Disclaimer

• If you are in any way referenced in this post but want not to be, then I am sorry to hear this. You can contact me, and we can try to figure something out.
• If you are not referenced in this text but feel like you should be, then don't take it personally, I am very forgetful and I am sure I did not omit you from this story on purpose.

Introduction

On the summer of 2022, I did my first bikepacking trip. It was something I always wanted to do but never had the money and/or time to. I considered a few different places to go to, but in the end I decided to visit the famous islands of my country, Greece.

Few of my friends cycle and those that do could not come with, so I would be alone.

It was very hard for me to commit to the idea. Drawing up a rough budget, I realised that the trip was going to be expensive. I didn't want to take lots of vacation days, so I had to make arrangements to work from the road. Also, the most I've ever wild-camped for before, was around four days.

Because of this hesitation, not a lot of planing went into the preparation. Up until two weeks before the trip, I did not know if I would actually go through with it. Luckily, the lack of preparation, although problematic at times, did make for more interesting day to day during the trip.

In this post I will summarize my impressions from the trip, talk about the best and worst moments and try to pass on any tips and tricks I learned about working remotely while bikepacking and wild camping for a month.

The plan

The plan was simple. Board a train to Athens (I live in Thessaloniki) with my bike. After a few days in Athens, catch the ship to Naxos, where I spend a week vacationing with friends. On the 12th of July, my friends travel back home and I keep going on my own.

The closer I would end up to Thessaloniki at the end of the trip, the better, since it meant less travel to get back home. This helped choose which islands I would visit. The final itinerary looked like this:

Setup

Before embarking I needed to buy a shit-load of equipment 🤑. Even though I have been cycling since forever and had gone camping a few times, I did not have a lot of the stuff needed for this trip. I only had my bike, a pretty good backpack and an extremely heavy tent.

In a true programmer fashion, I broke the problem into smaller sub-problems to tackle. I had to think about the: biking, packing, camping, travelling/vacationing and working.

For the cycling part, I bought a lot of bike equipment like rechargeable lights, a pump, a bike-lock, a smartphone stand etc. (yeah, it's weird that I didn't have some of these already).

For the packing part, I figured I could make the necessary bags and harness on my own. I bought some canvas (a kind of tough fabric) and, with the (much needed) help of my parents, we DIYed a triangle bag for the frame and a simple, tube-shaped one for under the saddle. We also created a harness for the handlebars made from a piece of wood, two pieces of plastic tube taken from a broom stick and two screws!

For the camping part, I entertained the idea of using a hammock, but had no prior experience. Also, I wasn't sure if I would be able to find big enough trees on some of the islands (or any tree at all, some of them are very dry). So, ultimately, I decided to buy a new, lighter tent. I also bought a mat, a pillow and a few other stuff I forget about. No cooking equipment.

For the travelling part, I bought a few items of clothing that I could comfortably wear both on and off the bike. Mostly linen pants and shirts that dry very quickly.

For the working part, I just took my laptop and charger and bought a 4G router that turned out to be crap (thanks Vodafone 🙃).

The final setup, leaving Naxos, was a bit different. The bike was way too heavy, so I gave some of the stuff I carried to my friends to take back home. I had the tent, mat and pillow strapped on the handlebars harness. My clothes, spare tubes and few other miscellanea resided on the saddlebag. The laptop was jerry-rigged on top of the harness. Finally, the frame bag had a bit of food and some bike tools.

Getting off the boat when I reached Syros was strange. I realised I was alone, on an island where I knew no-one, with no real plan of where I was going to sleep or work, what I was going to eat or do for the next hours or days. In this situation, although a bit stressed, I felt excited. I was finally doing it. For real. I opened the map, where I' d previously marked places people suggested are good for wild camping. I decided to spend the night on an isolated beach on the north part of the island. I also picked out a restaurant nearby. It was around 9 kilometres away by bike and then another 3.5km hiking. Sounded easy enough.

A big uphill to reach Ano Syros, with a rewarding view nonetheless. On the top of the hill, I met Giorgos, my first ultra-friendly acquaintance of the trip. We talked for a bit and after explaining to him what it is I' m doing and my plans for the night, he insisted that making it to the beach would be extremely difficult. I was a bit sceptical, because people speak from their own experience and a guy that doesn't cycle will of-course say it's impossible. Nevertheless, he made me doubt whether I could do it. That's when Giorgos, in all his awesomeness, proposed I lock my bike in his garage and we drive to the start of the hiking path, just so I could see the road and decide myself. What a chad!

