For those of you who know me well, or to be honest, have ever interacted with me, you know that I like to feel in control of things and like to have everything planned out as much as I can. Sometimes this is a great thing, sometimes it drives people crazy, and sometimes things just happen that I can't control or plan out (which causes me to become a little frantic and anxious). When I'm not in control or have my own plan, I tend to ask a lot of questions so that I get all the information I need to understand what I'm doing or feel like I am kind of in control.
Well, when a little Greek man sticks you on top of a large donkey without a guide at the bottom of the island of Santorini so that you can get to the top of the island where everything is, you really have no control whatsoever and just have to trust that your donkey knows what it is doing and where it is going.....go ahead and imagine what was running through my mind. I bet several of you are laughing right now.
Getting to the island from our cruise ship was a little rocky to start out with. There wasn't a dock in port for our ship to pull up to so we stopped in the middle of the sea and had to take tender boats from the ship to the island. Usually this wouldn't have been bad, but the weather wasn't the greatest and the sea was acting pretty angry so it was a rough ride from the ship to the island. Once you get to the island you have two choices- 1. take the reliable, safe cable car up to the top or 2. ride a donkey all the way to the top. I was talked into taking the donkey option to the top of the island because who knew when I would have the opportunity to do that again.
So my little group got up to where they put you on donkeys and I saw that some people were put on a "donkey train" which was several donkeys tied together and then led up by a guide. The others in my group got put on a donkey train....not me. I was put on "Fred"(this was the name I came up with for my donkey after our adventure together) who was by himself and had no guide. Clearly, the control freak in me didn't like this plan, but again, you have to do what the little Greek man tells you to do. Well, Fred had a mind of his own. Instead of taking his time getting up to the top of the island, or staying in order behind all the other donkeys, he decided he would go really fast and then abruptly stop all of a sudden. And when another donkey was in his way he would just hit them as hard as he could in the butt with his head. And then there were several times where he decided it would be cool to get as close as he could to the edge of the cliff. Needless to say, I was having a mini panic attack riding Fred. He was probably having the time of his life. There was nothing I could do but hold on for dear life and hope that Fred would get me to the top of the island. I really wish there was a video of this for you all to see.
Luckily, Fred did manage to get me to the top of the island. Never again will I take a donkey to the top of Santorini again..next time I will stick with the cable car. After getting to the top, I realized that the crazy ride with Fred was worth it. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my life. We got there right in time to see the sunset over the sea as well which was just breathtaking. I spent my short amount of time on the island wandering the streets, speaking with locals, and shopping. It was so relaxing and just incredible. And of course, I decided to take the cable car back down to the bottom of the island instead of going back down on Fred.
The point of this story is that sometimes there are things in life that we can't control, things that may scare us, and our journey might not be exactly what we had planned. But when these things happen, we end up with a beautiful experience or a great story that sticks with us and makes us realize that it is okay to let go sometimes, that being afraid of something shouldn't stop us from doing it, and that we learn so much about ourselves when we take a detour on our journey.
Well, when a little Greek man sticks you on top of a large donkey without a guide at the bottom of the island of Santorini so that you can get to the top of the island where everything is, you really have no control whatsoever and just have to trust that your donkey knows what it is doing and where it is going.....go ahead and imagine what was running through my mind. I bet several of you are laughing right now.
Getting to the island from our cruise ship was a little rocky to start out with. There wasn't a dock in port for our ship to pull up to so we stopped in the middle of the sea and had to take tender boats from the ship to the island. Usually this wouldn't have been bad, but the weather wasn't the greatest and the sea was acting pretty angry so it was a rough ride from the ship to the island. Once you get to the island you have two choices- 1. take the reliable, safe cable car up to the top or 2. ride a donkey all the way to the top. I was talked into taking the donkey option to the top of the island because who knew when I would have the opportunity to do that again.
So my little group got up to where they put you on donkeys and I saw that some people were put on a "donkey train" which was several donkeys tied together and then led up by a guide. The others in my group got put on a donkey train....not me. I was put on "Fred"(this was the name I came up with for my donkey after our adventure together) who was by himself and had no guide. Clearly, the control freak in me didn't like this plan, but again, you have to do what the little Greek man tells you to do. Well, Fred had a mind of his own. Instead of taking his time getting up to the top of the island, or staying in order behind all the other donkeys, he decided he would go really fast and then abruptly stop all of a sudden. And when another donkey was in his way he would just hit them as hard as he could in the butt with his head. And then there were several times where he decided it would be cool to get as close as he could to the edge of the cliff. Needless to say, I was having a mini panic attack riding Fred. He was probably having the time of his life. There was nothing I could do but hold on for dear life and hope that Fred would get me to the top of the island. I really wish there was a video of this for you all to see.
Luckily, Fred did manage to get me to the top of the island. Never again will I take a donkey to the top of Santorini again..next time I will stick with the cable car. After getting to the top, I realized that the crazy ride with Fred was worth it. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my life. We got there right in time to see the sunset over the sea as well which was just breathtaking. I spent my short amount of time on the island wandering the streets, speaking with locals, and shopping. It was so relaxing and just incredible. And of course, I decided to take the cable car back down to the bottom of the island instead of going back down on Fred.
The point of this story is that sometimes there are things in life that we can't control, things that may scare us, and our journey might not be exactly what we had planned. But when these things happen, we end up with a beautiful experience or a great story that sticks with us and makes us realize that it is okay to let go sometimes, that being afraid of something shouldn't stop us from doing it, and that we learn so much about ourselves when we take a detour on our journey.
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| This is Fred my donkey |
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| This is me at the end of my crazy journey with Fred. You might not be able to tell, but I am terrified. |
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| Views like this one were what made the crazy journey worthwhile |
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