Hello again,
I am already home and have worked my first week back. But I wanted to wrap up my trip reports and final thoughts, as well as share photos. I left off on the ferry from Karpathos to Santorini. The ferry was really enjoyable. From Diafani to Pigadia on Karpathos to Kasos Island to Sitia and Heraklion, Crete to Anafi Island (I was sleeping for these last two stops) and finally arriving to Santorini around 6am. It is such a big boat that moves slowly that you hardly feel like you are moving most of the time. It seemed to be mainly Greek people and only a handful of tourists. But all of the staff is super nice and always finds someone to speak English or help me when I look confused, like in the dining area. At one point, two musicians joined another who had an instrument and all played together on the outside deck with traditional Greek instruments, including a Haida which is a bagpipe-like instrument with goat or sheep skin. At each port, there are crowds of people getting on or greeting passengers getting off, as well as cars, loads of cargo, and big trucks. But it goes quickly and seamlessly, sometimes only in port for about five to ten minutes. I am glad I got a chance to ride in it before it is retired and moved to a faster, smaller boat.
There was a local bus waiting to board when the ferry arrived around 6am. Quick and easy and I get to see a few of the other places on the island I am not staying with views of the sunrise. My hotel is a few blocks from the bus stop in Fira, where all local buses leave from. 
I drop my big backpack off at the posh hotel and go for a walk around Fira. As I round the corner of my hotel, a man stops to ask me where I am staying. I, of course, am not going to tell him and say I can’t remember, but he is persistent and I walk away. I find a coffee shop open and grab a coffee. The man is nice and friendly. But he keeps winking at me. Then he starts rubbing my shoulder and then slips me a wadded up piece of paper with his name and phone number. We all know this is a damn good way to lose your hand. I glare at him and say No. At least he leaves me alone and doesn’t charge me for the coffee.
I go back to my wandering. Food and everything appears to cost at least 50% more than elsewhere. There are lots of hawkers and tourist souvenir shops selling the exact same “handmade” crap. Yes, someone’s hand was involved, but that does not make it handmade. I now realize my mistake in waiting to buy anything along my travels (I didn’t want to add to the weight of my large backpack). There is little here to purchase that appears special or representative of the parts of Greece that I really found wonderful.
There is a HUGE cruise ship in town... and I thought the Anek ferry was big! They are too big to even pull in to a port, so drop anchor in the middle of the ocean and shuttle droves of people in to town in small boats. This fills the town quickly with large, loud groups of what appears to be mainly Chinese tourists by around 10am. 
The narrow streets are now crowded. The selfie sticks are flying, nearly hitting me in the eyes several times. Much of the area is now luxury suites and expensive bar/restaurants. There are barricades and signs everywhere not to stand on roofs or that it is private property, but people appear to have no regard for the signs and enter or stand on restricted areas for the perfect photo opportunity. There is a small public walkway that donkeys carry cruise tourists from the port to the town that apparently has resulted in donkeys having spinal injuries and more. The path is smelly as at least one donkey seems to have been fed a Costco sized can of beefarino and lost it on the trail. And girls in their planned picture-perfect outfits still stand there and get their Santorini Selfie. Men keep approaching me and trying to join them for drinks and bars and partying. I head to my hotel to see if I can check in.
My hotel is very swanky. The bed mattress is soft enough to not use my thermarest. There is a huge bathtub and shower with plenty of room that doesn't flood the bathroom. And you can pick as many items as you want off a menu for the included breakfast. Apparently, hotel rooms along the caldera can go for 500-1000 euros a night in high season. I go back out and wander a little more, using the day to just play with my photography. There aren't even many cats to keep me company! I grab a few street souvlaki and take it back to my hotel for dinner. 
Sunset arrives and hordes of people that didn't pay for an expensive restaurant or hotel view line up at one of the few public spots to watch it. There are also people flying drones to capture the views. While the sunset was nice, I wonder if it was worth it. I hung out at the hotel and had interesting conversations with staff regarding the impacts of tourism to the area. I ask about other places to go on the island that are different than Fira, but it doesn't sound promising.
The next morning is super windy. My breakfast I ordered the day before arrives and is nice and filling. The wind starts to die down, so I decide to try to check out Oia, which is easily reachable by bus, but may be as crowded or even more so. But the bus ticket person tries to rip me off when I hand him a two euro coin for a 1.60 euro ticket and I don't feel like arguing to get to somewhere I wasn't horribly set on any way. Instead, I find a secluded bakery that smells of fresh baked goods in an alleyway secluded from the wind. I get a coffee and sit outside. The baker surprises me by bringing me a bag of freshly baked cookies on the house that are delicious! I end up staying there all day. Locals hang out there and it appears several restaurants or hotels get their bread there as many people zip in and walk out with large orders. I get treated to chocolate truffles on my second coffee by the super kind baker and sit and talk to a woman here from Indonesia who came to Athens as a house cleaner and now Santorini in a hotel, leaving her family behind and sending them money.
I head back to the hotel and catch another start of sunset before catching my bus to the airport for my night flight back to Athens. As my flight left early the next morning, I spent several hours in the airport until check-in for my flight home. And now I am back!
Quite frankly, Santorini made me sad. It shows the massive affects and impacts of tourism, which sounds like exploded over the last decade or so. And don’t get me wrong, I am fully aware that I am one of them. It was a great reminder to try as hard as possible to be as conscientious as possible when traveling. I guess I am glad that I saw it, as it was really an eye opener for me. The caldera is beautiful. But the increased water and energy consumption, increased traffic and overcrowding, increased trash, and inequitable distribution of income from tourism is extremely problematic to a place with limited space and resources and it is ruining what everyone is coming to see and experience. I hope they find a way to curb it before it is too late. Or maybe we are well past that. A few locals told me the only way back to something manageable would be another volcanic explosion :(
This was a perfect first trip post-pandemic. I feel refreshed and that inner peace and centering that I get from traveling took longer to obtain, but did finally get there. My next trip planned is to go camp with the Katmai Bears again in Alaska for a week in late July/early August for my small business. And then.... who knows?!?
Thanks for following along on my journey. Here are all my photos from the trip.
Love,
Betsy
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