So we went and, as expected, both the ride there and the hike seemed totally doable for me. After getting back and thanking him once again, I was on the road. An hour later I was eating on the restaurant, just a few meters away from the start of the path. The ride there was a bit tiresome for my out of shape ass, but really, very nice. In the beginning of the trip I was very cautious about my staff getting stolen, so I asked the waiter in the restaurant if I could leave my bike there for the night, and they said it was fine.

I started the hike and midway I realized I had left half my tent on the bike.. in the restaurant.. uphill. I decided to go on without it and see what I can do with the parts I had on me. Twenty minutes later I reached the beach. It was a heaven on earth. The water was crystal clear and 20 meters behind the sea, a small grove of trees, perfect for setting up tent. Goats roaming around free, passing by the camp-site. No lights anywhere to be seen. Sadly, there was no drinking water there and I only had less than a liter with me. I Macgyver'd the tent and went to sleep.

The next day I woke up with only half a liter of water remaining 🤦. I hiked up the hill and got back to the restaurant where I got my bike back, and they treated me to a couple of free water bottles! All the while, the restaurant owner was on the phone shouting and arguing with the local municipality about the water rations they were getting not being enough. The owner was saying their business is getting destroyed, they can't even wash their dishes. Syros is a very dry island and people on smaller villages (apparently) don't get a lot of running water through the day. This was very strange to me, considering that the previous evening I saw at least three or four swimming pools filled with water in the area. Now, granted I don't actually know how much water a pool needs, nor if they use tap water for that (instead of stored rain water for example). The contrast was very interesting.

I rode back to Ano Syros to work and then back to the same beach to sleep. The third and last day on the island, I decided to change spots and went to Galissas. By this time, I had started to get the hang of it and the riding was getting easier. On my way there I, again, went out of water. I stopped to one of the water vending machines I've been seeing around. It was broken 🙃. I was lucky a lady had her art studio right besides the machine and saved the day by giving me a bottle of cold water.

Galissas had a very different lure to it. The place was not particularly beautiful, but had a community of wild campers, others living there year-round, others for long periods in the summer, others (like me) just passing by! The people there had good vibes. Late in the night we gathered in the kitchen tent, a big tent that's maintained by Mimis, a year-round resident of the camp. Some people had music instruments and we passed the night singing, drinking and smoking.

And that was Syros. Heading there I didn't expect much. Not that I had a bad image of the island, I just didn't expect anything special other than a quiet, little island. Nevertheless, the people of Syros are golden and I have them in my heart. The nature and views in the north are out of this world and the community in Galissas is welcoming. I will definitely visit again.

Ikaria

Ikaria is a very famous island, both between greeks and foreign visitors. It's a party island, but in a good way, not like Mykonos (kind of the Ibiza of Greece), Ios etc. The people of Ikaria are said to be one of the longest living in the world. I had very high expectations going there. Sadly, anxiety stoke as I reached the island. I had found out that, only two days before, police raided the island's most famous wild camping spots and fined the campers. Wild camping in Greece is illegal (with a few loopholes) and in late years police and municipal authorities have been stricter about it. Thankfully, a childhood friend of mine was living on the island at the time, Eleftheria. She made sure to reassure me and welcomed me to stay at hers, should I need to.

The island lived up to its reputation from the first day. I cycled to Armenistis, where Eleftheria was working. We met up once we were both done from work and visited Rempelo, an awesome, small taverna (greek, folk restaurant). After grabbing a bite and having a chat, we made plans. I would stay with Eleftheria for the night and we would go to one of the infamous Ikarian panigiria (festival with live music where lots of eating, drinking and dancing goes on). The next day I would visit the camping spots and assess the situation. I locked the bike in Armenistis and she drove us to her place in Evdilos. After getting a shower and a change of clothes, we were on our way to the panigiri. It was quite a long way and then we reached a place of indescribable beauty. A hike downhill the mountain got us to a levelled out olive field. The olive trees created a dome, under which lied tens of huge tables and benches where hundreds of people where enjoying the music and dancing. The moon was peaking between the olive branches. Truly, one of the most memorably nights of my life. Late at night, at around 4:00 A.M the party was still going strong, but we were tired and decided to leave.

The next day, Eleftheria dropped me of in Armenistis. I got on the bike and drove to Kato Raches, the village near which the camp site was. I hiked up the gorge of Nas, carrying my tent and other necessary staff. It was around 40 minutes of hiking (with all the extra weight) to reach the camp. A place inside the forest, next to a small river. The mountain side had been shaped into levels, like a stair. Each step could fit dozens of tents. Already, there were around 30 or 40 people there, although it wasn't peak season yet. The other campers reassured me that the police had not bothered them at all, they only abused campers that had set up on the beach. I set up camp and went back down to the village for work. As I found out, you can get signal nowhere in Kato Raches. Even the WI-FI of the restaurant-bar where I was working off had issues. I managed to make it through the day, but that meant I would have to go elsewhere for work next time, further away from the camp. I had nothing too exciting planned for the night, so I took the chance to relax and chill on the beach.

