We build our memories by travelling

Text and photos: Dimosthenis Papadopoulos
Translated by: John Agrafiotis

Even in our days, travelling by a motorcycle and having only a tent as your main residence for a long time, is considered by most of the Greeks as a repressed from past decades or even more it makes you look quaint. Many of my friends wonder what I find attractive in spending so much time exposed to the natural elements like the heat, the continuous for many days rain, the storms with strong side winds and the frozen hands even with 2 pairs of gloves on. I’m sure that no matter how much I try to explain, they will never understand how it feels to become part , not only of each local community at the place you are, but also to become part of the nature and its elements, the colors and the smells, “embracing” as much as possible the journey. In my opinion, traveling is not only about sightseeing with millions along million tourists, but about being able to find the magic in any small place on your route, 24 hours a day, discovering even the smallest detail of every place. This is something that no box with four doors, which stops four of your five senses, leaving just the vision, can offer to you. This magic appears in the remote areas of our country and even in the crowded Europe, something I didn’t believe until I saw it myself. And if this opinion appears to be extravagant, you can always try yourselves. Especially if you leave behind the big highways and you don’t wait when the stars will come out, so as to begin. Be careful though, as if you get infected, there is no coming back …

2012 was one of the most full years for me, as I travelled as much as I could inside and outside from Greece mostly on mountains, as I am highly attracted by them, in terms of driving and watching, in order to “build” some more memories, which might be the most important part of my brain. Sometimes at places I have already been a few times, but I can’t get enough of them, and sometimes at unknown places far away. I don’t care how many things I miss in my everyday life, as long as I am able to flee for a few days every now and then, in any season of the year, and live my own adventure exploring new places, people, cultures and habits, playing with my camera lens.
Doing it in nice company is the icing on the cake. Being able to share experiences with people made by the same staff as you are is a great happiness; especially in periods when being lonely is not wanted. Therefore, this text is dedicated to those people that offered me great moments by their companionship.

You see the best sunrise only when you had not planned to

The best traveling is the one in good company

Following twisty roads, far away from the highways

Finding the best view

And some more rough, landscape

Watching the lives of some locals in Italy

Achieving a goal even if it’s easier than you thought

You live the trip on the road

Making my own souvenirs

Understanding that a friends smiles, even by just looking at her back

Discovering the minimalism of the winter

The screen of the BBC is just a few thousand miles from Greece

The magic of a stop for a cigarette

Moments for psychoanalysis that need a bit of loneliness

Lost in the magic of Croatia

Far away from the urban centers, people join your table just by saying hello

Staring at unforgettable sunsets

In places you have heard a lot about but you actually don’t know anything

Having breakfast at the best hotels

Going up as much as possible

Going down until the road goes up again

Watching an epic scenery with a rainbow

Walking down amazing little roads

Capturing spontaneous moments, a

Capturing spontaneous moments, b

Capturing spontaneous moments, c

Watching how good the day will be, early in the morning

Getting used to the rain so much that you start to enjoy it

Without rain there would be no waterfalls

Choosing unique spots to spend the night

Smelling the moisture in the morning

Getting into the micro world

Watching the wild side of the nature

But also feeling the peace in it