2025 had become my European Year.
12 Countries. 12 Months. 1 Upgrade.
I didn’t travel to sightsee. I lived in each country for at least 1-3 months while testing systems that worked for me.
Balancing rent, visas, and a weak passport, I sought not just survival, but peace.
Here are my field notes from a year of radical movement.
🇺🇸 USA
Before that, I spent 1 year in North America.
I learned that big cities sell you a dream but charge you your life.
The people were working three jobs just to survive the rent.
I refuse to comply.
Europe was calling me. Fortunately, I managed to get a visa in Washington, DC.
So on December 1st, I flew from JFK to …
🇳🇱 1. Amsterdam, Netherlands
A dangerous place to start your European journey. Why? Because the standard of living is so high, it ruins you for everywhere else.
Everything after this felt… human.
Amsterdam felt like a machine & a fairytale.
🇧🇪 2. Belgium
Chocolates, waffles, and a bureaucracy divided by three languages that refuse to speak to each other. I learned that a country doesn’t need unity to function.
It just needs good chocolate to distract you from the chaos.
🇫🇷 3. France
Where I learned snowboarding.. and patience.
You cannot cheat gravity.
You cannot cheat the mountain.
Extreme sports require extreme discipline. So do extreme dreams.
If you panic, you crash.
I also crashed hard over France’s architecture. Easily one of my favourites.
Classique. Chic. Timeless.
🇪🇸 4. Spain
The retirement hub of many, and where siesta is not-negotiable. After my first snowboarding experience in the Alps, I was down with fever and fatigue. Spain became the perfect place to recover.
I settled in Valencia.
During siesta, everything closes. I usually have my first meal after 3 pm, so I found myself starving.
Forced to cook more than usual, I learned a simple lesson: Sometimes the world pushes you to toward self-reliance …by simply shutting the door.
I thought of settling here under the Digital Nomad Visa, but God said, not yet.
At first, I wasn’t completely sold on Spain. It felt slow like my country and I hated the fact stores opened late.
Maybe I just picked the wrong province. When I came to Barcelona, I appreciated it more: More expats, more events, less closed stores. Haha. Still, it felt like it wasn’t the right time for me.
And honestly, I’m glad I was rejected from getting the NIE.
Had I received it, I would’ve been required to stay put and I would’ve missed the next countries:
🇮🇹 5. Italy
Where I learned that pasta from scratch is a form of meditation.
Art, gelato, and chaos are better therapy than any advice I’ve ever received.
Efficiency is overrated. Soul is underrated.
My 90-day Schengen period was about to end and Croatia was supposed to be my last stop. By this time, I was worn out, jumping from 1 country to another had taken its toll. I need at least a solid a month to recuperate, so I cancelled my trip to Croatia. Perhaps next time.
I was curious about Eastern Europe, Georgia and Turkey. But then I found the perfect Airbnb in Eastern Europe. So I flew to..
🇲🇪 6. Montenegro
Came for a visa run. Stayed for the mountains.
My Airbnb was luxury. My bill was budget.
I fell for the Balkans here. Once you taste this level of value, your standards for Western pricing never recover. The universe adjusted for me.
I was blown away about this other side of Europe. Raw and deep.
I settled in Ulcinj, where there are more Albanians than Montenegrins.
Here I was introduced to Yugoslavia, once a great country, later divided by history.
And that’s how my Balkan adventure began.
I continued on to…
🇦🇱 7. Albania
I met many Albanians in Montenegro, so might as well explore their roots, right?
Loud. Loyal. Die-hard. I saw what it means to fiercely love your origins.
It’s not about how rich the country is. It’s about the double-eagle energy. 🦅
Pride is a currency they have in surplus.
Albania was once North Korea. Sealed borders, it’s people cut-off from the world.
Today, those borders are open.
I learned that there are now more Albanians living outside the country than inside it.
Albania is a world in itself. They have mountains, coastlines, places to ski and seas to swim in, nature so varied it feels unreal.
And their culture feels familiar, like home.
Like Filipinos, warm & generous.
Although, they are guarded. But once you’re in, they wear their hearts on their sleeves.
I learned that the Balkan people are almost like this. No wonder I feel drawn to them.
Instead of coming back to the Schengen Zone, I continued to…
🇲🇰 8. Macedonia
Where I realised names carry weight. Sometimes adding “North” breaks more hearts than borders. Lesson: History isn’t just in books.
It’s in the eyes of the people you order coffee from.
I only had a quick stopover in Macedonia. I had hoped to stay for at least a month, already had an Airbnb booked, but my passport won’t allow me.
But hey, it’s good to see. I learned that their language is close to Serbian, mixed with other regional influences, and that they don’t use the grammatical cases.
And you also see lots of Albanians here.
Even in just a few days, Macedonia left a strong impression. Some of the kindest, most generous people I have met. And I had people offering help when I got taxi scammed.
🇷🇸 9. Serbia
Where I stopped believing headlines. The “villains” on the news turned out to be the most intellectual, hospitable souls I’ve met.
Balkan people are complex and news soundbites never do them justice.
Less tourists. More truth.
Never judge a country by its headlines.
I fell in love with the Cyrillic alphabets here.