The next day I decided to visit Christos, a small village up the mountain. The village is a destination in the area, because of its picturesque square and incredible views. It's also the only place with an ATM of my bank on the island 😅! I started early in the morning. In the middle of my way up, my water bottle was empty! Thankfully, I passed by a small property with a water faucet on the outside and I borrowed some water. By noon, I had reached Agios Dimitrios, another small village, where I stopped for a break. I didn't have enough cash for the coffee and the place didn't have a device for electronic payments, so the man said I should just give him however much I had... Any time I had a problem, so far, a random stranger would just step in and solve it for me, even if it meant their own expense! Really, I was starting to become shameless with this stuff, but that was only the beginning.

Christos was ok, but nothing to write blog about. What was totally amazing was the 15-minute downhill from Christos to Armenistis, with light traffic and full of U-turns and great views of the bay below. I wrapped up my work day and later I met Eleftheria. We went to yet another panigiri, though this time I had a lot more energy! I met a lot of new people, we ate and drunk and danced. We left in the morning, when the fest was finally over. One of Eleftheria's friends, dropped me off in Armenistis at around 8 in the morning. As expected, I was dead tired, but I'd need around one more hour to reach the camp, and by that time I would have to head back to Armenistis for work since it was the only place around where I could get decent 4G signal. I decided to just sleep on the beach for a couple of hours. I made a pillow out of my backpack and laid down on the rocks.

Another slow day after the crazy party of the previous night. I just worked and carried my corpse around. I did do a fun hike on the lower part of the Nas gorge, until I stepped on a loose rock which turned over my ankle and scathed it. There was white showing, probably cartilage 😬? It didn't hurt much, so it wasn't a big issue.

New day. I worked from Armenistis again. I visited Rempelo to eat and met the owner who told me there would be a rempetiko (Greek music style) night with live music. I love rempetiko so I decided I would go. Only problem was, I could not cycle there because I would probably drink (quite a lot). A problem for later... I headed back to the camp and, while locking my bike on the start of the path up the gorge, three guys came out of it disappointed. They had not managed to find the camp-site, so I offered to guide them up. As we talked on our way up, they took a liking to me and I to them. Also, one of them mentioned that he plays the tzoura (a rempetiko instrument). I told them about the rempetiko live and we decided to go together. They also had a car! The night was great and by the time we returned to the camp I had kinda become part of their gang, just like that.

The next morning marked my last full day on the island. The day started as usual, hike down the gorge, cycle to the next village where there is mobile signal, work for a few hours, prepare to party! I made plans with the guys from last night to go to a panigiri. Eleftheria would be there too. When getting ready to drive to the panigiri, a two people asked if they could hitch a ride with the rest of us. There were now six of us in the small car driving up the mountains to the panigiri. They were a girl from Sweden and a guy from Spain. They, together with another girl from Switzerland and a guy from Turkey, all traveled solo, met on the island and formed a group! This type of shenanigans is exactly what I love about wild camping in established communities.

Later in the panigiri, we couldn't all fit together on our bench, so I was sitting on the bench of the people next to us. After only a few interactions, I shamelessly drank their wine in front of them as a joke. It was highly effective 😁. After a few (more) laughs and a lot more wine, our two groups joined into one, and by extension I could say that in all the panigiria I've been on Ikaria, there was really only one group, the entirety of the people there. We also found out that they were in Syros before coming to Ikaria. They actually camped on the same beach I did and they only missed me by one day! The world is small. It had been a great last night on Ikaria, with the best company I could ask for.

Hiking up the gorge drunk and stoned was an.. interesting experience. I got up in the morning, quite hammered and tired, only having slept for a couple of hours. I had said my goodbyes the previous night, though I didn't really want to leave. But the road ahead was open and waiting and I could only image what other adventures were awaiting me. I packed up everything, and hiked down the gorge. When I got to the bike I realised I had my first flat tire. Maybe a sign I should stay? Nah, it was the front one, so I changed it quickly enough 😅. Loaded up, tied down and ready to go. Ikaria has been a wild experience and one that I will definitely seek to live again next year. I really found Zen there and my mood after visiting was the best in the last two or three years.

Samos

So, the day I left for Samos, I've already hiked down Nas gorge for the last time and cycled from Kato Raches to Evdeilos to get the ferry. All that with minimal sleep and no food 😶 The ferry left at midday and I still had a tough hangover from the night before. I slept and worked through the trip. Luckily, when I reached Samos I was already feeling better. That's truly lucky because ahead of me lied a very demanding bit. I had to cycle from Karlovasi, where the ferry arrived, to Megalo Seitani where I would camp.

