Your Mind May Be Your Worst Enemy
I began to worry when we drove through the border from Kosovo into Albania.
We were on a six-month road trip around Europe and the previous border crossings had been fine until now.
Some context. In Europe, we have the Schengen Zone. If a country is part of this zone you can hop over the borders without checks. Easy.
If a country is outside of this zone, then there'll be checks. Croatia into Montenegro had been easy as had Montenegro into Kosovo.
Unfortunately, our luck had ended. If a country is outside of the European Union, you need to buy car insurance before you enter.
In Montenegro and Kosovo, this was easy. €15, sign a form, job done. In Albania, the price was €50. We had €30 between us. With no ATM nearby or the option to pay by card, we were out of luck. The insurance guy didn't care. Without €50 he waved us away.
We had two options. Drive back into Kosovo and find an ATM, or risk the three-hour drive to the Albanian capital, Tirana without insurance.
We chose the latter. As soon as we drove over the border my mind started to race. What if we get stopped? Will they throw us in jail without insurance? Will we be able to drive out of the country?
Worst-case scenarios played out in my mind. It didn't help when we drove past 20 separate police cars along the way. Were they out to get us?
After the longest three-hour drive of my life, we made it to Tirana. Nobody stopped us. We didn't end up in jail and the next day I went and bought the insurance.
The moral of the story?
What happens in your head doesn't always play out in reality.