There was a knock on my hut door. ‘Come on there’s an ocean to swim in...’ ‘But it’s seven am – two more minutes in bed...’
‘You and your two more minutes in bed!.’
Bloody Americans, bloody Californians, bloody positive/love-life attitude. Maybe I should have done Path to Happiness...
Having visited Atsitsa many years earlier, to make a film about Skyros Holidays for a travel programme, I thought I knew what this place was about. But it’s quite different being a neutral observer to a proper session participant. On that earlier visit I ate some delicious food and undertook several curious activities (one of which involved creating stained glass windows out of tomatoes and lettuce leaves – not available now). But because I was there as a mere observer I didn’t become a fully integrated member of the session’s community. And that, I now realised, was half of what a holiday at Atsitsa was about.
So, here I was – a participant. And the person at my door was also a participant – chirpy Janine from LA.
‘Come on, dude – let’s see the sunrise...’
‘Oh, all right – if you insist...’
‘Isn’t this cool?’ she said, as we sat on a surfboard being lapped by the sea as the sun rose above the mountains.
‘Yes, very cool,’ I said.
Fifteen minutes later, and still dripping wet, Janine and I were at breakfast. I loved the Atsitsa breakfasts – granola, fruit salad, Greek yoghurt with cinnamon. And I usually topped off my own hearty breakfast with a salami/cheese/tomato roll. (Or two...) Oh, and a cup of coffee – made with that water from the well. (I got used to the taste the moment I discovered most other people used mineral water whenever they used the kettle.)
I actually loved all the Atsitsa meals. They used to be exclusively vegetarian but now, as well as breakfast salami, there’s a hot meat dish every evening. As a greedy carnivore I quite appreciate enforced vegetarianism (I’m ashamed to say one Tuesday I had five lamb shanks) but if you really want to be a bingeing omnivore you can usually sample the Veggies-Only option too, once all the veggies have eaten (one night I had four walnut and feta cutlets – but not at the same time as the lamb shanks).
This session was in mid-September – right near the end of the season. Early in summer I’d asked my kids if they fancied coming. (A lot of kids now come in school holidays.) ‘Not doing that hippy crap,’ said my 16-year-old son. So I booked to come alone. ‘How selfish,’ he then said, ‘Not taking your children....’
Anyway, I packed them back to boarding school and flew to Greece. I didn’t take the transfer offered by the Skyros office. I thought it would be easier flying into Athens and taking the morning flight to the island. But I slightly regretted not taking the ferry transfer with all the other participants. Having shared a night in Athens and a day of travelling, they’d got to know each other before they even reached Atsitsa.
My allotted hut mate was Nigel. He talked about Athens. ‘We had a great night... We ended up in a strip club with Suzie, the yoga teacher.’ (I’d had a night alone in the Sofitel.)
Next morning we had our first Demos. Rules were explained (‘Welcome to Greece – No paper down the loos...’) and course options were explained. I was determined not to touch psycho-babble ones so I chose windsurfing and yoga.
Unfortunately, the weather was freakily inclement during our first days there. It poured down several times and I regretted not bringing jumpers and waterproofs. And the windsurfing was such a cold option that twice I woke up thinking ‘Oh, no – windsurfing today...’ But I stuck with it and by the end of the course had learnt to sail and turn. And I’d got to know Steve, my windsurfing partner-in-crime.
Steve was an engineer from Lancashire who lived in Germany. He built nuclear waste plants in Lithuania (at least, I think that’s what he told me – he’d also built sewage plants in Ireland).
He turned out to be the best salsa dancer I have ever seen and during the salsa evening women just queued up to dance with him. In fact, he was so good he even ran his own salsa evening the following week – due to very popular demand.
But Salsa really was not my thing. I stood on the toes of every woman I danced with, except for Heather from Shetland. She took a free style, Scottish-jig-approach so I managed to avoid her feet. Belly dancing was fun though. And many boys were as good as girls. By the second week the sun was shining brightly. Everyone in the community had got to know each other and I’d finally volunteered for vegetable chopping and the odd washing-up duty. I’d even been to an Ecos – the group forum where you just listen as each member speaks. (No response required. Try it at home.) I’d also discovered that sharing in the duties was quite a good way of getting to know fellow participants.
I was now tuned into the Atsitsa spirit. (In fact at one Demos I even volunteered a glowing appreciation of a Janine-led experience – an early-morning swim in a downpour with rainbow-coloured rain drops bouncing off the sea – beautiful...).
So, for my second week, I signed up for psychobabble – The Path to Happiness (not sure I found it but the course helped me empathise with fellow participants) and Healing Sounds with Suzie. I loved that course. I hadn’t sung in public since I was eight and finding my singing voice was an emotional experience. In fact, it was an emotional experience for lots of us – tears poured down cheeks as we sang.
Unfortunately, thanks to boring work, I had to leave the Atsitsa community before the end of the party. (And before the cabaret.) Suddenly I was back at Skyros Airport, waiting for a plane to Athens. But I had a book of e-mail addresses and a head full of happy memories. And maybe even a few interesting thoughts about a new approach to life....
Matthew Collins
For 10 years Matthew Collins was ‘Special Assignments Man’ for BBCtv’s The Travel Show. Each week on the programme he was given a travel challenge. These ranged from travelling overland to Spain with his leg in plaster (to sample travelling facilities for disabled people), to spending a week alone in a French nudist camp where single men and photography were banned (he was alone with three cameras round his neck). He also spent a week in Atsitsa...
For ten years he’s been bringing up his two sons alone (their mother lives in Spain) and he makes a living writing and talking about family issues and travel. Matthew has written five books, including Across America with the boys and Across Canada with the boys and three grannies (for which he borrowed three grannies to travel across Canada with his two sons). His one-man show How To Pimp Your Kids and Shop For Free at Waitrose was a sell-out at the Edinburgh and Buxton Fringes.
