8 Things Greece Taught Me

This is such an overdue post! I’ve been waiting to share my trip to Corfu, Greece for almost two years. Where to begin…. okay, this was during my study abroad trip in England during 2016-2017. This was one of the highlights of my study abroad experience and has become my happy place.

This was the view from my room (insert heart eye emoji)

So, I had been planning to visit Greece just before I left England in August, but one of my coworkers invited me to come with her and a couple of her friends on a spring break trip to Corfu (an island off Greece’s northwest coast in the Ionian Sea). I was thrilled! Eight days of uninterrupted exploration in one of the most beautiful islands on Earth, with some semi- friends!

Now, fast forward to the day of the actual departure, despite the numerous setbacks I had including FORGETTING MY PASSPORT IN MY DORM, by the grace of God I was able to catch the flight. Which let me know this was truly a God sent trip.

It turns out the hotel that my friends booked was on the other side of the island and I wouldn’t see them until the day we all left. Which honestly made the whole experience 10 times better.

I’ll go in detail about all the things I did on this trip in another post, but it’s so important to me to share some of the more personal things I learned about myself in Greece.

Day One: Patience, day one was all about the wait. I was ready to explore and see everything that Greece had to offer. I had to realize that although it felt like I was doing nothing, I was in the waiting process which helped me plan out my days. Don’t waste the waiting period!

one of the million sunset pictures I have from the bar across from my hotel

Day Two: One step at a time, day two was me trying to explore an island in an entire day. Unrealistic and overwhelming. Don’t expect too much, take it as it is.

Day Three: It’s all Greek to me. Day three was ALL about communication. Finding out who spoke English and flexing the little Greek I knew without coming off as an obnoxious American, which I’m pretty sure I failed at. But it was a humbling experience.

Day Four: I’m an extrovert when necessary. Being a lone traveler, I sought out conversations with random people. And met some of the sweetest Irish girls you could ever meet. Being bold goes a long way!

i wish i had pictures of the wonderful girls i met there but thy're all on my other snap which i'm locked out of at the moment so here's were we met :)

Day Five: I AM A TOURIST. A fanny pack wearing, on a tour bus with a map in hand TOURIST. I learned to embrace that, and it didn’t hurt that me and my touristy Irish friends were all in it together.

Day Six: I need ME TIME. This is when ‘extrovert when necessary’ gets explained. Usually I’m a pretty introverted person. I love adventure but to a degree, especially when the adventure involves socializing. For every 1 hour I spend with people I need 3 hours to myself. God help me!

Day Seven: I found my happy place. You know how you have this idea that one day you’ll have it all. The perfect guy, the perfect body, millions of dollars and a Tesla. This was all of that for me, everything that I had aspired to be boiled down into that one day. Reading a book, watching the sunset while reflecting with a cold drink.

this is where i spent a majority of my days , relaxing, and reflecting (aka my happy place)

Day Eight: I want to travel for a living. It was during this trip that I asked myself when the next time I was going to get to travel was. When was I going to feel alive again? Would I ever be this happy again? It was at that moment I decided that this feeling wasn’t just a feeling I was going to feel every few years. This is my life and I’m going to be bold enough to live it MY WAY.

Let me know what your happy place is and what you are doing to make that closer to your day to day! You deserve it.