A Cold Greek Shower and Treasure In A Bag Had Me Questioning It All

A piercing cold shower had me gasping for breath between lathers as I did a survival dance between droplets. I recognize a cold shower is a first world issue as shampoo clings to my hair. It is June in Greece, but feel like I have immersed myself into harbor water in Helsinki. In February.

My days generally begin barely functioning, arms Frankenstein-like leading to the shower so I can eventually formulate a human sentence. Directions here said it could take forty-five minutes for the water to heat. Waiting that long in this state of delirium is not helpful for humanity. I am not a morning person.

In any time zone…

My hips don’t fit on the loo here between the shower and wall, and there is a sign that reads “Do not flush toilet paper”. That leads me to my next adventure!

Sunday morning, reception was closed and there were no additional trash bins in the complex. I could not leave treasures in my loo bin, if you can read between the lines here…

I don’t know in life if or when you know you have hit rock bottom, but meandering the sidewalks of Athens in June tourist season sheepishly with a bag of used toilet tissue makes one question all decisions leading up to this point.

Nineteen days ago, I retired from the airlines after seventeen years. I sold my car, placed sentimental items in storage and hugged my people temporarily goodbye.

First destination – Greece!

You can exhale…I found a bin!

Struggling to sit upright in my apartment bunk is also a humbling situation at forty-eight years young. I hit my head and have a moussaka-sized cranium lump. Another fact finding adventure: I felt a twinge of claustrophobia for the second time in my life, gasping for air like a baby dolphin. The first was a tourist submarine in Aruba. Travel is not for wussies, and I thought a desk job was scary!

My muscles are spent, sore from schlepping two carry-on bags along what the map said would be just a short 9-minute walk…I am unsure if my body can handle another slalom course of dodgy narrow cobblestone sidewalks or risk walking in the road between mopeds and European cars. I have anxiety just prepping for my next transition day out into the unknown. Why World? did I pack my favorite sparkly disco shoes?!

This opportunity to pause and witness how it feels to have a peaceful nervous system in a foreign country before deciding what is next, friends, is my ideal dream, and I couldn’t feel more grateful. Well, until perhaps I find a warm shower or can flush toilet paper again…it’s the little things!