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How do you feel when plans go a bit wonky? I try to expect the unexpected…I also try to have no expectations when I travel which is sometimes easier said than done. The second you have certain expectations about travel (or anything for that matter) the universe may just have other ideas in store for you.

In May 2017, Chris and I traveled to Greece. It was the first trip to Europe for both of us. After a 9-hour flight to London, 6-hour layover at Heathrow, and then a 4-hour flight to Athens, we were exhausted. Waiting in baggage claim, we finally saw our luggage and grabbed it, hailed a taxi and headed out to our hotel in downtown Athens. Once in our room, I opened up our checked bag and saw a strange pair of flip-flops. Confused, I asked Chris if they were his. Nope. Oh…oh NO! I had grabbed the wrong luggage at the Athens airport.

Ok, a little backstory on our luggage. I bought this set years ago                        because it is a very unique dark orange and dark grey. In all my                      travels I had never run across another like it. Until Greece. At our                    hotel, late at night and 45 minutes away from the airport. CRAP!!!

Back to the story – I check my phone and discovered a message – from baggage claim at the airport. Apparently they figured out my goof before I did. I called them back and they told me I needed to come back immediately to swap bags. Keep in mind, this was close to 11:00pm, we’d been traveling for about 20-hours and the airport was a long damn way from our hotel. So, we grab the non-Wacker luggage, another taxi and head back to the airport to make the swap. I felt awful – mostly for the other folks whose bag I’d swiped. Finally back to the hotel, grab a few hours sleep and meet up with a group for an Athens tour the next morning. Phew!

On the tour of Athens, we traveled the city by charter. Some of the many sights we saw were the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, the original Olympic Colosseum, and the amazing Parthenon at the Acropolis. Before we hiked up the Acropolis, we toured the museum. If you ever go to Greece and stay in Athens, this is a MUST see. Pottery, ruins and other artifacts that are in amazing shape after thousands of years. Once through the museum, we hiked up to the Parthenon. Simply amazing. Standing before this beautiful and ancient structure brought tears to my eyes. It’s hard to put into words the awe and emotion I felt standing there. The Parthenon is currently being restored to glory and even in its current state of repair, was truly magnificent! From there, we walked down to the Plaka which is a market area. You can shop, eat or just people watch. We stopped at a little outdoor restaurant and ordered our first Greek food outside the hotel. Wow…our taste-buds will never be the same! Chris, who hates tomatoes, ate his gyro + salad including huge chunks of tomato. They taste nothing like what we get here. They taste…REAL. All the food we had, the entire trip, was amazing and fresh with no pesticides distorting the flavors.

The next day, we took a “fast” ferry to Mykonos. Fast Ferry. Now there’s a misnomer. It took about 3 1/2 hours to get from Athens to Mykonos on a crowded, stuffy, rocky boat where we weren’t allowed to go out on deck. Once to Mykonos, we were picked up and taken to the Hotel Aeolos, a wonderful, quaint, family run hotel. The owner couldn’t possibly have been more hospitable! And the views. Wow – our hotel room over-looked the pool but we also had views of the port and the Aegean. While visiting Mykonos, Chris and I decided to check out some beaches so we rented an ATV. Interesting note: ATV’s on Mykonos are driven on regular roads…with or without helmets. We opted for a smaller bike and no helmets (smart, right?). Really there is nothing quite like it – driving on hilly roads all over a Greek Island. The weather was perfect and the scenery stunning. First beach and where we spent most of our time, was Kalafatis. Since it was the beginning of May, it was still pretty quiet and the water was a bit chilly. Didn’t stop us from going in it though! It was so gorgeous with clear water, soft sand beaches – it was kind of perfect.

