In the Blink of an Eye

 'We've got all the time in the world!' was The Scout's mantra after we closed the door to our workaday world; now, nearly half a lifetime ago. Travel beckoned. So many places to explore and we had years ahead of us in which we could accomplish the task. 

Yes, we had all the time in the world.

All the time in the world

Yet, in the blink of an eye, the stack of filled travel journals has grown; the years and decades filled with travel adventures have flown.  I can't recall the last time he used that phrase.

Living on Borrowed Time

Sunset clouds Manson, Washington

Our activities while in the States included The Scout's high school reunion. It was there that I heard him remark, 'We are all living on borrowed time, aren't we?' His comment was in response to the news that, yet another longtime friend had passed. Within the span of a few weeks this summer, we've quite suddenly lost three good friends. Each was a well-traveled, active 70-something, seemingly healthy person who had suffered a fatal heart attack.  

Sunset in the Mani, Greek Peloponnese

Living on borrowed time. Is that the new mantra? I actually spent a few sleepless nights pondering that thought and others: Were we too old to travel? Had we become too old for our expat way of life?  How old are we anyway??  

So, what is 'borrowed time' anyway?  Its definition is 'to exist or function longer than the expected; death or failure has been postponed not prevented.'  

Are we living on it? Statistically speaking, The Scout wasn't that far off base.  

In 2025 the average life expectancy in the United States is 79.4 years, up 0.18% from last year.  Males come in lower at 75.8 years and females, slightly better at 81.1 years. We are both in our 70's.

Our Greek village, Agios Nikolaos, Peloponnese

I then checked life expectancy in Greece, hoping this Mediterranean diet and lifestyle might give us an edge. And it does. . .a bit! The average life expectancy back in 2023 (the latest data I could find) was 81.5 years.  Men fared better at 81.9 years and women at 85.2 years.

The Third Phase/Third Act

The 70-somethings in Cambodia

As you might have surmised by now, none of that was very uplifting. So, I took a more philosophical look at where we are; a place some refer to as the Third Phase of Life. It is defined as the time between leaving the working life and before advanced old age. It is a time for pursuing hobbies, traveling and spending time with friends and family.  Now, that was a bit better way of looking at it. 

Then I found an article that completely pulled me out of the blue funk my research had put me in:

70-something American expats in Greece

In Psychology Today I found this age referred to as the Third Act in the Theatre of Life. With fewer life minutes in front of us than behind, it is a time of intentional and joyful living. A time of gratitude, joy and acceptance. Insights deepen. It's a time filled with opportunities to thrive and flourish.

And the article concluded, 'It is where the richness of the life story lies.'  

How about that as a counter to 'borrowed time'?!

In the Blink of an Eye

In the blink of an eye, we've reached an age where we don't have all the time in the world anymore.  With fewer days ahead, we'd better be making the most of them.

Ready. Set. Pack and Go.

We'd been planning to step up the travel anyway after obtaining our Greek residency permits last July. We've outfitted ourselves with new - tiny - backpacks that comply with some of the low-cost European airlines' (Ryan Air and Easy Jet) carryon requirements. We'll be using those airlines and backpacks once our Kalamata airport reopens for the 2026 travel season. There's a lot of Europe still to be explored. 

Alaska Airlines goes international with new livery

We rejoiced at the recent announcements from our old favorite US regional airline, Alaska Airlines, that it is going international in 2026 with direct flights between Seattle and Rome and Seattle and London.  We will have new options for returning to the States. . . hopefully for a few more years yet!

Oceania's 'Indian Ocean Opus' is coming up 

We've given ourselves permission to splurge a bit on travel if it means getting to places we might otherwise never see. And we did just that on a cruise that will take us from Cape Town, South Africa to Singapore.  We will spend the month of December on board the Oceania Sirena visiting ports of call that we've only dreamed of:  Reunion Island, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, among them. 

I'll add that with a nod to 'borrowed time', we are this time buying travel insurance for the cruise. . .a sure sign that our travel mantra has changed.

Dame Patricia Routledge

It's taken some time to write this one and while I've been drafting and rewriting, it happened that a beloved English actress and singer, Dame Patricia Routledge, passed away at age 96. In an interview she gave at age 95 she recounted that many things she'd tackled in her later years, learning a foreign language, pursuing painting and other such endeavors among them.

And in the blink of an eye, she nailed it when she said, 'Growing older isn't a final act - it can be life's most exquisite chapter if you allow yourself to bloom once more.'

With that, I will close for this time around and as always thanks for the time you spent with us today. Happy and safe travels to you and yours.  

