44 Spring 2018 LOCALadk Magazine
LOCALadk
I had been housesitting for several years when I decided to make the switch from a nine-to-five office job to freelance, so I could travel
wherever and whenever I liked. Through one of my housesitting connections, I learned about a three-month summer stint in Kalavr yta, a
remote mountain village in the northern Peloponnese region of Greece. As soon as I saw photos of this beautiful place, I was sold. Greece
had always been on my list of places to visit, and here this perfect opportunity presented itself. I emailed the homeowner. We set up a
Skype inter view, made an instant connection, and a few days later I had bought a plane ticket.
On departure day I dropped off my leased car on the way to the Montreal airport. As I traded my wheels for wings, I knew I was also
trading the mild Adirondack summer climate for the less-than-hospitable dr y heat of Greece.
Within a day, I was on a bus, which pulled me away from the frenzied streets of Athens, then past unruly olive groves and lemon trees
along the Gulf of Corinth. The road snaked up into the mountains toward cooler climes and the bus negotiated an impressive number of
switchbacks as we gained altitude. The driver switched into low gear and so did the pace of life outside my window. Roads narrowed, vil-
lages replaced cities, men sold honey at roadside stands, goats tried their best to stop traffic. This was more my speed.
