5 Reasons I Traded the American Hustle for Life and Remote Work in Greece

Some people dream of living abroad.

I didn’t just dream it — I needed it like oxygen.

So I packed up my life and went for it.

I’ve often heard people say that vacationing in Greece is nothing like living here. I beg to differ. 

Even though I’m working the same — if not more — hours (running my own small business), I still feel way more relaxed.

The vibe here summed up in one sentence? Let’s have a coffee.

Why I Left the U.S.

Simple: I wanted out of the American rat race.

I felt like I was stuck on a hamster wheel — working full-time, going to school full-time, bills piling up, always on the go and on the edge of a breakdown with no time or money left for myself — trapped in a cycle with no end in sight.

The hustle culture didn’t fulfill me. It felt more like a "have to" than a "want to."

Maybe you’re thinking: get another job, find something else to do, try living in another state besides New York.

You just upped and left the country?

Yes — after I graduated. I wasn’t feeling the American hustle lifestyle anymore. I didn’t think it was worth it.

I had traveled abroad and lived in a few cities for a few short months at a time — just to try it out.

It was a vibe. A slowed down pace. 

Family and community mattered. Health mattered. Food mattered. Having a life mattered.

Whenever I touched back down on U.S. soil, I just kept thinking:

Is this worth it?

Can I keep living this way?

This whole motto — "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" — why do I have to kill myself to "make it"?

Seriously, I'd rather be lying out on a beach — or at least close enough to see it from my balcony and sneak away for a mini escape whenever I needed it.

I want to sit in the middle of the day, sipping coffee and people-watching — just because I felt like it.

I saw how people were living in Italy, in Spain, in Ireland, and especially in Greece.

There is a carefreeness that I simply had not seen or lived in New York. I had no desire to live or explore another state.

If I were going to start over and be alone, it might as well be across the Atlantic, on a piece of land floating in or surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.

I'd look around and think, "this is how people live every day.” 

They use their time differently. Time is quality life. Not time is money."

It was enough to keep me thinking: What if this could be an option for how I live my life?

Why do I have to be bound to the U.S.?

The answer became clear: move abroad.

In total, I’ve been living outside of the United States for 18 years now — the past six of those in Greece.

And while I might be biased (both my parents are Greek and I’m a first-generation Greek-American), I always felt drawn to living outside the U.S. at some point in my life.

Especially here — where the culture, the pace, and the values felt deeply familiar, even when everything else was new.

Here are the top five reasons Greece isn’t just a place I live — it’s my home base.

1. Affordable Healthcare That Feels Human

Healthcare here is a whole different world — and even when there’s a cost, it’s next to nothing compared to the U.S.

If you’re a resident, you’re assigned an AMKA — the Greek equivalent of a Social Security number. You need it for everything related to work, healthcare, pensions, and social benefits.

You can walk into any public hospital for emergencies. You can also book an appointment online or by phone with a specialist — either for free or for a small fee.

When Americans hear what it costs, they’re usually in total disbelief.

I don’t have to choose between saving my life or paying my rent. That alone lifted a mental load I didn’t even realize I was carrying until I let it go.

It’s not just affordable. It actually feels like you’re treated like a real person.

I can call my doctor on their cell phone. There’s a relationship there, not a wall of bureaucracy. 

Yes, like a human-to-human chat with no middleman.  They’ll answer your call faster than the guy who last ghosted you. 

A couple of years ago, I had a health scare — surgery, chemo, the works.

And I can tell you: I didn’t feel an ounce of stress, pressure, or anxiety over how I was going to afford treatments, exams, surgeries, or follow-ups.

No worrying, "Will my insurance cover it?"

No scrambling, "Is this doctor under my insurance plan?"

No stressing, "Can I afford my rent while I’m going through my treatments?"

NONE OF THAT.  

I was covered in all public hospitals for all my needs.  From private doctors to public sector doctors, they all worked as a team on my case. 

Anything that required out-of-pocket payments — like my MRIs or oncologist visits in their private office — was astonishingly affordable. (For reference: two MRIs with contrast cost me just under 500 euros total at a private diagnostics center.)

Appointments were easy to get, usually within the same week of calling.

None of this “let’s wait three months to get you in” nonsense. 

I never once felt like I’d have to sell my kidney, my parents’ house, or take out loans just to survive and then go bankrupt.

I swear, not having to deal with that mental burden allowed me to focus my energy on just getting through one day at a time until I was in the clear.

Back home, that kind of peace of mind would have cost me everything. Here, it’s just how the system works.

2. A Lifestyle That Puts Living First

Life here moves slower — and with intention. Here, the order of priorities is: health, family, social life, and then work.

Having a coffee isn’t about the caffeine. It’s quality time, a conversation, a therapy session, a mini happy hour. And the standard? Expect it to last at least two hours.

I remember living here during a trial period. I called a friend who lives in Athens to go out, grab a bite to eat, maybe grab a drink.  It was a Tuesday night. You’d think it was a bumping Saturday. 

I looked around and asked, “Don’t they have work in the morning?”

My friend gave me a matter-of-fact look and said, “Yes” — followed by a shrug and a gesture that said, This is totally normal.

All this to say, they really know how to live life over here. 

Don’t even get me started on holidays — you can’t imagine how many national and religious ones we have here.

Maybe it’s because Greek Easter just passed — the biggest holiday in the Orthodox calendar — and I’m feeling a little extra sentimental.

