Albania Van Life | A Vegan Traveler's Hidden Gem | Ellie Larkins

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In today’s episode, we’re chatting with Ellie Larkins, a full-time traveler who has been on the road since 2019, exploring the world through slow and meaningful travel.

She shares her experience traveling through Albania — a destination that’s still off the beaten path — and what it’s like exploring it as a vegan traveler living van life.

We talk about hidden gems, practical tips, and why Albania might be worth adding to your list.

As always, check the show notes and blog post for all the places we mention.

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Transcript

Brighde: [00:00:00] Ellie, welcome to the podcast. And for those who dunno yet, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up living full-time on the road for many years?  

Ellie: Hi, so my name's Ellie. I've been traveling now since I graduated from uni, so that was back in 2019 and it really wasn't my plan to be full-time on the road at all. 

I just thought, oh let's do something different. I'll go on a little trip, go and do something cultural or whatever. And once I started, I just couldn't stop. As a lot of people say, I suppose I caught the travel bug really properly. So yeah, one little trip, which was to Germany, turned into another trip with a friend and then somewhere else and somewhere else, really didn't stop. And I've been all over a lot of Europe and now much further afield. So yeah, just kept going.  

Brighde: Amazing. What was it about traveling this way that was just so inspiring and wanted to continue? Was it just like different cultures or you get bored [00:01:00] easily? What do you think was the inspiration? 

Ellie: I think it was the change from having such a strict kind of routine for years at university. And even before that at school, like I really was just I knuckled down, did all my work, and was really stuck in my ways. And I think it just, when I started traveling, I had to, change up my habits and I was forced into different situations and it was all new to me, very new. 

And I think my family didn't think it would probably stick for long 'cause it wasn't really my style, but. I think being challenged really brought me out of my shell and it was just, yeah, seeing life and people in a different way just made me wanna keep going and see what else I could explore. 

Yeah.  

Brighde: Amazing. Alright. 

So how does being vegan shape the way you choose destinations and experience destinations? Does it at all?  

Ellie: Yeah, it does. I think over time I've learned that you can make it work anywhere. At first I was a bit more apprehensive and thinking, I needed certain things to. 

Be vegan. And I, if I wasn't getting this and this, I would probably struggle. [00:02:00] Whereas I've learned now that I can live on a bit of bread and beans or something for a week and I'll survive. So even in, countries where it's not really a known thing, which is a lot of places where I've been it is doable. 

It's harder. It can be a lot of hard work. And you talk to a lot of my friends who aren't vegan and they're like, oh God, I wouldn't wanna. Eat that for a week. But that's just part of my lifestyle. I don't really think about it, it is what it is. I love going to places where it's easier and I can try really cool new things, but if it's not doable, then I'm gonna just survive and explore the culture and nature and stuff, and the food's, just the food,  

Brighde: I agree. I don't have to have the most amazing food all of the time. If I'm, 50% of the time my food is a little bit. You know me then, it's fine. My partner does not agree with that. He wants fun things every single meal. And I will say that can be a source of conflict is a bit strong of a word, but he'll really want to find a really nice restaurant and be very upset when he can't. 

And I'm just like. I don't just travel for food, I travel for so many other reasons.  

Ellie: [00:03:00] Exactly. Yeah. Would be nice, but not all the time.  

Brighde: Sure. So you've been traveling since 2019 and we're gonna be talking about Albani today, which is super fun. We've never had a podcast about Albania. I've never been to Albania, but I'm sure you've spent some good amounts of time in a few different destinations during that time. 

Would you share where you've been?  

Ellie: Oh yeah. I've spent, so the bulk of my travels has just been Europe, and even in all those years, I've definitely not seen all of it. There's a lot more I still want to see. I, I do a lot of slower travel because I volunteer and do things on the way. So I, even though it's a long time on the road, I've spent longer periods in certain countries, like island, which isn't even far from home for me. 

