This week’s travel dream: Finding the Dionysian spirit on a Greek isle

Nobody told me that the Greek island of Ikaria could teach me a better way to live, said Anna Hestler in The Washington Post. When I identified it as a place whose language school could help me learn Greek, my Greek mother-in-law warned of the island’s relative remoteness and of the locals’ “peculiar” customs. Flying into the small airport on this Aegean island that’s named after mythology’s Icarus, I was thinking instead of what my father-in-law said: “She may never want to leave.”

Ikaria’s special spirit is evident from the moment I’m handed keys to a rental car at the island’s airport and told the paperwork can wait until Monday. “In the days that follow, I never pass a soul who doesn’t acknowledge me with a wave and a smile or a few kind words.” That strong sense of community is generally attributed to Ikaria’s lack of natural harbors, a quirk that long isolated its inhabitants from the rest of Greece. Such isolation also might explain why Ikarians do almost nothing by the clock. The director of the language school I’ve enrolled in adds activities to our schedule almost at whim, and I learn to embrace the spontaneity. One day we hike from a high plateau down to a fishing village, stopping at a waterfall to snack before swimming in the “crystal-clear” water off beautiful Livadi Beach.

Ikarians have unusually long life spans, a distinction that’s been attributed to their healthy Mediterranean diet and laid-back attitudes. In Ikaria, a siesta isn’t just accepted, “everyone does it.” I fall into the napping habit after discovering that the sleepy island has a “hopping” nightlife fueled by its religious festivals, or panygiria. One night, I arrive at the village of Karavostamo at 10 p.m. to find red wine and roasted goat meat laid out for all comers while musicians play feverishly for a circle of dancers. Soon I’m part of that circle, “carried away by a dizzying rhythm” that will keep us swirling until 3 a.m. When my two weeks on Ikaria end, I’ll really have to live more like this at home.

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Two-week courses at the Ikarian language center start at about $860, with accommodations for an additional $16 a night.