When planning our around-the-world gap year, one of the top items on my list was a SwimTrek. I’d heard great things about it, and it seemed like the ideal way to recharge: fresh air, open crystal clear blue water, and a rather remote island. Bryan was less convinced but agreed to give it a shot—on the condition that later in the trip, we’d bike from Cambodia to Vietnam, something I was far less certain about. Nonetheless it was a deal that would push both of us out of our comfort zones. We signed up and joined fifteen strangers who also believed that swimming 5 kilometers a day around a baren Greek island was the perfect way to spend a holiday.
Every day was a recursive sequence of: eat – boat – swim – eat – boat – swim – boat – eat – sleep, then reboot for our next 24-hour cycle. Our basic goals were clear: complete a 5k swim each day, consume enough calories to power the next 5k, and ideally, have a little fun while we were at it.
The days merged into one continuous stream, and we really hit the sweet spot with conditions, given we were in the water, which provided relief from the heat. With the sun, occasional welcome gentle breezes, and clear waters, we lucked out (or in, depending on which country’s sayings you follow). The only slight hiccup—the first two days saw us scrambling to reset the ‘Bryan diet’ and find the right fuel mix to keep him from running low on battery mid-swim. Once that patch was in place, we could fully focus on the swimming.
A high point was definitely exploring Milos’s hidden caves. Who knew that holding your breath while navigating tight rock channels and emerging into shafts of sunlight would trigger such an addictive dopamine hit? Every cave was a mini quest with new terrain to conquer. The low point? The underwater scenery was practically flatlining—beyond one lone turtle early in the week and the rare small fish that seemed to have miraculously evaded every net hazard, there wasn’t much in the way of aquatic life. On the upside, the absence of big-finned predators meant zero need for a heightened fight-or-flight response, but I was missing my usual school of friendly fish who tend to shadow us back in Sydney and Yamba.
Gladly, my newly upgraded GoPro got a thorough workout—and as the unofficial underwater paparazzo, I enjoyed surprising fellow swimmers around each twist and turn, though I’m not sure all my models felt similarly 😝.
As we wrapped up the week, I was already searching for our next SwimTrek. Next time (and yes, there will be a next time), I’d like to build up my swim base to feel even more comfortable with the distance—and further hone my water photography skills to capture every moment, or at least fully annoy Bryan (my most reluctant model). Komodo National Park in Indonesia, the Bahamas, or the Galapagos are all looking promising. Who’s up for joining the next trek?
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