Digital Nomad Lifestyle | Why we moved to a village in Crete Greece

[@palikariena7292]

I’ve done the same thing. Quality of life 1000x higher than when I lived in Philadelphia, Denver, or Pittsburgh. As long as your job is still in the USA

[@becoming_greek]

Agreed. The big key is not relying on the Greek job market. Where did you move to?

[@tiqo8549]

We've been visiting Crete for over 12 years. Just last year we found a own place to stay in the town of Mália. We have a nice top roof house with sea view. All you need is some locals to help you with this. We also visit Chania a couple of times per year. We just love this island!

[@becoming_greek]

We love Crete too!

[@authentictuscany]

Great to see this latest video! It's been interesting to hear why you chose Crete as your base!😍

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you for following the journey! As much as we love some more peaceful places to get away to but working remotely and also making these videos we need access to good internet, airport, ports and certain things. Also Katina wanted her aerial studio, and while she has some distant family in Koroni, she also has distant roots close to Vamos as well.

[@grainnemcguinness2734]

Just found your channel, I'm visiting Crete for the first time in 3 weeks, looking forward to the food and seeing some of this beautiful island.. 😊 Thanks for the great video

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you for watching! Our video on Rethymno will give you more to look forward to on the food scene here 😀

[@thelifewithnate]

Such an awesome view, isn't it? Crete seems like an amazing place to live!

[@becoming_greek]

We definitely love it here in Crete

[@laceyivey6405]

Wow, this is so well done! 👍🏻 I really enjoy watching!!

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you for the kind words! We hope you also enjoy watching our adventures in Greece 😁

[@dinokonro]

Great video as usual!! Would love to see more vids in the future about what your daily life looks like :)

[@becoming_greek]

Good to hear! I’ve thought about this. I think it’ll take a bit to get there because of things we are doing but I’m certainly down to try this once we’ve built a bit more of a following. Thank you for your suggestions!

[@simonkass]

This is a great video! You guys seem like warm, genuine people. How have you found flying out of/back to Crete during the off season to the US etc?

[@becoming_greek]

Good question.. in the off season it is quite a task as you have to usually connect in Athens and again in another EU city to get back to the states… between April and October you can fly to Athens or many other EU cities direct and direct to ATL (for us).. so it’s a lot but a small price for living here 🤷‍♂️

[@CynthiaWintonHenry]

Thanks so much. Such a welcoming intro to your Crete connections.

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you for taking the time to watch and Katina really enjoyed meeting you

[@thelifewithnate]

As someone trying to get into the whole Digital Nomad lifestyle, this is a window into a whole 'nother world! Crete seems like an amazing place to live in, how are the summers going to be though I wonder? Last summer, I remember those European heatwaves were a scorcher!

[@becoming_greek]

Crete is more temperate than most of Greece but as most of the country there are fears of fire from time to time. July and August are VERY touristy but if you know where to go you can avoid the crowds and it’s really paradise in the “fringe” seasons and also has a mild winter. Good news is there is almost 0 humidity in the summer so even if there is a heat, it’s a dry heat and the ocean feels great

[@TheRetirementality]

Hey just found you. Great video. New sub. We are planning to move to Spain but Crete is my backup even though I've never been there. I'm going to learn all about it from you. What microphone are using?

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you for following! For this I use a hollyland lark max lav and I sweeten it with adobe

[@TheRetirementality]

@@becoming_greek I watched a few more of your videos and found out you are a pro. You're video looks and sounds great. Your channel is going to do great.

[@becoming_greek]

@TheRetirementality thank you 😁 I hope so

[@pavelsladek246]

HI, I was looking at some rental properties BUT almost all of them are rented only off season long-term but come May or June, and the property gets rented for tourists. How does one then find a property for a whole year? My plans is to stay for a year and then sell my property in Prague and buy something for that money if I decide to stay on the island. Did you buy a car or do you keep renting? That is the other problem. One cannot rent something further away if you do not have a car. I hope things work out for you.

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you! The car is the easier answer… I signed a lease agreement with flexcar, it was the best option I could find for long term car rental. As far as long term home rental, it takes time and is more difficult, spitigatos and Facebook groups are usually the best but it’s certainly easier if you’re here which is why we rented in the off season while we looked for something. It’s very difficult to find things in the Center but with the car it’s not too far away. There are also buses, many people use this method even though it wasn’t preferred for us. I hope this helps!

[@pavelsladek246]

@@becoming_greek Very helpful. Thank you.

[@deanpapadopoulos3314]

Good job!

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you!