When we left Kalafatis, we hopped back on the ATV and thought we’d head back to the hotel. Well, squirrel moment happened and we got sidetracked by signs for another beach. This one was more of an adventure to get to. Winding, hilly two-lane roads and then a very steep hill going down to the beach. At this point I was thinking to myself “maybe we should’ve opted for helmets”. Meanwhile a the same time, Chris was thinking “I hope the brakes on the ATV don’t go out” (which he informed me of this train of thought later). I believe it was Fokos Beach which we didn’t realize until there, that it’s a nudist beach. Ok…well we opted for clothing (swimsuits/shorts). Again, being the beginning of May, no crowds but there were a few folks on the beach…some sans clothing. After a bit we decided it was finally time to head back to the hotel for real this time. We get to where we parked the ATV, load up and head out. We didn’t get very far…our ATV didn’t have enough power to get us both up the steep hill. And, of course, that was the only way out. After a bit of a “discussion” I made Chris drive up the first part while I hiked up to him. Once I finally got to him (I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest it was pounding so hard from the steep climb), he made me take the ATV the rest of the way. My point to this part of the story? If you’re going to rent an ATV and there are two of you – get the more powerful one or get one for each of you! End of the day, we laughed because it added to our adventure and we still joke about it.

With the Windmills, the Church of Paraportiani, Little Venice, amazing beaches, and wonderful, warm people, Mykonos was quickly a favorite place of ours and we will definitely visit again.

Our last stop on the “Greek Adventure Wacker-style” before heading back to Athens then home, was Santorini. With it’s blue-domed churches and ocean views, it is undeniably beautiful. Fun fact: there aren’t nearly as many blue domes as you might think. We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Andromeda in Imerovigli. The hotel sits on the slope of the Caldera above the Aegean sea. Once settled, and after talking to hotel staff, we decide to walk to Oia which is known for it’s views of vibrant red, gold and orange sunsets. We were supposed to be on a trail – but instead of asking where the trail head was, Chris decided we’d be fine walking along the road. Now visualize this: a narrow, two-lane road where large tour buses go flying by and there is no shoulder to walk on. That’s where we walked and, it was a bit unnerving. After we’d gone for what felt like hours (reality about 90 minutes), a limo van stopped and pointed us up a hill where we could catch the trail (personally, I was hoping he was taking pity on us and offering us a ride. Yeah, no). Once on the trail, I felt safer but I’m not sure Chris did…at one point along a fence line to keep people from falling off the cliff, he said “I’m glad there’s a fence there”. Apparently he thought I was ready to push him off the cliff.

We finally arrive in Oia, a cute, very touristy town and find a spot to watch the sunset. Everyone – locals and tourists alike, vie for a “perfect” spot to watch. It was pretty amazing to see such a large group of people perched on every available ledge, roof, and step. It wasn’t a clear night so the sunset didn’t have the “wow” factor it normally has (so we were told). It was still beautiful just not as vivid as normal, because of the haze. After the sun went down, we found a restaurant, had dinner and then it was finally time to head back to the hotel. Luckily, while everyone else was waiting for a bus, we found a taxi. Our driver told us our timing of being on Santorini was perfect. From mid-June to end of September they can get upwards of a 50,000 visitors a day. Go ahead, read that again, I’ll wait… The drive from Oia to Imerovigli took about 20 minutes (took us two hours to walk it). In peak travel season it can take more than 90 minutes to drive. I’d agree with our driver, we timed our visit well. 

The next day, we took a three-mast ship to tour the caldera, hike the active volcano, have lunch and watch the sunset off Oia from the water. This was a beautiful day trip! It however turned a bit rocky when a storm came up. I was happy up on deck of this beautiful wood boat but the captain and crew made everyone go below deck. Turns out, the wind was so bad, we couldn’t go back to the main port. Everyone had to disembark at Old Fira which is a tiny area with three ways out: boat (no longer an option that night), a tram (OMG heights!) or a switchback donkey trail. Everyone had planned on the tram, which of course I was less than thrilled with, but it ended up not mattering as it was cancelled because of the high winds. So, Donkey Trail it was. The trail was a paved switchback  straight up the side of a cliff. Yes, there were actually donkey’s on the trail. Some poor lady walking behind us kept retching from the smell of the donkeys (honestly, it wasn’t THAT bad….). We finally made it to the top, found our charter van and once back at the hotel, fell into bed completely exhausted.

The next day found us heading back to Athens for the night then homeward bound. All in all, an amazing, adventurous, exhausting and beautiful trip. 

As you read, you probably figured out things didn’t go quite as we had imagined. But, we rolled with it, have fabulous memories, and great laughs. How would you react? Would you vow to never return complaining over the whole thing? Or would you roll with the punches, realizing everything just added to an amazing adventure?