I was scouting in Greece for travel destinations that would be suitable for my adventurous clients. Meteora and Chios were virtually unknown to me in 2018. My first stop was Meteora which literally means "hovering in the air." It is located in Thessaly of Central Greece. I spent a few days in Kalampaka, the city under the rock towers of Meteora that hold one of the largest collections of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, second in importance only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on top of the immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area. The second stop was Chios, the fifth largest of the Greek islands situated in the northern Aegean Sea. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic gum and its nickname is "the Mastic Island." The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. From here, I traveled to Turkey for the first time.
