Kissed goodbye to my company car, laptop, iPhone, and Amex card. Met with my boss one last time – The exit interview officially marked the end of our professional relationship. Although they were not able to keep my position open, I was assured the opportunity for rehiring after my RTW journey – I am grateful for the option, while being open to other possibilities.
Most people think that giving up a secure job is the most difficult decision. For me, realizing that traveling the world is even an option was the biggest mental hurdle. Once I saw it as a feasible option, the rest was simply acting upon it.
I have no plan: I came to Greece with nothing but a backpack, a one-way ticket to Athens, and the first few nights of reservation; there is no itinerary: What I do tomorrow depends on whom I meet today. If I meet another compatible backpacker we will go explore together. Otherwise I would go out on my own.
After spending a week in Greece and a 12-hour overnight bus ride, I have now moved up north to my next stop – Bulgaria.
Sometimes when you have no expectations, everything would magically fall into place.
//
I took an 8-hour ferry ride from Athens to Santorini. When I arrived, it was raining cats and dogs. When I was lying in bed that evening, I saw lightning and thunderstorm through the windows. It was forecasted to be raining for the next few days. I thought I was pretty much grounded: Under this kind of weather condition I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go check out the beautiful architecture in Oia – 45 minutes bus ride from my hostel. There was a good chance I would be stuck in Santorini for two days without going anywhere.
//
Then something magically happened: One of my hostel roommates is a startup founder / serial entrepreneur from India, who just finished attending a startup conference in Barcelona and decided to visit Santorini for a couple of days. After brainstorming some options on how to get around Santorini, we decided to rent a car for the next day. Turned out the rain only lasted for a couple of hours in the morning, and we were able to drive around the island and let ourselves get lost in the staggered blocks of the breathtaking architecture.
@Santorini
Sometimes when you have no expectations, everything would magically fall into place.
//
I took an 8-hour ferry ride from Athens to Santorini. When I arrived, it was raining cats and dogs. When I was lying in bed that evening, I saw lightning and thunderstorm through the windows. It was forecasted to be raining for the next few days. I thought I was pretty much grounded: Under this kind of weather condition I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go check out the beautiful architecture in Oia – 45 minutes bus ride from my hostel. There was a good chance I would be stuck in Santorini for two days without going anywhere.
//
Then something magically happened: One of my hostel roommates is a startup founder / serial entrepreneur from India, who just finished attending a startup conference in Barcelona and decided to visit Santorini for a couple of days. After brainstorming some options on how to get around Santorini, we decided to rent a car for the next day. Turned out the rain only lasted for a couple of hours in the morning, and we were able to drive around the island and let ourselves get lost in the staggered blocks of the breathtaking architecture.
@Santorini
Sometimes when you have no expectations, everything would magically fall into place.
//
I took an 8-hour ferry ride from Athens to Santorini. When I arrived, it was raining cats and dogs. When I was lying in bed that evening, I saw lightning and thunderstorm through the windows. It was forecasted to be raining for the next few days. I thought I was pretty much grounded: Under this kind of weather condition I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go check out the beautiful architecture in Oia – 45 minutes bus ride from my hostel. There was a good chance I would be stuck in Santorini for two days without going anywhere.
//
Then something magically happened: One of my hostel roommates is a startup founder / serial entrepreneur from India, who just finished attending a startup conference in Barcelona and decided to visit Santorini for a couple of days. After brainstorming some options on how to get around Santorini, we decided to rent a car for the next day. Turned out the rain only lasted for a couple of hours in the morning, and we were able to drive around the island and let ourselves get lost in the staggered blocks of the breathtaking architecture.
@Santorini
Sometimes when you have no expectations, everything would magically fall into place.
//
I took an 8-hour ferry ride from Athens to Santorini. When I arrived, it was raining cats and dogs. When I was lying in bed that evening, I saw lightning and thunderstorm through the windows. It was forecasted to be raining for the next few days. I thought I was pretty much grounded: Under this kind of weather condition I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go check out the beautiful architecture in Oia – 45 minutes bus ride from my hostel. There was a good chance I would be stuck in Santorini for two days without going anywhere.
//
Then something magically happened: One of my hostel roommates is a startup founder / serial entrepreneur from India, who just finished attending a startup conference in Barcelona and decided to visit Santorini for a couple of days. After brainstorming some options on how to get around Santorini, we decided to rent a car for the next day. Turned out the rain only lasted for a couple of hours in the morning, and we were able to drive around the island and let ourselves get lost in the staggered blocks of the breathtaking architecture.
@Santorini
I got scammed. And I felt like an idiot.
