My Little Skyrian Break

It's been quite a while since I last posted, partly due to me being pretty busy but mainly as a result of my non existent internet connection!

So, I've just arrived in the city of Thessaloniki after spending the past six weeks living and working on the tiny Greek Island of Skyros. 

With its tiny whitewashed buildings ordained with vibrant blue doors and shutters, the village looks like something straight out of Mama Mia. I however have been living in the minuscule farming town of Trachi, home to one taverna, a couple of farms and us. Which I must admit has been testing at times. 

Skyros is home to a rare breed of pony, and the farm where I've been staying is all about preserving and reestablishing the breed. The work it's self was simple enough, feed, muck and water three times a day. I can do that. Having been around horses back in England since I was small theses things were a breeze.

I was also fortunate enough to have some other fantastic volunteers staying with me, from spending my lunch breaks kayaking with Lucia, Spanish, and Iris, Austrian, to failing to make a beach bonfire with Elia, German, and Davide, Italian, it's safe to say I've had a pretty fun time and met some really lovely people. What I struggled with personally was the isolation that being on a mountainous island brings. 

Although the main village was only a stones throw away, the several large mountains in between prove to be somewhat of a hazard. Many people love this side of life though, the lack of wifi and people can be a real lure for the more reclusive type.

What I have learnt about myself is that I am not this type of person. I am a people person. I need constant social interaction with a host of new faces. I must admit this is news to me, at home I had my group of friends whom I adore and was more than content with keeping it just us. Not in a selective way, more as a result of the comfort that comes with a tight knit group. Since I've been travelling however, my eyes have been opened to the fact that there is an entire world of people out there with the same travel/life ethic, and it's wonderful! 

I can meet people from the other side of the world with whom I have so much in common, and for the past few weeks I haven't been meeting the constant flow of these guys, and I've missed it. I remember leaving the first group of strangers I made friends with in Venice, I was adamant that I'd been really lucky and wouldn't meet anyone else that I got on with. 

Of course I did, immediately.

Although I have had a really nice time having somewhere to call home, and learning about a whole new style of horsemanship, for me it was time to say goodbye. I'm more than a little excited to get my backpack on again and head off into Central Europe. Just in time for the cold weather of course...