In 2009 when Dan Buettner from National Geographic and I were first connected, he told me he was interested in bringing his research team to Ikaria. His studies so far had led him to believe our small island was one of the regions in the world with the highest number of centenarians per thousand.

 

I must admit, at first I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Having moved here from America so long ago, I was surprised to find that what we regarded as a ‘normal’ way of life, was actually quite unusual – living within nature's cycles, keeping a light and wholesome diet and nurturing close ties with our families and community. Once Dan and his team had documented many things that we Ikarians take for granted, including the fact we experience less dementia, less cancer and less heart disease, I realised we may have an important message for the modern world.

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Dan Buettner marked Ikaria as one of the world’s Blue Zones – and ever since then I have helped open the doors to Ikaria to people from all over the world. It’s been a pleasure to watch how our humble Inn has turned into a gateway for people to discover the magic of our island, where there are no set schedules, in fact, nobody here wears a watch. Instead, there is a sense of ‘timelessness’ and yet it always feels there has been time for everything to happen that needed to happen.

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