//
Early Sunday morning, I walked up the hill to Acropolis as soon as it was open. After spending a couple of hours checking out this amazing Greek temple, I walked back down the hill toward the city, brainstorming what I was going to do next. On the way down, a middle-aged man approached me: He was dressed in business casual attire holding a parking ticket – Looked like he was rushing to go somewhere. He told me he was trying to pick up his company car in the parking garage, but had left his cash in his car and didn’t have coins for the parking machine. He asked if I had $6 Euro to lend him so that he could pick up his car, and would pay me back the money in a few minutes. I hesitated for a few seconds. But thinking that it wasn’t too much he was asking for, I decided to help this man and handed him $6 Euro in coins. He thanked me and rushed back to the parking garage.
//
After a few minutes, he came back saying that the parking machine didn’t take coin. He apologized and asked if I had any paper bill, so that he could go get change to feed the machine. I wanted to help this man, but felt like I would have more at stake by giving him more money. So I told him that I didn’t have any paper bill (even though I did). He thanked me anyway and said he would try to ask someone else; a few minutes later, he came back and said he couldn’t find anyone. He asked if there was anyway I could help him – Seeing the trouble he was having, I offered to walk him to the parking machine so that I could get change myself and feed the machine for him. He then said that it was an employee-only underground parking, and I wouldn’t be able to get in without an employee ID; knowing that I would have more at stake, I asked if I could take a picture of his ID. He then showed me his ID, and also gave me his parking ticket (the kind with magnetic strip that people use at parking garages). After taking picture of his ID and keeping his parking ticket in my wallet, I pulled out a $20 Euro bill from my wallet and handed it to him. He thanked me again and ran back to the parking garage to get change.
//
A few minutes later, he came back with my $20 Euro bill (along with the $6 Euro coins that I gave him earlier). He said he didn’t need more money, but was having issue getting change. He assured me that he would be back but urged me to stay 10 more minutes so that he could try to get change maybe at a nearby bank. For the last time, he ran back toward the direction of the parking garage. I then waited for the next 45 minutes – He never came back.
//
After spending almost an hour in that area, I decided to walk toward the direction where this man disappeared, trying to find him. Of course, I was unable to find him – or the parking garage. I then spoke with this old lady who owns an antique store (and 12 playful cats) in the area. I showed her the picture of his ID, and asked if she had seen this man. She said no, and also said there was no underground employee-only parking garage that she knew of – At that moment, I was pretty sure my $26 Euro was forever gone.
//
I wasn’t planning to do anything about it, as it was really not a significant amount of money (however I would love to have the money in my wallet instead of his!). But the next day I happened to be near a police station, so I decided to go in and file a police report. I told my entire story to the Greek police, and they were able to track down the profile of this man from the computer system using the picture of the ID I took – It was a legit ID and they were able to find his phone number. They called the number, but no one picked up. They also found out more about this man from the system, and said that he wasn’t a criminal and had no record of similar scams. The police then offered me two solutions: I could either sue him, or file a police report. Knowing that it was only $26 Euro and didn’t really worth anyone more time to track this down any further, I opted for a police report.
//
Hindsight is 20/20. Looking back, I realize that I made a few stupid mistakes, but hey here is the bright side: I got to visit Acropolis on a free admission day, so I saved $16 Euro right there! Besides, I am visiting Europe when Dollar is at all-time high against Euro. So at the end of the day, I really didn’t lose much, but have learned a valuable lesson.
//
That being said, if you are reading my blog (yes sir I am talking to you). It’s about time to pay back my $26 Euro – I take Paypal, Google Wallet, and Apple Pay.
@Athens
Acropolis.
@Athens
Acropolis.
@Athens
Sunset at Lycabettus Hill.
@Athens
Sunset at Lycabettus Hill.
@Athens
View of Acropolis from afar.
@Athens
Strolling around the city.
@Athens
Strolling around the city.
@Athens
Met some cool young backpackers from Canada and the US.
@Athens
Been eating moussaka at least once a day since I got here. Paired with local Mythos beer.
There is a 24% tax on consumer goods due to the financial crisis. But overall prices have been significantly cheaper since then, so it is still a steal if you are spending US Dollar.
@Athens
Panathenaic Olympic Stadium. Built entirely of marble.
I don’t collect souvenir, but hey this is a cool coin!
@Athens
Panathenaic Olympic Stadium.
@Athens
My 1st Olympic Gold? Piece of cake.
@Athens
Flight hopping. My flight from Santorini back to Athen was only 30 minutes. I just finished buckling up – My seat wasn’t even warm yet and I already arrived!
@Santorini
Greek yogurt with honey and nuts at our hostel. So good that I had two!
@Santorini
White eggplant.
@Santorini
Tomato balls.
@Santorini
Startup founder from India and student from the US.
@Santorini
Gyros.
@Athens
Making gyros.
@Athens
There are a few mountains that you can hike up to get a view like this.
@Athens
View of Acropolis from Acropolis Museum.
@Athens
Temple of Zeus.
@Athens
Temple of Zeus. I am not the only one taking advantage of the free admission day.
@Athens
Morning march.
@Athens
Long-time travel buddy taking me to the airport to kick off the 12-month solo RTW journey.