It’s soo sexy.
In Serbia, you’ll also encounter many Russians living here since the war in Ukraine began. Their presence has grown significantly because Serbia’s visa policies are relatively easy when there are ties.
Both Serbian and Russian are both Slavic languages and I was surprised to know that Russians find it easy to get by here without learning Serbian.
Of all the Balkan countries, I spent the longest time in Serbia.
I decided to invest in learning their language.
If I was going to learn one, it might as well be Serbian, it opens the door to the rest of the former Yugoslav countries.
I met with my Serbian tutor at least 3x a week and I can honestly say it was the best investment I made while travelling.
I did not just learn the language. I learned the nuances, the history, how locals lived and think.
I gained a friend.
Marija became both a teacher and a mother figure. She’s also very smart and logical.
Through her, I learned to love Serbia and the Balkans even more.
When I left, I can’t help but cry. I know it will take a while for me to come back here.
Serbia left a deep impression on me, despite being labeled as the ‘aggressor’, the Serbians showed me a different reality.
They didn’t deny history, they acknowledged their role in it.
To me, that’s maturity.
🇧🇦 10. Bosnia & Herzegovina
Three presidents. One country. Generations of healing.
I finally understood the heart of the Balkans.
Pain still lingers here, but so does resilience.
If they can rebuild from that, I can rebuild anything.
Bosnia is probably the most interesting country I’ve been to.
At first glance, it’s nature alone blows you way. Rivers, mountains, canyons, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the Balkans.
But wait until you learn about their history. The deeper you go, the more complex and layered it becomes ~ a crossroads of empires, religions and cultures that have shaped stone and street.
And I just made the perfect route of having understood Serbia and other balkan countries before arriving here. Without that, I might’ve easily taken sides in narratives that are far more nuanced in reality.
For me, Bosnia also had the best food. The cuisine is rich, hearty and incredibly varied. Especially if you love beef and grilled meat like I do.
Traditional dishes like ćevapi, burek and Bosnian coffee culture are unforgettable. That coffee instantly became part of my morning routine and I was craving burek from time to time.
Balkan cuisines overlap heavily. Same base dishes, different names, local twists.
A lot of it traced back to the Ottoman period.
Which makes it funny how people fiercely protect their national versions, especially when anyone links them to Turkey. 😄
What surprised me the most was how the country’s religious diversity shows up everywhere, in food, music, festivals and especially architecture!
You’ll see mosques, Orthodox churches, Catholic cathedrals and even old synagogues living side by side. A living mosaic of history and belief honestly.
Half-east, half west. Ottoman minarets blending into Austro-Hungarian facades.
Bosnian bazaars full of life and tradition.
It’s crazy, in the best way.
🇭🇷 11. Croatia
The Price of Beauty.
That coastline is world-class. But the prices? They hurt.
Locals crossing borders just to buy groceries is the ultimate lesson in economics.
Beauty is expensive.
Even the locals pay a tax for it. I thought I was just shopping in the wrong places. Turns out, it’s just Croatia. My video went viral for asking where should we buy groceries. HAHA
I came back to the union via Croatia. Little did I know, I’d already been a resident here since April. I had applied for that Digital Nomad Visa a while back and somehow, the approval letter got lost in my inbox.
But for good reason.
Had I seen it earlier, I wouldn’t have not understood the Balkans the way I know them now.
I wouldn’t have been as invested.
But I was, and what a perfect way to circle back to Croatia.
Finally understanding their side of history.
And remember, Croatia was supposed to be my next stop after Italy. I find it quite poetic.
Croatians are probably the most nonchalant of them all.
And maybe the craziest too, in a good way. XD
Still, stubbornness is the typical Balkan trait.
But once you’re in, they would literally die for you.
🇸🇮 12. Slovenia
Finally, my last Balkan stop. Although they prefer to be called Central Europeans over Balkans.
I only had a few days here and I wish I’d be back soon. Slovenia is insanely beautiful and fancy.
People called it “boring” for being too pretty.
I called it peace.
Boring means safety.
Boring means systems work.
Boring meant I could finally stop surviving and start building myself.
🇪🇸 Spain (The Return)
8 months after, I circled back to Spain. Not for the tapas. But for the math.
Not gonna lie, I cried for the Balkans. Im such a baby, I know. I have not only left a country. I left a whole region.
Yet, I have to be practical and Spain felt like the next path for me.
For Filipinos, Spain is the golden ticket.
2 Years of Residency = Pathway to citizenship. (For everyone else, it takes 10 years).
I am betting everything on this 2-year sprint to unlock the entire European Union forever.
Will things go smoothly? Stay tuned.
The most important engineering project of my life just started.
🌍 Finally…
I went far this year. Not because it was easy.
But because I was willing to be uncomfortable.
I didn’t just move through 12 countries.
I engineered a new reality.
My application is in.
The system is being tested.
Follow along to see if we win. 🥹
It’s not just traveling. It’s liberation
If you made it this far, you have my heart. Thank you. Hvala puno. Faleminderit.
I wish you a beautiful 2026 ahead!
.. and as always, let’s make it our best year yet 😉
Much love,
Abie
