For the first time in a very long time, I wasn't the one holding the plan.
My husband and I are home from Greece, where we celebrated fifteen years of marriage, and this trip was different from any we've taken before: We hired a travel agent to plan the entire thing. I spend my working life guiding other people through big, complicated projects, so handing ours over felt a little strange at first. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we made, and it gave me something I didn't expect to bring home: a chance to sit in my clients' chair.
The Parthenon, Athens, Greece
Handing Over the Plan
We booked through a travel company called kimkim. I described my ideal trip to Greece, how much time we had, and roughly what we wanted to spend, and they matched us with a travel planner named Siena. From there, she worked with us back and forth until the whole getaway took shape.
When it was time to leave, every single detail was in place. Everything lived in one app: our airport transfers, where to meet each guide, every excursion we'd booked. If we were walking from our hotel to a pickup spot, one tap pulled up the route in Google Maps. Beyond what we'd actually planned, there was a wealth of suggestions for markets, restaurants, and places to explore on our own. And if a question came up, the team was right there to text or chat with.
We didn't have to overthink anything. We knew the next thing was already set up and Siena had taken care of it, so we could enjoy being there.
Memphis to Athens on our Delta flight
The Parthenon
We started with a couple of days in Athens, and of course the Acropolis came first.
Seeing the Parthenon was a big deal for me. So much of my interior design education, and my fine art background before that, traces back to Greece. Here were all the parts I have literally taken tests on: the architrave, the frieze, the entablature, the different orders of columns. I'd drawn and memorized them for years, and there they were, full size, very ancient, and right in front of me.
We saw all three classical orders in Athens: the Doric columns of the Parthenon, the Ionic columns of the Erechtheion and the little Temple of Athena Nike, and the Corinthian columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. And then there's the Erechtheion's famous porch, where six carved maidens, the Caryatids, hold up the roof. (The ones on site are copies; the originals are protected in the Acropolis Museum.) I can remember learning about the Caryatids while I was studying interior design at MTSU over 20 years ago. Standing there in Athens, looking at them in real life, I could hear my professor, Deborah Belcher, explaining the principles of design like it was yesterday.
Those principles never stayed in the classroom, either. When we were working out the new porch columns at the Granger Project next door, the house was Colonial, not Greek Revival, but the questions were the same ones: how tall, how wide, and how everything fits together. A lot of those Greek principles still apply, and I think about them more than you'd guess.
Past the usual tourist and souvenir shops, we spent time poking around the antique and flea-market stalls, which I could have done for days. The highlight for me was Evripidou Street, the stretch of central Athens lined with spice shops. I came home with Greek mountain tea, Greek oregano, a tzatziki blend, and more dried spices than I'd like to admit. Everything was so fresh, from bundles of mountain tea still on the stem to crates of dried rose buds, all beautifully laid out and impossible to resist.
Santorini: Old Vines & A Very Long Name
We spent the rest of the trip, four days, on Santorini. One of my favorite days was a wine tasting tour with Eleftheria, a local sommelier, who took us to three wineries: Karamolegos, Gavalas, and Estate Argyros. We really immersed ourselves in Santorini wine and the wineries, with their barrels, bottles, and gardens lined with pomegranate and olive trees. The island grows its own grape, Assyrtiko, and the way they grow the vines is amazing. Instead of neat rows on trellises, the vines are coiled low to the ground into baskets, called kouloura, to protect the grapes from the wind. Some of the vines on the island are 100, 200, even 300 years old. Just thinking back across that much time is incredible. One cellar was carved right into the volcanic rock, with barrels lined up under a rough stone ceiling, and at one of the wineries, wine was aging in tall terracotta jars. We tasted twelve wines during our half-day tour and enjoyed lots of Greek snacks and treats along the way (smoked white eggplant dip was a favorite!)
We also took a village tour with a wonderful guide named Michaél, who has lived on Santorini his entire life and gave us the best local perspective. We visited the villages of Pyrgos, Megalochori, and Emporio. I couldn't stop photographing the white plaster walls with flowers spilling over the sides, the shades of blue on garden gates and doorways, and the endless terraces of arches, domes, and curves. Every street looked like something out of a painting or a sculpture in an art museum.
At one point, Michaél was telling us about his Greek Orthodox faith and his family, and how children are traditionally named after their grandparents. His children and his brother's children share the same first names; only their middle names differ. So we got on the subject of names, and we mentioned that our son's name is Jim. Michaél got so excited. Jim, it turns out, is a Greek name: Dimitris!
So when we were back in Athens at the end of the trip, we found a t-shirt shop that could print his name in Greek letters on a hoodie: ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ. Jim is very entertained by it, because it looks like a very long name. Now when someone asks what his sweatshirt says, he gets to tell them, "It says Jim." We also picked up a ceramic tic-tac-toe set for him in Pyrgos, and saved him some Greek Nutella.
Jim’s Greek hoodie and other treats from Greece
Akrotiri
Michaél also took us to the island's southern end, to the ancient ruins of Akrotiri. It was a Bronze Age town, buried by a volcanic eruption around 1600 BC and preserved under the ash ever since. Only about 10 percent of it has been excavated so far.
Looking back that far in time was awe-inspiring. You can see the planning and the architecture, with buildings two and even three stories tall. In one area, they'd unearthed vases and pottery, rows of tall clay storage jars still sitting right where they were left. They looked a lot like the terracotta jars we'd just seen holding wine: same material, same idea, about 3,600 years apart. Seeing the painted motifs on the pottery, after years of art and architectural history, was a really poignant moment. These pieces were made more than a thousand years before the Parthenon was even built.
By Boat
Our last big adventure was a sunset catamaran cruise. We sailed around parts of Santorini you can only reach by boat and saw a couple of the beaches the volcano created. Red Beach gets its color from exposed, oxidized iron. White Beach was fascinating and beautiful, with a little copper in the cliffs that has oxidized to a turquoise tint. We jumped in and swam in the Aegean, ate a really great Greek barbecue and kebabs on board, then sailed over to the tip of Oia to watch the sun go down over the water. It was the perfect ending to a trip so full of history, art, and beauty.
What I Brought Home
I could stop here with a list of fun things we did, but that's not what stuck with me most. Every person who planned or led part of this trip, from Siena to Eleftheria to Michaél to the crew on that catamaran, went above and beyond to create an experience for us. We felt taken care of from start to finish, and I noticed it in a way I might not have before, because it's exactly what I want my own clients to feel.
When you hire me for a kitchen, a bathroom, or a whole-home remodel, a big part of my job is the part you'll never have to think about. I bring the floor plans, elevations, and specifications together in one plan set, so your contractor knows exactly what goes where. That plan is my version of Siena's app. Then during construction, I'm the one you call or text when a question comes up, and I meet with your contractor and trades at the key moments so the design is carried out the way we planned it.
My goal is for you to do what we did in Greece: let someone else hold the plan and enjoy the whole experience.
If you're dreaming about a project and managing it all feels like too much, that's exactly where I come in. Getting started is simple: let me know your ideas, timeline, and budget (if you know it; if not, no worries!), and I will take it from there. You can start the conversation right here.
I’ll see you again on November 17th for another visit Under the Ginkgo.