[@ajdrums8075]

We moved to Nea Chora recently but bought a small apartment for the Golden Visa. Love it here as we don't own a car but can walk everywhere 😊❤

[@becoming_greek]

Love Nea Chora! Miss being able to walk around, we were there for 6 months… you’ll really enjoy it in the fringe and off season coming up I’m sure

[@ajdrums8075]

@becoming_greek We arrived in Winter but took time to purchase. Everyone thinks it's too busy in summer but I actually prefer it 🙃

[@becoming_greek]

My favorite time is right now but really.. either way it’s great to see all of the seasons 😁

[@ajdrums8075]

@becoming_greek Well yeah rn it's awesome not to sweat 5 minutes after walking I agree.

[@imidsikkey]

Im sure you're alteady all over it, but if you haven't gone to lake Kournas and had some antixristo bbq, please do!

[@becoming_greek]

We have done that! Thank you for the recommendation 😁 Most villages in Crete you can find great antixristo for Sunday lunch, it’s a big part of the culture here

[@KenzieNakamura]

I love Japan to much😂 currently on vacation @Crete, Greek :p, very good olive oil tho!

[@becoming_greek]

The best

[@angieb7604]

Love all of your great advice and especially the beautiful videos you shoot. We love living in Crete too!

[@becoming_greek]

We love that you live here too 😀

[@TheHappyHoopDancer]

👏🏼

[@becoming_greek]

🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

[@davidwhite2655]

Keep those hands going buddy

[@becoming_greek]

Yeeeeah, I definitely talk a ton with my hands 😂

[@sanekabc]

Why did you not opt for Heraklion?

[@becoming_greek]

Too big of a city, really. Chania feels closer to better beaches, prettier old town and just less fast paced and easier to find a somewhat slower pace of life

[@becoming_greek]

I should say while I love the energy and people of the city, living in a big city for many years has started to wear on me either way more stress so it’s part of what we were looking for is less of that lifestyle and Chania was a better blend

[@bettycarol8752]

How much rental a month

[@becoming_greek]

Most apartments go for between €400-€700 a month before utilities. Obviously larger places, especially in the Center can be more.

[@jetsethuebels1364]

In which village do you live?

[@becoming_greek]

Honestly we don’t really love sharing this publicly but east of Chania

[@nanasabia]

There is Si much animal suffering in the villages that it was even hard to stay for holidays - not sure how To live there and ignore that😢

[@becoming_greek]

It really depends on where you go and while Greece as a whole is newer to pet ownership and knowledge about such things, it is improving. I see a lot of people who make a huge effort to improve life for the cats and the dogs here. It’s definitely not ignored by animal lovers who live here

[@moutsatsosa]

All good.Why this hair color?What's wrong with your natural one?

[@becoming_greek]

Personal branding. I’ve had this hair color for 15 years

[@ΤάσοςΚαυσοκαλυβίτης]

I already live in a village in another Greek island. Your video is nice, but there is a better advice. Find islands and places that are NOT as touristic as Crete and go live there. Chances are you might not have to even move out for the season and find a very affordable house to live. Most of Greece is empty, after all. Most Greeks have, stupidly, moved to Athens or some other large city, so the villages are packed with empty houses. Especially in the mainland. Why not go live in a hill, 5kilometers away from great empty beaches and 5 kilometers away from the big forested mountain-ranges? Crete is nice, but it is barren compared to other places. Samos or Chios or Kos or Lesvos are much greener, beautiful and more affordable. Good luck with your journey in life.

[@becoming_greek]

For digital nomads there isn’t enough access on other islands unfortunately, at least for us who need high speed. All of Crete has 5G, close to airports for those who need to travel from time to time, close to hospitals, access to be able to explore a much bigger area, access to electronics (which matters for what I do), and if you want to be more remote you can still find plenty of places on Crete. Also having life year round was important to us. Obviously everyone has a different situations so really it depends on what you do but I do believe for digital nomads internet speed and access to tech and airports are more necessary than possibly your situation. I totally agree on Athens being too crazy and Crete was the perfect medium for us

[@bwana-ma-coo-bah425]

Whilst it is very nice you have moved to Crete. And I love Crete more than mainland Greece. It is the people of Crete you are pushing out of the market by driving prices up. And then on the other hand, if Greece did not lie, to join the UE. Greece would not be for sale. I also believe Crete should become autonomous and break away from mainland Greece.

