I’m writing this a few days (work got in the way, and this turned into months) after the inaugural Tirana Digital Nomad festival has ended, and if you’re reading this, and wondering if you should attend any future editions, then the answer is, a resounding YES!

But, one sentence does not make for a good article, so, let me explain why this has been one of the best digital nomad events I have ever been to.

Before that, let me give a bit of a back story. I was actually in Tirana earlier in 2022, and normally make a habit of not returning to the same place during my travels. There are too many places I want to see in this world of ours, and I saw most of the sights during my last stay. Additionally, I thought I might be in Canada, so in all honesty, I didn’t put much thought into it, when the event first came onto my radar.

Canada, and my previous job fell through (another story for another time), and some of my friends, whom I met in Bansko last year, were booking accommodation, and as I struggle with making my own decisions, I decided to confirm my place.

This turned out to be a very solid decision. We had a lovely apartment in Xhamlliku, a really bustling area full of cafes and bars, around a 25-minute walk from the centre.

Anyways, I appreciate you didn’t come here for the life story, so let’s get into what made this event so special.

The whole event is free, which is a massive plus when looking at prices for similar digital nomad events around the world. The organisers also incredibly generously arranged free lunches and dinners, as well as providing drink tokens in certain establishments. A lovely gesture, that supplemented the good vibes of the festival.

Night 1:

Although advertised as a three-day event, there was actually an opening ceremony that took place on the Tuesday night, and naturally, myself and my friend showed up late for it. So, we missed the entertainment, the drinks, the canapes, and the mingling, BUT, we did get our free goodie bag, and signed in for the week.

I love free stuff, despite being a digital nomad, who has limited/no space in my travel bags. So, for all you freebie loving people, here’s what the bag included.

1: An actual bag. I’ve wanted a tote bag for a while, not sure why, and we got one of those. 2: A cap. I love caps. I’m bald. You make the connection. 3. A note pad. Always handy. 4. A wrist band. I also love wrist bands. 5. A pen. 6. A schedule, on paper. I used the PDF on my phone, but this would have been easier to use, technology be damned.

Day 1:

Alright, full disclosure. I actually didn’t attend any of the talks on Day 1. A friend was arriving in Tirana, we had to meet her at our apartment, it was a whole thing. But, I did attend the Pyramid Tour, which was a mixture of fun and terror. For those of you who don’t know, here’s what I am talking about.

It is normally closed, so it was cool to get access to it, but yeah, health and safety wasn’t really a thing here, and basically we got to wander around a building site. We did get a little talk about the history of the place, so it was interesting to hear more about that.

You could also climb the steps to get what I am sure would have been a wonderful view of Tirana, but I could only make it half way up, before turning around. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, I’m not great with heights if I don’t feel safe, and yeah, I didn’t feel too safe here.

Still, it was a cool experience, and they have some really exciting plans for its redevelopment, including making it a place for young people to attend, coworking etc, so I am excited to see what it looks like in the future.

Following that, it was time for an evening soiree. Due to the Pyramid excursion overrunning, we were slightly late, and as a result, the location (Kino) was already very busy. This meant, that the free food was limited/gone (I appreciate, it is slightly contradictory to be moaning about a lack of free food, but hey, travel is expensive!), and in the end, we ended up ordering our own food.

We did get a couple of free drinks, though, and I met some lovely people. I personally felt the place was too small for the amount of people that ended up showing up, as there were also local guests as well attending, so it was all a bit cramped. Still, a positive first experience.

Day 2:

Alright, full disclosure. I actually didn’t attend any of the morning talks on Day 2. I did make lunch, though, which took place in the Old Fish Market, located in a really cool area of the city. Progress, right?

And, lunch was free, which again, is always nice. The restaurant staff were brilliant, constantly bringing us new things to try, and although I don’t like a lot of fish, I found enough to fill me up.

Now, it was time for some talks! The day two location was in a coworking venue called Destil, a nice spot relatively central. I actually went back to work there a few times after the festival was over.

My first talk was entitled: ‘The Metaverse doesn’t care if you believe in it’, and the wonderful Aragorn Meulendijks (aka Mr Metaverse), was our presenter. Working in social media, the whole Metaverse is something I haven’t looked too much into (change scares me).

