The Inaccessible Ithaca: The Never‐Ending Journey of Albanian Returned Migrants to the Ideal Home

ABSTRACT We examine the meanings that Albanian returned migrants from Greece and Italy attach to the notion of home or homeplace. We analyse 25 interviews with returned migrants who lived abroad for over 6 years and have since settled in Tirana and Durrës. The focus is on three interrelated aspects of place attachment: belonging, security and familiarity. While trying to define their homeplace, the returned migrants engage in a process of comparing their current situation in Albania with the country's communist past, and with their experiences in Greece or Italy. They give a rich picture of the political, economic and social environments within these timespaces, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of each. The sum of all the positive aspects of the three timespaces constitutes the world in which they can find their ideal home, a familiar place where they feel they belong and achieve a sense of security and a better life. However, this ideal place is not to be found anywhere in reality, as none of the three societies provides everything that they are looking for. Before returning, Albania was their home. Now it is not anymore. The changes that have taken place to the urban and social environments disrupt their sense of belonging, leaving them feeling uprooted, placeless and even homeless. Consequently, the establishment of any ‘Ithaca’ as a destination, as well as their sailing towards it, is neither easily determinable nor easily accessible.