- American Kathleen O’Donnell said she felt at home the first time she visited Greece.
- She moved away from the US in 2019 before settling full-time in Greece in 2022.
- She likes Greece’s food quality but doesn’t like how car-centric the country can be.
Kathleen O’Donnell, 39, doesn’t think she will ever move back to the US.
O’Donnell said she felt right at home when she visited Greece during an almost yearlong trip to Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia in 2018 and 2019. After moving away from the US later on in 2019, she decided to be in Greece as much as she possibly could. She’s been living in the country full time since applying for a digital nomad residence permit in May 2022.
“The longer that I live here, the happier I am, the more I love it, the more that I feel at home, and the more that I feel really sure that I found the perfect place for me to live right now,” O’Donnell said.
She still loves visiting the US. Even though she’s unsure if she will live in Greece for the rest of her life, she said it’s unlikely she’ll return permanently to the States.
“I just don’t think that it has the quality of life that I could find in most other places these days,” O’Donnell, who has been to around 30 countries, said. “The lack of sense of community is really what gets me. It’s a very isolated society.”
O’Donnell said she thinks it’s an exciting time for people interested in moving to a different country because many places, like Brazil, Italy, and Thailand, offer digital nomad visas.
Kathleen O’Donnell
What O’Donnell likes and dislikes about Greece
O’Donnell said she likes the quality and affordability of food in Greece, including the produce at her local farmers market. She said the market can be noisy, but she enjoys getting the chance to become familiar with the people there.
“That sense of community is another pro,” O’Donnell said. “Even in Athens, which is a very large city, it feels like a series of small villages. You really get to know people around you.”
She said she had become friends with many of her neighbors since moving to her apartment earlier this year.
O’Donnell also thinks it’s easy to travel elsewhere, given Athens International Airport, and enjoys the country’s weather.
Meanwhile, she finds getting a residence permit takes a long time. She said it took around half a year for a two-year permit to be approved and another month to get it.
“The date of that permit starts when you apply, not when you get it,” she said, adding. “and you can’t go anywhere but your home country in that time and you can’t even travel through most of Europe.”
She’s waiting for her renewal, which she thinks could take at least a year. “In the meantime, you’re just very restricted about what you can do, and that’s pretty frustrating,” she said.
O’Donnell also plans to buy an apartment and has found that this is taking a while.
“It’s just a simple one-bedroom apartment, and it will probably take a full two years to complete this very typical purchase, which is just wild,” she said. “I’ve been trying to buy a place since December 2021.”
She also thinks that while Athens is vibrant and lively, it’s car-centric, and the sidewalks could be improved. She thinks getting around is tough because she doesn’t have a vehicle and likes walking.
Despite the cons, she said she still loves Athens and Greece overall.
“I am so happy here,” she said. “I just have such a great quality of life. It’s very different from the US.”
What has your moving or travel experience been like? Share with this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.
