A little bit of normal

October 2024

We're currently in Rhodes, Greece. We had decided to stay and do a Greek Christmas, so against our decision to keep warm, here we are until February. After travelling for over a year, we needed a little bit of normal life. Before we even arrived, we purchased two brand new bikes and within a week, I bought a sewing machine.

My husband is happily cooking, I'm sewing, and we can get around town with our bikes. Things are feeling a bit like home. The guy we are renting from is absolute gold and what we don't have, but need, he supplies. Things like a saucepan and a mattress topper. Amazing guy. We might not like it here as much as other places, but it's a nice place to chill out and prepare for whatever comes next.

My husband is trying his hand at Greek food, which delights me no end. It's largely vegetarian and always tasty. In the meantime, I'm sewing stuff. It started with repairs and alterations, but I since found the second hand shops... I can buy all sorts of things there to create with. I believe I made four bags so far, out of old jeans and t shirts. Quite satisfying.

Above: Here are a few bags I made using recycled jeans and shirts.

We may even have found some Greek dancing lessons. It was on the to-do list, but struggled to find something. According to one of our Greek friends, there are classes starting around the corner next week. At least I think that is what he said as he is hard to understand on the phone! Fingers crossed for that outcome.

One of the catches to stay here long term is registering your presence. As I am an EU citizen we can do that. I'm currently in the process of arranging all the paperwork for that. We found out that all we need is a copy of our bank statement showing we have sufficient funds to stay, plus health insurance and a bunch of photos. Simple! Well, simple and expensive because each page has to be translated and apostilled. That's expensive. Once that is done, we're good to stay here. That's good because I'm having fun with my sewing machine and I live cycling around.

March 2025

I never did post the last blog last year. Things kind of went out of my head...

I just want to offer real insight into what this is really like for us. When I read old posts, I notice I can sometimes sound a little negative. It's not really my intention, but I suppose I started this to give people a more realistic idea of what it is like to sell everything and take off without a real plan. It can be hard.

Hence two things. First was a longer stay in Rhodes to decompose. We have moved around a lot over the last year and a bit. Secondly, we decided to buy an apartment in Queensland as we both felt untethered. I think I need to know I have a home somewhere, even if we don't plan to be there much.

You learn some things about yourself when you travel and I have learned that I am not as happy to travel without purpose and without a base. That way, if things do get overwhelming (the logistics of travelling is hard work) we can go back home for a while and reset.

We did end up buying a place in Far North Queensland. We found a place online and made an offer. It looked ok and we were told it was meticulously maintained. Well, it wasn't, but more on that later! We do, however, have a tiny apartment in a suburb that is so friendly and welcoming that, if it wasn't for the fact you can't swim in the sea (Crocodiles and stingers make it not so safe), I may have found Utopia.

The last few months in Rhodes were not as fun as the first bit... I'll explain.

Number one reason it wasn't as much fun: Hills. As our main mode of transport was cycling, we were confronted by hills everywhere! It's not as flat as Crete and as a former Town Planner, I had forgotten to check out the topography before buying bikes online. Con: Coming home from the beach, you ended up hotter than the way down there and pro: we're really fit now!

Number two: By the end of October the weather is still fantastic, however the tourism drops off so much that almost the entire Old Town shuts down. Con: There isn't much to do as the New Town hasn't got a lot of decent places to eat and drink in. Pro: You get fantastic photos as there is no visual disturbances. The Old Town in Rhodes is one of the most magnificent of places.... I'll see about uploading an album.

Number three: As it had been tourist season, all the locals were working, so we didn't meet a lot of locals. Hence, the Christmas season was a bit of a downer for us. There were Christmas markets down the road from us, but the lack of social outlets and the rain really brought us down. Cons: A lot of time spent indoors and saving money. Pro: A lot of time indoors and spending money. This was the time we ended up deciding to buy a place. We saved our living expenses, but spent our savings.

So now it's all very negative again. I did end up going to a cooking class as my husband won't let me into 'his' kitchen. I also bought some paint and kept up my skills in painting effects. I made signs and painted things I found on the street.

Above: Some bottles I painted and some fun signs I made from an old pallet we dragged home one drunken night.

Once the weather picked up and New Year hit, we ventured out again and met a lot of locals. We now have some gorgeous friends and I was swimming everyday. In the winter you still have fabulous weather once the rain stops and the water is often warmer than the air. I also did start two different dance classes, so I'm pretty good at Greek dancing. It's such a wonderful thing being part of a social network where you can go out, meet your friends and drink, eat and DANCE!

The most wonderful thing was cycling along the coast and being greeted by friends and saying hi to several groups of people that you knew. There is something special about that feeling of belonging. I think you really need to spend more than a few months in a pace (possibly years) before you really can feel like you belong somewhere.

You do need to 'get out there' and become part of the community to be welcomed in. We went to any even t we could find and most times we were the only non-Greeks there. After a while we were recognised and greeted more warmly, which was nice.

Above: One of the cooking classes

I went to in the hills. Cooking Stiffado in a

woodfired oven! Delicious!

To round it all up, I think what I learned was that you need more than a couple of months to really feel like you belong, but you also need to make real effort and go through some bad as well as good. We will spend the time we have now in Australia to look at our next moves. In the meantime, I'm going to try and fill in some more blanks in our last two years. Keep watching this space!