Greece

A sailing trip around the Greek islands was on our “must do” list for our diginom adventures. We were apprehensive and kept procrastinating when it came to booking something for fear of it not meeting our expectations. Eventually we found a catamaran sailing trip on Airbnb that seemed to tick all the boxes so we booked it and hoped it would be everything we wanted it to be. And it was. But this was a holiday — an official break from work and study. We didn’t think we could make the digital nomad life work from a sail boat, but in the end we had a good internet connection and probably could have made it work. A thought for the next time…

It was a bit of a journey to get to our meeting location. However, we’ve learnt that this is often a good sign — the most unspoilt places are usually those that take some effort to travel to. First, we flew from London to Athens, where we spent a night (with a quick obligatory Acropolis visit) before taking our next flight to the island of Samos where we spent another night before meeting our hosts the next morning.

I had forgotten to book accommodation for the night in Samos until a couple of days before we were due to arrive. I am usually exceptionally organised when it comes to planning our travels, but I suppose with months of flights and accomodation to plan and book, it was inevitable that one day I would forget something. So when I went to book there were only two availabilities left: a cheap one a few kilometres from the port and an expensive one at the port. So we booked the cheap one and it turned out really well. The owner of the hotel picked us up from the airport and then also dropped us the next morning at the port in town. We had a huge apartment right at the beach and found an excellent beach bar serving cocktails to your sun bed. The hotel owner recommended a restaurant in town for dinner and we enjoyed a delicious dinner. We were disappointed we weren’t there longer. It was a beautiful place.

So the next morning we met our sailing hosts, Ed and and Linda, and the beautiful catamaran, Skylax, that we would spend the next five days on sailing around the Dodecanese islands.

The islands are part of Greece, but are located in the southeastern edge of the Aegean Sea, just off the west coast of Turkey. We found this sailing experience through Airbnb, but we ended up being the only people on the boat and so we were lucky to enjoy a private charter around the Aegean.

Our days were simple. We would wake up and have coffee and a light breakfast, go for a swim to cool off and then set off sailing for about 2 or 3 hours to the next location. On arrival, we’d enjoy a beer and another swim in whichever idyllic bay we had arrived at. Linda would make a delicious lunch, and we’d spend the afternoon swimming, snoozing in the shade on the catamaran or relaxing on the beach.

We regrouped on the boat at around 5.00pm for Gin o’clock where Ed would serve us G+Ts and snacks. A couple of hours later we would take the dinghy to shore and enjoy a long dinner at one of the local tavernas on the island.

Ed and Linda have been sailing around the Dodecanese for years and so they have developed relationships with the locals and have their favourite tavernas to eat at. They knew the best places, the best kept secrets and where to eat like a local.

Every single night we enjoyed the most incredible food. When we arrived at these places for dinner we would be greeted like family. It was very special to be able to visit these islands like locals and to enjoy a truly authentic experience. Our favourite dinner experience was on the first island we stayed at, Lipsi, at a beautifully restored taverna called Manoli’s.

The owner and chef greeted us and took us in to the kitchen to show us the evening’s specials and explain each dish. That was certainly an experience I’ve never had, and probably never likely to have again. And the food was so good.

Overall, we were very surprised at the high quality of food on all of these small, relatively isolated islands. It was exactly what you would imagine yia-yia’s home cooking would be like — a giant plate of food bursting with beautiful aromas and full of love.

It was incredibly hot while we were there — a constant 35ºC and cloudless skies every day. It was magical to jump off the catamaran into the bluest waters to cool off. On our way from Lipsi to Leros we stopped in a secluded bay of an island called Archangelos, which was home to one family’s house, their restaurant, and some goats.

We arrived in the bay, lowered the anchor and went ashore to sit on the beach and swim. For some time, we were the only boat in the bay and the only people on the beach.

It was the very definition of paradise. The only sounds were the lapping of the water on the shore and the gentle chime of the goat’s bells as they wandered on the hill side.

When we later arrived at Leros we stayed at the marina. Parking the 45ft catamaran in the marina gave us a chance to test our sailing skills — learning how to tie knots, putting out the fenders and tying the boat to the dock when we arrived. Safe to say, we won’t be sailing a boat ourselves anytime soon, but it was lots of fun. We enjoyed an electricity connection that night (which meant fans for sleeping) and went to the marina bar for cocktails in the evening.

However, the highlight of that day was on the way to Leros when a pod of dolphins joined us. We sat on the trampoline at the front of the catamaran watching the dolphins playfully swimming around the boat.

The next day we sailed to the island of Kalimnos and anchored in a small bay at the town of Emporios. The mooring we used was owned by one of the local tavernas called Artistico, which was run by the most delightful Greek family and located right on the beach.

We ended up staying two nights in this bay because we loved it so much. We were anchored only about 100m from shore, so we could just jump off the boat and swim straight to shore with nothing but our swimmers and sunglasses. If we ordered drinks or anything at Artistico, they would just let us pay later. They welcomed us so warmly and were always smiling, but it was clear they work really hard. The restaurant opens at 8.00am for breakfast, and they serve food all day and well into the night, not closing until 2.00am, and not until after there has been some music and singing. Not to mention they are working in a tiny kitchen without any cooling at the peak of summer. Oh, and they are in their 70s.

On our last night there we went back to the boat after dinner and lay on the trampoline under the stars. It was so beautiful.

We fell in love with the Dodecanese: the beauty, the people, the wildness, the food, the hospitality. The simplicity.