Nov 20, 2016
Hello everyone! This post is long overdue! This summer I went on a solo trip to learn to sail in the Greek Islands. I had quite the adventure, and an interesting connection that was made during travel plans. In short, captain of the boat I was going to sail with had an emergency, and had to leave. This left me with no place to go 2 weeks before my trip! I was still holding out hope in trying to sail, so I reached out to a group online Girls Love Travel, and simply posted this- “Help! My Captain of the boat left, and I am now struggling to find a new boat to stay on. Anyone know anyone in Greece with a boat? Thanks!” A gal came forward in the comments section by the name of Jessie Stele. Let’s go back even farther now… *time warp*
Marta On The Move grew up attending a very small school called Our Lady Of Fatima, a Catholic grade school that she attending for 8 years. To give you an idea how small it was, there were 5 gals in our 8th grade graduating class. Heading to public school the following year was quite a wake up call, anyways…. Jessie Stelewas one of 5 girls in my graduating class whom I have not seen, nor talked to in 25 years. She just happened to be sailing with her fiancee in the Greek Islands. Jessie saw my post, and commented “Hey Marta, It’s Jessie! I am in the Greek Islands on a boat! You are welcome to come stay with us anytime!” The chances of this… I don’t even know what the odds are, but I imagine them to be pretty slim. There are over 125K women in that group, and the fact that-
A. She had wifi
B. She had been online at all (remember she is on a boat)
C. That she happened to see my post! They get pushed down very quickly.
So I bet you are asking…. WELL WHAT HAPPENED?! Well, I’ll tell you what happened is that my original captain found me an ex Navy Captain from Australia, Captain Chris, who was sailing near Samos, so I flew to meet him and we crewed his boat “The Skylark” together down the Grecian Islands. It was one of the best times I have had in my life. After I returned from my trip, Jessie came back to Pittsburgh, and we reconnected finally after 25 years. I thought it was incredible how we found each other after all this time, and what better way to celebrate it, than having her on the show to give our thoughts on Greece, and why sailing is the only way to see this wonderful place.
I always say that traveling let’s you connect with people all over the world of different cultures, and teaches you many things that stretch your mind. In this case, it brought us around full circle to where it all began as kids. I hope you enjoy our flashbacks to school, our stories of how we came to be, and our adventures in Greece! As always, “Keep it moving” Be sure to stay after our conversation to hear some very windy conversation that I recorded when Captain Chris and I were on the open water sailing in Greece. He will tell you how magical it is to be on a boat.
Follow along on Marta’s adventures on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Stories of Croatia will be up soon, I promise.
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Hey! How do you like the new website layout?! I am always working on it, and would appreciate feedback! Cheers!
Now to enjoy our 4th grade class photo. Can you pick us out of this bunch of crazies?