[@becoming_greek]

My wife’s roots are from Crete and that’s a big reason we came here. I’d be very interested in knowing where you are from.. This is not the sentiment of the locals that we talk to. While you are right by people being pushed out in Greece and Crete the reason for this is lack of opportunities financially in Greece, the lack of trade jobs with good pay and people often leave for those opportunities. The prices on rent are rising but it is AirBnb that is creating this problem more than anything as people are not willing to rent out their apartments. Sadly many of the hotels do not even fill up because people are renting airbnbs instead. You can understand why people would rent out places on Airbnb because they can make a higher income by doing this but the government needs to do a better job on limiting the airbnbs to keep rent down for the locals. While I understand your points many islands and even villages in Crete are dying because there’s no way to make money and people are suffering. A lot of outsiders see how close they are and how strong their culture is and don’t realize that you people are leaving these places and have been for a generation due to opportunities elsewhere. Having more money spent locally on the island has given these places a second chance at life… and while we’d like to see some things never change there were vendettas that were very real and left many villages in Crete abandoned until a couple of decades ago. Also it’s not fair to deny Greeks the opportunity to go elsewhere to make a better life for themselves if they want to do. So I understand your sentiment I just think the reality is much different

[@bwana-ma-coo-bah425]

​@@becoming_greek Okay, I live in Australia for six months and travel Europe for the other six months. Let me break down the difference between mainland Greeks and Greeks on Crete. Mainland Greeks are, liars, lazy, thieves and believe the world owes them a living. If you have seen the movie Zorba the Greek, there is a scene where there is some old Greek ladies standing on the outside of the house waiting for the person to die so they can steal his possessions. That is your typical Greek. There are plenty of job and trade opportunities for Greeks. Why is it that the majority of people working in Greece are Albanians? Greece lives on tourism, that is their biggest industry. Cretans on the other hand. Whilst they want your money, because they are an island. They are far more interested in making you happy. Unless you speak privately with Cretans and ask them to be totally honest, they will admit they should break away from mainland Greece. If age was on my side I would buy property in Crete and move there 3 months per year. feel free to keep the conversation going.

[@bwana-ma-coo-bah425]

@@becoming_greek Okay, I live in Australia for six months and travel Europe for the other six months. Let me break down the difference between mainland Greeks and Greeks on Crete. Mainland Greeks are, liars, lazy, thieves and believe the world owes them a living. If you have seen the movie Zorba the Greek, there is a scene where there is some old Greek ladies standing on the outside of the house waiting for the person to die so they can steal his possessions. That is your typical Greek. There are plenty of job and trade opportunities for Greeks. Why is it that the majority of people working in Greece are Albanians? Greece lives on tourism, that is their biggest industry. Cretans on the other hand. Whilst they want your money, because they are an island. They are far more interested in making you happy. Unless you speak privately with Cretans and ask them to be totally honest, they will admit they should break away from mainland Greece. If age was on my side I would buy property in Crete and move there 3 months per year. feel free to keep the conversation going.

[@becoming_greek]

We live there so we do speak to a lot of locals. There are obviously different people with different views on the island, age is a big part of this as well as the part of the island and size of the city or village they are from. While I don’t agree with the sentiment that typical Greeks are I do agree that the Cretans are extra hospitable and want you to be happy. Cretans definitely want the money from tourism but the anarchists and a few others there disapprove. I think the main thing here is putting more control on the airbnbs, allowing for tourism without continuing to push up rents and risk over tourism. I think Crete does a great job at being who they are and holding onto their culture without changing it to cater to tourists. That’s important and really what I don’t want to see change. That’s why I feel, living there, you should do what you can to admire the culture and strengthen it so that they continue the strong Cretan culture.

[@georgegeorgakopoulos5956]

Engels and Volkers approves this video

[@becoming_greek]

Why?

[@Mr11ESSE111]

greece just like Crete are everything just not cheap or budget but overall they are pretty worse then Spain in everything and Spain are more wealthy country

[@becoming_greek]

Spain is a wealthier country for sure but completely disagree for Crete not being budget friendly.. especially for an island and an island with the views and landscapes that it has. Most places in the world it would cost much more for such things. Of course your personal budget varies greatly on certain factors but Greece (with exceptions of Santorini, Mykonos and Paros), as a whole, is the most budget friendly place I’ve traveled in Europe. I have been to Spain and it’s certainly more budget than the places I went there but I was only in Barcelona and Palma so I didn’t see much of the countryside. Inflation is something that has hit everywhere in the world pretty hard and compared to our other travels in Europe and the States Greece is far less expensive. The issue in Greece is that wages are too low and income taxes are high so it’s not a great place if you are looking for a job in Greece.

[@Mr11ESSE111]

@becoming_greek not for job then for those in retirement and budget of around 1500$ monthly ,Grecce are expensive with properties and other things

[@becoming_greek]

There are very few countries you can live for that amount monthly. The problems in Greece are not the cost, it is the low wages and high taxes.

[@Mr11ESSE111]

@becoming_greek it is in costs too problem,prices are like in much richier countries and product offers.not so

[@becoming_greek]

Prices in America and Northern Europe are 2-4x higher