I've spent a long time there volunteering at an animal sanctuary. And I've done, a lot of little trips where I'm just in a couple of countries for six months or longer and I like crossing borders and moving all the time, but it's also nice to find a bit of a place and a cool hostel or some friends and just take it slow and see where you end up kind of thing. 

I don't [00:04:00] like to plan far ahead and, have a train this week and a bus next week by week. I like to just see what happens and take it slow. Yeah.  

Brighde: And what helps you know that you are finished and that you're ready to move on?  

Ellie: I suppose you get a bit of a feeling after a while, once you start going back to the same cafe every morning or something, you think you've seen everywhere and you. 

On the same beach or the same place. Maybe it's time for a change, but I also leave most places thinking, oh, I'll probably be back soon. I always leave it open that hopefully I'll come back again. 

Yeah, there's always room for more. 

Brighde: So you mentioned you spent a lot of time in Ireland. You mentioned you were in Germany. Were there some other places that you went to?  

Ellie: Oh yeah, I've done volunteering in a lot of places, so like just a list. I've been Bulgaria, Greece, obviously Albania, which we'll talk more about. 

And then your more typical Europe, like France, Germany already, Italy, even down on Sicily. I did a little voluntary project there. And then since my big stint in Europe, I'm now in Australia a lot [00:05:00] further, far away from home. But I've been there for a couple years now and I'm not settled, but I'm settled. 

It's such a huge country. I could be here for years and still not see it all. So this is my base for now, but I still hope to go and. Travel elsewhere at some point.  

Brighde: Awesome. And do you have a working visa for Australia? Because I guess you're still  

Ellie: very young. Yeah, so I came on a working visa and that was the case for my first year or so. 

But the reason I actually came over here is 'cause my partner who I met volunteering in Croatia, he's Australian. So I came over with him. So I'm not technically solo traveling anymore. Not at all A him and a dog. So there's three of us really. So my visa now is towards the partner visa style, but it's a long process, so yeah. 

Brighde: Oh, okay. I can totally relate to that as somebody who moved to Canada  

Ellie: yeah,  

Brighde: For that as well. So that's super fun. Okay. So let's talk about Albania. It's not really on most people's radars. How did you end up [00:06:00] there?  

Ellie: So I think the idea to drive around the Balkan countries, which I've seen through Albania. 

I was just traveling with a friend in a van at the time, and he was super confident to just drive anywhere. So I was just like, yep. Yeah, this is early on in my travel.  

So we were just driving around and crossing borders. I think it was just after the worst of COVID, so maybe everywhere was a little bit quieter and it was very easy to cross borders because most people still weren't doing it. 

So we just kept going and saw where we ended up. And there's a lot of similarity between the Balkan countries being so close together, and obviously a lot of culture overlaps and stuff. So once we were in one, we wanted to go and see them all and compare them a little bit and see what we could find. 

Just happens to be Albania that I've chosen to talk about because I remember a lot of cool stuff there. But yeah, all the Balkan countries, it was just a really good road trip to just go and hop around, border across and see what happened.  

Brighde: Amazing, amazing. And how did you enter a land border, but from which country? 

Ellie: Oh, I think we went in and out a couple of times, to be honest, I [00:07:00] don't remember the exact border we would've crossed. I remember one of the borders though, we had a bit of an issue. We had to show COVID passes and we had ours on our phone and we were showing them, but they were like no, we need paper. 

But obviously everything's digital now. Anyway, we had to bribe them in the end. We had to give them a bit of cash and bribe them to cross the border. So it was a little bit that the borders are a bit, they're not sketchy or something like this. 

It's cool, but they're very they're different. Like it's strict and there's a lot of guards with gun guns and stuff, but there's also. Stray kind of dog. Like it's relaxed and strict at the same time. It's an experience, some of them anyway, at least what we had. 

