“Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.”
–Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
Greece, August 2021
This is a long overdue post of an epic 2021 summer trip to Greece. This was an unbelievable trip for a lot of reasons: the food, the people, the beaches, and the laid back way of life on the far stretches of the Greek isles. The whole trip was a perfect way to decompress and enjoy being off the grid for 2 weeks .
When in doubt… just go!
I’ve always been told Greece is an amazing and magical place and I should really visit. However, I’ve also heard it’s been overrun by tourists (especially American tourists) in places like Santorini and Mykonos in years past. If you know me, I’m not really a mainstream guy and I usually plan my trips to deep dive into local cultures, try new food, and try to avoid places where I’ll see mostly Americans – I can do that in the U.S. I’m also an explorer at heart and I crave adventure so the cushy tourist spots don’t usually appeal to me.
I was (and still am) a huge Anthony Bourdain fan, and one of his favorite places in the world was the Greek islands. So despite hearing about the scores of tourists, when a friend invited me to come visit, I had a little hesitation at first, but couldn’t pass up the trip and booked a flight.
Greek food is on a different level!
Athens
My first stop was Athens, and I was on my own exploring for a couple days while my friend and travel partner was still recovering from covid . Athens is a cool city and rich in history with the Greek philosophers and birthplace of democracy.
Outside of seeing the historical sites, Athens seemed more or less like another big European city. It has tons of history, architecture, and culture, but it’s still just a big modern city. I spent 2 days there and that was probably just enough time for me to do all the major sightseeing stuff like the Acropolis.
I was very impressed with the food in Athens and enjoyed some fabulous meals. I didn’t realize it back as a kid but I was exposed to some awesome Greek food growing up in the Northeast U.S. and the huge Greek population. I’d say I know a thing or two about good greek food.
Something that I discovered right away in Athens, and throughout my trip, was that the food tasted just a little bit richer even though they had the same exact ingredient as in the U.S.
It’s hard to explain but the cheeses, tomatoes, and olives, for example, just tasted a little bit different. I don’t know if it was better necessarily – maybe more natural? I was thinking maybe it was the lack of all the chemicals or processing that we use in the U.S. I’ve heard the same thing about Italian food in Italy compared to the same Italian food in the US. The ingredients taste just slightly better in the native country.
Mykonos
After Athens, the next stop on my Greek odyssey was Mykonos. Mykonos is known as being a party destination with a lot of nightclubs and a big techno music scene. It wasn’t my first choice to visit in the Greek Islands but it was my friend’s birthday and so we decided to go for the weekend to celebrate.
The first thing to know about Mykonos is that it’s extremely expensive. It definitely lives up to the reputation of being a ritzy and popular destination for tourists. Mykonos is filled with a lot of beautiful people, incredible villas, stunning white and blue Greek architecture, and is known as a great spot for sailing.
We stayed about 25 min from the downtown area in a hotel that was 2 minutes from a nice beach.
Of course while in Mykonos we did go out a couple nights to some of the (outdoor) clubs and had some drinks taking in the marvelous sunsets on the Aegean Sea. Even though it wasn’t my scene with the fancy restaurants and nightclubs, I still enjoyed the dream-like setting of the island. I thought the island geography was actually pretty cool with all the rocky mountains and the contrast of the teal blue Mediterranean sea.
We had some great meals in Mykonos and surprisingly the food wasn’t as expensive relative to everything else. I loved the food at the little roadside cafes where we devoured some of my favorite Greek classics like Spanakopita and Baklava.
Mykonos wasn’t my favorite place I’ve visited but I still had a good time and it’s definitely a unique island. It would be good for about 2 nights if you’re looking to live it up or party/nightlife. Although, I’d say there are probably other Greek islands where you could find the same thing at half the price.
I felt like everyone was a model or influencer in Mykonos and it was very much about seeming like you were somebody important or a celebrity. Mykonos felt to me like the Greek equivalent of the Hamptons – a beautiful place to visit, but also very expensive and exclusive.
