Greece

This blog hasn’t been touched in so many years, partially because the majority of my travel happened while I was a student, and partially because we’ve been living through a global pandemic where we couldn’t travel for nearly two years. 

After graduating, I got a job in the US and focused on working and building my career. Between 2016 and 2022 I had only done one international trip. Shortly after that trip the pandemic hit and I didn’t have the luxury of having the option to travel. One regret I had it not traveling more while I could. I spoke with my best friend in Norway nearly every day, wishing we had taken more trips while we could. I made a promise to her that once it was safe to travel she would be the first person I saw. We decided to meet in Greece for my birthday because it was a place neither of us had been but both wanted to visit. 

We arrived in Athens, but unfortunately my luggage did not. Luckily I had packed a few extra underwear and some toiletries in my carry on so I was able to get by for the 4 days I went without my luggage. The silver lining was getting to shop for a few outfits in local markets to get me by until my luggage arrived.

Seeing my friend after four years felt like no time had passed. We were hugging and laughing and catching up like old times. There’s no words to express how rare and valuable friendships like this are. 

We left Athens the the morning after arriving to head to Santorini. We took the ferry, which took around 4 hours if I remember correctly. We ditched our seats to explore the ferry and came across the one communal seating area: the kids lounge. No kids were in sight so we took it over. We also met another American heading to Santorini on the ferry. We chatted with her for a bit, exchanged instagrams, and agreed to meet while we were on the island. 

We arrived in Santorini and I couldn’t stop taking photos. Everything looked like a scene you’d see in a luxury magazine. My words can’t do it justice- Santorini is the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Excitement filled us both and we quickly headed to our hotel to drop our stuff and go exploring. 

The excitement and genuine happiness I feel when I’m exploring a new place gives me satisfaction I could never feel attending a sports game, clubbing, going to a music festival, or anything most people would consider fun. I’m grateful I have a friend who feels the same way and prioritizes travel. Again- I’m so grateful for her and I know that finding people you are compatible with, share the same interests, and genuinely enjoy being around are rare. 

My friend chose the first hotel and picked one with an incredible view of the water from our window. We were spending my birthday at this hotel and she wanted to make it special. She delivered. She also booked a two-hour scuba diving session for my birthday.

While waiting for a taxi to take us to the airport we  met a girl in the taxi queue. We hit it off and invited her to join us to grab my suitcase and then go out with us later for my birthday. Her, a solo traveler, absolutely gorgeous, and a little bit drunk agreed to the adventure. We grabbed my lost luggage from the santorini airport and headed out to be somewhere nice when the clock struck midnight to celebrate my birthday. She suggested a bar that a guy she met up with earlier in the day was working. My friend and I don’t drink or go out, so we agreed because her suggestion was probably better than anything we could think of. We spent the evening laughing, sharing travel stories, and taking photos. At 12:01 am, after “woohoo it’s your birthday!,” my friend and I headed back and the solo traveler we spent the evening with stayed. Danielle, wherever you are in the world, we love you and you made the night unforgettable. 

The next few days in santorini were spent petting cats, eating Greek salads and indulging in gelato. Our time was unstructured and we didn’t have tours or events lined up. Just wandering, exploring, engaging in deep discussions and making up for lost time. 

There is one more story my friend wants me to include. The evening of my birthday we ate at a nice restaurant and the waiter was pretty cute. He chatted for a bit before wrapping up dinner and heading out to get gelato. As we were walking back from getting gelato we ran into him and he asked “where’s my gelato?” And in a panic I said “right here” and fed him a spoonful of gelato. I’m not sure why this was my reaction, and I don’t recommend sharing spoons with strangers. 

Our next stop was Mykonos, where we spent the majority of our trip. Did we research Mykonos before traveling? No. In hindsight we should have because we learned shortly after arriving that Mykonos is very windy and is know for its parties and nightlife. We did meet another American around our age who was traveling with his family and also wasn’t big on the party scene, so we spent a few evenings exploring Mykonos with him. 

Mykonos is beautiful and picturesque. We learned the local bus route and visited a lot of beaches with clear blue water and white sand. It was my first time swimming in the Mediterranean and it was a lot colder than I had imagined. 

I just could not get over how windy Mykonos is. If you visit, don’t bother doing your hair. On that note, make sure you have a good protective leave-in conditioner because the sun, wind, and salt water was quite damaging to my hair. 

Mykonos had one redeeming quality though: the cats. Everywhere you go there are cats. The alleys are filled with them! And they all love to be pet and cuddled. One even jumped into my lap and took a nap. 

Remember the girl we met on the ferry heading to Santorini? Well she texted us telling us that she tested positive for Covid. I had a Mamma Mia moment, but instead of pregnancy it was Covid. So I took a covid test in an alley in Mykonos hoping it was negative. And it was, luckily. 

Our final stop was back to Athens. We spent a few days there since we didn’t get to see anything in the 10 hours we spent upon our arrival before heading to santorini. Athens reminded me of most big European cities I’ve visited. 

We had to visit the Acropolis of course… but unfortunately for us we chose to do it on one of the hottest days of the year and in the middle of the day. 

We made friends with the local who took us to a coffee shop and we chatted about politics and how life differented between our countries.

We headed back to a respective countries on the same day, with our flights leaving just a half an hour apart. Aksha had walked first in line to the security checkpoint, and I went to join behind her and got stopped because she was entering flights leaving to Europe, and I was supposed to be in another line for flights headed to America. So we never formally got to say goodbye to each other. We called each other on WhatsApp after we went through security and laughed about it. I think it’s better we ended the trip this way because if we had to hug and say a sappy goodbye I know it would’ve ended in tears. In the moment I hated saying goodbye to her because I knew that the last time I said goodbye I didn’t see her for four years, but I’m writing this post now from her bedroom in Norway just six weeks after our trip to Greece.