OpenTube

Our YouTube Anniversary Went Off Course

Smile Abroad with Sam & Spencer

2,617 views

To celebrate one year on YouTube, we left our stationary cameras behind and set out on foot from central Saranda, Albania, to hike to Lëkurësi Castle.

We wanted to talk honestly about nearly one million views, building Smile Abroad and everything the journey had taught us. Apple Maps had other plans.

✈️ Build Your Escape Plan Survey:
https://www.smileabroad.al/build-your...

🌍 Join the Smile Abroad Club:
https://www.smileabroad.al/smile-abro...

After roughly 75 carefully planned, broadcaster-style videos, this was our first attempt at a true walking vlog. We explored Saranda, climbed some extremely questionable “paths,” got completely lost—and never reached the castle.

Along the way, we talk candidly about starting YouTube as an openly gay couple living in Albania, working together without destroying our relationship, dealing with disappointing views, building the Smile Abroad community and helping hundreds of people begin their own lives abroad.

We also reveal what nearly one million YouTube views actually paid us: (Spoiler: $7,677 in ad revenue). But the most valuable thing this channel created cannot be found in our analytics dashboard, it's the community and all the folks like you who we've inspired to change their lives!

If you’re dreaming about moving abroad or building a life that looks different from the one you have now, subscribe. We share the practical information, honest experiences and occasional misadventures we wish we’d had before leaving America.

Chapters:
00:00 One Year on YouTube: Why We Started
01:41 The First Comments
03:03 Being Openly Gay in Albania
05:26 What Nearly One Million Views Paid Us
08:09 Impact Over Income
09:58 Building the Smile Abroad Club
11:06 The Hardest Part of Moving Abroad
12:43 Cruise Ship, Beach and Refreshments
13:51 The Hike to Lëkurësi Castle Begins
15:03 Broadcast Style vs Vlogs
17:09 Spencer's Vlogging Goals
20:42 Consistency Beats Instant Results
23:40 How YouTube Affected Our Relationship
26:02 The Climb Gets Questionable
29:47 Apple Maps Leads Us Astray
32:15 Unfinished Villas and a Dead End
36:05 Detours and Persistence
37:37 Knowing When to Call It
38:48 Back in Town: What Comes Next

#LifeInAlbania #MoveAbroad #SmileAbroad

20 Comments

@smileabroad Creator 2 months ago Pinned

One year on YouTube—and somehow we’re still getting lost in Saranda 😂

Thank you to everyone who has watched, commented, and followed this journey with us. What would you like to see in year two: more everyday life in Albania, moving-abroad advice, business and money, or adventures like this one?

Ready to start planning your own move abroad? Complete our free Build Your Escape Plan survey:
https://www.smileabroad.al/build-your-escape-plan

Want weekly support, community, and accountability? Join the Smile Abroad Club:
https://www.smileabroad.al/smile-abroad-club

@freerangemaker 2 months ago (edited)

I have been following you the entire year, and when I watch your updates, my entire heart opens with so much fondness for the two of you. I have loved watching your journey. Your insight helped me for my first visit at the age of 66 in October last year to Tirana. I will visit Sarande next. I scoped out Tirana and Shkodër the last trip. I wonder how many single older woman make the shift. I am still very interested in moving, but I've some more inner work and clarity work to do first. I was really struck by the advice not running from something, but going towards something to embrace a new way of life. To be consumed by the culture. I love Sam's pearls.

@jacqueeph8832 2 months ago

You guys are so great at making content on the fly! Love all the analogies. Whether it's a hike or a decision to move abroad, the path is seldom straightforward.

@michaels2208 2 months ago

Congrats. You guys have great content. I'm hopefully moving there next year.