A Stranger in a Strange Land

 Often times while back in the 'home country' I find myself feeling like a stranger in a strange land. 

Beebee bridge over the Columbia River on the way home

That which should be the 'old, familiar', simply isn't. 

Apple orchards along the Columbia River between Chelan and Wenatchee

I blame it on not so much how this area has changed, but how we have changed. Without fanfare or notice, we've shifted our behaviors and routines to that which lets us live comfortably in a different culture and country. 

So, returning to the old familiar ways of doing things often requires a bit more thought as we refresh our behaviors to function the American way.  It really is much like learning new behaviors when we began our expat experience in Greece. 

Science fiction type cloud formation in Central Washington State

I borrowed the title of a 1961 science fiction book by Robert Heinlein, A Stranger in a Strange Land, for today's post.  While his novel was about a human raised by Martians who returns to earth and transforms the culture, my tale is simply about expats returning to their home country and adapting to the 'different' ways things are done here. 

It Is the Small Things

Tumble weeds and traffic lights take some getting used to

Take for instance, making a right hand turn on a red light. I recently stopped at a red light and then waited for it to turn green so that I could make a right-hand turn.  As it did, I remembered such turns are allowed here on a red light after a full stop. In Greece they are not. I'm certain the drivers behind me were happy when I finally figured that out, but no one honked their horn nor shook their fist at me! I just hope I am as kind to visitors driving in Greece who haven't yet figured out the rules of the road. 

Our Greek mobile phone company has joined with TMobile and that merger required that a new app be installed on our Greek phone.  A few weeks before we left, I simply stopped by the store in Kalamata (our go-to big city) and told 'my boys' there that I needed the new app but that my attempts at installation and getting it to work had failed. I call the retail sales staff 'my boys' because they are young, know me on sight, and help me with whatever problem I bring to them. Five minutes later we fist-bumped (our terms of endearment between customer and clerk) and I was on my way with new app installed and functioning.

Spent a few hours here figuring out mobile banking apps

In contrast, The Scout and I spent a morning this week trying to figure out how to install, then make operational, a banking app that would allow us to make credit card payments from another banking app. The app being installed was for a bank that doesn't even have retail outlets within hundreds of miles and calls to customer service left us more frustrated than when we had originally placed the call for help. Each bank's customer service rep suggested we call the other bank's customer service. 

We figured it out on our own. . .finally.

Gift certificate to Elli's restaurant in our village

They don't routinely 'do' gift certificates or cards in our rural area of Greece. So, when we request such an item from our favorite restaurants in the village, a handwritten gift certificate is created by the owner or manager.  Sometimes they are written on a piece of cardboard or paper, sometimes in a blank greeting card, but in each case, they are hand-written, signed and usually decorated by hand-drawn hearts or 'x's' for kisses.

While I was telling a friend here about a frustrating transaction - or lack thereof at a local eatery here - I was told the story of a failed attempt to get a gift certificate at an area winery because the computer was down.  The purchaser suggested that perhaps a hand-written gift certificate could be generated.  Oh, no! It wasn't possible because then it wouldn't be in the computer system. They lost that sale.

Dining at the bar in Yakima eatery

During our stay I made a quick overnight trip to my hometown for an afternoon gathering of my long ago 'cub reporter' friends.  That evening, I dined at a restaurant offering the normal array of American food: burgers, salads, sandwiches and the like. Dining solo I sat at the bar instead of taking up table space. I found the contrast in behaviors between Greece and here pretty striking.  In Greece, I'd have spoken or been spoken to by others who came in and sat at the bar. The greeting usually leads to a conversation.  Here, to a person, the diners sat down with mobile device in hand and began scrolling through it the moment their bottom was planted on a stool. No communication or interaction took place.

Robot service at Yakima restaurant

Then I heard a mechanical voice behind me saying, "Welcome to Bob's! Your waiter will be here shortly to serve you.' I turned to find that a robot, a little gremlin sort of creature, was delivering food orders to the tables.  (Thankfully, a waiter/waitress was still required to actually put the meals on the table.)  Had I sat at a table, though, I might have had a better chance at striking up a conversation with the mechanical gremlin than with the humans at the bar. 

On the Flip Side

Along the Columbia River - we took water for granted before

It has been extremely nice to turn on the faucet - any faucet in the house - and have a stream of clear, drinkable/useable water come gushing forth.  That is a luxury that I bet most Americans take for granted. We used to, before moving to Greece where water quantity and quality is always questionable. There we buy commercially bottled water for home cooking and drinking.  Having a readily available and unlimited supply of water does take some getting used to!