Ikaria
Our final stop in the Greek Islands was the island of Ikaria. There are over 1,200 Greek islands and each is different in its own respect. With that many islands to choose from, it made our decision pretty difficult on where to go next after Mykonos. A couple islands we were considering were Naxos, Paros, and Tinos, but something was calling me to Ikaria.
I had heard great things about Ikaria as a very relaxing place and backpacker friendly island. It also happened to be one of the only Greek islands where there was apparently surfing so I was sold. Ikaria is known for its stress free atmosphere where people live the longest in the world. In particular, the island has the highest concentration of centenarian (100+) men and is designated as a BLUE ZONE.
It’s been referred to as “the place where people forget to die” and been the subject of many health studies and books discussing the lifestyles, diets, and genetics on why people live so long on the island.
They are still going strong with making the family wine using the same recipe.
Blue Zones
In 2021 I was very interested in exploring some of the world’s 5 Blue Zones. Blue Zone are places where people live much longer than average, in many cases 100+ years old. Looking at each of the 5 locations, there are a number of common themes that each of these populations across the world share:
- They move naturally – They don’t really work out, they do stuff like physical labor and walk throughout the day.
- They live with a purpose – They have a something they wake up to everyday. The Japanese call this Ikigai.
- Down Shift – They don’t have stress in their lives, and they if they do they find ways to eliminate or mitigate it.
- 80% rule – They don’t overeat eat. They only eat until they are about 80% full.
- Mostly plant based – They don’t eat a lot of meat and when they do it’s in small amounts. Most of their protein comes from beans and legumes.
- Wine – They drink wine daily. Not other alcohols, just wine in particular.
- Right Tribe – They have strong social circles that promote and reinforce healthy habits.
- Belonging – They have a strong sense of community and connection, with most belonging to some type of faith-based community.
- Family – They live close to or with family, many times caring for parents or other family members. They put family first.
I wanted to learn more about these healthy lifestyles and see how I could learn to incorporate this into my way of life. In particular adopting a healthier diet, removing stress, and probably the most challenging of them all building a community / stronger social circle and deepening my sense of purpose.
I talk more about the history and background of the five different “Blue Zones” in my previous post visiting the Nicoya Coast, Costa Rica. For me, seeing and feeling is believing and I wanted to visit Ikaria not only because I heard it was a cool laid back backpacker island but I also wanted to take some notes on how to live a healthier, richer, and more purposeful life.
Time really did stop in Ikaria
We were only planning on staying in Ikaria for a couple days but ended up staying a full week. We were planning to go to a couple other islands in Greece but I saw no reason to leave the perfect setup we had in Ikaria. The island was a magical place and I didn’t feel like there was any other place I needed to be. I was not expecting to love it as much as I did.
If you ever visit Ikaria, I would definitely recommend the hotel, Erofili hotel we stayed at in the town of Armenistis. The views of the mediterranean sea were amazing and the swimming area was incredible. It was also walking distance to everything in town and we felt like we had our own private slice of paradise. It was very affordable and had a huge greek style breakfast each morning.
The Ikarian Fare
The seafood was top notch in Ikaria and I ate a lot of seafood during this trip. Being on an island we went to a lot of local fishing villages and tried out their freshly caught seafood each day. One restaurant, called Kialaris, was so good that we went back 3 times. They had the best fried calamari I’ve ever had.
Ikaria is a hidden gem
Overall I’d highly recommend anyone who is considering a Greece trip to check out Ikaria. It’s not on a lot of travel lists but it was a truly a hidden gem. If you are looking to relax, this is the island for you. The entire island was so stress free that time truly did stop. There were days when I forgot to check my phone until the evening and was wondering why I even needed to go back to the U.S. I see why the residents live forever! They really do forget to die!
I will definitely go back to Greece!
There was a heck of a lot of more food and wine consumed on this trip but those were some of the highlights. I now understand why Anthony Bourdain always kept going back to the Greek Islands to decompress, eat amazing food, drink world class wine, and enjoy the charming Greek culture.
I hope you get the chance to visit the Greek Islands one day! Until next time…
Keep It Sambal!
