What I Wish I Knew Before I Left Athens
For the first 50 years of my life I lived in Athens, most of the time in central neighbourhoods and for a few years in a posh suburb. I worked hard and enjoyed city life. Restaurants, bars, art galleries, theatre, opera, music concerts, shopping, hanging out with friends and all conveniences city living offered me. Leros was my preferred vacation place where I enjoyed a slower pace for a few days a year in my beloved grandmother’s summer house. 30 years ago, I married Pussy (that’s my wife’s name!) on Leros that she visited for the first time in her life as my girlfriend 3 years before our wedding. She was also a city girl that had lived in Thessaloniki, London and Athens. We shared the romantic (or so it seemed) idea of moving to Leros which we both loved but were still hostages of our lifestyle in the big city. Fast forward to 2015, both of us without work, victims of the largest post war economic crisis in Greece, we decided to give our idea a try. For the first 3 years we shared our time between Athens and Leros converting our vacation house (my beloved grandmother’s house that I inherited) to year-round residence. Since 2017 we became permanent residents of the island, enjoying our life and these are our tips on island life for ex city slickers.
People in the streets, shops and public spaces wave at you. Wave them back and say hello to them. In a small society everybody is welcomed and it is vital that you show your appreciation.
Identify the village character, the person with quircky behaviour that everybody kindly bears with. If you can’t identify him then probably you are the one!
Kouseli (gossip)! In our small society a favourite pastime is gossiping which produces rumours that most of the time are false. They are great inspiration for writing a novel but don’t count on them!
Always have a power-cut kit handy. Power cuts are frequent and sometimes they last for hours. Candles, lighter, a torch or two, spare batteries and a power bank are the necessities for the occasion. And since you can’t avoid it, enjoy it! Have a glass of wine while reading a book in the candlelight!
Wi-fi can be understandably unpredictable- we are on an island. If fast internet is vital, invest in satellite communication even though you hate Elon Musk as much as I do.
Learn how to build a fire and keep it burning. Make sure your house has a wood stove or a fireplace and prepare yourself to use it during those wintertime power cuts. Buy a tool kit and learn how to perform basic and minor house repairs on your own. There is no 24/7 service for house repairs on the island and a repairman will be hard to find within a reasonable amount of time.
Don’t buy a posh large car and if you already have one, sell it. Streets are narrow and full of potholes; a used small car (preferably with high ground clearance and high-profile tyres) is way more useful. A motor scooter is an ideal form of transportation on the island and an e-bike a nice alternative if you don’t have to carry stuff around.
Don’t set off early, no need too. No traffic congestion, no traffic lights, no demonstrations, only small distances. You can drive from one side of the island to the other in less than half an hour and in high tourist season it will take you just a few minutes more!
You can fish, grow your vegetables and have your chicken coop if you enjoy spending a lot of your time in these activities. But if you want to eat fish, vegetables, and eggs on a regular basis stop fantasizing about producing your own food and visit the local market.
Forget next day delivery, your parcels will be late. When they finally arrive, you’ll have to drive to the post office or courier service to collect them, usually the morning that the boat from Piraeus arrives (3-4 times per week).
Accept your “nice clothes” days are over. Blue jeans-cargo pants, warm wool or fleece jumpers, t-shirts, shorts and Bermudas, wind and rain proof jacket, sneakers, swimsuits, sandals and flipflops is what you’ll need most of the time. Dressing up will only be needed on rare occasions.
Movie nights. Yes, you can visit the Cinema theatre (open air during summer!) but if you enjoy watching more than one or two films per week join streaming services. Join a local club. Or more!
Apart from being the best way to integrate to the local community they will offer you a lot of useful knowledge and skills on your free time. There are clubs for music, dance, theater, cinema, books, tennis, sailing, football, history, hiking, biking and many more!
Adopt “this house is clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy” attitude. There will be no more sparkling clean floors (not even in your bedroom). Dust, insects, leaves will be all around you no matter if you clean up twice per day, even more so if you have a dog and/or children. If you have OCD with cleanliness visit a therapist!
Learn to co-exist with insects, rats, scorpions, snakes and lizards. 99% of them are harmless and there is no way to effectively exterminate them. Adopting a cat will help limit their visits in your house.
Forget city crime stats. Newcomers still lock their doors and cars. Old hands laugh at their quivering paranoia. Most of us haven’t seen our door keys for ages and leave our vehicle keys on the ignition!
Befriend your neighbors! Whether you like them or not is immaterial. Neighbors mean support when the roof gutters are blocked, surveillance system when you are away, allies when the local shepherd is angry (he will be) and someone to take in parcels when they finally turn up.
Be wary of unwanted visitors! As soon as people hear that you moved to Leros they will immediately hatch plans for holidays at your expense. To you it’s home. To them, it’s free Airbnb with great views and cooked meals. Never reveal that you have a spare room!
Summer life on Leros is what you would expect from a small Aegean island: a dream! On the other hand, winter life is inconvenient, slow paced, occasionally lonely, the weather can be dreadful and entertainment options (in city terms) severely limited. But it’s wild, beautiful, serene and fulfilling, too. It offers an excellent sense of community and quality of life. It’s just what we want and enjoy. I hope it’s exactly the same for you.
