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When I first arrived to live in Bajze, Albania, I wanted to know more about this charming mountain valley town. Much like the small town I grew up in pretty much everyone knows everybody or is related some how in Bajze. History recap, the discovery of Bajze and settlement started after a solo rider became to weary and lost in the woods and stopped as he could not continue. He released the horse and prepared himself for eventual death. After the horse was released it began to paw/dig at a spot in the ground, the rider's attention to the horse's behavior forced his will to go and inspect. The horse had found a natural spring, this spring eventually became the town well and was locally called as the Cave of Frasher. The well is still active and present in the town today. The area was settled by seven brothers and my husband is a direct descendant of one brother, Ivanaj. Bajze had it's share of epidemics through the years, it was abandoned twice due to snakes and once heat. And his family bloodline was nearly lost during the era of the Ottoman Empire, one family member was forced to serve for 20 years in the Ottoman military or be killed. It was this man that carried the Malaj line forward as the rest of his family sadly died in a cholera outbreak during his time served abroad. The traditions, customs and language of the Albanian people are fascinating and I am learning more and more all the time. The language spoken here is Albanian, it is a beautiful language but also very challenging to learn. I understand slow conversations, can read and pronounce the language but the art of speaking still has my tongue tied. And before you suggest, there is not an app or software out there for learning Albanian so I have adopted the immersion and kid's books to start with the basics. I will write about some traditions and customs I have experienced and learned more about in a post soon. When you drive through the city center of Bajze today it has a new small park, a variety of shops, cafe/bars (occupied by mostly men, this is not the norm in other towns just this one), the schools, and the catholic church. The northern region is mostly Catholic unlike the majority of Albania, which is Muslim or Orthodox. A cross is on display on various hills including the one directly behind our home on our land. After the fall of communism, it was important for this region to take back their faith. During Communism if religion was mentioned or you made the sign of the cross in public you could be punished or imprisoned. My husband learned the foundation of his faith behind drawn curtains and closed doors in his family home by his grandparents.

After four months living apart from my husband, me in New Zealand and him in Albania, I made a trip back to Albania to visit and discuss our future. We thought New Zealand was perfect timing but it appears that with one delay comes additional delays in the land of visas. I had 10 days in Albania, we took a beautiful three day trip to southern Albania along the Adriatic Sea, it was magical. During this road trip my heart started to expand with love and admiration for this country. We also took some time to explore the northern mountains and his hometown Bajze. By day 9, I was totally smitten with all that was Albania and after we walked his family home and land I knew we were home. Many factors weighed decisions on how to execute this and if it was even possible including work, finances, transportation and moving two continents in one year. My lease in New Zealand ended in September 30 so we had a time frame to figure out logistics. My career, ended up taking a temporary contract when I left New Zealand extending my employment until the end of 2018. Transportation, we were able to sell my New Zealand car back and purchase a new car in Albania and finances were secured with our savings and a little lady luck. The move, packing up our Florida house in February, packing up my Auckland apartment in September, jail breaking my clothes out of customs (the bags weighed too much) and reuniting with my husband was 100% all worth it!! Fast forward recap: Plan A and B - Consider mission complete Plan C - We now live and work my husband's home and land that has been in his family for ten generations. We have experienced the loss of my father-in-law and his mother is now living with us full time. In my next series, I will take you through our home and land on what we have done to get it up and running after we arrived.

I grew up in Missouri where tornado warnings were a beacon to go to the front porch to gaze at the sky. In Florida, hurricane season come with both the ones that stay and ride it out and the others that flee north as quickly as possible buying out all non perishables from every store on the way. My first hurricane came as Hurricane Irma and we chose to stay and ride it out with my husband's brother and his family. We learned the art of hurricane shutters and the ghost town syndrome when a storm threat is near. We had power and internet during the storm and it was that week while we were watching the news in the evening that I found an opening with a New Zealand company that I knew could be a great fit so I applied. Post hurricane no damage and the next week I left my career in Health IT in the US. I chose to stay home and work on my other passion in real estate. By the end of 2017, we had reached our savings goal, I had my real estate license, started the interview process for New Zealand and we were actively looking at business opportunities for my husband in New Zealand. Fast forward recap: Plan A - Savings and debt goals achieved Plan B - I got the job, I moved to New Zealand in March 2018 without my husband his visa pending Plan C - To live in my husband's family home in Bajze, Albania

In 2016, our goal was to pay off as much debt as possible and still save 20% or more of our yearly income. I had student loans (over 35k), car loan (16k) and my niece's braces (less than 1k) to pay off, my husband had zero debt minus our home that we shared. We managed to pay off my debt minus our home before the end of the year with careful budgeting and a side hustle of AirBNB. And we had finally saved enough that we could discuss options for Plan B, my goal to live and work abroad. My first thought was Australia, his was New Zealand. My career in Health IT made either country an option but after research, weighing the pros and cons of each country and further discussion, New Zealand seem to be a better fit. I booked an exploratory trip to New Zealand for fall of 2016 to see if it was indeed as clean, friendly and beautiful as all of our research indicated. It checked all the right boxes. We knew that could be a great option but we were still working on Plan A. Fast forward recap: Plan A - Debt minus house erased and savings growing every month Plan B - Live and work abroad possible option New Zealand Plan C - Live in family home in Bajze, Albania

It started with an impulse to move to a warm, sunset worthy, non-stop flights, sand beneath my toes location in a quest to take back one thing, TIME. I was a fly warrior spending my Monday and Thursdays flying to and from my small college town Springfield, Missouri. The airport is tiny which means the planes are tiny and required a layover in Chicago, Atlanta or Dallas to get to most destinations. I was spending 18 to 22 hours a week in my commute to and from work, I was over it. I wanted my time to be mine so after spending the first half of the year traveling for pleasure outside of my work commute to New York, Florida, Hawaii, California, and Ireland, I decided to move. My short term lease started in August of 2015, it was a charming craftsman bungalow near Treasure Island in St. Petersburg, Florida. My first weekend was busy, I had to furnish the entire house including dishware, linens, furniture and more. And by more, I mean eat...over breakfast in a small beach cafe on that first damp Sunday morning I met a man whom I now proudly call husband. Yes, I said breakfast, I met my husband over an omelette and french toast. It was this day that Plan C was planted. The conversation started with where do you see yourself in five years, my response, "I want to live and work abroad before I am 40." His response while gesturing to me and himself, "Well if this doesn't work out, most likely living in my family home in Bajze, Albania or to live in a house on a hill over looking a body of water off the grid." Fast forward recap, we were married in December of 2015, bought a charming home in Apollo Beach, Florida Plan A - Payoff debt and save Plan B - Live and work abroad before 40 Plan C - Live in family home in Bajze, Albania