Thoughts on the times that change...

The cat is sleeping in my lap. A quiet, cold morning.

I’m thinking of the changes that the earth is going through. Dead animals, diseases, floods…

I saw my good friend George yesterday. A friend who is a teacher and a healer. And he told me a line which stayed in my mind. Our generation hasn’t got an example on how to react and go. We are all improvising. Improvising for a new life, a new state of being.

He said, it’s easy to open a restaurant, it’s easy to become a policeman, people have done it before.

How about coming into a new age where nothing materialistic matters anymore? How do you do it? How do you react in this new age? I am improvising. Everybody is improvising. Old recipes do not work anymore.

Take me for example. I was always different. I never wanted what others wanted... And, before therapy, I thought there must be something wrong with me. But I don't doupt anymore... I don’t have a car, I don’t even know how to drive one. I never had any major possessions like a house of my own. My bank account had just enough money to get me through a month or it was empty. What do I have to lose? Nothing. I was always searching for an answer, always reading books, always investing in myself and the ways to be a better person.

I don’t believe in god anymore, I believe I am the breath of god. I am not scared anymore, I just trust. Being here, right now, is part of my travels. It’s the breathing of the divine. It’s like the waves in the sea. I am here and I’m everywhere.

  

I’m part of the generation that improvises. I’m part of the new world. I don’t know my exact destination, but I’m trying to be as conscious as I can in my choices. I mean it’s a choice to see the glass half full. It’s a choice to laugh at the cat when it does something that you don’t like instead of being angry with it. It’s a choice to look at a flock of birds in the sky while waiting for the bus.

I really don’t know much about the future. I really don’t want to be scared. My teacher Jonah says it will take courage to live. From what I understand there’s going to be some kind of ridicule for all of us who are spiritual and different. We have to stand forth. We have to have faith in ourselves and our improvising. And we might make a better world. Love, peace and happiness.

Family...

My family is unpredictable. I never know how they will react.


This time I was waiting for a lot of "we told you so", "you made a mistake" blah blah blah. And I expected a lot of whining because I did not come for Christmas or the New Years.

Instead I experienced a weird silence, like a fight was going to burst anytime. But it didn't. I was quiet and happy to be home. They were quiet and happy to have me home. Something happened in the family's dynamics. It was a nice change of reactions. If it all reflects my inner peace, I don't know it. Maybe it does.

The fact is I don't carry with me any bad memories from this trip. It was three happy quiet days with family.

Back to Athens tomorrow.

Going home...

Train I said... Yeah, right. 48 hour train strike. I should have known better.

Thankfully my sister and her husband were coming to Athens and they picked me up with their car...

So here I am , at my moms and dad's house. Making bread and pizza and telling them about my adventures in Italy.

I was expecting big fights and big, difficult discussions. But they are not reacting like this. They seem relaxed. I think they reflect my own calmness. I'm happy with my decision to come back and I' planning my next trip.

Peace and quiet.

8 days without a post! I do admit I missed it...

But working long hours did not help my inspiration. So let's talk about going from the far West of Athens to the far East of Athens. It's a 2 (sometimes 3) hour adventure! Especially on a strike day, when the only means of public transportation was the suburban railway. Which is a joke. No signs, nobody knew where to go or what to do and there were no staff to ask. Do not use the suburban railway unless you have double checked how it works... I decided to make that day a funny day instead of a whiny day!

Public transportation strikes do give you a hard time and lots of people find it very hard to get to their jobs everyday... I hope it does not last much longer...

On the bright side of life, I will visit my hometown tomorrow. I haven't been there since I came back a month ago and I'm really interested on what will happen. I will definately have fun with my sister making pizza! And I do want to share all my Italy experience with the rest of my family, ie my mom and dad. I do miss them still, whatever they said and whatever they did. The bottom line is that even if they did not agree with my trip, they helped me when I needed it...

I can't wait to get on the train and travel again!

Ps I really laugh with our cat and dog, espesially when they play! Here is a couple of the funniest pictures out of thousands I have with them playing and sleeping! The second one courtesy of antonisartheart...

West Side Story

There is one thing I immensely appreciate in Greece. These bright, sunny winter days. You can sit in the sun and your face gets reddish and you feel warm and the sun energises your whole body! This was the weather like in the weekend.

