Want to Come Visit Me in Greece? Please Don’t.

It has come to my attention that many of my loved ones and family members think I’m currently frolicking around in Greece.

Nope, I’m not.

Friends message me, “Hope to visit you in Greece one day!” and recently I learnt that my own mother thought Cyprus was a Greek island.

So let me clear this up once and for all: if you go to Greece, you will not find me.

Cyprus is a country, not a Greek island, which is also part of the EU, but it’s not part of the Schengen zone. Which means if I wanted to visit Greece, I’d actually need to apply for a Schengen visa. (Yes, bureaucracy follows me everywhere.) It is confusing because even though they have different flags, they actually do have the same national anthem.

Also: Cyprus is a divided country. If you fly into the north, I still won’t be able to see you. Please – for all our sakes – fly into Paphos or Larnaca.

“What’s the difference between the north and the rest of Cyprus?” you might ask. It’s complicated. Please check out literally any travel influencer who has ever been here; they’ve all made an explainer video.

Until then, I’ll be here — on the “Greek” side, where everyone speaks Greek, eats Greek, and all the writing is in Greek.

But it’s still not Greece.