Brighde: How interesting. It's so funny looking back at that time. Having our vaccines was so important to go anywhere and do anything it just feels like a bad dream 'cause it was such a terrible time, but it just feels inconceivable now that we would have to do something like that. 

Let's hope we don't need to do that again, but  

Ellie: yeah, I hope not.  

Brighde: Obviously you crossed the border eventually, but what was your [00:08:00] first impressions of Albania as you started driving through?  

Ellie: Yeah, what I remember most is the kind of hilly mountain roads that we were driving on. We were there, it was late winter, early spring, I think. 

So I remember just seeing snow on the mountaintops like in the distance, which was really cool view when we were driving and it wasn't like wet or cloudy. It was cold in the daytime, but the blue sky and the snowy mountains, it was just like such a beautiful kind of picturesque scene. 

And we were just driving on these kind of hairpin loops in the road, just winding round, seeing where we would end off. And that, I remember that being like quite breathtaking. Just the hill. Really? Remember the hills for sure.  

Brighde: Wow. How beautiful. And it's interesting because of course Croatia is such a popular place to visit now in the tourism scene is booming and some of the other Balkan countries, maybe not quite so much as Croatia, but. 

Ellie: Yeah,  

Brighde: Are certainly getting a little bit known, but Albania really remains underrated. [00:09:00] What, do you have any thoughts as to why that might be?  

Ellie: Like I say, it's been a little while, like a couple years since I was there, so it might even have changed a bit by now, but it really was so quiet and there's a few places that are a bit touristy there, but for the most part, you're just with the locals 

it's not set up for tourists, or at least not, like you say, compared to Croatia or somewhere crazy like that. I don't know why I think it will change as most places do. And it's also, I always have this kind of conflict that I'm also a tourist, like when I'm visiting these places, I always wanna be somewhere where there's no tourists, but I am a tourist. 

So it's always this balance, so it's, yeah, it's hard, but I enjoyed it while I was there. At least, let's see when I go back.  

Brighde: Were there any things or incidences that stuck out in your mind that made you think, okay I'm really off the beaten track here. 

Not many people are here. Or maybe some sort of little adventure. This is a really adventurous thing.  

Ellie: Yeah. Like I say the driving is what I remember a lot. Just the hills and stuff. A lot of it that I found cool was just seeing like cattle and mountain [00:10:00] goats and just animals everywhere roaming because like I say, it's not foresty, so there's not heaps of traffic going through. 

So there'll just be really like old school farmers just walk in a massive herd of really hit like mounting cattle, down the road. Yeah. 

Okay,  

Brighde: So you mentioned that you were in a van traveling with somebody else. Were you free camping in Albania? 'cause that can be, some countries are really strict about this kind of thing.  

Ellie: Yeah, we did that for the most part. 

Yeah, I don't remember it being a big problem. I remember we used the app Park4Night a lot to find free camps, which is very handy, like when you're in a van or whatever. But I think it probably did help that it was just after COVID. So it wasn't very strict. 

No one expected us to be there. So people didn't really worry too much. Like I say, if I went in the middle of summer now, maybe it would be very different. I'm not sure. But we didn't struggle and we found some cool free camps pulled up on the side of the coast or on the side of a hill kind of thing. 

It just wherever,  

Brighde: I've always been so [00:11:00] curious about how Park4Night works. I've, heard people talking about it like it's a great spot to, as a van life person, to find spots to camp to spend the night, i'm curious like how it works and are you able to tell if there are lots of people already in that spot? 

Or do you just turn up and it could be full and you have to find another place?  

Ellie: Yeah, that is the case. It could be full if you're picking a busy spot, it definitely could be full if you're getting there later in the day. A lot of people leave reviews after they use one of the sites, so you can get a feel of if it's a popular spot or not, or they'll say, oh, there's only three spots for three vans or something, and then you think, oh, we might not fit. 

