Tag: Greek Islands

Diary of a Menopausal Romcom Author Part 2: Greece

Diary of a Menopausal Romcom Author Part 2: Greece

sandybarker

Okay, yes, I am posting twice in a day! But I’ve carved out time amid everything else going on and I didn’t want you to miss out on my recent trip to Greece, which still owns a piece of my heart.

After a week in Prague, Ben and I flew to Greece, spending 4 nights on our own on the island of Naxos, where we started to fall for each other on a sailing trip that started in Santorini 20 years ago.

Naxos is truly gorgeous – I mean gorgeous. With (special) thanks to Ben who captured that stunning sunset.

And I also did a little bookish promo… I have two books that include Naxos as a setting: One Summer in Santorini and My Big Greek Island Exscape. So we rented a car for a day and did a little road trip. First up was the Eggares Olive Press which features in My Big Greek Island Exscape. We did the tour – fascinating stuff – and tasted the many (many) varieties of olives, including olive oil cake with olive oil ice cream. And when I introduced myself to the woman who runs the place, she agreed to a photo with my book and asked for one with me for their Insta.

Next up was Matina and Stavros’ Taverna in Koronos. Ben and I went there 20 years ago and we had a friend write Matina a message in Greek to tell her who we were, and that she inspired a character in One Summer in Santorini. We got some pics with her and then had the most delicious lunch (which she wouldn’t let us pay for). Twenty years ago, there was no menu – just what she had cooked that day – but now she’s expanded, having been featured in travel magazines and highly rated on TripAdvisor (we were lucky to get a table).

After Naxos, we joined up with our friends and long-time skipper (and treasured mate) Patrick for a week of sailing around the Cyclades. Ben and I knew the other three couples – we planned the trip and brought everyone together – but they didn’t know each other! It was brilliant – friendships forged on the sometimes rough, sometimes glassy Aegean Sea. And, as always when travelling in the Greek Islands, the days seem long but the week goes by fast. But I did find time for a little holiday romance reading 😉.

A sailing catamaran in a Greek island cover

Each day, we swam off the boat and explored the islands. Folegandros was a standout for me. If you haven’t been and want an experience like Santorini but with less crowds, then I can highly recommend it.

To our lovely friends who made this trip so incredible (Patrick our skipper, Elaine and Rick, Jeff and Linda, and Jake and Ruth).

I will always remember the sisterhood of the travelling bikini top, Rick and Ruth’s rocks, Elaine’s child-sized swimming goggles, the Merman on the rock, in Linda we trust, Jeff’s hair looking better than everyone’s, managing to make cocktails out of almost anything, who’s ‘that guy’ today?, doing ‘boat stuff’ together, swimming off the boat (never once got my hair wet), delish dinners out and a starlit BBQ on the beach (with a close rock skipping comp), a-bit-of-everything lunches, the Chad, cliff jumping, goats, goats and more goats, MFR (more f*cking ruins), fancy-schmancy mega-yacht people, the nail-biting saga of the UK visa!, wonderful stories, lots of laughter, and one of the best weeks of my life.

Thank you, all. And an extra huge thanks to Ben who took a lot of these shots (not just the ones I’m in).

Off the Beaten Track

sandybarker

‘Off the beaten track’ is a state of mind as well as a way to travel.  Many of my travels have been on well worn roads, but my approach allows me to have experiences far beyond the brochures.   

In the past decade travelling has taken me to incredible parts of the world, where I have met people who have influenced my life, and done things I had never considered.  I have greatly embraced the surprises that travel brings, even on ‘well-planned’ trips, and especially when those surprises could have been considered disastrous.   

One of the best days of my life started with a head cold and a scooter ride through torrential rain, but on a Greek Island in the Cyclades, this was the beginning of an incredible adventure and the forging of an important friendship.   My mindset is what takes me ‘off the beaten track’, which is why my Blog carries this name.  

My passionate affair with travel took hold when I was given a life-changing job with Contiki Europe as a Tour Manager in 1997.  With Contiki I travelled Europe extensively and even though our tours stuck mostly to well worn paths, my experiences during that time marked an incredible change in my view of travel.I ran organised tours, yet I saw a diverse range of clients, from tourists who saw Europe through the lens of a video camera, to travellers who sought out their own adventures.   

Armed with these powerful observations, I vowed from then on to always be a ‘traveller’.  Mostly, I have succeeded.  This does not mean that I enjoy five-star luxury travel any less, just that a backpackers’ hostel in New Zealand, serving free soup at 6pm, can bring me as much joy.  The diversity of my experiences is what keeps me addicted to my drug of choice: travelling.    

My focus for this Blog, and the accompanying photographs will be the travel I have done most recently.  In the past 15 months I have been sailing through the Cyclades Islands of Greece, traversed Peru by plane, train and motor cycle, had adventures in Hawaii, New Zealand and Canada, and discovered treasures in the cities of Las Vegas, London, Seattle, Christchurch, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Denver and my home town of Sydney. 

Where next?  This is a lengthy list peppered with must-returns and must-sees. 

I invite you to read, comment on and contribute to “Off the Beaten Track”.