Ikaria - living to 100 years is commonplace

After I got to know the concept of “blue zones”, my curiosity about the secret of longevity grew. Then I just went to Ikraia, Greece and worked remotely there this year in March.

The local people, nature, and food are fantastic! You can say, it’s a paradise. Since my main focus is “ longevity”, I was very keen to talk to Ikarian people, especially old people ;-) Honestly, I haven’t been to any other places where I met more kind people than Ikaria, amazing!?

Stress-free

Stree-free life is the key word that they told me most often. Why they are “privileged” to be stress-free? In other words, why the common stress(e.g., money, relationship, health, busyness, etc) in the current society doesn’t bother them much??

Ikarian people are very much content with what they have. Many Ikraians are very skilled. They grow veggies in their own gardens and take time to make and cook food, thus, living a quite self-sufficient lifestyle.

To me, they are also very wise, they know what’re most important things in life, so that they can work on these “little needs”, not being trapped by “ many desires”, living a rather simple(therefore joyful)) life. They know they don’t need much, and they have more or less all they need.

Even stealing is not existent on the island. Leaving the door open overnight won’t do any harm. One more stress is taken off ;-)

Togetherness?

Social bond is incredible in Ikaria. People are being looked after (and loved) and are caring for others. They spend an incredible amount of time together. Ikarians sit and chat at cafes, bars, visit each other and share food, play cards together, etc. They also have a lot of festivals where they indulge in Greek music, dance and of course delicious food!

Ikarians create these shared celebrative moments with family and friends. And they are very present in the moment, which I believe significantly enhances the quality of time in their social interactions.

Some Ikarian people even visit their parents every day. And some live together with their parents.?

From my own experience, you won’t feel you are just a “traveler”, or an outsider, you are part of the community, you are very much whole-heartedly accepted and welcome.?

Nature - do wonders?

Since Ikaria is very hilly, no matter if it’s for groceries, or visiting friends, you have to “exercise”, walking up and down to be somewhere. So being physically active is part of their daily life. Not to mention that many of them work with their hands, not so much with computers or phones.???

Goats and cats are everywhere on the island. Occasionally you would see a group of goats gazing freely on the hills, the sun gives a bit of warm touch, for a moment, I doubt whether it’s real or a dream. Ikarian people love animals, they live harmoniously with nature.

It’s not surprising that you don’t see any fertilizers, or pesticides in this environment, leaving it to be pristine. And if you understand what healthy soil means, you know how big a deal it is.

In Ikaria, the deep deep blue sea is in front of you, and the mountains are at your back. The quietness leaves room for you to think about the meaning of life. Without distractions(or you may say inspiration) in big cities, for a second, you may appreciate the simplicity of life and feel a sense of freedom(richness).?

It seems to me that life can’t be simpler, being with your loved ones, being with nature, good food, and making a living, that’s enough;-)

By the way, there is also a natural hot spring in the sea(on the south side), relax yourself there ;-)

Food

Being a foodie, I was very much living in a food haven, things like feta cheese, olive, oregano, honey and so many others.?

What impressed me most is the wine, a type of wine that doesn’t contain preservatives, or additives, whatsoever. With this quality, one time I drank about 1 liter of red wine without feeling tipsy. This has never happened to me before! If you checked out the local winery(e.g., Afianes, Karimalis), they will show you the traditional way of making wine, very interesting!

I am also very into the greens/fruits that grow everywhere on the island. One day Popis(the owner of Popis Restaurant) guided me to pick some greens at the back of her house. In just one hour or so, we got really a lot of greens, more than two baskets with a big variety. She told me that she knows all the plants growing on the island and the health benefits of some. And she invited me for lunch and we cooked together with the harvested greens. Wooow, the food taste unbelievably good, especially the fish eggs(can't let go of the memory)!

When it comes to the Ikarian diet, it seems they used to eat less meat simply because it’s an isolated island with a harsh living environment. There was a limited source of meat. Besides, being quite self-sufficient, Ikarians' dependence on supermarkets is less compared to people living in cities, thus, way less processed food(e.g., canned or packaged food) is consumed.?

Actually, they do drink quite a lot of wine and many of them smoke in daily life.?

Spirit?

Do you find ordinary people are generally more generous than rich people? Ikarian people are rich, not in money, but in spirit.?

I can’t recall how much food(e.g., wine, bread, fish, coffee, egg, etc) I was given for free. They like to give away and proudly say, it’s Greece, welcome to Ikaria, with a big smile on face!

It happened 5-6 times to me that I was invited to local people’s houses after talking maybe just 10 mins to them. And they would offer me tsipouro(i.e., strong alcohol) or a meal. Hitchhiking is rather easy(also because it is off-season). One time I have seen a band playing and singing traditional Greek music, but non-stop for more than 8 hours. The energy they put in was no less than a marathon to me ;-) the vibe was wonderful!?

In Ikaria, you don’t need a watch, because you dominate the time.?

Afterword,

I was so lucky to have an amazing landlord, Matrisa, who cooked Greek food for me, treated me in local restaurants, introduced her relatives and friends to me, and gave me so much love.?

Ps. Although sometimes loneliness hit me, I am happy and feel blessed about the trip. Experience is always priceless. The sleep was so sound there and I have the richness of time.?