So it's quite good in that sense. There's a lot of information. So you can play it by ear and see, you get a good feel for whether you'll get a spot or not. But we didn't struggle. I think if you get there at a reasonable time and you have to be a bit flexible. 

You have to have in your back of your mind. It might not work, but that's okay.  

Brighde: Yeah. You're saving so much money on camping fees, my  

Ellie: goodness. Yeah, exactly. It's [00:12:00] worth it.  

Brighde: Would you recommend Albania for a road trip or a or hiring a van and driving around? 

Or is it better suited to more experienced drivers and travelers?  

Ellie: No, I would recommend it. You maybe gotta be a slightly confident driver if you're doing these windy hills and stuff, especially because locals will know what they're doing and they'll want to go faster than what you are doing in a van. 

But you just get used to that. You pull over, you let them pass. You don't let them stress you out. I really would recommend it to anyone. I don't think you need to be super experienced. There's slightly more of a language barrier than in a typical tourist destination, of course. 

So you have to maybe be a bit more confident to communicate differently or, be a bit more open. Which again, being vegan that sometimes is harder when you're trying to be clear what you're eating, that it plays into it. But it's doable. It's definitely doable. Yeah. Yeah. 

Brighde: Awesome. So we are gonna talk about some of the destinations and the highlights of Albania and you wrote some places that you'd love to talk about. I have not heard of any of these. I don't think [00:13:00] so. Tell us about Palumbo Cave.  

Ellie: Yeah. I also am not sure Annunciation, so don't quote us on any of that. 

But yeah, so one of the hikes I remember doing, which wasn't a super long hike or anything, it was very doable. Was, yeah, to this cave, Columbus cave. And I just remember a lot of the kind of nature setting there is hills, valleys, canyons, a lot of like rock faces and stuff like that. This was a proper track from what I remember. 

Like we, we weren't climbing or anything crazy like that, so yeah, it's very manageable, but we just wound our way round up a hill and it opened up into this really cool cave that was full of stalactites, stalagmites and also bats. In there, which is always cool to see. 

I always like to see any nature, any animals. But I just remember the walks that we did being really impressive. 'cause you just, again, because it's not a built up touristy place, when you go into the hills or wherever, you really just have a lookout over nature. It's not a hotel here and something here and a spa here. 

It really is just looking out over the hills and the trees and the snow mountains, all of this, [00:14:00] and it just is. Really impressive. Like compared to traveling in a city or a busier place where everything is more built up. I just really liked to feel that I was out in nature. 

And on our own as well. I guess again, because it wasn't super busy at this time. We really just had most places to ourselves and just, yes, super chill, doing these nice little walks and. Spend as much time or as little time as you want there as suppose, take a picnic, 

Brighde: Oh lovely. 

That sounds really cool. And what about Berat, the city of a thousand windows? I'm so curious what that is.  

Ellie: Yeah, so there's a couple of places that they like to name the city of this or city of that we noticed. This may be slightly more known, like probably if you've been to Albania you would've been there. 

So it's just a little old town. We just drove there and parked up not really knowing what to expect, and then we realized why it's called the city of a thousand Windows. You just have a look and on the side of the hill. So this is probably one of the mobile built up areas. But yeah, the side of the hill is just all these little buildings. 

And they're all, their windows are all facing this one way. And so it literally does just look like you're [00:15:00] looking at thousands of windows. And I know that kind of sounds boring in a way windows, but it's just the contrast of that with the nature, which again isn't always what you want, but in this case it's cool. 

It just looked really, yeah, really cool, really impressive. It was a strange little place. And you could also hike up the kind of hilltop there and there was an old castle, which gave you a higher kind of vantage point to look down over the windows and the town. It's just a little old town. 

It had a lot of people, a lot of culture going on there. It was just a different spot. Really. Interesting. 

Brighde: As soon as we finish this call, I'm gonna Google image search Berat the city of a thousand windows.  

Ellie: Yeah, that sounds  

Brighde: really cool. And tell us about the city of Stone.  

