Moving to Greece may sound like a dream, but what is it really like to move and live here?
To find out firsthand, I recently interviewed Sergey Korshunov, who moved from Chicago to Athens, Greece, a few months ago on a trial run and hasn’t looked back since.
Kat K.: Tell us a little about your background…
Sergey: I was born in Russia, but I moved to the U.S. in 1997 and spent many years working in technology.
Eventually, I became a full-time investor and that gave me location freedom. Now I don’t have to be in a specific place to do my job.
Kat: What sparked the interest in moving outside of the U.S.?
My wife and I have been together 30 years, and we’ve always liked traveling.
Even while living in Chicago, we would go as far away as we could on long vacations. We went to Japan, India, China, all over the Americas and Europe. We like to explore the world and being in different places adds interest and spice to life.
Europe is very close to our heart and we always wanted to spend more time here, and now is a great time in our lives for it.
Kat: So you knew you’d like to spend more time in Europe, but how did you zero in on Greece?
It’s a difficult decision process… a perfect place probably doesn’t exist, so you just try to check as many boxes as you can.
First, we simply wanted a place we enjoy spending time—many countries meet that criterion.
But in addition to that, it needed to have good health care, OK taxes, and availability of residency permits that aren’t too onerous.
Some countries require you to renew and file for residency annually, which we didn’t want because it seems so unsure… What if they change their policies and the visa isn’t available the next year? Plus, there’s a cost to renew every year.
Greece passed all these filters.
And the people are very nice. It’s very safe. The climate is great.
The food is super enjoyable. We are pescatarians, and Greece has some of the best vegetarian and fish options in the world.
No matter how we looked at it, we found that Greece is the best of all the options. It checks all those boxes.
Kat: Had you guys spent a lot of time in Greece before you moved?
We visited a couple of times, but never for very long. It made a good enough impression that we wanted to spend more time getting to know it, particularly Athens and a few other places.
As of today, we have been here over six months, and my desire to stay in Greece has only increased.
Kat: Where exactly are you in Greece?
We’re in Athens, in a small area called Koukaki, which is close to the center and the Acropolis—it has beautiful views of the Acropolis, and there are plenty of flowers and walking trails nearby, which is rare to find in the middle of a big European city.
Kat: Do you own a car?
Not at the moment. We can walk everywhere, which is a big advantage.
Whenever we want to travel to other parts of Greece, we just rent a car.
It’s one of the main reasons that a lot of people love to come to Europe, I think. Once you get settled someplace in Europe as a home base, the whole continent is just right there. It’s so easy to access and often very affordable as well.
Kat: How has life changed since moving? Not having a car and walking everywhere is a major change—how has that impacted life?
I feel healthier…
Is it thanks to me walking a lot during the winter months, or maybe eating healthier food, or is it just the general happiness in the air that I feel here…
Kat: And what about shopping? How has that changed?
Every Friday there’s a huge local market right next to us. Farmers bring their fresh produce—tons of fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive oil, and everything else. I spend maybe €100 and come home carrying huge bags.
And I’m very impressed with the quality of the food. Take oranges for example. The taste of local oranges is very different from the ones that I had in Chicago. Now I eat them daily.
Kat: I need to ask the language question… I can see this being one of the biggest perceived challenges about moving to Greece. How have you guys dealt with that?
Pretty much all the expats living here long enough speak perfect Greek, so everybody manages to learn it.
We take some classes on Duolingo, so at the moment I can do simple things. I understand the alphabet, can say very common phrases. I also plan to attend language school later.
Kat: Any final words for someone considering a new life in Greece?
I would say it’s a great choice and you should do a trial run, just like we are.
Bonne route,
Kat Kalashian
Editor, In Focus: Europe
