An adventure of self discovery in Greece.

by Chloe Knight (South Africa)

A leap into the unknown South Africa

It was 6am on an early Sunday morning, I was sitting with my laptop and my cup of coffee in hand watching Netflix when I suddenly came across a movie called Eat, Pray, Love I had never seen a movie like it before with all the beautiful locations, life lessons, exotic food and people. Something inside of me unlocked on that early cold morning, as if I had been missing out on traveling and putting myself out there my entire life. I had never travelled anywhere besides my home town before, I was kind of a recluse as I found talking to people and socialising exhaustive. So there I went onto Google and started searching for travel destinations, of course in my mind I thought it would never happen as if I would step outside of my comfort zone, but yet I found myself being pulled towards one specific location and that was Greece. I had always found the islands beautiful, from the images of course. So I did something I never thought I'd do, I bought a package to Greece, spent almost all of my life saving might I add but I guess there was no turning back because in one week I would leave. After many sleepless nights the day of the trip finally arrived, it was another early Sunday morning, this time the coffee was in a to go cup and my laptop was packed with basically my whole wardrobe in my bag. I had ordered an Uber and set the destination for the airport. The driver helped me with my luggage, I thanked him and I walked into the busy airport, my heart was pounding as I didn't really know where to go or what I was doing but I had found my way eventually and had boarded my plane. Well I had thought to myself this is it. 16 hours later and I had landed, I hopped in a local cab and arrived at my motel. It was quite a culture shock smelling nothing but the ocean and fish but it wasn't a bad thing. The view from my room was something you only see in the magazines and movies. The ocean was deep blue, the sun was beating down on my skin and the streets were full. The first night I decided to settle in to unpack, have a meal and get some rest as the real adventure would begin in the morning. I had awaken at 7:30am on a fine Monday morning in Mykonos, Greece. The first thing I did was open my window and breathe in that salty air, and what a relaxing and soothing smell that was. I put on a cute sundress and I was ready to go. The motel provided maps of the island, so I took one and decided to walk. My first stop would be to a local coffee shop of course as it was 7:48am and i needed the boost of energy. I ordered the usual cappuccino and a chocolate chip muffin. I was ready to take on the day, and headed off to the local market to see what I could cool up for dinner and you know to explore. It was about a 10 minute walk to the local fish market. I arrived and nearly gagged of the smell but I promised myself I'd open myself up to new experiences I mean heck I made it this far why stop now ? I walked through the stalls of men and women shouting in Greek and not understanding a word, some luckily spoke English. There was not just fish but fresh fruits that shined when the sun hit them just right and also big colourful vegetables and lots of cheese to my surprise. I gazed and got lost in the sights, sounds and smells. I eventually ended up going to a pier to watch two old Greek men fish and take in the scenery. As I watched the old friends joke and laugh about old times, I wondered why I did not have a partner to do this with and why I had not done this any sooner. I think I might just stay a while...