Roaring Through My Twenties

Athens, Mykonos, Santorini

If you are a loyal blog reader of mine, you’ll notice that I’ve rebranded a bit. I’m currently embracing the in-betweenness of my life, wondering what I am doing now and where I am going next. In an attempt to take on this somewhat intimidating feeling fiercely, I’m now writing under a new blog name: Roaring Through my Mid-Twenties. 

I’m still exploring the kind of content I’ll write about…stay patient with me while I not only navigate my twenties, but my blog content as well. 

P.S. – My content from India remains on this webpage on the Posts tab. If you’re interested in subscribing to receive email notifications when I post, visit the Homepage and fill in your email in the subscribe box!

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Everyone say…‘Welcome Back to the Real World!’ 

Between healing from post-India blues and the fact that I recently moved (again) to Boston to start graduate school full-time, it took me a while to get around to writing about my Greece trip. But as the days go on and the fall season has officially begun, I have found myself daydreaming  about warmer weather. 

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Catching Flights…and Feelings 

How this adventure to Greece came to be is quite funny (and most definitely impulsive).

Back in June, Caleb and I stood outside of the Mumbai airport trying to swallow the reality of our situation. We shared two similar feelings: 1) we liked spending time with each other and 2) we hated that we did. Because we were about to be thousands of miles away.

The few days following my return to New York, we spent a lot of time on the phone. Most often, our calls would end with one of us joking about how we should meet up again. “Let’s go to Finland, it’s exactly halfway between New York and Mumbai…” We joked so much about this that we eventually realized it was something we both actually wanted to do. A couple of days and a few lists of potential countries later, we decided on a destination and made plans to book a flight for the next month by the end of that week. 

Yes, it was an impulsive decision. In all fairness, I am not totally out of touch with reality and I changed my mind about this trip quite a few times before fully committing. It’s just going to make everything more complicated. I wasn’t fully convinced to go until talking to my friend Hannah who had nothing but aggressive support for it. “Why not? You can either be sad about the situation now and never see him again…or go, have fun, and be sad later…”

 Sometimes, you have to catch flights in order to deal with catching feelings. 

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Just like that, a little over a month since we had seen each other last, Caleb and I reunited in the Athens airport to begin our holiday in Greece. 

We spent our first night in Athens mostly in shock that we were actually in Greece. Together. Over some wine and seafood, we laughed over our shared impulsivity and slight insanity. Our jetlag kept us talking late into the night. 

Athens to Mykonos

When in Mykonos…

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast before making our way to the port to catch our ferry to Mykonos. Anti-nausea pills on hand, I was very curious about this leg of travel. 

Our excitement kept us in good spirits amidst the chaos of boarding the ferry. The groans and nervous pacing of the other passengers made it apparent that our patience was not shared among the crowd; it was a very disorganized process, but we didn’t mind. 

When we boarded, I was astonished by the vastness of the ferry’s structure. How are so many cars boarding this thing right now? How does it not sink? 

One admirable trait about mine and Caleb’s dynamic is that we balance each other out quite nicely, especially when it comes to traveling. As I am admittedly high-strung, he is incredibly relaxed. I bring the snacks, the games, the mini first-aid kit…he brings the vibes. 

In the five-ish hour trip to Mykonos, we passed the time playing various games and eating snacks. I introduced him to Mad Libs (yes, I have a travel version!) and we argued over the rules of “I Spy”. 

Once we docked in Mykonos, we made our way to our Airbnb in Little Venice. We booked a cute studio apartment with a rooftop that overlooked the city and ocean. 

We said cheers over a few aperol spritz, had some dinner, and spent the rest of the night on the rooftop with a bottle of wine.

Much of our holiday across the islands consisted of a lot of slow-paced activities, which was nice for us considering that all of the previous time we had spent together was deep in the disarray of Indian cities. 