This was probably the first time my lack of preparation and research as well as my "chill", whatever, I'll-figure-it-out-later attitude really, nearly put me in an unsolvable situation. I started to cycle towards my destination immediately after arrival. On me, I had around 1 liter of water and a single can of baked beans. Thankfully, I already had a meal earlier that day. I passed on multiple restaurants and bars where I could (and should) stop for a meal and fill up on water. Didn't even think about it. After doing the cycling part of the route, I reached the start of a hiking trail that goes through Mikro Seitani and ends on Megalo Seitani. I locked the bike, strapped everything I needed on my back, shoulders and hands and began the hike. I greatly underestimated how big a difference carrying 10Kg of stuff and not being able to move freely would make.

The hike was magnificent but brutal on me. I rationed the water as best I could, but at about two thirds of the path I was already out. It took me one and a half hours to reach the end. The path was, at times, difficult, with slippery-smooth rocks, vertical parts like stairs and steep climbs. When I finally reached Megalo Seitani, it was dusk and I felt extremely exhausted. I took a selfie and was struck by the way I looked! It was like I had lost kilos from dehydration. My crazy luck came into play, yet again! There was a faucet offering drinking water at the beach! I went around the beach and met the rest of the campers. A friendly couple offered me a few shots of Raki (Greek, alcoholic drink from Crete). Later, after setting up, I joined a big group of campers, we ate and drank together. All in all it way a pretty good day, but the lack of water thing was troubling.

I woke up to the nerving realization that in order to work I had to hike all the way back and then cycle to Karlovasi. Not only that, but I also had no food to eat before starting. Nevertheless, morale was up. I had a good time the night before and I woke up in yet another remote, wild forrest besides a beautiful beach. So up I went. I made a mental note to grab some cans of food and snacks before getting back to the camp. After work, I cycled to a small village on the mountain, Lekka, and grabbed a bite.

A couple of locals informed me of a good path to take for the downhill. It was great! A route through heavy forested area with great gravel road, passing through another tiny village in the middle of nowhere. The only problem was, I ended up too close to Seitani, where there are no stores whatsoever to buy food 🤦 So, I had to go back to Karlovasi again. Not a huge distance, but I was very tired from the days before and it was getting dark. I decided to lock the bike and hitch a hike there and back. Luckily a family gave me a ride to Karlovasi, but I had to walk back, since no-one would stop 🤦x2 It all turned out ok. I had to hike back to the camp in the darkness, but it was no problem. Though, it was becoming evident how much a little preparation and planning can do.

In the morning, I fixed a broken pole of my tent with the help of some camp neighbors. I left Seitani and after work I went to the waterfalls of Potami. It was quite a nice place, there was a staircase taken straight out of a Miyazaki movie leading to a restaurant with an amazing view.

Late in the afternoon I made my way back to the start of the path leading to Seitani. I left my bike and started hiking up the mountain. The plan was to reach the small village of Kosmadei where there was a panigiri later that night. The hike uphill was really tiresome, but very interesting. I passed various little, stone buildings, probably old barns.

The sun had fallen and it was fully dark before I made it to the street a few kilometers before the village. There, I decided to hitchhike. After a few cars had passed, a minivan stopped to pick me up. I open the door and a smell of cooked meat and weed poured out! 😅 Turns out it was the guy driving the food up to the panigiri. He was smoking and complaining that it's his second day without sleep because of work. Thankfully, his driving was impeccable and we quickly reached the village.

In the panigiri I met the couple from the camp that treated me to the Raki the other day. We spent the night eating, drinking and dancing. It was great. Late, at around 3 or 4 o'clock, we began our way back down the mountain under the light of the moon. We smoke some hash, found an abandoned Landa in the middle of the woods, got to the camp exhausted and crashed. A good day and night.

The next day I did absolutely nothing of course! I packed a couple of stuff, moved them to the start of the path and went to work. Slept early, for once.

Monday was a moving day. We planed with the couple from the panigiri to move together to another spot on the island. They left the day before, I was too tired to pedal. I woke up to realize that now both of my tent's poles were broken. Nevertheless, I packed up and got on my way. It took me a couple of hours of riding to reach Vathi, with a couple of hours of working laid in between. A lot of small villages in the road, but nothing very exciting. I had another flat tire during this ride.

After finishing work in Vathi, I got to the camp. A nice little grove of trees coming down to the beach almost. The access was very easy and we were the only two tents. There was also a couple on a small boat anchored on the beach.

Work in (slow) progress

Aftermath