We buy by liter and pay in euro currency in Greece

The gasoline prices in Washington State are significantly higher than the national average and our friends here are quick to tell us about their dislike of them.  However, when we go to fill up and find a price of $4.50 a gallon, we rejoice.  In Greece we are paying just over $8US a gallon.

Manson, Washington where packages are delivered on Sundays

It is amazing to order from Amazon and have my order arrive the next day, two days at most.  Two weeks would be considered a rapid delivery in Greece. (When you live in rural areas -- as those in which both our homes are located and where retail shopping consists of hardware and grocery stores -- you rely on Amazon and similar online shopping sources.)

College football fest while we are back in the States

And, of course, it is great being able to watch American football as it is being played in real time took some getting used to as well.  We don't have a television in Greece and even if we did, football would be shown in the middle of the night as we are 10 hours ahead of the US west coast. 

Our time here is drawing to a close and we'll soon be back in our Peloponnese world.  I'm certain that for a time we'll be pausing to get our bearings as we go about our daily routines in that world. Being a stranger in a strange world really isn't so bad. . .you might give it a try sometime.  Maybe you already have, if so, tell us about it in the comments below or shoot us an email. We love hearing from you!

It may feel a bit strange at tunes, but is definitely beautiful

Until the next time, thanks for the time you've spent with us and safe travels to you and your family!

It is a New Day!

The bus no longer inches its way along the waterfront. During our early years here, watching its slow creep between buildings and tables was a great source of entertainment. 

Those were the days - back in 2016

For years, almost as regular as clockwork, the long-distance bus from Kalamata made two stops in the village, one at each end of the harbor three times a day. Its trip between the two gave many a visitor a start as they looked over their shoulders and realized they were seated just inches away from the behemoth bus.

The bus no longer runs this route through the village

A waterfront rehabilitation and resurfacing project marked the end of the bus run through town. After the work finished this year, the harborside eateries expanded their street seating areas, and the bus remains relegated to the main highway, with a single stop now at the south end of the village.   

Pleasure craft fill the harbor in summer

The harbor along which the bus once traveled is this time of year filled with pleasure craft. We've noted that during the last few summers our small fleet of traditional wooden kaiki, fishing boats, have been relegated to a small section of the harbor to make space for the influx of recreational boats.

Remodeling the old souvlaki place for a new eatery opening soon

While the excitement caused by the passing bus is gone, harborside dining and sipping has flourished.  There's still a nice mix of old traditional Greek tavernas with modern day entertainment hotspots. New places have opened; old places have modernized. This time of year, expanded roadside seating areas, leave just enough room for delivery vans and emergency vehicle access. 

Sunday night in the village

Three retail stores -- two selling clothing and a local products gift shop -- are now operating seasonally on the harbor road. A decade ago, there were no such stores here.

It is a new day in the village. 

Agios Nikolaos, is a fishing village in the heart of the southwestern Peloponnese olive growing country. It is where we make our expat home. It is still a charmer, but it's definitely a new day in the village as it is far more upscale than it was when we arrived a decade ago. 

A new day means a new road in the village

The harbor road itself is a reflection of the change. The once cracked, patched-up ankle-breaker asphalt surface has been replaced with a smart cobblestone design complete with streetlights and garbage/recycle cans installed at regular intervals. We didn't have such refuse collection before as several locals pointed out, there was no one to empty them when they were full.

New streetlights and garbage cans line the harbor front

I am delighted to report that we even have a person who collects the garbage from those cans now! 

Souvenirs from the villages

Similar improvement projects have taken place in our neighboring villages, Stoupa and Kardamyli giving each a much-needed boost. 

And in recent years the village shops have begun stocking logo tourist items. A decade ago, souvenirs were somewhat scarce in these parts. Now they even carry the village name! 

It is a new day in the neighborhood.

Just down the street from us - a new home in the grove

There's been a construction boom in recent years in our slice of the Messinian Mani. Olive groves once created a silvery green carpet below and above our hillside location. Now it is more a colorful patchwork quilt of red-clay roof tiles, gray- and brown- stone homes, and several swimming pools of a brilliant blue accent color. 

3.5 million euro village home is on the market

The housing market is flourishing and homes for sale can now carry hefty price tags, some reaching into the millions of euros. One recently renovated home in the heart of Agios Nikolaos is on the market for 3.5 million euro, (that's just over $4 million in US dollars).

Another home just down the road from us

There are eight new homes within a few minutes' walk of our Stone House on the Hill. I've often described our neighborhood as a little United Nations with the fabulous mix of nationalities represented by the homeowners. It appears that great mix will continue with the new residents joining our 'hood. 