Our first full day in Mykonos, we enjoyed a slow morning having breakfast, exploring the town, and eventually changing into our swimsuits to go for a swim. Caleb, growing up close to the ocean which allowed him to become a very strong swimmer, laughed (and maybe cringed a little) watching me doggy-paddle in circles around the shallow areas. 

I had my first ever espresso martini (and hated it) at a restaurant overlooking the ocean before dinner. We spent a lot of time in awe of the views. Finishing dinner, we hopped around different bars before deciding we really wanted to go dancing. After dancing our hearts out, we shared one of the best gyros I’ve ever had before settling in for bed. 

When we woke up the next morning, we still were thinking about our gyro from the night before and decided to abandon all traditional breakfast plans to have an early gyro lunch. In my opinion, this was the perfect way to start the day.

Our afternoon was not much different from the previous day. We ate, did some more exploring, and swam. This day, Caleb and I had our first ever argument over (can you believe it) gelato. Turns out, the hot sun plus strong winds can result in pretty horrible gelato-eating conditions and can make me very irritated.

After recovering from the gelato incident, we grabbed some coffee before heading back to our Airbnb to relax. Although making previous statements that we would have a calm night before having to catch an early ferry the next morning, it was sometime around the third bar we had hopped to that we had decidedly abandoned those plans. When in Mykonos…

Mykonos to Santorini

Our ferry from Mykonos to Santorini was, for me at least, a little rocky. The size of the ferry was significantly smaller than previous. I could see the waves crashing up against the windows which made me incredibly nauseous. The rough waters coupled with the fact that I had forgotten to take my anti-nausea pills (and admittedly…the antics we had gotten up to the night before) resulted in horrible seasickness. Ginger ale became my lifeline on this ride.

Because we booked this trip so last minute, we did very little research on areas to stay and accommodations to book. But we got so lucky. Our Airbnb in Oia was so beautiful. A small studio apartment with a balcony, this was our favorite place out of all our accommodations. The host was great too and welcomed us with a bottle of wine and fresh fruits in the fridge.

How To: Have the Best Day in Santorini 

One activity Caleb and I were both really looking forward to was the wine tour that we booked through Get Your Guide. If you hadn’t realized from the common theme already of this blog, we share a love for wine. We spent most of our pre-trip time researching wine tours. We were really excited for this.

Unfortunately for us, we had missed a message from the tour company the night before informing us our meet-up time to catch the bus was moved up an hour. And after a very poor attempt to contact us about our bus, we missed it. And we were devastated. After contacting the tour company (and whining a bit to them), we got them to give us a new tour for the next day. 

With an entire day now free, we decided to walk to Oia, the nearest town, and rent an ATV for the day. This was our best decision. 

Santorini is quite a small island and you can get from one end to the other in just over an hour. We spent the entire day driving alongside the coast hopping from beach to beach and swimming in the ocean. The beaches were beautiful and the water was clear – we wished we had goggles to see more of the sea life.

Towards the end of our island tour, Caleb wanted to make one last stop at a beach that I just did not think existed on a map. We pulled off on the road and he pointed down a long, curvy path down alongside a cliff. “I promise, it’s down there. It’s supposed to be really nice.” Okay, sure. “But I don’t want to drag you all the way down there if you’re going to be annoyed if it’s not nice…” Uhh, no I won’t, let’s go. I would have actually been annoyed. Because I could tell from just looking at the trek down, it would have been exhausting trying to get back up to the road – and it was very hot. 

We made it less than a quarter of the way before running into two Italian guys coming up from the beach. Mostly making nice conversation (but I also think trying to save himself from the silent treatment from me if it sucked) Caleb asked the two guys if the trek down was worth it. Out of breath and clearly not in good spirits, they responded very intensely with: “no, not at all!” They told it was littered with trash and very disappointing. We shared our bottle of water with them and turned back around. Caleb has those two guys to thank for dodging a very tense ride back to town. 

In the evening, we returned our ATV and headed for dinner in Oia. With another bottle of wine, we sat again on the balcony late into the night. 

