Some thoughts on travel

When I lived in Italy in 1992, there was no Euro, no internet, no globalization, no cell phones, and no cheap air fare.  In 1992, during the months of October, April and May, I saw lots of tourists but I always knew exactly where they were from. Germans dressed one way, the French another, and so on. There were no Asian tourists (unless they were Asian-American or Canadian), no tourists from India (same parens). November - March, there were no tourists at all.. or there were so few, one did not notice them. In fact, traveling in Europe during those months, there were no crowds at museums or hostels, no lines at train stations.

All of that has changed. I was shocked when I visited Florence in 2015 by how much it had changed. As I said in an earlier post, the center of Florence is no longer a place people live. It is only a place people visit so it feels like a replica of Florence.. not a real place. Athens has that same feeling as I suspect most frequently visited European capitals do.

I am now in a very remote place in Greece and it is not over run with tourists but there are still lots of foreigners here. It is very easy for people to travel here. They can even live here because of the EU. While I still think Europe is really amazing, I have questioned my drive for a well-traveled life.

I think it very important for everyone to retreat from their life every now and then. But I am not sure I need to go 6000 miles to do it. Greece looks a lot like California. Hawaii looks a lot like Indonesia. British Columbia looks a lot like Switzerland. The cultural experience of travel is at least as important as a change in geography but I am not sure how much culture I get when all the popular places are white-washed for tourism. The people all look exactly the same -- they all buy clothes at H&M or Zara. I have to hear people speak to know where they're from. In Athens I played a game called Greek or tourist? I would guess where people I saw where from and once I approached them I could tell by their language. I was always wrong. I confused Americans for Greeks and vice versa.

I am very happy to be where I am. Here are more pictures of the retreat/home where we are staying

http://itha108.com/gallery/

It is a dream. I am grateful to have made the journey. I think, however, in the future I will need more than a retreat to draw me so far away.

Random note: For some reason, the Greek Air Force sends fighter jets very low over the water in front of this home a few times a day. After a quick internet search I learned this small country of 10 million has three branches of the military and 8 air force bases.  Not what I'd expect although I guess they really didn't like it when the Nazis occupied them.. or the Ottomans or anyone else. So arm up I suppose?