Moving to a magical, beautiful island isn’t like visiting. Vacations are well planned out, activities to do every day, things to see before you go home. What happens when you live in paradise? For me, I knew boredom would be a challenge here. I like to be busy, whether it’s work or plans with friends I rarely had nothing to do in Tampa. Moving to Greece I knew there wouldn’t always be busy days, I was ready for the slower pace. I planned on walking, volunteering, learning Greek, and trying all of the food. While I’m doing well on the food and the Greek is coming along some days are just boring. Starting this blog I promised honesty – I knew there would be ups and downs and I wasn’t going to sugarcoat the bad. I don’t have regrets about moving. I know things will get better but a week out from my birthday, it hits me harder to not have a party planned with all my friends and family.

One of the reasons I wanted to move to another country was to challenge myself. Life had been pretty easy in Tampa, we had good paying jobs, a lovely house in an amazing neighborhood, and struggles were few and far between. I wanted to grow, for things to be hard. I try and remind myself of that when I have a challenge here but it’s not always easy.

Life is so subtle sometimes that you barely notice yourself walking through the doors you once prayed would open. – Brianna Weist

While I’m not big on prayer I feel like this quote really sums up my current situation. While I still struggle with some of the daily challenges here, I know I’m progressing. Things that seemed impossible 3 months ago are now the norm, getting around the city, paying bills, driving, I know I’m tackling things every day better than I used too. I still grapple with figuring out how to make a dinner reservation, there’s no OpenTable app here. The cats are still an issue for Finn. The driving is still nerve-wracking and the parking is wild. Haven’t found a great place to get my nails done. We still need to find a dog babysitter so we can get away, alone.

I’m going to end this on a high note- I received my residency approval so I can stay and now travel outside of Greece. Jeff and I have plans to visit Margarites, a village known for its pottery, on my Birthday. My travel girls arrive on September 10th and the timing is perfect! I can’t wait to show them around and go to Paros with them, a mini vacation is probably just what I need.

So, things aren’t always perfect in paradise, shocker. But don’t worry about me, I got this. Thankful for Jeff and his family and Facetime. Just wish the flight from Tampa wasn’t so long and expensive so I could pop home for Suwanaween. I will miss the neighborhood party season, maybe next year.