Colorful Chronicles: My adventures on the island of Spetses, Greece

Greetings, colorful people! I sure am happy to be here today chronicling the time I spent last fall on the island of Spetses, Greece.

My hope is that these travel chronicles will inspire, encourage and teach you to have your own colorful adventures—whether they be local or airplane flights away from home! There’s always something new to discover and explore each day, isn’t there?

Normally when traveling internationally, I do so unaccompanied. When my friend Julie heard that I was heading to Greece, and Spetses specifically, she asked if she could join me for some much needed rest and relaxation. She was celebrating her 50th birthday and I was so delighted to be traveling with a buddy! We chose our time there on the island for late September/early October 2023.

October is an ideal month to visit Greece, as the tourists have headed home, yet the waters are still warm and you can sunbathe and wear summer attire.

Julie and I took a full tour of the island either by walking, taking a horse drawn carriage or zooming up and down mountainsides in a tri-wheel golf cart. My friend and I have a HILARIOUS STORY to share about how I almost tipped our golf cart into the old port waters of Spetses—through no real fault of my own, as it was a sheer battle against laws of physics. We will table that discussion for an upcoming podcast episode!

Here are some of our picturesque views from our guesthouse, 7 Islands Guesthouse in Spetses. This was our home for a full week. 7 Islands is a short walk from the main port, so it is the perfect off-the-beaten-path spot for me to highlight in today’s post.

We had our choice of beach waters or the 7 Islands Guesthouse pool for taking a dip!

Last fall I had registered for a sports tourism swim event there in Spetses, which is a 3-hour ferry ride from Athens. The idyllic, cozy, traditional guesthouse of 7 Islands was very much what our souls needed during the vacation in Spetses!

Family owned and operated since 1987, the 7 Islands guesthouse delivers what it promises: to “feel like home.”

Nestled in a quiet neighborhood only slightly off the beaten path, 7 Islands is 550 meters from the Old Port, 450 meters from Agia Marina beach, and 900 meters from the main port of Dapia and Spetses market. 

One of the 7 Islands owners, Tonia Vatikiotis, and I discuss on a recent podcast episode how her father began guesthouse operations after a career in construction, a bit of Spetses history, the Greek concept of filoxenia, and some of the best places to visit while on her island. You will find our conversation at the podcast link below, friends.

Learn more about 7 Islands Guesthouse at  http://www.7islandspetses.com

7 Islands Guesthouse

Agia Marina, Spetses, Greece

+30 2298 073059

Info@7islandspetses.com

Now, let’s shift gears to the open water competition in which I participated. There is an entire weekend dedicated to swimming, running, and cycling. My race—the 3k open water swim—is part of the Spetsathlon and Spetses Mini Marathon series.

Friends, this 3k swim (just under 2 miles) was extremely challenging, as it was mostly swum against current, in very choppy waters, with a yellow buoy strapped to my backside, and lots of arms and legs battling it out together in the waters off the coast of Spetses.

We competitors had to take a ferry from Spetses to another location to begin the race. Swimmers from all over the world competed—Brits, Croatians, Russians, Italians, Spaniards, and more. Over 50 countries were represented. I did my best, friends, to make the good old United States of America proud, though I wasn’t in my fittest swim condition ever.

My training began less than two months prior to the event, and I only swam in indoor pools. Suffice it to say that this swim left me feeling extremely fatigued and winded. Julie was there waiting at the finish line, though, and my U.S. American countrymen :) couldn’t be let down! Ha!

Disclaimer: If you are new to swimming and open water racing, then this is NOT THE RACE FOR YOU. There is a 1.5k swim the same day, and that may be more to your liking. Even so, my opinion is that this isn’t a swim for novices.

Above you can see my less than graceful finish! Once back on land, we remained in Spetses for a few more days. Julie headed home to the States, and I began what would be another 4 weeks of island hopping and the return to Athens.