I may have taken my time, but Aragorn made my first talk a memorable one. He’s incredibly engaging, and the crowd were fully invested in what he had to say. To keep everyone’s attention during a hot and sunny Tirana afternoon is no mean feat, but Mr Metaverse managed to do so, and I felt like I picked up a lot.

We actually ended up sharing drinks with him later that night, and he’s seriously good company. You can check out his website here, and get learning bits and pieces about this whole metaverse you might have been hearing about.

Following this talk, it was time for Kashlee Kucheran, co-founder and CEO of Travel Off Path, one of the biggest travel news websites in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed this talk, and in fact, it might have been my favourite of the week.

I have this blog, more used for my random musings, but I’ve previously ran a relatively successful football blog, and it was super inspiring to hear Kashlee talk with such honesty, about the ups and downs that come with working in this industry.

To hear how she went from making no money (in the early days her blog was more about her own personal experiences, rather than general travel tips), to becoming as successful as she is, was really impressive.

And on this note, this is another element that separated the Tirana Digital Nomad Festival for me. The calibre of speakers was a lot higher than some other events, and it felt like a lot of thought went into who they chose.

Following the talks, there were more free drinks and food later that night (attendees also had the chance to be active, and get involved in tennis/yoga/football etc), and it was a great chance to meet the presenters, pick their brains, and meet some of your fellow attendees. A really fun day and night.

Day 3:

The third and final day of the Tirana Digital Nomad Fest took place in the Millennium Garden, a central location in the old town, which housed a restaurant and cinema. The talks took place in one of the cinema screens, and I started off the day (I made the first talk!), listening to Alyne Tamir, a content creator, with an infectious personality.

The talk was entitled, 'Workshop - Short Form Content', so naturally, this was right up my social media street. Any tired feelings soon dissipated, when Alyne took the stage. She is very funny, engaging, but most importantly, knowledgeable.

You don’t achieve what she has without being very good at what you do, and Alyne consistently produces brilliant content. You can check out her Instagram here, and follow her travels around the world, as well as seeing the type of content she produces.

There were other talks after this, but I needed to do some work, so a few of us headed to the restaurant, to do what we needed to do. This meant we had front row seats for yet another free lunch, and this one was my favourite of the week. SO MUCH MEAT.

The afternoons talks were more panel type, with questions from the audience, so it wasn’t quite as structured as some of the previous sessions. It was nice to see some people I’d met previously (in Tirana and before) on the stage though, and some interesting topics were covered, including ‘Managing Remote Working Life’, and ‘Digital Nomad Hubs: Inclusivity and Community’.

The talks were then wrapped up by the wonderful MC, Dean Kuchel, and just like that, we were done. For a few hours at least, before we met in a bar in Blloku, one of the more happening areas of Tirana, for a lot of drinking and socialising (the day after was a slow one).

Final Thoughts:

As you can probably tell from the 1600 or so words above, I was really impressed with everything the Tirana Digital Nomad Festival had to offer. Naturally, there were a few teething problems (things didn’t always start on time, the overcrowded first night etc), but what a first effort.

The fact it was free as well, was just the icing on some kind of cake. Take my word for it though, if the festival was to return in 2023, it’s worth paying for, based on my experiences at least (my friends also really enjoyed it).

The standard of speakers really stood out for me, and at the end of the three days, I was genuinely inspired by a lot of what I had heard and seen.

And on to Tirana, what a beautiful city. I’ve done a lot of Eastern and Baltic Europe, and this is one of my favourite cities from this region, and further beyond. It’s surprisingly cosmopolitan, with plenty to do, a great nightlife, and friendly people. For a country that has a mixed reputation, Albania was a more than pleasant surprise.

Accommodation and food were both relatively inexpensive, and Tirana is also very walkable, another plus. It feels like the whole city is on the cusp of being a serious digital nomad hotspot, and it felt like a privilege to be a part of the inaugural festival, before the rest of the world finds out about it.

Albania is an easy country to enter (American citizens can claim a 1-year visa on arrival!), a lot of the locals speak a good level of English, the weather is overall very good, and there is plenty to do in Tirana and beyond.

While other countries and places in the area (Croatia and Bansko in Bulgaria immediately spring to mind) might be more well known as digital nomad hubs at the moment, my advice, check Tirana and Albania out. You won’t be disappointed.