So here I am in my tiny apartment in the heart of Athens, Greece.
By: Dimitra Trovas
Tags: Travel, Digital Nomads, Greece, Faith, Moving

So here I am in my tiny apartment in the heart of Athens, Greece. It’s cold, it’s noisy, and it’s everything I could have asked for in a place. Now this city isn’t foreign to me, I have been coming to Greece my entire life and have seen Athens gradually develop to be the vegan-promoting, American-loving, coconut-drinking chaos that it’s become, and trust me, I never thought Greece would become any of those. But I find myself inspired to tell the story of how

I ended up here, why, what I’m facing, and where I’ll go from here.

First and foremost, what my friends from here and America are constantly after me about is… why I moved here, “What about the economy?”, “Are you crazy, there’s a crisis?!”, “Do you even have a job?”, “What does Greece have that America doesn’t?”–Those questions are verbatim, by the way. And I have an answer for all of those, but I’m going to stick to this list as to why I moved here: it is insanely cheap to live, I can finally master the language, Greece is in the middle of everywhere I want to travel to at a more than fair price(islands and countries included), the work-life balance of how to live is more soul-providing than your work, the infamous cuisine, and the ancient history that has developed the culture as we know it today. Maybe I’m crazy, maybe it’s a calling, or maybe “when you know, you know” doesn’t always have to be a love story between two people.

How exactly did I end up here?

To start, I went far and wide to discover myself. Meaning, back home in Florida, where I had just gotten out of a job and had been aching to get out since graduating in 2016, I felt I was rather spoiled; everything had been handed to me as the only child that I am, but I wanted more (naturally).

I wanted to be uncomfortable and see the world from its shabby to not-so-shabby crevices. So I went to China to teach kids English with zero experience in teaching, education, or kids, for these two reasons: It’s a job and something utterly insane to check off my list. But this is a story for another day– I went to China, got really out of my comfort zone, then came to Greece four months later as a middle ground before my third trip to India–Yeah, I know, you didn’t misread…I was hopping around all of 2018, what can I say.

I had a long and glorious summer on an island, where I had my very first dishwashing job, (and don’t think for one second that I wasn’t teased about how the American moved to Greece to wash dishes and make something of herself) it was then after that I ended up in Athens for my last month before heading back East again. I was fortunate enough to stay with friends in their quaint two-by-two office room for almost a month, but I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. They casually mentioned that there was an available apartment right next door (that costs less than my Adobe subscription), perfect for a single gal in her mid twenties, smack dab in the middle of a metropolis that’s been around since antiquity. Seemed a bit foolish to pass up this sort of opportunity, especially when the thought of moving back to Florida burned my inner being like the red tide burned the throat and eyes of a native West coast Floridian.

So I gathered up all the necessary paper work, which took about three solid days, and put down my deposit for my 18x18 ft (5.49x5.49 meters, in case you’re wondering) apartment, and have been slowly putting it together with things friends of friends of friends have been giving me, and my tapestry.

There’s a crisis

And I hear you, I really do. Everyone who is anyone is telling me there’s a crisis (since 2008 no less), and of course I see it, but here’s a theory: Everyone who is leaving Greece to find work elsewhere is leaving me more of a chance to find a job here. Maybe the job is complete rubbish, but I love this country and I want to be apart of its growth. Also, what part of the world isn’t in a crisis? I couldn’t just move anywhere in the US that fit my preference without it being ridiculously expensive to live, and not to mention the risk of not having any sort of health care. I have my dual citizenship, but England is seeing her way out, and anywhere else in Europe that isn’t Portugal, Italy, or Spain, is expensive to live and I would need to start a completely new language.

It is uncomfortable for me to be in a place where the minimum wage is painfully low and yes, jobs are also scarce. If I fail, at least I can say I tried to move far away, live my dream, and make it on my own, but I won’t fail, so you can take your crisis and go grab your frappé on your work time and complain about how you don’t get paid enough. Meanwhile, I’ll be doing what is necessary and with much to my ability to find my way.

So what’s the plan of action?

Network, network, and network. I am meeting so many people here, and truthfully, this is not hard to do; Next to democracy, the Greeks invented networking. Everyone know’s someone and the amount of effort a Greek would put in to help someone they barely know should nominate the country for a Noble Peace Price. I am not one to promote social media, but in this case it has truly been a savior, especially LinkedIn, where anyone on there is willing to help or at the least give advice.

I know I’ll make it here just fine, it always takes patience, and though it has just been barely over a month, I would encourage anyone to move to their hearts desire, with no hesitation. Trust your intuition, don’t ever let fear stand in your way, and take that leap of pure and beautiful faith, because the power that lies on the other side holds more positive possibilities than negative opinions or wishes. People want to help other people more than it seems, and not just in Greece. One thing is for sure, if you never ask, the answer will always be no. And this is where I’ll be for awhile, putting myself out on that limb and asking people for help until I get to where I want to be.