After 2 weeks of vacation, going around with the camper van and making a lot of memories in Eastern Europe, it was time to start working again. This didn’t mean returning to the office. Just travelling less and spending more time behind the screen. I just dropped my friend at Tirana airport in Albania and headed Northeast towards Kosovo.
Crossing the border to Kosovo
I still had a Sunday ahead and no work. But I was back alone in the camper. After I spent a night on the side of a quiet street, I continued driving through the mountains. Curvy roads through the mountains, but very well maintained, as everywhere in Albania. At the Kosovo border, there was quite a queue, and I spent maybe 30 min waiting. Many street vendors and some fun people beside me. It was funny to watch and interact. I had my music with me and felt pretty comfortable in the VW van. I now knew that all my papers were fine since I’d done them a couple of times in the past few days. Crossing border control was very new to me with the camper since this doesn’t really exist within the European Union. The police officer was super friendly when it was my turn. He asked me a couple of things and even gave me some suggestions. A friendly small talk while checking the papers. What a good start to a new country.
Talking about that. Things are heated between those in this area. Kosovo is still not considered an independent country by the European Nations and, for example, is not counted towards the count of visited countries on this page. It’s accepted as a territory, but not as a country. Serbia does not recognise the borders, and throughout the country, especially in the South West, you can see many Albanian flags. I don’t think this is the right impression. I think most people don’t want to belong to either Serbia or Albania. They’re Kosovars. During my time I stayed on the Western part, which is the more safe part. Towards the Serbian border, things get a bit more heated, but more on that later.
Visiting Prizren on a Sunday
My first stop was in a cute city just right after the border. The temperatures were burning hot. I tried to park somewhere close to the centre, but couldn’t find anything proper where I was fitting. I had to back up a couple of times because things were just too tight. So I moved to a bigger parking space outside of a supermarket. A longer walk for me to the historical centre in that heat, but no other solution. So I left the camper there and walked in 40° Celsius. Trying to stay in the shade as much as possible.
I arrived at the historical centre. So many people everywhere. It’s the weekend, and people are out with family and friends. Despite the heat. The vibe was good and vibrant. Many street cafes around, embedded in the historical buildings. I walked a little farther and tried to go up the hill, but had to turn around when I realised it wasn’t leading me where I wanted to go. At some point, I made it to the big church and the river, which looked quite nice. But I didn’t want to squeeze into a cafe with all these people, so I decided to explore and get a feel for the city and the new country.
Then I headed back to the camper. On the way to the centre, I saw a cosy cafe where I stopped for some food and especially something to drink – I was so thirsty in this weather. The waiter was super friendly again, and we talked a bit. I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and open people were here in Kosovo. I didn’t encounter this to that extent in other Balkan countries so far. People are friendly, but not to that extent in public. Albanians were more aggressive and rude overall. My impression of Kosovo very different. I had lunch at this local cafe, a special type of local bread called Samun. When I got the bill, I was surprised how cheap it was. Kosovo is by far cheaper than Albania, for example. For my food and drink, I paid 5 euros. Euros, that’s right. That’s maybe something else people don’t know. Kosovo uses the Euro as its official currency without being part of the European Union. They don’t even have their own central bank to set interest rates. They just run on a currency they don’t control. The good news is that there’s no exchange rate to worry about as someone from a Euro country.
Finding a place to stay focused at work
The late afternoon was approaching, and I was looking for a place to stay for the past 2 nights so I could push in a full day at work without interruption. In Balkan countries, I saw many families and farmers with spare land who convert it into simple campsites. It’s very simple, and they let you park in front of their house. Sometimes with a toilet in their house. Sometimes very simple outside, or nothing at all. I found just a family’s house a bit up the hill. Perfect for me. It was empty, and later that evening, a family with two kids arrived as well. Since I had Starlink, I didn’t have to worry about the signal or anything. As long as I’m not under a tree, everything is good. So I set up all my extensions and the bed. Ready for a productive day and evening of work. I cooked my beloved Spaghetti (the only thing I can do). Up the mountains in peace and happy. The following day was very productive, which is important when I move that much, as it lets me get some good work done without network issues and so on. In the afternoon, I moved the van a bit into the shade next to a tree to reduce sun and reflections on my screen.