Gigantic power poles installed on our road

With the new home construction comes the need for improved infrastructure.  For the last several weeks, the power company has been installing new mega-sized power poles and lines along our road to increase capacity.  (And, yes, that has meant power cuts to get the work done.)

New road and parking lot surface at Pantazi Beach

The road and parking areas near a number of beaches in the area have been resurfaced this summer.  Word on the street is that our Pantazi Beach parking lot - once a dirt surfaced, potholed place, will be striped and trees will be planted along the riverbank that it abuts.   

It is a new day in the Mani.

Agios Nikolaos harbor from To Limeni Restaurant

Tourism isn't new to our area, but it is expanding. Europeans have been coming here for decades - they understood and were caught in Mani Magic long ago. Rick Steves, the US travel guru, has led sold-out group tours to the area for years. The Liokareas family, just to our south, produces an award-winning olive oil. They have recently begun hosting Olive Harvest tours to the area, that include hands-on olive picking and celebrating at an oil pressing party.

 

Sunset jazz at the Patrick Leigh Fermor house

The Kardamyli Jazz Festival, was a fledgling event when we arrived. A decade later it has expanded from its 10-day spring celebration to include an additional fall festival of music as well.  The West Mani Summer Music Festival fills July and August with musical events at locales throughout our area.

West Mani Sports Festival - photo credit: Bert Robertson

The Taygetos Challenge, marking its 14th year, continues to offer its hundreds of participants a number of racing options including a 40-kilometer race with a 2,500-meter vertical ascent up the side of a mountain. This last weekend another sporting event marked its debut, the West Mani Sports Festival, drawing hundreds of participants to swimming and running events.

Our Mayor in Dubai at the Arabian Travel Market

This year our West Dimos Mani (our municipality) has been a prominent participant in a tourism event aimed at the Chinese market as well as having been a presence at a Travel Market International Tourism Fair in Dubai.

It is a new day and a most exciting time in our slice of Greece.  Those of you who haven't yet visited the area should definitely give a trip here some consideration. Those who've been here should return - what was good when you were here has gotten even better!

That's it from a sunny, warm Greece.  Thanks for the time you spent with us and hope you'll be back for another serving of our slice of Greece! Safe travels to you and yours~ 

The Market - What a Treasure!

The goal was to live differently. We wanted to stretch ourselves beyond our suburban America comfort zone. Being an expat in Greece for a half dozen years has certainly provided us those opportunities.

New roads to new adventures in expat life

As we continue to settle into this lifestyle, we are reminded every so often how routine so many of those 'different' things have become. But just as those 'different' things were treasures to be discovered in the beginning, we now see them as everyday treasures to be enjoyed in this unconventional expat world.  One such treasure is:

Market Day

Market Day is a treasure

The kind of market I am talking about is the laiki, those once-a-week shopping events that seem to sprout in parking lots or plateas (plazas) of small towns and villages throughout Greece. Being one day affairs, they set up in the early morning and are packed away by early afternoon. Shopping at them, you find yourself buying from the people who grew the fruit or vegetables or who caught the fish or who harvested and bottled the honey. 

Going to these outdoor markets can turn a routine shopping trip into what feels like a road trip. It is certainly more fun that a trip to the much closer, but ubiquitous supermarket. Such has been the case with our Saturday market outings to Areopoli, a town just 29 kilometers/18 miles to our south. 

The Journey

We are on the far right, the road is behind the houses

The short distance is deceiving as it will take us just under an hour to travel there and another almost hour back. We set out by continuing up the narrow track road through the olive groves that leads to our house.  We are told this track road was asphalted not very many years before we arrived on the scene and the road being built by landowners long before us. 

Roadblock on our track road slows our journey

About a kilometer away from our house we routinely pass a herd of sheep that are usually gathered near or in the roadway. No matter how often we pass this group, though, I yank out my camera to snap a photo or two. . .after all, I never encountered a herd of sheep when shopping in my old Seattle suburbs. 

Similar traffic slowdowns occur on this main highway

At the top of 'our' hill we leave our tiny road at Platsa, the first of many small villages we will pass through on the way to the market. Here we enter the 'main highway' (as we call it) a two-lane asphalted roadway, the major link between north and south of this point of the Peloponnese.  

The highway just misses the Church of the Anargyoi - Nomitsi

The road comfortably winds its way through three tiny villages -- Nomitsi, Thalames and Langada -- each with a rich history. In the town of Nomitsi, there's a small Byzantine church, on which the construction began in the 10th century, that visitors shouldn't miss.  Actually, you literally barely miss it as its entry door opens onto the highway. You look both ways before stepping out. Every so often we stop to admire the interior frescos in this Church of the Anargyoi.

