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It sounds cliché, but when your life can be tragically described as before it happened and after it happened, it seems like your whole existence before was if you were merely going through the motions. The only time I feel limitless is when I’m sitting at the airport with kindle in tow ready for my next adventure I’ve planned. My trips are still few and far between, but I’m working on that. So, traveling was the only thing I dreamed of after my accident. I’ve had a bucket list ever since I could read. Books were my first revelation that a world exited outside our small town limits. Bucket Lists have never been in a terminal sense for me, but reminded me more of hope. Hope to seize every experience on your list. It was more of a reminder of the way a person should live. Not waiting until the end to take from it. to My first bucket list item – Greece. I’m from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants era that ignited an ever fiery passion to see the Mediterranean. It wasn’t an if, but a when. Nonetheless, once I was well enough and had the all clear from my doctor, found an eager friend to accompany me, just like that we were off. Planning every ferry ride, airplane ride, and rental car was getting me one step closer to my dream – Greece. (Cue deep sigh) I can still feel the breeze against my shoulder as I lost myself in the labyrinth of streets in Athens, edges of each stone worn from the countless travelers before me. The city welcomes you with the warm glow from street lights bounced off every wall, Bougainvillea cascading like colorful clouds from the sky, and a faint hint of street musicians making their rounds around the evening diners. I didn’t realize until later it was more than meets the eye, it’s a way of life. A couple of older gentlemen asked us if we were searching for food. We said, “yes.” We know him as Bobby and friend, he told us about this place, Scholarhio (ΣΧΟλΡΧΕΙΟΝ) on Tripodon (ΤΡΙΠΟΔΩΝ) Street, serving authentic Greek staples in large amounts. He said, “…tourists won’t go past the darkness (gesturing to the streets beyond the flooding street lamps), but that is where some of the best experiences are.” He then continued to tell us the Greek way of life – “Siga, Siga” or “slowly, slowly.” It was if he knew exactly what I needed to hear. I knew I needed to not just take the photos or do as most tourists do. I needed to feel every moment, appreciate the sights before me, and “slowly, slowly” immerse myself in the Greek way. My friend and I remembered that saying through Zakynthos, Mykonos, Santorini, and Crete. It was a short eighteen-day adventure. Some towns like Agios Nikolaos (Αγ. Νικόλαος) or Chania (Χανιά) embodied “Siga, Siga” beautifully, making it so hard to leave. My before Greece life and after Greece life is now how I timeline my life. I think William Langewiesche said it perfectly, “So much of who we are is where we have been.” I have my roots deep, I’ll always come home. Yet, using my wings to fly to Greece brought me more than breathtaking photos or anecdotal stories. This welcoming, stunning country awoke a part of me that had disappeared long before the accident. Greece helped me find a peace in myself that I didn’t even know I lacked.