A Return To Greece

Preparations are underway to return to an ancient land where my travel experiences all began. In 1975 my sister Kathy and I began a long travel by spending 2 months visiting and experiencing much of what Greece had to offer before heading northward through Yugoslavia and into Europe proper for a further 2-3 months. In those days we carried back packs (hey, we still do!) complete with a small tent, sleeping bags, a few clothes and cooking gear. We traveled around on local buses, hopped on and off numerous ferries, crewed 3 weeks on a sail boat, and also employed our tried and true method of last resort, our thumbs by the side of the road. We travelled parts of mainland Greece, but most of our time was spent in Athens and on many of the Cyclades Islands between Athens and Santorini. I can still replay much of the trip in my mind's eye and have being doing so ever since we made the decision to return to Greece.

It was a significant time for me, where I first discovered the freedoms and pleasures of the road, deferred responsibilities/decisions and developed the first inklings of what 'travel on a shoestring' was all about. We had plenty of fun and I also experienced some real learning experiences that I probably wasn't quite prepared for, but they no doubt benefited me over time. I was a very young 19 year old seemingly transitioning into a wise 20 year old! In retrospect this 5 month travel germinated the seed that led to a life long passion for simple travel with just my pack, a travel journal and of course my precious camera. A process I'm still enjoy immensely many years later:)

Six years later, in 1981 shortly after our marriage, Annemarie and I set off together on a 6 month overland travel through Europe as far east as Turkey and Bulgaria and all the way back up to Holland. We too experienced Greece together for a couple of weeks on our way to elsewhere. Annemarie discovered the pleasures of this tiny country...the food, the people, bleached limestone landscapes, the special shades of sea blue and the eastern Mediterranean sky...that difficult to reproduce eastern Mediterranean blue. She seemed to enjoy it as much as Kathy and I had a six years earlier.

I've been fortunate enough to enjoy several other pleasurable travels back into this part of the world including trips with our daughter Erin through east-central and coastal Turkey and through much more of mainland Greece and the eastern Islands. It never gets tired.

And now this land of considerable history has placed itself in front of me yet again. Frankly I figured that I was pretty much done with Greece...so many places on this planet still to be visited. I have a long list:) However, fate and opportunity have once again directed me there. The opportunity to enjoy a travel with both Kathy and Annemarie all these years later was just too good to pass up. In just 5 weeks from now we will again fly eastward to Greece. This time we will focus on four Greek islands in the Cyclades plus at long last, Crete. Annemarie has always wanted to experience the islands, and of course Kathy and I are more than happy to see a few more as well. The only island that we will revisit is Santorini and of course we will again experience Athens at the end of the trip.

We have deliberately planned this excursion to see 'new' places, Crete being the principal jewel. We have all longed to travel and walk there, and for reasons which will become clear as I blog along, none of us have quite managed to make it to Crete...until now. We are all interested to see the changes that economic uncertainty and yes even mass tourism have brought to the country. Just this week it was announced that Greece is considered to be on a more stable economic footing after so many years of restructuring, job loss and austerity. A very difficult time for the Greek population. I for one am quite anxious to see what has become of Athens, a city I have often enjoyed. We shall see.

There will be many sunsets,  perhaps one or two looking across the stunning caldera of Santorini, while sipping chilled white Greek wine! Time for reflection, meditation and simply enjoying some fun moments together. But of course, this is us...there will also be lots of wanderings...after all we can only sit still for just so long! There will be visits to archeological sites, long walks through the famous Gorges on Crete and along island shores, swims in the warm late summer Med and hopefully some classic Grecian meals. We will for sure often be situated in touristed parts, but as usual we will try hard to escape those areas in an effort to find a little of the Greece we experienced in those earlier years of travel. We understand that they still exist, if one is prepared to look. And we are.