But you can feel it in the air… not just on Easter Sunday. The entire Holy Week builds toward that moment Saturday night when the holy light is passed from person to person.

Thousands gather in church courtyards, strangers bless one another, and in that moment, we all share something sacred — our traditions, our history, our togetherness.

It’s a beautiful thing when an entire country celebrates Easter together.

3. Food That Actually Tastes Like Real Food

The first time I bit into a peach here, I stood in my kitchen with my eyes closed — I couldn’t believe something so simple could taste so alive. 

One reason I dread visiting home is that I know my body won’t adjust to the food.

I’ve visited once a year for the past three years, and without fail, I got sick the moment I ate anything — bloated, cramping, or throwing up by the end of the trip.

Meanwhile, in Greece, not only am I shoveling hordes of food into my body, but it actually feels like it's doing its job: nurturing me.

Fruit tastes like fruit, and vegetables taste like hearty vegetables.

The first year I moved here, I was getting all my produce from the neighborhood supermarket.

That was until I found out every neighborhood has a farmers market once a week.

Oh my God.

Let me tell you, this isn’t to knock supermarket produce — but the farmers market? It’s something special. It’s an experience.

Once a week, these folks set out from their farms outside of Athens around 4 a.m. By 5 a.m., they’re setting up their stands, and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., they’re calling out their goods.

The street turns into a block party — closed to cars, packed with people. Vendors are boisterous, yelling out what they’re offering and how much on repeat with charisma.

Most people I’ve bought from have charm, know how to sell, and always have a quick whip with their words.

Every fruit I bought in season was sensational and tasted like it had just been pulled from the earth — bursting with flavor, sun, and life. 

I react the same way every time, thinking: This is the freshest piece of fruit I’ve ever had.

No additives, no preservatives, just sun-ripened, honest-to-goodness fruit.

4. Culture & Language That Let You Feel Everything

Greeks are passionate people. 

Yelling and getting fired up isn’t rude — it’s normal. It's just how we express ourselves. 

There are countless ways to say even the simplest things, with each word taking on a different meaning depending on the situation and your tone. 

It’s a rich and colorful language.

Cursing someone out in Greek takes on a whole other level of pleasure. It's an art form.​

I’ve watched old ladies have full-blown conversations — one on her balcony, the other on hers across the street.

People TALK — or take video calls on their phones — way more than they text. Greeks would much rather call you. They want to hear you. They want the small talk. They want the catch-up chatter.

I’ve had people start small talk with me while I’m walking my dog — total strangers — and then suddenly share something deeply personal.

Here, people wear their emotions on their sleeves. Getting it out of their system is seen as healthy.  

They love to chatter and overshare. 

They’ll be angry at you, but still feed you. 

Business, personal, family — it’s all connected. There’s no such thing as compartmentalizing here.

No “it’s just business” mentality.  They are one and the same here. Everything is personal.

It’s incredible to just watch people let it rip no matter the emotion. They’ll cry together and laugh together. They feel for their fellow man. 

I once watched two old men outside a kafenio “argue” for 30 minutes — hands waving, voices raised — about everything from politics to which cheese is the best, to which part of Greece makes the best olives.

There’s nothing on the table that’s undebatable.

To an outsider, this escalation looks as though it’s heading for table and chairs being thrown.  

But once they let it all out, they clink glasses, look at each other, and say, “Let’s order more food.”

Passion here isn’t personal. It’s presence.

5. A Landscape That Stops You in Your Tracks

I might be biased, but I’m convinced Greece is one of the most — if not the most — beautiful places on Earth. 

It’s no surprise Greece is one of the top ten most-visited destinations in the world. 

People are enchanted by it — especially during the summer months — although I’ll always claim it’s incredible all year round, with picturesque locations for every season.

The Greek islands are exactly how you imagine a Mediterranean paradise: whitewashed villages, olive groves, turquoise waters, and mountains that drop straight into the sea.

Sometimes I feel like I don’t need to see anywhere else, because I’m already standing in the most beautiful place on Earth. And let’s not forget — we’re blessed with over 300 days of sunshine a year.

I’ll never forget watching the sunrise from a mountaintop village in Chios — the bells of a church echoing through the valley, the sea shimmering in the distance. 

That moment — like so many others here — felt sacred in its simplicity.

It was as though time was in slow motion.  

I just stood there, mesmerized — listening to the sounds of early morning life coming to be, drinking my coffee in silence, breathing in the fresh air, hearing myself think clearly — and feeling completely carefree, as though whatever world I had been living in before belonged to another lifetime. 

I had stepped into another dimension. A paradise. 

When Life Feels Right — Final Thoughts

There are places you visit... and then there are places that feel like they were made for you.

Greece is that place for me.

Moving abroad won’t magically fix your life. But for me, it gave me space — physical, mental, and emotional — to redefine what I want that life to feel like. 

Greece gave me the room to work hard and still feel alive, to stop rushing, to be part of something bigger than myself.

So if you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to trade hustle for wholeness… it is. 

You just might find your own version of it — in a coffee shop, on a cliffside, or in a quiet Greek village at sunset.

Go where you can live well, where even the basics feel like luxuries.

Live where you can enjoy the simple pleasures of life: sun, food, friends, and above all, good health.

The whole point of life — in my opinion — is to live well.