Ellie: Yeah, so that is even more a traditional old city. 

We found we say city, they're more towns as we would know them, but they're called City of Stone or whatever. So it's a really kind of old school stone town. It's really got old like cobbled pavements. I even pushed my ankle and fell over there. So be careful. You gotta look where you're going when you're taking photos, but it's really like the little cobbled pavements, which I love. 

[00:16:00] And then just small old buildings, which are now like little shop fronts or cafes and you just wind your way up the cobbled road to the top, which again has got a huge castle. They like castles as well, so it's a huge castle at the top, which it was bigger and I think higher probably than the one in Berat. 

So it gave us this really cool view. And again, with the snow on the mountains, it was just beautiful at the top there. I just remember standing there looking down over at the stone buildings and the hills. It was a beautiful view from the top. Really worth a visit. Yeah.  

Brighde: Wow. This I so much to see and do in so many diverse things. 

Yeah. What is the coastline like in Albania? Does it compare with the other beautiful coastlines of the Adriatic coast?  

Ellie: Yeah we did a lot while we there, as you see, hopped around all over. So we did spend a little bit of time at the coast and at the beach and stuff. 

I remember particularly, I think it's Gjipe Beach or Gjipe Coast. That was one of the beaches I remember going to, and again, there was no one else there. We actually were able to camp just at the top of the [00:17:00] beach essentially, and then in the morning we just walked down and went for a little dip or whatever. 

And it was just us and stray dogs, like that was it. A lot of little puppies and strays just, it was just like, it was their own beach. It was really beautiful. And the water was, it was a little bit cold this time of year.  

Brighde: Right.  

Ellie: But yeah, no, it was beautiful. Clear water, white sat, like really beautiful. 

Yeah. Really nice.  

Brighde: Oh, really. Gosh. And I'm curious what is the, is it expensive to travel around Albania or is it expensive to eat out or have a drink in a bar or get your laundry done or whatever. Because in my opinion, Croatia is quite expensive. It really is. Like you can just go and get a basic marinara pizza, tomato pizza, and it will be like 14 to 16 euros and the same pizza will be half that in, Italy. 

Yeah. So how is Albania.  

Ellie: Yeah, when we were there at least it was very affordable. Because it's not super tour yet, it might change, might be double the price in five more years. We'll [00:18:00] see. But I found it very affordable and again, because it is not super tour, a lot of things like visiting the castles and stuff, that there's not huge entry fees, if any, entry fees for things like that. 

So not only like the food and stuff like that, but also the activities. You can just do most things for free. You can just go and visit places and it's not strict and controlled with money and things like that. So I think it's a very, or was, let's say was, and hopefully still is a very affordable place. 

And yeah, food wise, I remember the same I just, yeah, we ate basic vegan food, as I said. We found some cool things as well, but we'll talk about that after. But no I didn't struggle with the price of things. I didn't feel like we were being ripped off or something, like you say, compared to these places that have really blown off. 

Not like that at all. No.  

Brighde: Amazing. Awesome. And you also went to Benje thermal springs and Langarica canyon. What was that like?  

Ellie: Yeah, that's a really cool spot. I, if I remember right, we put it in the map. Again, Google Maps can be a little bit unreliable in place like this. 

You've gotta be careful. But we got there, we wound our way there and we just pulled in. And [00:19:00] again, I don't think there was any entry fee or anything. Hopefully that hasn't changed. 'cause I could imagine that being the case now. But it's basically just these really cool hot springs. And they're just set 

in the hills. And there's a few little hot springs at the very front, which is also where we were able to camp for free. We just stayed there the night. So that was cool. And then if you walk further back, there actually were a couple of other people there with us, but we walked maybe five minutes, let's say 10 minutes, just back further away. 

And we had these even bigger kind of thermal springs. Nobody was there. And it was really in this canyon, like you around, you was just all the rock kind of faces. And it just felt so cool to be like the bottom of these rocks. It's a really cool spot for anyone. Like kids out, anyone, I think. 

