10 more honest lessons after 1.5 years in Greece

Yassas, we are Matthias and Jenny. In autumn 2024, we swapped our busy life in Berlin for a tiny house on a steep hill on the Greek island of Kimolos. One year ago, we shared 10 things we learned during our first 6 months in Greece.

Since then, we have learned so much more than we ever expected. So it’s time for an update!

1. Plastic is the shit!

We were raised to separate waste and avoid plastic whenever possible. But the last 1.5 years taught us a hard lesson. We watched many of our belongings rust and mold. When we replaced them, we consciously chose plastic. In this humid coastal climate, it is often the only material that actually lasts.

2. Everyone is afraid of the electricity bill.

For some reason, this bill is completely unpredictable. Every time it arrives, it’s a surprise. And rarely a good one. We follow many other migrants (we really dislike the word “expats”) on TikTok who had to learn this the hard way. Now, we’ve finally internalized the lesson. And yes, we are afraid too 😂

3. Everyone thinks we are rich.

A German passport definitely brings privileges, especially when it comes to traveling. And Germany is a wealthy country. But outside of Germany, people often assume that everyone living there is automatically rich.

Back in Berlin, we were also self-employed. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine hit us hard too. To make this move possible, we sold everything we owned. In the end, we are probably “poorer” than many people living here on the island.

4. Founding a Greek business is next level patience.

It took us four months. FOUR MONTHS! We were used to starting a business online and being ready to go the same day 😂 We also assumed there would be something similar to a German “GbR” where we could found together on eye level. Well, there wasn’t. Let’s be honest: it will take us years to reach the point we want to be. Business-wise. And this a real pain in the ass.

5. How to build a YouTube channel

To be honest, it wasn’t our plan to run a YouTube channel. But we soon realized that the high season on Kimolos lasts only two months. And that most visitors are Greek tourists who are generally not interested in Sound Healing. So, we decided to offer our work to an international audience instead. Jenny is now working on it full-time. And 2026 will be the year we finally get monetized 🥹

6. More patience. Again.

Last year, we bought “Tukkie”, our TukTuk. It is a solar-powered tricycle that transports our singing bowls and massage equipment across the island. In a few days, we will celebrate Tukkie’s first birthday. And guess what? We are STILL waiting for the papers.

This is especially frustrating because we have to turn down requests for Sound Healing on Milos. Driving around Milos without a license plate can result in heavy fines. How much longer will this go on? No idea.

7. National Pride

Growing up in Germany, you learn early on that national pride is seen as dangerous and inappropriate. Seeing how enthusiastically Greeks celebrate their country initially made us feel a bit uncomfortable. But we are slowly getting used to it. We even started taking photos of flags and posting them on social media. It is probably going to be a longer process. After all, it is not just a matter of mindset, but also a matter of the epigenetic trauma that we have carried with us.

8. Enduring pain when no ferries are running

Did we have to put up with earaches because the ferry to the ENT clinic on Milos wasn’t running due to a storm? Yes. Did we struggle with lower back pain for longer because there was no MRI machine nearby? Maybe. Did the pain just go away on its own? At least in the case of the ears, it actually did 🫠

9. Customer Service doesn’t seem to exist in Greece.

We first had to learn that you shouldn’t just order from any online store. You should always start by Googling reviews first. It’s not uncommon for items to simply never be shipped. And of course, in 99.9% of cases, emails go unanswered.

We’ve learned that it’s best to shop only at stores that accept PayPal. It’s almost unbelievable how often we’ve had to use PayPal Buyer Protection over the past 1.5 years. The German saying “Germany, the service desert” must have come from someone who has never shopped online in Greece 😂

10. That we will probably be eating dinner early for the rest of our lives.

Many people make fun of the fact that we eat dinner so early. But we’ve realized that eating late just isn’t good for our bodies. It feels really strange to go to sleep with a very full stomach. So, when we are invited somewhere, we usually eat beforehand. Then, we just snack and socialize later on.

So, have we ever regretted moving here?

If we had known what challenges lay ahead, would we have gotten into the van in Berlin back in September 2024? No way. Do we want to go back? Never!

This sense of simultaneousness, as absurd as it may seem to outsiders, is our reality after 1.5 years. The fact is, we didn’t realize just how German we really are before we moved here. How conditioned we are to function and optimize things. And how hard it is for us to tolerate dysfunction. For Greeks living in Germany, this mentality gap must be even more challenging. But we are holding our own 😅

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