Visiting the Monastery Visoki Decani
A day later, I wanted to move a bit more North. I worked a bit more in the morning and left the family’s area in the early afternoon. Not far away, there was a monastery a friend of mine recommended I check out. This place was guarded by the Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO-led peacekeeping force. This is one of the few instances of Switzerland‘s involvement in a foreign country with an army presence to ensure peace in the area. On the way to the site, I had to cross a military checkpoint, and the monastery itself was guarded by the forces. I had to apply for entry at the Italian guard. After some waiting and calls, he let me in to discover the monastery. It was quite nice and impressive. A beautiful day and a great walk after sitting for a full 1.5 days in the camper working.
After the visit, I continued working at the parking lot in front of the monastery. But at some point, the guard wasn’t happy that I stayed in the car that long and came to watch. I told him, and he was cool with it for another hour or so. Then I left towards the North. I researched that the gasoline is way cheaper in Kosovo, so I opted to fill up completely here. There’s plenty of space for fuel, and I’ll save quite a bit of money by researching gasoline prices in each country. When to fill up and when not. Afterwards, I also stopped at a supermarket and stocked up on a few more things to be fully stocked again.
Crossing to Montenegro with Hichhikers
After fueling up, I went to a random place in northern Montenegro. But just after a 5min drive, I saw a couple with backpacks on the side of the road hitchhiking. I stopped and asked them where they wanted to go. They told me a city in Montenegro is their goal, but they’re happy with anything towards the North. I told them to hop in since I had a lot of space in my car on the drive home. They were quite surprised and happily hopped in. They told me they’re attending some kind of event where they have daily challenges to complete that earn them points, and they also have to comply with some rules. It’s kind of a competition between teams. I never heard about something like this. Quite interesting. So we crossed the border together, which was pretty straightforward and not that busy since it was up in the mountains. Then we continued over a pass, stopping to watch the sunset along the way.
It started to get dark, and I was looking for a place to stay. I don’t like to drive at night. So I found a family’s garden again where they let people park for the night. I didn’t need more than that since I just wanted to crash for the night and continue in the morning. I was asking my two Czech guests in the car about their plans. If they wanted to continue moving and let them out at a crossing, or stay at the place as well. They were unsure, but decided to rest as well and continue early the next morning. So we arrived together at the family’s house, where the husband with a little kid was already showing me how to park. Very open-minded and friendly too. He was about to build some toilet facilities and said Until this is done, everybody can just park for free. There was also no power, but I’m totally fine with that since I have proper batteries in the camper to charge my laptop and phone and run Starlink.
I cooked pasta again and, obviously, invited the hitchhikers to join me in front of the camper. They were impressed by how everything was stored and by what I pulled out for our simple dinner. They had mattresses and sleeping bags with them and set up their bed just outside my camper. I provided them with power to charge their phone and power banks, and we called it a night. The next morning they headed out early to find another possibility to continue their journey.
Wildfires in Montegro
I stayed a bit longer at the family’s garden to do some work and continued the ride towards the capital, Podgorica. There was a massive wildfire all over the place, and I stopped at one on the way which was almost reaching the highway. Some firefighters were monitoring it. They were so spread out, and sometimes in hard-to-reach places, that they were just concerned with roads and facilities and protected them. I took out my drone and went a bit closer to monitor it.
A quite campsite at a lake
A friend of mine recommended a quiet campsite by a lake which I was heading to. Not far from a city called Niksic. After I left the main road, I trusted the GPS and the campsite description. The road was pretty tiny and curvy. I hoped that nobody would come by. Sadly, this didn’t happen, and a car with other tourists was in front of me just after a sharp curve. No way to cross. The driver seemed not very skilled and was not sure about this narrow road with sharp cliffs on the side, so I opted to back off towards the next bay.
