I can’t remember the last time I went to an Italian toga party, went caving in Slovenia, drove 10-hours on a dirt road in Albania, or experienced the beauty of Dubrovnik. Oh wait. I hadn’t done any of these things before, so it was all a new and enlightening experience.

Beautiful Dubrovnik, Croatia

Flotilla sailing was amazing. As a Cape Codder, I think you can tell I get a little crazy around boats. Well, when I got the chance to skipper my own flotilla from Plataria to Corfu, I was ecstatic. That feeling that you get when you lose five pounds or win the lottery or find a parking spot in New York. That excited. My crew was fantastic (did I mention it was five beautiful ladies?). Move over Gilligan, there’s a new islander in town.

But after the boating, our trip from Albania to Montenegro to Croatia to Slovenia was unreal. Each country has similarities, but also vast differences. Albania was probably the most rugged of them all – since it’s borders had only been opened recently to the world, you could tell there was a lot of international disconnect. With 700,000 bunkers still in tact from communist times and half the population skeptic of democracy, it was a cultural exchange.

I would really recommend visiting though. You hear such gripping stories about how the people were constantly under watch of the government and thought that their way of life was the only proper one. As you move further north to Montenegro (keep in mind, this is all on dirt roads), you can see the slow Westernization of eastern Europe – except for the rolling blackouts that trapped little old ladies in an elevator.