Lemnos is an island dear to my heart. The birthplace of my mother, the earth here is steeped in history and mythology. I’ve had the fortune to explore Lemnos through the eyes of a child, a teenager, a young adult and now finally as a grown woman. Little has changed over the years and that’s what maintains the islands authenticity.
For the most part, it slips people’s radar…despite having travelled there so often, I’m always in awe of how much I have yet to uncover. This place has an unforgiving raw and rugged beauty that took me a long time to completely appreciate.
What changed…? I started seeking different things as a traveller. I started feeling less restless. Often on my visits to Greece I was experiencing the grass-is-always-greener syndrome as soon as I’d land in Lemnos and was always eager to escape. But in recent years, that’s completely subsided. I’ve stopped experiencing a great sense of overwhelm whenever I land in Lemnos, instead, I anticipate what I’m going to uncover next, knowing that what is revealed is a true treasure.
I’ve been blessed having been raised with some incredibly influential women in my life, my mother being one of them. I’ve always admired her strength and determination, something I believe to be a prominent trait of the women of her generation. Having the courage to leave her small island at the age of 19, board a ship as a solo traveller and cross the seas on a 3 month voyage is no small feat and certainly comes to reveal much about the strength of her character. On a recent trip to Lemnos, she demonstrated the depth of this unwavering determination by joining me on two separate mountain treks that upon completion, come to reveal some of the islands most breathtaking scenery.
There are rare moments we are given to share with our loved ones. Busy lives, timing and putting it off till next time are often the usual culprits in inhibiting us from acting now. But when you finally chance upon them, that faint flicker, that voice that says oh, I’m so glad I did this, is the only reference you need to reinforce that decisions are possible at every moment, so long as our intention is strong enough to bring them to life…
Happy Travels, Paula x
So lovely.
Janelle Desrosiers recently posted…Hello world!
Thank you!