I managed to arrive at the campsite just a bit after. Very peaceful and quiet indeed. The girl at the reception came straight away to let me know about the prices and possible spaces. I decided on the spot to spend 2 more nights here to have a full day of work, the same as in Kosovo. The campsite is run by a family which also has rental properties next to it. I made some friends while staying there and had a nice time besides working. We got food together at the local restaurant the campsite was running with grandma’s cuisine. Obviously, very delicious and local dishes. Afterwards, we were chilling in front of the camper, having nice conversations. Then the owner came down and brought us some local spirit – Rakija.
The sunset by the lake was always beautiful, and I enjoyed the people around the campsite. Usually, the campsites aren’t that social, and I’m not actually looking for it. But this time it was different. It hadn’t rained for a long time; the lake level was about 2 m lower than usual. We could see and smell the wildfires nearby. Also, in the morning, I could see burnt debris on my camper.
I stayed at the campsite by the lake until Friday morning, and this summed up my workweek. Which means Friday is moving day again. I like to stay more fixed during the week. Although with my camper, this is obviously way less than if I were to get an Airbnb somewhere. From the camper, I have my setup and stable internet, and therefore can work from anywhere. By the end of my 3 day weekend I wanted to make it to Italy to co-work and visit a friend. So I had a lot of kilometers to cover. I was first thinking about making a stop in Budva at the coast, but decided against it and continue not on the coast. I started my day slow, had some breakfast and continued driving with nice music in the car.
Moving to Bosnia & Herzegovina
After a while, I made it over to Bosnia & Bosnia & Herzegovina. There was again quite a cue in front of the border, but it was very smooth to cross. I continued North East and ended up in a valley next to a river with many small waterfalls and pots to have a swim in. It was quite remote and quiet. I stopped at a village with a bigger waterfall (Provalije Waterfall) and a restaurant next to it. Quite nice to have a look at it or get food there. Next to the bigger road, there were some smaller once which was great to park. I stopped there and setup my desk to do some research on my laptop and rest. I wasn’t sure if I should make it to Mostar. I did some research, but couldn’t find proper parkings which are safe. People talked a lot about breaking into vans and stealing things, so I opted to stay the this quite stream with the waterfalls. I had some small walks around, enjoyed the evening atmosphere and cooked my beloved pasta with a view. I watch a movie and went to bed early. In the morning I woke up with a beautiful view over the river and the small waterfalls.
Car service and crossing back into European Union territory
After so much driving over the last few weeks, I needed to do some basic maintenance on the car. I went to a gas station, balanced the tyre pressure properly, and put in some Aqua Blue. A liquid for diesel vehicles, and I also took advantage of the cheaper gasoline in Bosnia before entering the European Union again. I continued North to the Croatian border, and as expected, I’m a target. The outer border of the European Union are more strict since afterwards there are no real borders anymore. So since I’m alone in a not that cheap VW-bus, I’m always on the suspicious to the officials for drug smuggling or importing goods. I got taken out already last year in Finland after coming over from Estonia. This time the same happened, but they wanted to see quite a bit. I had to open all doors and shelfs where they took a look inside. After some minutes of inspections and some questioning they let me cross.
Following the coast up North through Croatia
Within the European Union territory again, I raced up the good highway in Croatia. I skipped beautiful cities like Sibenik or Zadar since I already visited them some years ago. So I made 250 km in a few hours before I was notified of a major traffic jam ahead due to an accident. So I decided to leave the highway and follow a coastal road. It took me ages, but it was beautiful. The coastal road was 100km long without much connections back to the highway since it was divided by a mountain range. I followed that road with a couple of breaks to rest and enjoy the view. The cliffs and rock formations along where beautiful. Also there were many islands just on front of the coast. Occasionally I crossed some cute villages or towns along the way.
When it started to get dark, I was looking for the next best place to park via the satellite view on Google Maps. I just needed a quiet place to park, prepare dinner and sleep. I found one not far from a ferry terminal which crosses over to one of these scattered islands along the coast. I found a perfect parking next to a water reservoir with even a great view and not traffic unless the ferry just arrived which wasn’t the case in the night.
The next morning, I got up early because I had another 300km to cover to arrive at my friend’s place in Italy. I didn’t want to arrive too late and miss the end.