Once in Athens, I reached out to the Spetses race director and asked her if she’d be open to an in-person podcast interview. She gladly accepted my offer and I took the train to meet her one day in late October 2023.

Today’s podcast guest is Dr. Marina Coutarelli, the founder of both the Spetses Mini Marathon and Spetsathlon events. Dr. Coutarelli is an award winning PR and communications professional who has a knack for launching some of the most successful brand campaigns in her native country of Greece and beyond. 

In our live interview conducted in her beautiful office in the Athenian suburb of Kifissia, Marina and I discuss the 3-k open water swim, sports tourism and extending tourism season past August in Greece, best things to do while on the island of Spetses, the Greek lifestyle of living in the present, and her take on color and branding.

Dr. Coutarelli is the founder and CEO of Communication Lab, a boutique communication agency based in Athens, Greece, specializing in PR, media relations, social media and crisis management. Learn all about both the Spetsathlon and Spetses Mini Marathon events at   https://www.spetsesmarathon.com.

Well, my fellow color aficionados and adventurers, we covered a lot of ground today! I’d love your feedback and always welcome your comments.

Until we meet again, have a most colorful week.

Lauren B.

Touring Greece with Writer and Language Learner Marina Tsekoura

Our latest guest on the Coloring My Way Across The Globe podcast—Marina Tsekoura touring Rome, Italy while on a business trip

Greetings, colorful ones! How are you all doing this fine Friday? Where are you and what adventures do you have for the weekend?

I find myself today reminiscing on the September/October 2023 trip to Greece and some of my in-person podcast interviews conducted. They were my first ever podcast interviews!

Today we feature Marina Tsekoura, contributing writer to the international publication INSIGHTS GREECE.

Marina and I originally “met” via LinkedIn where I discovered the publication and some of her articles about places off the beaten path near Athens. I reached out to her in advance of the trip and requested an interview. Voila! We met in her cozy Athenian apartment and writing studio for an in-person discussion of her city and life as a traveler and language learner.

As is the case with most Greeks, Marina’s filoxenia—truest Greek style hospitality and friendship with foreigners—was on full display. She offered me treats, coffee and then took me to lunch post interview. What a lovely new friend I made that day!

While in Athens I learned to navigate the metro transportation system and enjoyed touring suburbs and towns just to the north, east, west and south of us!

During our interview, Marina and I discussed coffee spots, Athens suburbs to tour, reasons to learn languages and other cities in mainland Greece that are dreamy destinations quite far from the capital.

As a supplement to the podcast interview, you can read more of what Marina recommends on Athens neighborhoods here:

https://www.insightsgreece.com/16-coolest-neighbourhoods-to-visit-in-athens/

One neighborhood in particular that she encouraged me to visit—and I did—is Kifissia. It is a lovely, picturesque town to the north of Athens, and so I just had to check it out myself. Looking for things to do there? Here is an INSIGHTS GREECE article on this quaint and special neighborhood: www.insightsgreece.com/best-things-to-do-in-kifissia/

I discovered a Mexican restaurant there in Kifissia that is stunningly decorated!

One of the “dos” Hermanos himself greeting patrons at the door of his Mexican restaurant

Being the Mexican food connoisseur that I am, imagine my delight to find Dos Hermanos in the heart of Kifissia, amigos! You know I had to stop and enjoy the food and gorgeously decorated restaurant. I spoke to one of the “dos” hermanos, a Greek-American who lived for some time I believe in San Antonio, Texas. He and his brother felt inspired and thus went into the Mexican restaurant business. Bravo I say! The food and ambience are highly rated.

Whoever handles color, materials, finishes and design for this restaurant did a superb job!

Other neighborhoods we discuss on the podcast are Evangelismos, Acropolis area, Monastiraki for antiques and unique jewelry and art finds, Glyfada—the Athens Riviera beach town, and Koukaki or Pagrati for coffee.