Yeah.  

Brighde: Oh gosh you really saw a lot of beautiful nature and landscapes and things like that. Yeah. And there  

Ellie: was one  

Brighde: last one that I was very curious about, The Blue Eye.  

Ellie: Yeah, so we just stopped there for a quick visit because someone told us, and that's probably also a little bit more known if people are in Albania. 

It's just a little [00:20:00] spot where you can go for a hike around this, The Blue Eye, which is a water, a body of water essentially. But the colors are just super impressive. Like the green of the plants and then the blue deep it's a deep hole if I remember right, and the colors are just. 

So cool. And you just walk around it like it's just a little stopping point, but it's worth doing if you're nearby and yeah, it's mesmerizing to look at. Yeah, you'll have to Google that as well. Okay. Yeah. Cool.  

Brighde: Okay. I will do that for sure. Alright let's talk about being a vegan traveler in Albania. 

I mean it's, I would say that it's not really known as a vegan hotspot, so what were your expectations and how was your reality?  

Ellie: So I guess because we were living in a van, we had the facilities to cook our own food a lot and kind of look after ourselves which is usually cheaper anyway, so we would, do that a lot. 

We had a little fridge and a stove, so that was fine. In terms of shopping, like buying the basics, obviously, there's pasta, there's rice. You can get all the basic things. That's not a problem. It was more looking out for, [00:21:00] a sauce or something if it had milk or cheese. 

There's a traditional kind of dip or condiment that it looks really full of veg and tomato and, but then it's also got cottage cheese or something in it. And it was like, oh,  

Brighde: right.  

Ellie: But there's other spread I don't know if either the spread, which is just like the pepper and ine roasted like this. There's a lot of basics that they don't market as vegan and health, food or all of this stuff. But they are vegan if you look. So there, there's options and we ate out a little bit, but probably not super often. 

And if you look there, there a lot of kind of traditional food. They also eat a lot of meat and other things, but there's also few traditional foods that just happens to be vegan. So they use a lot of veggies. They use a lot of rice. White beans were also popular, so there's a white bean soup that's a traditional food there, which is tasty. 

I love beans. I'll eat that any day. So the food is there. You just have to be a bit careful and look, and again, with the language barrier, you've gotta double check maybe, or, be prepared to translate on your phone and have a few prompts ready. But it's doable. It's [00:22:00] doable. 

Brighde: Awesome, awesome. And I'm curious, did you get to the Capital Cities, Tirana? I think.  

Ellie: Yes, I did. I think it was on the same trip actually. So I did spend a little bit of time in Tirana. I remember driving in our van there was not the best, once you're in a city with all these cars nipping around, it's not ideal. 

So we parked up and we stayed in a hostel for a couple of nights. I remember I quite liked Tirana. We did a walking talk, which I think is always the best way to get to know someone new, especially if you're only there for a day or two. So I remember we did a nice walking tour and the guy showed us around the central, they've got this big open square in the middle which apparently is a really cool spot in summer. 

I think they even have fountains there. Keep the area nice and cool. And he just told us a lot of the history 'cause there's a lot of history that I wouldn't even have known about at the time. So it's good to hear it from someone local, someone who lives there. But yeah, it's definitely worth a visit. 

Brighde: If you're there, you're gonna go. Awesome. Awesome. All right did you do any volunteering in Albania at all or did you have some opportunities to interact [00:23:00] with Albanian people?  

Ellie: Yeah, I actually didn't do any volunteering there. We did interact with locals a little bit when they wanted to. 

Yeah. Like I say, it was quite quiet, but our van stands out a bit, being in a camper van and people are curious. Again, the language barrier makes it hard, but people want to talk. I found they're really friendly and. I think the main question was why, like, why are you here? 