Translating the Minoan Linear A Script

Our last day in Santorini was booked and busy. Our rescheduled tour was actually an upgrade that included a lot more activities than just wine. We were a little hesitant of the back-to-back itinerary, but we ended up having a ton of fun. 

We filed into one big tour bus with several other tourists, sitting in the back in front of a group of very loud (and a little bit annoying) English women. 

Our first stop on our tour was visiting Akrotiri in Thera, a prehistoric Minoan archeology site. Our guide, Penny, was a full-time archeologist and part-time fashionista (she talked passionately about this site while wearing the most colorful sundress I had ever seen). We walked through the excavated ruins learning about the people who inhabited it, their labor, and common spaces. The people of this town abandoned their homes after a series of earthquakes and not long after a volcano erupted. It’s widely debated among archeologists where these people fled to. 

In undergrad, I wrote a paper on comparison of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations and culture. While writing the paper I learned that the Minoan writing script, Linear A, has yet to be deciphered. Since then, I’ve had an ongoing joke that one day I would translate it myself. During our tour, Archeologist Penny mentioned that currently other historians are beginning to utilize AI as a method to decipher it – leaving me utterly distraught.

Next on our tour we visited Emporio, the largest city in Santorini. Here we saw some of the great Cycladic architecture and churches. Our tour guide told us that the buildings with blue dome tops signified their closeness to heaven. Funnily enough, blue tops were absent from a lot of the churches in this area. 

After Emporio, we had free time. We sat at a restaurant for lunch that was on the beach. 

Then we went to the hilltop village of Pyrgos Kallistis. 

Our second to last stop on the tour was the much anticipated wine tasting. Which relatively short and somewhat disappointing. We tasted a red and white wine and then were given a dessert wine (which I did not like). 

The last and final stop was back at Oia, which was perfect for Caleb and I since we were staying only a short walk from there. We split from the group and had some drinks before our dinner reservation. This meal was the best of the entire trip made even better by the ocean view.

And, just like every night previous, we picked up some wine on the walk home. Our last night in Santorini was the best. The apartment’s balcony became our home base; while we sipped wine and ate olives, we joked staying in Santorini for a few days longer.

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The Final 36 Hours 

On our final ferry ride the next morning back to Athens was quick. In a familiar pattern over the last couple of days, we passed the time eating snacks and playing Mad Libs. 

When we arrived in Athens, we were excited to learn that our hostel had a rooftop bar with a view of the Acropolis. I think back on this now and realize what a full circle moment this was for us. From meeting each other for the first time at a hostel in Goa to now traveling together and staying in hostels in in Greece. Caleb and I talk often about how neither of us really expected to see each other again after Goa, but we are both really grateful that we have gotten to.

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We moved in slow motion this final day. Completely consumed by the idea of our inevitable departure the next morning but too distressed to address it, we carried on. We had a gelato redo, did some souvenir shopping, and finally made it to Athen’s most well-known attraction: the Acropolis. On our walk there, both of us had actually realized we had no idea what the Acropolis actually was. Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves (after doing a quick Google search). 

Afterwards, we returned to the hostel rooftop bar for some drinks. We had fun socializing with some other travelers. Caleb and I joked this entire trip that we hadn’t been able to tell anyone about how we met, so this night we were particularly annoying in sharing our meet-cute with everyone we met. We shared a hotdog for dinner and daydreamed about missing our flight the next morning. 

Like anyone could expect, our goodbye at the airport early the next morning was sad and totally dramatic. Yet, without any solid plan, we boarded our flights knowing that it wouldn’t be too long before one of us booked another flight. Remember: catch flights and feelings!

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While doing this long-distance dance is sometimes emotionally turbulent, Caleb and I try (though sometimes fail) to focus on the exciting aspects. We have the opportunity to see new places together while enjoying each other’s company. At the end of December he will come to Boston and I will also get to show him around New York. And maybe one day I will finally accept his invitation to visit Australia. 

I have a lot of great photos from this trip, check out my Photo Gallery for more!