At the moment...in Greece
Tuesday, September 7, 2010: Athens
An Inner Journey: My 'Hero's Adventure' Through Greece and Turkey
The bad news was that upon arriving at our hotel in Athens, I realized I’d lost my iPhone containing our itinerary information and then an hour later, fell violently ill.
The good news is that with the help of our local Greek travel agent, we fairly quickly located the phone in the cab that brought us from the airport. Yes that thunk I noticed while we sped through the streets… and, er, sidewalks of Athens 22 hours after leaving Phoenix was my phone falling to the floor -- and I did indeed live to tell the tale.
Ironically enough, just the week before I’d been quoting Joseph Dispenza in his book, The Way of the Traveler, to my travel group, loving his suggestion that “once we see travel as an inner journey…. every trip becomes a spiritual practice – a hero’s adventure that enlivens our hearts and enlarges our souls….” Aaargh! This beginning was definitely not the hero’s adventure I imagined. And yet, like the Greek hero Odysseus doing battle with Medusa, it did indeed force me to face some personal monsters,.
The first monster was called “Wanting things the way I planned them”. I spent months planning the details of this trip…. Striving to balance a list of essential things to see with time
to explore and be spontaneous. Barfing in my hotel room while the group I’m supposed to be leading had to start the tour without me was not in the plan.
Interesting that at home the basic tenet of my yoga practice is “be happy now, whatever the circumstance”. Bent over the toilet in Athens, every fiber of my being screamed NOOOOO! And I thought of my yoga teacher Eric who when a posture is particularly difficult likes to say “Lucky you – you get to really practice yoga!” This definitely felt like the advanced course.
Even after I noticed that torturing myself with finger-shaking criticism seemed to only add to the misery, the struggle went on. I focused again and again on the breath. And after awhile I found myself stepping back.... noticing that this experience was just passing through (in more ways than one). I wasn’t necessarily happy about it, but a certain peace did begin to arise even in the midst of the storm. Okay, this was not the course I planned. But I could sail the wind with as much ease as possible.
His brother monster,”I Must Fix the Problem”, was right there, too. Frankly, it was a bit of a blow to my ego to not just be able to buck up and fix – or ignore this problem. As it was, I got a front row seat to being willing to ask for-- and receive help. Help from my roommate Terri who brought me crackers, 7Up and encouragement, from my friend Penni who responded to my e-mail with prayers from the whole Unity movement, and help from Diane and Suzanna
with understanding and support. Actually, the more I let it go, the less of a problem there was to fix.
A third monster showed up as judgment that said, “Meaningful Travel means DOING”. So the group was in the hands of a tour guide I’d scheduled for the first afternoon who extended the tour to the next morning as well. And my nausea did indeed begin to subside. My first outing was on my own late that first evening to the Plaka, the charming historical center of Athens at the foot of the Acropolis. It was just a block from the Hotel Parthenon where we stayed.
I sat outside at the Tabepna Taverna on the corner. Live folk music drifted from the cafe next door, couples strolled by, stray dogs slept in doorways, 
young men ducked through the pedestrian streets on their mopeds, and my kind waiter Vasili urged me, “You eat, I give you lemon. You put in chicken soup, it settle you stomach, so you see beautiful Athens.”
The moonlit evening, presided over by the Acropolis and ruins of this ancient city, filled me with awe -- and a peace that came from simply being.
Ultimately, circumstances forced me to slow down – right at the beginning of a very full 23 day 
itinerary, There would be plenty of other challenges and joys along the way – hm, just like life. The point was not so much to see the bright side of anything, but to just be happy or not, here, now, allowing peace to arise with however things were as each of us sailed the winds of our own journeys…. Perhaps the ultimate hero’s adventure.
Me at sunset in Oia on Santorini.