We took advantage of it and went in the near by mountain. Our mountain is full of twists and turns, rocks, wild olive and pine trees... Sitting on a rock, contemplating my life. Walking and watching the dog run happily through the bushes, it's like she's smiling with her big tongue hanging from her mouth... It's these little moments that make life worthy.

I am here now and I think back. I used to live in the center, above a big highway. Then I moved to the center in a little appartment. All I could see around the house was concrete walls. Then, again in the center but this time higher, I could see the sky and trees where just outside my window. And now... I live in the "Wild West" of Athens. And - having the dog - makes me go out and discover the great big mountain which lies in my back yard...


If the places I've lived in mirror my evolution, then I've come a long way. From the dirty streets I have slowly moved to a muddy, green, rocky soil! Quiet and serene. There are even herds of sheep up there! And big fat rabbits! And partridges!

I call it evolution. Some people think it goes the other way around. Whole generations of people thought evolution were going from their small villages to the great city, but things have changed over the years... 

It's nature which shows us we are rich. And there is Nature to be discovered out there... Even in your back yard sometimes...

PS. The last photo is taken by antonisartheart, my favorite photographer...

What kind of travelling?

Searching the many ways and possibilities of travelling and making money out of it, I tried my luck at a travel agency. Besides, I have always been very brave. When I want to do something I go and do it no matter how absurd it might seem. When I was in my teens I went to the National Gallery in Athens and asked to talk to the head of the National Gallery. I didn't meet her then, but after a couple of months I was working voluntarily inside the National Gallery.

Another time, I wrote a letter to a famous greek writer withought any information about me exept my address and he liked my letter so much, he searched for my phone number, contacted me and invited me to his home.

All my life I have been doing things like that. Diving into the unknown... It didn't always get me results, but at least I tried.

The visit to the travel agency was a funny and very revealing experience. It taught me never to set foot in one of these esptablishments ever again!

Well, maybe my approach was not very appropriate either, but... I thought I give it a try. To make long story short, I told them I don't have any experience except my own travelling and I would like to escort groups abroad. I told them I was even willing to do it voluntarily or even pay for my first trip - even though I'm penniless at the moment. The reaction I got was a lady making fun of me and "goofing" instead of "woofing", the voluntary programs abroad... I was very patient and trying to explain myself, until I thought it was worthless trying to convince her.

Do I want to work in an environment like this?

Woofing in farms has given me the best experiences I ever had in my life!

Besides, what kind of traveller do I want to be and what kind of trafelling am I going to support and give my energy to? Tourism is a business. Tourists sheldomly get to know the real country they are visiting. And I'm the kind of person who likes to help other people. I'd rather get to Tanzania for example and help some people for free than go to Tanzania just to spend my money. Of course both ways are ok, and both ways help the country in some way or another. But my way is the first way.

I want to help people. I want to know them. I want them to be my friends at the end.

I think I'll stay out of the tourist business for now!

2011, Time for more travelling!

I came back from my studies in1999. From 1995 to 1999 I travelled to the UK, Amsterdam, Paris and Italy.

And then a long pause. A ten year pause. I never set my foot to an airport except to pick up a friend who was coming. Hundreds of airplanes were coming and going. Thousands of traveller's were travelling. And I had problems. Financial problems usually. I could not travel. And then, in an instant, I decided it again.

2009. May. I wanted it to be a "difficult" destination. CAIRO. Not in Europe. It would give a visa stamp to my passport. I din't have much money. I had money for three days. Three days. Alone in Cairo. I was crying when I got on the airplane... Ten years. I was flying after ten long years... And I was going out of Europe! Almost no-one new. It was my well kept secret... And I had the time of my life. I was safe and I did all the touristic stuff.

It made me want more.

2010. February. London. I saw my friends after ten long years. Not much had changed. It felt like home. Four days. Just like that.

2010. June. My travels start with the two horse farms. Skyros was the best.

2010. October. Italy. Not for four days, but for two months.

The reason I need to write all this is that I need to remind myself where I was and where I am. All the long years I did not even realise how much I love to travel. All the years I believed it was not my heart's desire. I need to remind myself. I need to promise myself I will never leave her aside for so long.

2011 is a new year. I have come back to draw the strength to leave again. And it will be dedicated to travelling.