They didn't get, I think because it's not touristy yet, like they just didn't seem to understand why we would be there, especially when we were, in these little towns or camped up somewhere. We don't wanna be just surrounded by tourists all the time. Yeah, it was really nice to chat with them and hear a little bit from them when we could.  

Brighde: I hope the reason why they're surprised is just because they don't have a lot of tourists and not because they don't think their country has any value and that people don't wanna, there's nothing interesting for tourists. 

I hope it's the former rather than the latter. 'cause that would be a little bit sad. So you felt really welcomed.  

Ellie: Yeah definitely. Again, I was traveling with a friend, so I felt safe in that sense. Obviously solo traveling in [00:24:00] countries where tourism is less popular. 

It brings different pros and cons or risks or whatever. You've gotta be a bit careful, but I didn't feel unsafe. We interacted and we felt very welcome. I found that people were quite generous and just open, just even when you couldn't have a big conversation with them, they would be happy to just sit and. 

If you're in a bar or something, and share a drink. Everyone will say cheers or, they're very welcoming. Yeah.  

Brighde: Lovely. And who do you think Albania is perfect for and who might struggle, do you think?  

Ellie: Good question. We really enjoyed traveling in a van. I think having your own transport is important there, because I think relying on buses if they even exist would be very hard, especially out to these different spots in nature, so I think having your own transport is good. 

Especially being able to just camp where you are. Just, rock up to a space, enjoy it, and then stay there for the night and to be a bit spontaneous with that as well. So yeah, having your own vehicle of some sort would be. Recommended, I think it would be good for families if they're that kind of mindset of just taking it [00:25:00] as it is and going slow and just seeing what you find. 

I think it's a safe place and a very interesting place to visit Sean. A bit of something for everyone. You can go on these hikes and I'm sure you can do a lot more bigger proper hikes than we did. We were just hopping around so I think there's something for everyone if you are confident to drive there, and again, maybe not rely solely on Google Maps, maybe. 

Be prepared to turn around a few times and figure it out yourself, but there's something for everyone for sure.  

Brighde: Oh, that's so nice. So for a vegan traveler listening right now who's never really considered the Balkans, would you recommend them to do it?  

Ellie: Yep, a hundred percent. I can't wait to go back and do another road trip round there, even though I've been to a few of the countries a few times already. 

I would definitely do it again. I'd go to some of the same places. I'd go to new places. I think there's a lot to explore there. I think it's very affordable. And it's just nice to be a little bit off the beaten track. So yeah, I definitely would recommend it to anyone really.  

Brighde: Nice. Thank you. And you're in Australia, are you there for the foreseeable or where is the [00:26:00] road taking you next? 

Ellie: Yeah, definitely for the foreseeable, as I said before, with this long visa process and also now having a dog here. I suppose I'm pretty committed. I'm pretty set. I don't see myself here forever, but that's obviously long term. I feel like I've got a lot more traveling to do outside of Australia as well as here. 

So I, as you can probably tell, I quite relaxed in terms of just going with the flow and seeing where we end up. Obviously have a few more responsibilities now with the dog and things like that. Having to earn a bit more money than when I was just traveling and seeing what happened.  

Brighde: Right.  

Ellie: But yeah, there's more to see. 

That's for sure.  

Brighde: Awesome. Ellie, so I'd love it if you would tell our listeners how they can follow your travels and your life and see pictures of your pup and connect with you online.  

Ellie: Yeah, sure. You'll definitely see pictures of my pop. If you go to my Instagram, that's pretty much only where I share things. 

It's just a journal of my travels. But you're welcome to follow along. It's just my name, which is Ellie. And then double underscore Larkins. Yeah, you'll see my dog for sure, which is more than enough. [00:27:00]  

Brighde: Awesome. Ellie, thank you so much for sharing your experiences of Albania. I'm so pleased we've got an Albania podcast episode in the can. 

So that's really fun. Thank you so much.  

Ellie: Thanks for having me.