Mykonos, Greece (October 16, 2025)
Tonight we will meet up with Joel Heller, who I first met up with in person in London back on July 20th, almost 3 months ago (see related blog post). My how time does, in deed, fly. When people ask me why I spend so much time on this blog, I answer honestly so that I can better remember this trip.
Every day there has been something new and interesting and if you only do that for one week a year, it’s fairly easy to remember. But when the experiences are amazing and constant, it all begins to blur together if you don’t purposefully take the time to capture these moments along the way.
This is how I WANT to remember Mykonos, Greece
And there’s a bit of “history is written by the winners” as part of this blog too. For example, the picture above is staged. I saw a beautiful spot and asked Elena to stand under the tree and see how it would look. I took three pictures and selected the one above from among these that I took:
In reality, here’s what Elena and I did today. We shopped. We didn’t need anything in particular, so we looked around at all the shops that are packed in nice and tight in the center of town in Mykonos.
Elena looking at Opal jewelry and all the pretty designs
What we did discover were two rain jackets that we’ll need for Japan. Yes, in two days we fly to Tokyo, Japan and it looks like it will be raining for at least part of the time we’re there, so we found a rain jacket for Elena and Violet (as I picked mine up back in Greystones, Ireland my first week of July with my host Anne-Marie Griffin).
I took so many pictures of Mykonos. The island is very arid and you wouldn’t think it would be a popular destination except for what has been built up all around it.
And so many cats. Lots and lots of cats everywhere in Greece. Every island we’ve visited, the outdoor (feral?) cat population seems to be doing extremely well. There’s evidence that the locals are feeding the cats and no cat seems to be missing any meals. They all are friendly and allow you to pet them if you are so inclined. However, if they are eating, best to let them be. None of us like being interrupted when we’re in the process of eating.
The dinner with Joel Heller was only about a 15 minute walk from our dock. Well, technically, it was 20 minutes, but Violet noticed a shortcut and Elena was game to scramble up the side of the mountain we would otherwise do a long switchback taking us 5 minutes longer.
Violet leading Elena up the side of a mountain to save us 5 minutes
We were off to our next adventure and as I was walking, I was reflecting on how my own financial scarcity continues to rear it’s ugly head. Here we are going off to have a wonderful dinner with a friend, but what’s on my mind is the fact that we’re walking away from a fabulous free dinner on a cruise ship to go pay (what would end up being 150 Euros) for a dinner on the top of a hill overlooking our ship.
Don’t get me wrong, I love supporting the local economy and I see all the benefits of doing so. I just can’t help that scared child that’s still there deep down inside of me constantly worrying about “wasting” money — spending money on things that are not necessary.
I’ll do more self-reflection on this later as I’m surprised how often it continues to show up for me on this trip. And I’ve noticed it’s much more present in the smaller purchases than the larger ones. Strange.
Beautiful view from the top snaps my attention back to the present
And this is the reason we’re off the ship. Together. Spending quality time together as a family walking up a hill in Mykonos, Greece meeting a friend from the UK who’s staying here.
Getting closer to the restaurant and the views are stunning
I can’t help but admire the Greek architecture along the way. The designs are consistent and have a uniform look to them that are very Greek and easy to spot. And yet, some residents have fun and find creative ways to break from the traditional form.
And, of course, we must stop to pet the kitties along the way. There are so many free roaming cats in Greece. They are so friendly and love people. Violet, especially, loves to greet them as much as they love to greet us. It’s magical to witness, so we stop and admire for a moment before pressing on for our dinner reservation.
Violet bonding with another cat who greeted us on our journey
And with that, we’re here. The restaurant is nestled (perched?) on the hill facing west, so perfectly positioned to watch the sun set.
What I was not expecting was that we would have feline visitors during our meal. They seem comfortable coming right up to the widow in hopes that someone will feed them people food (despite the clear evidence of all the cat food they clearly get on the regular).
Pre-dinner photo opportunity with the cruise ship in the background
Dinner was good and the conversation better. It was nice to catch up with Joel and hear about the new job his partner just landed and some of the things Joel has been up to since last we spoke a few months ago in London. Joel was great at engaging Violet in the conversation and the overally discussion felt balanced which is a rare gift.
As the sun began to set, we tried capturing the moment, but iPhones just don’t do justice to the real thing. I will say that the night version of Mykonos is just as pretty (if not more so) than the daytime version.
Joel walked with us back towards our cruise ship and while Violet took the short cut back, the three of us continued down the long way given the darker environment. Besides, scrambling down loose gravel is asking for trouble especially in the evening. We took a few more goodbye pictures in front of the cruise ship and thanked each other for a lovely evening. It was good catching up with Joel again.
Joel and Bill in front of the cruise ship as we wrap up our evening
Selfie with better lighting and now with Elena (who took the pix above)
I can’t believe tomorrow is our last day and night in Greece. After that we head out to Japan, then Thailand. Then Elena and Violet head home and I head to Vietnam.
Bill Carmody Travel Update
As of today, I’ll also share this update. I decided to fly back to New York for the Christmas and New Years Holidays. My original plan was not to come back to the US at all until I was done traveling the world. But that original plan also included Violet with me for the holidays and the possibility of my son Will joining us.
Being alone on the holidays just doesn’t seem that much fun to me. The current plan (as of today) is to pause for about three to four weeks and head back out to the Philippines on January 7th. I’ve booked my flights back to New York for December 15th and am excited to see my friends and family back home.
This will be right about the 6 month mark and half way through my trip. Elena believes that this could be the end of the world tour, but I see this as a break. I still very much want to see so much of the world I haven’t seen yet. It will also give me some time to regroup and replan. Violet may or may not rejoin me when I come back out here, so we’ll see where that leaves the rest of this travel adventure.
All I know for sure is that this trip keeps evolving. No matter what I thought this trip would be when I started, it continues to twist, change and evolve as I get deeper and deeper into it. That’s the news for today. I’ll share more when I know more.
