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En route to Santorini.
We arrived in Athens at 6:30am, and then hopped on the 7:20am ferry to Santorini. Emily, Emily, and I are the group leading the mission to the island, and everyone else is staying in Athens to help Mika figure out her passport situation and then are taking the 7pm ferry to meet us in Santorini.
The ferry last night was actually pretty great. I slept in on the on the air seats (which we were not supposed to be in, by the way. Oops.) on and off the whole time, and it was pretty wonderful. I only got about 4 hours of sleep though, so I just woke up from a nice long nap on the floor of the deck of this ferry :) Comfy.
Currently, I'm drinking a $5 cappuccino and wondering what the shower situation is on this boat. I'm a little concerned about it because this ferry doesn't seem to be nearly as tricked out as the other ones we've been taking.
Wow - I've taken so many kinds of public transportation on this trip: train, plane, bus, metro, ferry. I'm becoming such an expert. It's going to be so weird to be back at SLU going to a normal school, living in one state, doing a normal amount of homework. I'm (shockingly) really excited about it - it's all about the people you're with, and the people I have waiting for me at home are the best in the world. I'm trying to stay focused on myself right now though - I'm almost there. I can't have any regrets when I get home. Raison pour laquelle I really wanted to hop on the early ferry to Santorini this morning. I want to get on this island ASAP so I can spend more time there. I've been to Athens twice now and it's amazing to see, but I don't really feel the need to spend more time there when I can be exploring a Greek island. Now, I'm just praying to Apollo to come through for me - beach vacations are no fun with stormy weather. We've already experienced a few torrential downpours in Crete, and now I'm ready for some sunshine :)
It's amazing taking a morning ferry because I can actually see the ocean, and it is beautiful. Blue as far as the eye can see. And no ominous clouds (yet)!
If nothing else, this trip has shown me that traveling is not impossible. That may sounds obvious, but I always had the attitude that I didn't have a lot of money, so I could never travel. To an extent that's true - you have to have the money for a plane ticket, which can be a bitch, but after that there are options. Hostels, student discounts, and making friends will save you a bundle. Anyone, anytime can travel. And travel doesn't necessarily mean internationally - just doing something in the states or in Canada would be amazing. There will ALWAYS be somewhere you haven't seen yet.
So, starting now, my goal is to do a big trip once a year. I'll just work, set aside enough money for the cheapest plane ticket to somewhere (anywhere) I haven't been yet, and take a backpack and go. I'm living out of my backpack in Greece for 9 days and so far so good. I would have packed a little differently id I had known more about the weather, but I'm getting by just fine. So, once a year, one backpack, one journal, and one plane ticket for a whole bunch of new experiences. Pourquoi pas? Anyone who wants to is more than welcome to join me - I promise you'll never forget it. I also promise that ocean showers feel better than those boring normal ones that everyone else takes.
It's important to just live every once in a while. Easy for me to say maybe, because I'm only 18 and have minimal responsibilities, but maybe that also gives me more time to reflect on the importance of doing things like this. I feel like people don't give me enough credit for my thoughts sometimes because of my age. It's like people think, "Oh, that's nice. But well, you're 18; that'll change when you're older. Just wait." Well, first of all, I challenge you to find another 18-year-old like me. But secondly, why should I wait? Why should anyone? If getting older changes you into being more careful and settled-down, why should I wait around until that happens? I should be taking advantage of these ideas I have and growing from the experiences that follow.
Maybe young people are here to encourage those who have lost hope in their youthful dreams that it's never too late to pursue them. From my perspective, it is never too late. The most important thing in life is being happy. Why would you ever settle for unhappiness when there are so many opportunities for beautiful experiences everywhere? The key is maintaining your sense of adventure enough to see these opportunities. Life comes at you in waves of good and bad, but the thing is that they keep coming. You have to hold on to the people you love and make the changes (tiny as they may be) that you need to be a happier, healthier person. The most important thing is to never give up on yourself. If anything is worth it, you are.
I'm on a ferry to the Greek island of Santorini with absolutely no idea of what it will be like, what kind of people will be there, or where I'm going to sleep tonight, and I'm okay with all of it because I know that I can figure it out. Maybe people need to take more risks, so that they can surprise themselves with how well they can handle their situations. It's really empowering.
Well, $5 coffee is cold and (mostly) gone. It's just foam now. Maybe it's time to scope out the shower situation? It doesn't look promising, but it's worth a shot.
Peace and love,
Josie
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