You don't want to meet a bus on this stretch

Passing through the fourth village, Agios Nikon, we slow as the roadway narrows between the centuries-old buildings constructed long before modern day roads came into being. 

The Main Road passing through Agios Niko

Here we hope we don't meet an oncoming truck, RV, or tourist bus, as pullouts are limited. The village, once called Polianna, was in 1929 renamed for Agios Nikon, the Repentant, a soldier, monk and missionary who is credited with turning much of the Mani to Christianity. 

Taygetos Mountain slopes along our route

Most of our journey is through a vast empty stretch of land where stone fences line the roadway and the vast Taygetos Mountains stretch to one side of us and the Ionian Sea on the other. 

Limeni

Just before Areopoli, it is the expansive bay on which New Oitylo and Limeni villages are located that takes our breath away each time we crest the hill and it comes into view. Now a popular resort destination, hillsides are filling with bay-view vacation rentals and hotels and restaurants hug the shore. A much different vibe than a century or so ago when pirate ships plied the turquoise and sapphire waters of its bay, and the area was known for slave trading activities.

Cafes and churches line the streets

The road loops around the bay, then up another steep hillside and we've arrived in Areopoli, home to some 800 residents.

Shopping at the Market

Market displays in Areopoli

In Greek, the laiki agora, literally means 'the people's market'. They are also called farmers or public markets.  This one pretty much operates year-round with just a handful of vendors braving the winter's cold (and it does get cold here) while in the summer vendors' tables and trucks spread out over a large portion of the bus station lot. This isn't a place to go looking for souvenirs, it is a market catering to the locals. Honey vendors -- no less than three on most days -- plant sellers, a vendor who offers a variety of men's clothes in camouflage colors, and sometimes a fish vendor join the regular lineup of fruit and produce sellers.

Potatoes are absolutely the best in Greece

We recall our 'newbie' days when shopping at the laiki, seemed an extraordinarily 'different' experience. It was almost overwhelming. Greek speaking shoppers surrounded the displays, grabbing past us for an item they wanted, and little old Yiayias (grandmothers) who didn't want to waste time with tongue-tied foreigners like us often crowded in front to get their shopping done while we were still trying to figure out how to choose, bag, and pay for an item. 

Nowadays, we have the routine down pat: Select, bag, buy. Done and dusted, as our British expat friends would say.  

During a trip to Areopoli, we take advantage of the availability of a service station with car wash.  We leave the car at the station, head off to shop and return a few hours later to find the car clean inside and out for only price of 12 euros.

Mrs. Milia's bakery - a must visit place

One shopping destination we don't miss is at the far end of town, the Fournos to Psomi tis Milia. A wooden sign reads The Bakery/Mrs. Milia. As the story goes, her kids and grandkids have continued to run the bakery named for Mrs. Milia, a widow at age 29 who raised six children while discovering her passion for making bread at the bakery owned by her husband and in-laws. 

Loaves coming out of the oven a shopping treasure

Bread is still baked in the generation's old wood-fired oven.  The family-run establishment offers breads, pies, cookies and other baked goods and is one of those 'must go' places.  There is nothing better than arriving in late morning and eating still warm bread from that oven.

Sittin', sippin' and watching the world go by

Coffee shops like in all Greek towns are everywhere, so a morning cappuccino usually rounds out the visit. Each market day here feels like a step back in time, when life's joys could be as simple as ripping into a loaf of fresh-baked bread and sipping a cup of coffee. 

Every so often, something happens to remind us of how differently we are living here as compared to our American life.  A couple weeks ago we were loaded down with produce from the market and decided to leave our bags in the car before heading to the bakery at the other end of town. But the car was already in the washing bay.  

Yes, you can leave your bags, he said, they'll be fine.

Could we leave them somewhere out of the way in the station we asked. 'No problem', the attendant responded, pointing to a spot in the retail store, 'just put them here - they'll be fine.' 

Market honey on bakery bread - treasures, for sure!

And they were just fine - just as we had left them.  We certainly wouldn't have done that back in our old world. Again, we were reminded of how differently we are living these days yet surrounded by everyday treasures. 

How about you?  What are the everyday treasures you've discovered in your world? Leave a comment or drop us a note!  Speaking of treasures, we consider each of you reading this a treasure and thank you for the time you spend with us.  We'll be back with more tales soon, hope to see you here then! Until then, wishes for safe travels to you and yours~