Speaking of coffee, here are INSIGHTS GREECE’s top recommendations: https://www.insightsgreece.com/12-places-to-get-the-best-coffee-in-athens/

As Marina and I wrapped up the interview, I turned to the question I ask all guests—What is your idea of a colorful life? Her answer was well considered and elaborate, and I sincerely hope you will take time to listen to our meaningful, in-depth and insightful episode.

“To live a colorful life is to live a life that you love, appreciate every aspect, be a free spirit……..I strongly believe that there are various ways to fill our lives with color. The basis of this is to cultivate curiosity.”

— Marina Tsekoura | excerpt from our podcast episode

October 2023 | Yours truly “sampling” a lot of wine from over 150 wine producers in Greece

Last but absolutely not least, Marina recommended that I tour the annual Wine + Art Festival in Athens. Hundreds of wine producers and artists converge on the scene to host an unforgettable, cultured and delightful day of wine education, sampling and art viewing. I loved the experience!

Also, some other places in mainland Greece to consider per Marina are Thessaloniki, Ioannina and the Peloponnese region. Many of us don’t think of Greece beyond the islands, but the country’s mainland boasts many mountainous regions perfect for a winter getaway and some snow skiing.

Well, color lovers, let’s get to the podcast episode itself. Click the link to get started! I hope that you will enjoy it and get in touch with any comments, feedback and/or topics you’d like me to discuss on future episodes of Coloring My Way Across The Globe.

Until next time, stay colorful!

Lauren B.

The Real Japan’s Rob Dyer: Japanese culture, Depeche Mode, pen pals and a love story

Rob Dyer of The Real Japan has been exploring as much of Japan as he possibly can since 2000!

Greetings, friends the globe over!

Once again I have a most interesting podcast guest to introduce you to. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Rob Dyer, the brains and pioneer of The Real Japan, a comprehensive online resource library and consulting service for Japan travel planning.

You may recall that my son and I took our first international trip together to Japan in May 2023. I promised each of my three children a trip of their choice, and my son is the firstborn. It was his turn last year!

Art Museum in Osaka, Japan

He chose Japan after only five minutes of consideration, telling me that he had always been fascinated with anime, Japanese culture, the language and the food. We knew that our optimal time to go was two weeks in May and had some loosely held ideas of what type of excursions and vacation we wanted. Bear in mind that my son and I are at vastly different stages and energy levels of life. He is a young college student and I’m a middle-aged, suburban mother and entrepreneur. We needed to find the ideal blend of destinations and excursions for us both to enjoy the time together in Japan!

I set about doing research and quickly became overwhelmed in the trip planning process, so a quick Google inquiry for “Japan travel bloggers” resulted in the discovery of Rob Dyer, The Real Japan founder and owner.

The man, the myth, the legend—-Rob Dyer, ladies and gentlemen!

Not only did Rob create a travel itinerary for us based on our interests, but he also provided language learning hacks, transportation recommendations for Japanese railways, pocket Wi-Fi options, and a breakdown of different types of lodging to consider.

The goal for both my son and me was to plan a trip that fit in enough cities and activities for two weeks without rushing through any of the experiences. Rob certainly facilitated this and so much more for us.

In the podcast interviews, I like to personalize things a bit and find out background on my guests, so naturally I asked Rob to share his love story—the one in which he meets and woos his Japanese wife through mutual fandom of Depeche Mode and their membership in a fan club! Rob recounts this best during the interview, so you’ll have to give it a listen!

An observation that we discussed about Japan is that the people dress in a very neutral, conservative color palette and style, yet Japanese architecture and even product packaging are very bold, avant-garde and colorful.

Rob quickly referenced a Japanese expression, 出る釘は打たれる (The nail that stands out must be hammered down.), as a possible reason why Japanese attire tends to be quite conformist. He elaborates on this concept and its tie to Japanese culture during the podcast.