@Cordelia-t6k 2 months ago

You guys are awesome so glad you guys decided to make these video's that are highest quality among the "others" in terms of Information needed and thinking outside the box. Thank you guys! Cordelia

@BradCalvert-e8r 2 months ago

Thank you both for the content you have presented during your first year in Albania. Very much appreciated. Albania is a very easy place to live as a foreigner. The most difficult thing about moving away from the USA is listening to negative people who want to keep you down and miserable like a good many of them are. You have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone if you are unhappy with your present life. I took a chance and left the USA because it is no longer affordable, safe and welcoming like it once was. In Albania I feel very relaxed and my stress levels have greatly subsided. I have lived elsewhere around the world. Albania is an easy place to move to, it is still affordable, It has a lot to offer if you are a retiree, a digital nomad or an entrepreneur with a business plan and some working capital. It is also a great place to take an extended vacation because their is a lot of things to do in Albania.

@IFSTherapyPattiBee 2 months ago

Can't wait to be one of those people that stop you on the streets of Sarande and tell you both YOU ARE THE REASON ... I considered Albania !!! Hoping for an initial trip in the next year or two.

@jacqueeph8832 2 months ago

Congratulations on your anniversary, guys! Spencer is right! Next year it's going to be more!! 👏🏽👏🏽

@MikeNelson-r9e 2 months ago

Congratulations on your first year. It’s been fun being long for the journey!!

@leilaniburns9494 2 months ago

I really appreciate your openness and candor.

@QuietBroadAbroad 2 months ago (edited)

As someone who currently makes content on Albania esp for solo female retirees, I Love that you took us out of the "studio." Folks get to see the real Albania, streets, sidewalks, buildings and random paths...(like the gentleman and his goats..." I love coming upon shepherds!
I do think that folks who wondered how much you made, also wanted to know "other income" related to YT like Smile Abroad etc...

@shannonmoore2460 2 months ago (edited)

What you say in the beginning is so true, I had someone fear monger me into using their services, claiming I needed a cross border accountant, then set up a call with me charging me $150 for an hour, and they did not even speak English. They had a young lady sit in and translate and she did not understand the nuances of my questions. The guy used chat gpt for all the email communication. It was a rip off and unhelpful.

@sten8784 2 months ago

Love and congratulations to each of you! Makes my heart happy to see good people be successful on YouTube. Keep spreading the joy, intelligence and level-headedness ❤🎉.

@pauladosch7062 2 months ago

You guys are great and I always look forward to your content. I would say that as a former management consultant, Spencer’s style is very familiar. Sam’s contributions are always welcome because I am going through the actions to direct the financial ship towards a European move. In my case, I have descent credentials to one of the Baltic states, so we are headed there first. I have lived abroad twice in my early career, first Japan then Spain, so I kind of know how it works, but there are lots of new wrinkles. We have been to Albania once, mostly Tirana and Durres.

@bonniederby9090 2 months ago

You two are a delight! Motivational speakers too! If I was hot & lost as I have been hiking the Colorado Rockies many times years ago, I couldn’t have been as good of sports as you two were! Many couples would have been blaming, shouting & critical of one another when good old Apple was wrong. You two weathered it well. I found myself chuckling from time to time just because it was so comical in parts like ending up in the abandoned & unfinished high rise that you had talked about unknowingly beforehand. Anyway, Thanks for all your videos! I have watched you from the beginning & if all goes as planned, will be in Albania in late Fall to live with my sweet 36 lb sheepdog named Q-Tip. I hope you continue your videos……so important in so many different ways. Bonnie/Yoda

@occasionalwind 2 months ago (edited)

Being gay in Albania and among Albanians isn't a taboo anymore! I've been openly gay for 50 years, and my family, whether they're in Albania, Kosova, Ilirida (North Macedonia), Montenegro, or the USA, totally accepts me. It’s so great to see everyone being themselves, and I really hope that Saranda gets its first gay bar soon!

@bradLoncich 2 months ago

I love the look of that city. Its definitely where I wanna begin my journey abroad

@orlymarq6238 2 months ago

Lovely views, thanks for this video.

@JelaneJ 2 months ago

You guys are wonderful and I feel incredibly lucky to have found you. Your advice and guidance have proven so helpful as I planned for my move. 5 1/2 weeks until we are neighbors and I can't wait!