Getting "Stuck" on Corfu Was the Best Mistake of My Life

I was 41 years old when I finally was able to leave Los Angeles to travel. I had been itching for a big adventure, much like the two-month backpacking trip I had taken around Europe after I graduated college.

What had kept me rooted there in L.A. was my pit bull Cosmo. It had never felt right to leave him behind because he was so focused on taking care of me. So after he passed I finally planned a big trip.

My first stop would be Corfu. My father's parents were born there and our family still had a small apartment which had been sitting vacant for years. It was free and centrally located for the adventure I had planned. My only trip to Corfu had been on my backpacking trip, and I felt that had been enough. There couldn't be that much to do on an island; I would stay only long enough to buy a motorcycle so I could tour around Eastern Europe.

Things didn't quite work out that way. The bike I bought wound up needing major engine work, and I wouldn't get it back until the very last week of my stay. (If the guy you're buying a motorcycle from shows up doing a wheelie and the bike is leaking oil and covered in death metal stickers, turns out these should be red flags.)

I was "stuck" on Corfu for the whole rest of the summer.

Naked Beach Runs and $542 Rent on Corfu

©iStock/Balate Dorin

So I explored the island and, while looking for things to do, I found an advertisement for a three-day workshop on ayurvedic massage. This was being taught at a resort in the small village of Arillas on the north of the island. It turned out there were a small handful of retreat centers there which held yoga classes, meditation workshops, dance festivals and other such events. All of them catering to people interested in self-discovery, self-improvement and running naked on the beach, which while illegal in Greece, is tolerated by the locals at the very end under the clay cliffs.

That clay when mixed with sea water makes a popular mud treatment which is supposed to detoxify and rejuvenate the skin. I'm not sure about the dermatological effects though I do know it's joyful fun to run naked on the beach covered from head to toe in mud!

That summer, I fell in love with Arillas and the colorful, open minded people it attracts. I spent many days making the hour-and-a-half round trip on my little rental scooter to visit.

Gradually the stress from my routine in Los Angeles melted away and my priorities began to shift. Money and the constant stress to earn it began to seem so much less important than family and the simple pleasures of life.

The next year, I moved from L.A. to my home town of Arlington, VA to spend more time with my family and to help care for my niece and nephew and later my aging father. The following summer I was back in Corfu for another three months and decided to make a habit of summering here.

I submitted my application for Greek citizenship in 2013 and finally got my passport two and half years later. I celebrated my new status by renting a two-bedroom house overlooking the Ionian Sea for six months.

I had just moved in when I met a charming dog on the beach I named Buster. He brought me a stone and insisted on a game of fetch. He started to follow me home, and only after the third "no," did he retreat back to the beach. As I walked up the hill, I kept looking back but didn't see him. I arrived at the top, a steep quarter-mile hike, and stopped to rest. Two minutes later Buster came trotting by and acted surprised to see me, just as if he had been on his way to some important dog business and it was a total coincidence he ran into me. Clever dog!

Michael Aspiotis and his dog, Buster.

Without any plan to stay permanently I was not going to take on the responsibility of dog ownership; but Buster appeared to be quite capable of taking care of himself. So he followed me around all summer even chasing me down the street when I went out on my motorcycle and nearly keeping pace for up to two miles at a time!

The following years I continued spending half my time in Arillas and each time I returned I was greeted by the most intense tail wagging as I was reunited with Buster.

In 2021 I found a house to rent 300 yards from the beach for just €500 ($542) per month and finally decided to live here full-time last year.

My life here feels a million miles away from the stresses and strains of life in the US.

Buster and I go the beach a few times each day and especially enjoy sunsets, visiting with friends, and going out on our kayak.

It turns out, getting "stuck" on this island paradise was the best mistake I ever made.