Some of the topics we discuss and points referenced in conversation, along with additional resources from Rob himself are listed for you below:

The main site: https://www.therealjapan.com/

The Best Time To Visit Japan – All You Need To Know (colour during the seasons) - https://www.therealjapan.com/best-time-to-visit-japan/

The Unpredictability of Modern Japanese Architecture - https://www.therealjapan.com/the-unpredictability-of-japanese-architecture/

Top 7 Etiquette Tips For Travel in Japan - https://www.therealjapan.com/top-7-etiquette-tips-for-travel-in-japan/

The Real Japan Store Travel resource and planning materials store - https://www.therealjapan.com/store/

Hiroshima City Guide Google Map - https://www.therealjapan.com/hiroshima-google-map/

Two beautiful and traditionally dressed women gave us permission to snap their photo! Lovely!

We only scratched the surface of all there is to discuss about Japan and her vibrant, rich culture, so Rob has agreed to return for a second podcast episode later in the year. We simply must delve a bit deeper into some specifics about destinations and sites to see there.

I hope that you will take some time this week to listen to the podcast, friends!

Your colorful sojourner,

Lauren

My latest floral creations + a touch of wanderlust with The Wanderlover’s Danielle Hu

I have been mixing colors, styles, media and paper to create bold, vivacious new florals lately!

Happy, colorful, adventurous and joyful Friday, my friends!

I hope that this finds you well and enjoying life wherever you find yourselves. Each Friday I launch a new podcast episode as you know, and today’s is one you won’t want to miss.

My guest, Danielle Hu of The Wanderlover walks us through her life and career adventure from Cornell educated, Wall Street professional life to traveling and surfing in over 60 countries as a location independent, online business coach and digital/travel influencer.

Danielle Hu—proud digital nomad and online business coach at The Wanderlover and Digital Nomad Society

What is location independence and is it only for travel influencers?

The answer is a resounding ‘no,’ and part of Danielle’s mission is to teach people all over the globe how to develop and hone their skills, creating digital, video and online consulting offerings that enable them to work from anywhere in the world.

I hope that you will give this episode a listen, as we delve into all types of topics in and around taking the plunge into entrepreneurship, what it’s like surfing all over the planet, and even Danielle’s global love story turned marriage proposal and wedding just a few months ago!

Speaking of love story, my obsession with creating florals and botanical art in general continues! I’ve been sketching and/or painting florals for years now. Some of you who have followed my journey might remember this inaugural floral series—pen and colored pencil sketches of botanicals at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. See below for a refresher:

As I research and explore my artistic mission, purpose and aesthetic, I return frequently to floral and botanical illustrations. They are simply one of the subjects I most love and take pleasure in drawing. As an emerging professional artist, I periodically evaluate how my art will be perceived and whether a particular subject is marketable. With all of that in mind, here are my top 5 reasons for creating floral art:

Florals are universally appealing.

We find beautiful, colorful flora and fauna all over the world, on every corner.

Florals are very easy to stylize and depict in any medium and on any surface imaginable.

Florals sell—-especially on stationery and gift card sets.

Lovely flowers are the perfect background and setting.

I can pair them with other objects such as perfume, cosmetics, jewelry and landscape. The commercial possibilities are limitless, and I plan to do art campaigns for brands all across the globe.

Did you know that many of these original pieces are available for viewing and purchase on my website, friends? I also offer prints on canvas textured paper. Each print is uniquely hand embellished with a top coat of different acrylic, watercolor, or pastel work. So no two pieces of mine—original or reproduction—are exactly alike!

Over the coming weeks and months, I will be incorporating florals into various colorful, travel based illustration series. Last year was a sabbatical year in which I traveled to four separate countries—Portugal, Czech Republic, Japan and Greece.

Now that I’ve returned, it’s time to sketch, paint and render some new series for each of those four beautiful destinations. Stay tuned and follow me on social media for the latest artistic works in progress!

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lfbcolor

TikTok: www.TikTok.com/lfbcolor

Until we meet again next Friday, friends, live each day colorfully!

Your purveyor of all things colorful,

Lauren Battistini

Wild self-belief and artrepreneurship with Dutch artist Wendy Buiter

Wendy Buiter—internationally celebrated artist and now head of the eponymous Wendy Buiter Art Academy!

