Reconnecting With My Idyllic Childhood on Syros, Greece

It was a fairly typical Sunday on my sunny Greek island…

I spent the morning with my new neighbor Anna, learning how to gather olives. Then I picked up a friend and joined the Syros International Sea Swimmers group at Vari Beach.

Once a week, I abandon my usual swim routine and join this motley conglomeration of expats and Greeks, who meet at a different beach each week to swim together and share a meal afterwards. My favorite Sundays include a potluck at someone’s home, or a picnic at that week’s selected beach. Today, we had a group of 14 participants with 10 different nationalities.

Three years ago, if someone had told me I would be swimming in the sea in Syros on a Sunday in spring with a group of expats, I would have laughed them out of the room.

Sitting on my balcony overlooking the Aegean (the neighboring islands of Tinos and Mykonos appear so clear today, it looks as though I can reach out and touch them from my perch), it occurs to me that I’ve come a long way from my former life in Austin, Texas.

The island of Syros—part of the Cyclades islands, southeast of Athens—has been a part of my life since 1985. As a normally confident 16 year old, arriving in Greece that summer with my family threw me off kilter. The unfamiliar language, crowds, and smells of Greece intimidated and overwhelmed me.

After “conquering” Athens, my mother’s insistence on seeing an island had us slogging our wheelless suitcases to the city’s ferry port.

But the whole of Mykonos, our first stop, was covered with inhospitable “no vacancy” signs. Plan B was the island of Syros. Its two hills stacked with pastel-colored houses and wedding-topper churches couldn’t have been more different from the stark blue and white Lego blocks of Mykonos. And we found accommodations in a neoclassical guest house overlooking the sea.

As my sisters and I traipsed through the marble-paved streets of Syros, we were welcomed with genuine smiles and friendly curiosity wherever we went. Often our conversations led to invitations: to family meals, bouzouki nightclub visits, beaches, and to the discotheque. I’ll never forget my first crush on the island; a super-tanned boy with a Wham! sticker on his motorbike who grabbed me by the hand on an August night to dance to “Last Christmas.” “Pastel-colored houses and a wedding topper church.”

My mother, a realtor at the time, discovered that our guest house was for sale, and set her mind to purchasing it.

But there was a surprise at the settlement table… the previous owners had taken a loan from the tourist board. There was a stipulation in the contract that the house was obligated to remain a guest house for 10 more years. And so my family embarked on an unexpected journey, running a guest house in Greece with no knowledge of the business or language. Those were the best summers of my life!

As a budding cultural anthropologist studying Intercultural Communication at college, I started teaching myself Greek so I could communicate with my friends in Greece. Not ready to sit behind a desk, I decided to move to Syros after graduation and see what the island was like all year round. I wanted to find a job, settle in, and prove that I could “make it on my own.”

That summer, I met a young Greek man, and what should have been a year teaching English on a Greek island turned into almost five years of living, working, and earning my Masters degree in various parts of Greece.

Wanting to build my career, I decided to move back to the U.S., and my Greek beau followed shortly after. The land of opportunity captivated him, and after we were married, Syros became a summer vacation destination to visit family with our son every year.

Each time I returned to the island, the desire to create a simpler life resurfaced. Long discarded dreams of running my own guest house and escaping the rat race niggled at me… but never came to fruition.

When I returned to Syros in August 2020, I didn’t really have a plan. My home country seemed broken, my marriage was over. All the while a virus lurked… Syros was the logical safe place for me and my son as we recovered and rebuilt our lives.

In the back of my mind, I wondered if I would feel different returning to Syros.

Was the joyous life I remembered a byproduct of being young, on vacation, and surrounded by cute boys? Would my profound attachment to the island dissipate with the responsibilities and challenges of adult life?

My mom had offered a fresh start in her wonderful guest house, full of all those childhood memories. So when we arrived on Syros during the pandemic, we were able to do our two weeks of self quarantine overlooking the Aegean.

I quickly fell into the rhythm of daily life here. Yoga overlooking the water…breakfast on the balcony… strolling down to the market in the mornings followed by a swim in the warm sea. Being so close, there really is no excuse to miss a day of swimming. Aprés-swim, I’d eat lunch before my remote workday in the U.S. got started (at the time, I was working as a teaching assistant for special needs kids in a high school).

To be honest, I had no idea if I’d make real friends when I arrived. I didn’t have huge expectations. To my surprise, however, once I showed up somewhere routinely for about a week, people started engaging me in conversations. My Greek neighbors were curious about what brought me here, how long I would be staying, and if I wanted to share the rusks and cheese they’d brought with them to the sea. It wasn’t long before I’d established a group of friends around my daily swims. We would meet, share snacks and stories, and do exercises together to keep warm after our dip in the sea.

I’ve also reconnected with a friend of my mother’s from the “early days.” An American, she’s a lively, retired woman who adores opera. This year, she’s been traveling the world doing home exchanges, spending a month or so at a time in Syros. She, too, took refuge here during the pandemic and has rediscovered her love of the island.

An avid socializer and cultural events connoisseur, my friend started a Syros Culture and Info WhatsApp group, keeping members up to date on events in Syros. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the plethora of opportunities, it’s difficult to decide which event to attend.

For example, last weekend I went to a musical at the Apollon Theater and enjoyed live music afterward at a local bar. Saturday I went to a film at the cinema, and on Sunday, after my swim, I dropped by a friend’s “Welcome Spring” barbecue and attended an evening lecture and discussion hosted by the Catholic Church. In the summertime, there are music, art, film, and animation festivals to be enjoyed, too.

Living on a Greek island isn’t always sunny skies and warm seas. When I plan a trip and the boats aren’t running due to weather, or the ferry workers are on strike, or the water is suddenly cut off for hours at a time without notice, it’s frustrating.

Healthcare on an island can be difficult to navigate, and the public health system is cutting back the number of doctors and specialists. However, the out-of-pocket costs for private practitioners is very reasonable and the doctors are excellent. General practitioners charge €35 ($38) and specialists charge €50 ($54).

Being on an island also means there’s an extra leg when traveling, and connections aren’t plentiful during the off season. But if I’m willing to add an extra day to my travels, I can get to Abu Dhabi to visit my son, who’s attending university there, for just €89 ($96).

The laws and processes for purchasing or renting property and taxation are different here too, and as I discovered came with a steep learning curve.

But these drawbacks are really minor inconveniences… trade offs for what is ultimately a better life. I’ve taken the leap to a life of freedom and adventure many only dream about. It’s a choice… and just about anyone can have this life. But you do have to be open to new ways of doing things. As I’ve learned, with persistence, a sense of humor, and a smile, it’s amazing how many people will come forward to support and shepherd you through.

Tomorrow, my plan is to gather more olives with friends—this time from the small olive grove at the home I recently bought—to press into my own olive oil. I’m ever thankful for the richness of this life, and excited to see what new adventures are waiting around the corner…