About Us
SARAH
I grew up in a small coastal town in Connecticut, but my journey truly began at 17 when I moved abroad.
Most of my twenties were spent in Italy, with a few visits home in between. I earned my degree in Archaeology from an American university in Rome and stayed a few years to work — but despite the beauty of Italy, I never quite felt at home.
I returned to the U.S. for what was meant to be a short break to regroup, but when COVID hit, that break turned into an extended stay. I made the most of it by exploring the country, living in Colorado, New Mexico, and North Carolina, and visiting many other states along the way. Still, I felt the pull to return to Europe.
Then one night, while scrolling online, I stumbled across stunning photos of beaches I didn’t recognize. To my surprise, they were in Albania — a place I had barely thought about, despite its proximity to where I once lived. The more I learned, the more it felt right: beautiful coastlines, mountain landscapes, affordability, and a one-year visa-free stay for Americans.
Within six months, I sold nearly everything I owned and bought a one-way ticket. Now, I live in Vlorë and feel incredibly lucky to call it home. I tutor students online and spend my time helping other Americans looking to relocate and settle into life abroad.
With a five-year residency permit, I don’t plan on moving again anytime soon.
MARK & KELLEY
As a young girl in a tiny town in Louisiana, Kelley would sit on the floor with a globe, spin it, close her eyes, and put her finger down somewhere. After opening her eyes to see where she landed, she would open the family encyclopedia to read about that place and imagine herself living there.
At 23 she trekked across Europe alone with a backpack and guidebook. It was her first time leaving the States and only her fourth time on a plane. While she pursued a career in nonprofit and public health, all of her vacation days and disposable income went to support her travel habit.
When Mark first arrived in Albania 30 years ago, the nation had barely begun its recovery from 45 years under a brutal communist dictatorship. Two years later, that recovery suffered a severe setback when the collapse of pyramid schemes triggered a period of all-out anarchy. Amid the chaos, Mark and other American citizens were airlifted out by the U.S. Marines.
The following year, he and his wife and young daughter settled into the predominantly Albanian city of Tetova in North Macedonia just a month before war broke out across the border in Kosova. Working with a Christian-based non-government organization, Mark partnered with local NGOs, both Muslim and secular, to provide aid to the Albanian refugees who were pouring into the area. One of these initiatives was to provide woodstoves and firewood to refugees who were sheltering in spare rooms and abandoned houses in the area so they could make it through the winter. For the final three months of the war, Mark and his wife and young daughter shared a house with more than 30 refugees while he oversaw an aid project that provided food, clothing, and other supplies to more than 5,000 Kosovars who had been taken in by local families in the ethnic Albanian villages just south of Tetova.
When the war ended, Mark and his family followed the refugees home, relocating to Kosova where they lived for a total of seven years, during which time their second child was born a son. There in the shadow of the Accursed Mountains of western Kosova, Mark oversaw an international team that carried out a number of aid projects benefiting internally displaced people, disabled veterans, widows, and other vulnerable populations. One of the most impactful of these projects involved providing milk cows and calves to the families of men who had been killed in the war.
Following their time in Kosova, Mark and his family returned to North Macedonia, this time to the capital Skopje, from where they once again carried out various aid projects focussed on the Albanian population in the city and nearby villages. In 2008 he co-sponsored and helped to organize an international symposium to mark the 100th anniversary of the Albanian alphabet.
By the time Mark finally returned to his native New Orleans in 2011, he had developed an unshakeable, lifetime sense of connection and commitment to all-things-Albanian. He found employment as a carriage driver/tour guide while continuing to find new ways to express his love for the Albanian people, such as working on a volunteer basis as a guide and translator for the caregivers of Kosovar-Albanian babies and small children who had been brought to the States for heart surgery by an organization called HeartGift.
After Mark’s first marriage ended in divorce, he and Kelly met online and quickly bonded over their common love of travel. The couple were married in 2016.
As they settled into their life as a couple, Kelley began feeling more and more constricted by her life within Louisiana, which had always been home. She had traveled all over the world, but wanted the chance to experience actually living abroad – ideally somewhere with a beach. Meanwhile, Mark had never stopped feeling the pull of the Balkans. They finally decided to take the plunge and relocated to Vlore, Albania in September 2024. It was Mark’s first time back in the Balkans in more than 13 years and Kelley’s first time ever.
They both freely admit that life in Albania has its challenges, but neither of them has any desire to give it up. As a couple they offer two very different, but complementary perspectives. Mark has more than 13 years experience living and working in the Balkans, speaks Albanian fluently, and has a broad understanding of local history and culture. Kelley on the other hand has a totally fresh viewpoint and an understanding of what it’s like to start here from scratch.
