mean who makes a SWOT analysis on their own personality? I decided to face one of my many fears: rejection.

I fear rejection like most people fear heights. It's why I don't date well. The constant thought of someone judging and evaluating me sends me into a nervous stupor and before it's over my nerves block me out of every getting date number two. I think I subconsciously do it, to make sure no every gets in so that no one can every truly break my heart. It's my way of still being in control even when I am not.  So how did I decided to face this fear of rejection, I auditioned for the Charleston Light Oprea Guild's production of Hello Dolly. I missed the first call of auditions do to just pure fear. I sat in the parking lot but couldn't bring myself to tryout because what if I did make it, what if I failed? Two days later a second round of auditions commenced and I knew that I needed to do it for bigger reasons than just being in a musical. I needed to grow past my anxiety or fear of being analyzed. I needed to learn to just not care. So with sweaty palms, a shaky voice and an instant outbreak of hives I auditioned singing amazing grace. It was a horrible audition and and even horrible dance audition which is my forte. I , the constant perfectionist, was so imperfect. For once I didn't care, I was just elated I made the cast.

Since then I have auditioned for other plays and I get more comfortable each time. I have come to understand that my only weakness is my own doubt in myself. Nothing outwardly is causing me to be nervous, the hindrance is my own self doubt. What else am I holding myself back from in I am doubting myself? So what does all this have to do with contentment? It is simple, if you are content with yourself then you aren't doubting what you aren't or are doing. You are completely comfortable. That was my mission to accomplish, to alleviate my doubts about myself and just be a stronger woman.

This year has taught me so many lessons about myself and about others. I have went through almost losing my Dad to a pulmonary embolism, changing jobs, my grandma passing, accepting new challenges, and traveling to new places. I would say of the last 4 years this has been the least defining year, but as I write this I am not sure. I went into my 26th year with no expectations and what I got was a sense of self assurance. I am, Rachel Coffman. I am that girl who dreams bigger than she needs too, makes too many goals (but always accomplishes them), drinks out of the milk carton (hey, no one is perfect), has a tendency to see the good in people when they don't deserve it, never unpacks my suitcase, and the list goes on. This is the time I have accepted I am me, with no self doubt.  I am the sum of all my weaknesses, my strengths, improvements, and my failures.  I couldn't be more happier to be me. That was the end goal, to no longer wonder where I belong in this world, but to be accepting of where I was and own that moment in time.

Life can be "content' without settling for contentment.  I disagree with the quote I first mentioned. I don't see how travelling means you are running away from a life. You are creating a life much richer. Travelling doesn't mean crossing oceans or international borders, it is a state of mind to go freely without bias. I have had so many fears torn down by meeting people from different cultures and those experiences allowed me to be more open in my daily life. Being aware of how small your presence is in this world is the thing that makes you want to change it all that more. You must step out of your comfort zone to know where you are comfortable and what you can surprisingly endure. I am proud to be a hummingbird, always in motion and always learning.