Heraklion is the capitol city of the island of Crete. Crete is the biggest island in Greece with about 650,000 people living on it. Every year 5 million people visit Crete. We have visited Crete about 7 or 8 times before we decided to move here. Many factors were a part of our decision including family and lifestyle. For us, the US had become too work-centric, we questioned what we were actually working for? A bigger house- didn’t want that. Nicer cars- no interest. Leaving money to kids we don’t have- the dogs would be long gone before us. So, we discussed our options. Honestly, we couldn’t afford to retire in the US at a young age- health care and the cost of living has skyrocketed. We crunched some numbers and learned we could semi-retire in Europe. Healthcare was reasonable and in most places housing was affordable. Of course, Greece was the highest on our list because Jeff’s family is here, and he speaks Greek.

When I started telling people our plan in Tampa, no one asked why, they just thought it was an amazing plan. The funny thing is on Crete when we tell people we moved from Florida, they all ask why. We always loved Crete for vacation and visiting family, but real life can be hard here- would our lives improve? So far, I have eaten the healthiest, best-tasting, food in the world, I walk just about everywhere, and my stress level is lower than ever- you be the judge.

Some people have been curious about our cost of living here. Here’s what we have seen so far:

• Rent, 2 bedrooms, furnished, in the city center -€850
• Annual Car Insurance -€341
• Annual Private Health Insurance -€1083
• Monthly Electricity -€77
• Monthly Internet -€35
• Monthly Cell phone -€75 (2 lines)
• Tank of gas -€80
• Average meal out per person -€7-8 (lunch) €20 (dinner with wine)

I have some adventures planned for the upcoming weeks so next update I will show you a bit more of this island. I submitted my fingerprints and documents for my residency VISA today so hopefully I will have my ID by August 1- when Europe takes the month off and apparently nothing gets done. Oy!

Here are some photos from my recent outings. The port is about a 15-minute walk from our apartment.