Joy is…

Mango dress
Ellen James handbag
Mango sunglasses
Linjer ring (c/o) (similar)
Maris Pearl Co. earrings (c/o) (similar)
Location: Paralia Agios Mamas – Spetses, Greece

Anyone who says happiness isn’t a place, or joy doesn’t have a geographic location, has never been to the Saronic Islands.

That’s a bold statement, I know, but this idyllic archipelago in the Saronic Gulf is as close to paradise as I’ve found. (Spetses is the furthest island from Athens, closer to the Argolic Gulf, really, and an extremely brief boat ride from the mainland ports of Hermioni and Porto Heli. But still.) Each island has a unique character. Hydra, my personal favourite, is the most historically well-preserved. It’s also considered to be the prettiest, a prevailing opinion that’s difficult to argue against. Spetses is the most aristocratic, known for its famous hotel, the Poseidonian Grand. It’s iconic, and palatial, modelled after the Carlton in Cannes. Spetses is also the quietest. There is little to do there but sit on the beach. Or take a bike ride to another beach or, perhaps, if you don’t feel like swimming, walk along the beach, admiring the boats in the water.

Quiet destinations are not usually my first choice on holidays. But Spetses offers everything I love – elegant restaurants that serve interesting cocktails on marble table tops, picturesque scenery, beautiful  and sunshine – without any sense of urgency or rush. There is no reason to get up early, except to enjoy the sunrise. Opportunities to catch up on lost sleep abound, particularly in the heat of the mid-afternoon, when everything closes for a couple of hours so people can rest before the evening comes. Local cats prance and prowl, turning on the charm if they think you might be willing to offer them a snack – and most, unsurprisingly, have a taste for feta.

We spent two days on Spetses. I read a book… started it while laying in the sun, finished it laying in the shade. It wasn’t even a good book, but I enjoyed the uninterrupted time with it. I have little more to report than that and frankly, I’m glad. I love the pace of my North American life. And I know full well that I’d be bored (or need a very large library) for more than two days with nothing to do, the two days when we had nothing to do on Spetses were a joy. Truly. They were a reminder, much like our first trip to Athens so long ago, of a time when life demanded less decision-making. A time, admittedly, when we had less control over every aspect of it but felt freer because we were willing to accept that lack of control as a fact.

I wouldn’t want to live in that world anymore. But I like visiting it, remembering what it was like, if only briefly. It helps me appreciate the very different joy of the way we live now. Because the fact is, there’s joy to be found wherever you are, if you know how to look for it. It’s just that it’s so immediate, so near visceral on the Saronic Islands, that the instant you step off the boat, you can feel it. That’s what makes them so special.

There are hundreds of islands in Greece. Hundreds that I haven’t yet seen, that I want to see someday. But I know already that the Saronics will always be my favourites.

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