Welcome to another colorful Friday, my friends!

I hope that this finds you well, and having had a most colorful week. Fridays I like to publish new blog posts and podcast episodes, so here we are with the third episode of Coloring My Way Across The Globe.

You may recall from a previous blog post when I was on a layover in Holland that I interviewed my dear friend and mentor in art—Wendy Buiter. It was such a joy to meet her finally in person and hear her perspective on so many aspects of life and entrepreneurship.

Wild self-belief and “artrpreneurship” are two of the many topics covered by this renowned Dutch artist on episode 3 of my podcast, Coloring My Way Across The Globe.

She graciously shared her business and creative insights, and in my opinion is a stellar example of someone unwaveringly committed to the pursuit of dreams and goals!

Have a listen at the link below, friends.

Soon after we met in person, Wendy reached out about the launch of her very own art academy. This is her latest passion project—something borne out of her love of teaching others how to cultivate their artistic style and turn art into a business for themselves. Wendy will be the first to tell you that she isn’t an art instructor per se. No, her interest lies in teaching you the methodology of artistic self-discovery and the road to an artistic career through “artrepreneurship” as she calls it.

This leads me to my other topic of the day; that is, my own journey as an artist. Through the Wendy Buiter Art Academy, I have been working behind the scenes to experiment with my art subjects, techniques and methods, and to build the business side of things.

One such business project is the crafting of an artist statement, which you will find below, friends. What do you think? An artist statement is designed to convey as succinctly as possible who I am as an artist, what type of art I create, what subjects inspire me, and what media and techniques I use.

Myself—an emerging artist in action to complete a colorful travel illustration!

Colorful. Layered. Globally influenced. Exploratory.

As an artist, I have a found a way to combine my passions of color, culture, travel, language learning and landscapes into art that tells a story. I create art as an act of love for the people and destinations I discover through my extensive travels. I create work to document the journey and visually share experiences with you. Each of my masterpieces evokes feelings of escapism and adventure as you, the observer, can imagine yourself right alongside me as I set out on another sojourn.

Above all else, my creative passion is infused with the thoughtful use of color. My artwork is based largely on personal photography and travel journals, and I always begin with a color palette in mind. Oftentimes a door or some bright architectural space, or even the color of florals or sea, will bring rise to a color palette I choose for my next piece. The subjects I most like to sketch and render are florals, doors and vignettes of places off the beaten path.

I sketch in pen—not pencil—discarding the notion of endless erased lines to achieve perfection—weaving any initial “rogue” pen strokes into the final masterpiece itself. Working with whatever lines I create on the canvas, I then layer and embellish the subject with a mix of oil pastels, watercolors, chalk or dry pastels, colored pencils and gold paint. Layering materials, colors and surfaces adds richness and texture to my pieces. My art is done on small scale—usually 11’ x 14’—watercolor paper or non-traditional surfaces such as restaurant placemats and roughly textured paint masking paper.

I experiment with different paper, materials and colors quite often. This was my first pencil sketch on black paper, and I absolutely love the color contrasts here!

Constantly evolving and growing as an artist, I experiment with a variety of techniques and media to convey my love for people, culture and customs worldwide—as well as a sense of adventure. The result is always colorful, vibrant, layered, textured, experimental, playful and exuberant.

I create artwork in dedication to the people, places and experiences I meet around the globe, and to the way they’ve touched my heart and enriched my life. I create this art FOR you, though, my lovely art patrons—to inspire, encourage and teach you to have your own travels and adventures along the way.

What a joyful artist and friend and all around entrepreneurial genius you are, Wendy! Thank you for the friendship and mentorship.

Friends, that’s all for today! I sincerely hope that you will listen to Episode 3 of the podcast featuring Wendy. Our conversation was quite insightful and I am grateful to have had her as a guest.

Colorful regards,

Lauren B.