Antiparos Paros Club

One last (amazing) Greek island before we head on home

Following a float through Sifnos, we caught the ferry over to nearby Paros. While much less populated than a Santorini or Mykonos, Paros is larger than Sifnos and boasts more of a nightlife and overall scene.

With feet planted in shoulder season, we weren’t overwhelmed by crowds, but it was easy to see how crazy it could get come August. 

This was the last stop of our 8 month journey. We availed ourselves of a better hotel with a large infinity pool that poured out into the bay.

We sat on our little terrace enjoy local wine, drawing in the last breathes of our journey. The sunsets, something funny enough that had been hander to come by the entire trip, bathed the white buildings in golden light. I was tired, but jubilant to be able to round out the experience with close friends. 

We were lucky enough to get onto a boat with Glaraki cruises on the 2nd morning and head out into sea for a tour that took us around Paros & its sister island Antiparos.

When I lived in San Francisco, people couldn’t mention the neighborhood of Sea Cliff without dropping that Robin Williams had lived there. Antiparos and Tom Hanks are the same. People can’t stop telling you that Tom Hanks has a house in Antiparos and pointed it out proudly on the tour. The love for Tom runs deep, but it wasn’t the highlight of the tour.

It was hold onto your hat windy, but we made it work. We pulled up to a lovely little cliff and jumped into the still cold waters as the crew prepared a blue zone buffet of simply grilled fish and salads. The water warms up over the course of the summer so its late May frigidity proved too much for Tiffany and Sarah. One crew member even said “your husbands are heroes” after watching how much time we spent in the water. I love a cold plunge and it takes a lot to keep me out of the ocean so I felt like I didn’t have any other option than to get in there.

We explored the town of Lefkes, where we went on a hot hike and then met a fashion photographer turned ceramicist Todd Marshard. He shared a bit of his story, with a fistful of name drops, while I carefully set down a bowl after finding out it was $600.  He gave us great advice to take the car ferry over to Antiparos to explore some of their quieter beaches and it took us to another level. 

He advised us to drive past the beach club, reviewed on Google as a “place to relieve hedgies of their money” and continue along the tip of the island to quiet little coves.

We were charmed by a rotating cast of tiny little beaches that were either completely empty or sparsely populated. The direct sun made the sea palatable enough for everyone and we enjoyed swim after swim until we took ourselves around the island a bit further for lunch on the bay. 

Once again we found ourselves with cheap and cheerful house wine, crispy french fries, giant salads, ice cold beer, and a less is more approach to seafood that never tired me out.

Octopus & sardines lightly kissed by the grill, creamy tzatziki, crunchy cucumbers, salty feta, and those confusingly fantastic French fries. 

I shall live to 101

We explored a few more beaches with some later afternoon swimming and then made our way back to the hotel to freshen up for a sunset drink and then onto one last celebratory dinner at Siparos.

And just like that, we were taking our final steps around the island on a quiet morning. We were heading to the airport and then flying back to the states. 

We were done. 8 months, 15 countries, 4 continents, and a final Emirates flight where the flight attendant was deeply concerned that I wasn’t eating anything. I feel permanently grateful that I was able to do this and even more grateful to be able to do this with Tiffany, who had the courage to walk away from a fairly new job in a new industry and take the leap.

When you travel for this long, it is quite different than a vacation. There’s no way you can bring that “slams laptop shut” energy to the table for months on end. It’s not sustainable! There was a calm relaxed baseline to traveling for an extended period of time that undulated into vacation highs along the way. It doesn’t all need to be an adrenaline hit either. Having the time to read peacefully in a coffee shop and write this Substack were gifts unto themselves. Some of the best moments were just peacefully reading midmorning, sipping coffee. Not so different than we might do at home although this time we were in Chiang Dao or Favignana.

So what was a vacation and what was just a long trip? Greece was a pure dream vacation and I can’t wait to go back to other islands. Is Hydra ruined after the Aimé Leon Dore campaign? Only one way to find out.

Sicily with my parents, Rome (always Rome), Barcelona, Patagonia, Valle de Guadalupe with friends from high school, and hiking to the active volcano in Guatemala were wonderful moments. And taking that extra step deeper into Chile to see Valparaiso, and Bio Bio, staying with the inimitable winemakers of Cacique Maravilla was heaven sent. 

And that’s just everything that happened after January! 

Japan continues to be a dream and a siren song. I’ve been twice and feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. Along with returning to Tokyo I’d like to explore more of Japan, especially Naoshima, and Hokkaido.

We were pleasantly wowed by Malaysia, especially Penang, and grateful for the generosity of Wilson, Caeme, and Wilson’s family in Kuala Lumpur. With all its chaos and midnight traffic jams, Bangkok still rocks and Chiang Mai doesn’t get old. Being there for the lantern festival felt really special. Koh Lipe might be the perfect Thai island and is certainly where I had the best mango smoothie of my life before peacefully reading in a bean bag chair by the water. It was the essence of mango.

I really want another crack at Tao Philippines where we can be on the boat for the full 6 days as planned, rather than landlocked for the first 4. 

I wish I spoke French in Paris, but I was still content to stand around with the cool kids at Septime la Cave as they lit their Gauloises on dripping candles.

I may have developed a slight jamon iberico addiction in Barcelona.

I learned that despite best wishes and research about “dry season,” you’re going to get caught in bad weather. It rained for 48 hours straight in Boracay (no famous Boracay sunset for us). Weather! It turns out we are beach people through and through and would have been better served Caribbean Colombia than the rainy mountains of the coffee zone. Probably the most messages I got about any accommodations was when Tiff and I were staying at these open air bungalows in Guatape. Although they looked amazing on Instagram, giant bugs would routinely fly into our bedroom, including a giant beetle(?) landing on my mouth while I was sleeping. It also rained almost the entire time there as well. Internet vs reality baby!

Not pictured: Giant bugs.

Thinking about the flow of the trip in retrospect, we would have liked to taken on some wwoofing along the way to provide us with additional structure and community, two things we started to miss after a long time on the road.

But, if you can say with 8 months of nearly continuous travel, switching locations roughly every 5-6 days, that there were only a few weeks in total of “low moments”, well that is a victory. Crashing a scooter in the mud, Tiffany having a freak accident on a mountain bike, an overly regimented motorcycle ride around the Ha Giang loop, or inclement weather was simply par for the course. Oh and I should mentioned that I bit down on an extra hard patacon in Medeillin and my veneer popped right out my damn mouth! These low moments was easily outshined by countless “wow, we are so lucky” moments.

If you can see your way to some extended time off, more than the standard American allocation of 1-2 weeks, or just want to talk through how we made it work, planned out our budget and saved ahead of time, I’m at your service.

Elephant in the room: This substack was not written completely in real time. :-) We left Greece a year ago. My search for a new job, subsequent starting of said job, and wedding planning knocked this habit off my plate. 

Moving forward, I hope to be much more frequent contributor. I can’t say 1 x week is going to happen, but I’d like to be far less sporadic.

So why should you stick around? Well, we haven’t stopped stamping our passports. Trips to London and Seville need a recap. I’d love to share more on our wedding in Mexico City. We are taking a few trips this Summer as well including our Honeymoon.

What about New York? New York continues to provide a culinary wonderland, especially in Queens. Let’s talk about it! You can look for closer looks at Jackson Heights, Woodside, and Flushing. 

Recent bites and even recipes, now that I’m cooking again, might also grace the pages.  Thanks so much for joining me and I hope you stay put!