Greece is the place to be in 2025
OOO - Ouzo, Olive Oil and Olympus
I just got back from a few weeks in Greece. Despite uncharacteristically cold weather for May, ouzo was consumed, beaches and kafenios were visited.
It’s been a decade since the last time I visited, back then the country was still dealing with the fallout of their debt crisis, which threatened not just Greece but the entire European Union. The economy wasn’t doing well, the mood across the country was pessimistic and they were selling everything that wasn’t nailed down to Germany & China. Alexander did not die for this!
This time I was happily surprised to see the country in a much better condition and this was before the annual wave of tourists come to hit Greece like the thousand nations of the Persian empire tried to descend upon Gerard Butler and 300 Spartans.
The economy is among the fastest growing in the Eurozone, they are running a surplus1 , Christopher Nolan is working on The Odyssey with Matt Damon as the lead; the country is doing well. This article is here to help the average non-Greek realize that the country is not just a few Islands in the Cyclades but an absolute gem.
As your favorite North American Europe correspond, in this article I’m going to explain why now is the time to visit Greece and reveal some of the ancient wisdom the Greeks are hiding from the rest of us.
Keep reading to find out.
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Why Greece is being slept on
Economic Fundamentals
Greece has been making the rest of the European Union look bad. Over the past two years, they have been growing north of 2%, while the Eurozone average is closer to 1%. This growth is coming from increased consumption and investment, not just higher government spending. They are actually running a budget surplus above 1%, and they’ve brought their debt to GDP ratio down from 200% in 2020 to 150% in 2024.
Okay, that’s still really high, but it’s trending in the right direction while most other countries are pilling on debt like a bear preparing to hibernate. This newly found financial discipline has not gone unnoticed. Major credit rating agencies have upgraded Greece's credit rating to Baa3, which means their debt is no longer considered junk for the first time in 15 years. BBB and above is considered investment grade, anything below is poubelle. At this rate, they will be the ones preaching austerity to the Germans.
The intellectuals among you might point out that percentage growth can be deceiving because if you are starting from a lower base, it’s not that impressive. This is true. However, another decent way to see if a country is doing well is by looking at migration flows; if people are exiting in the country in mass, it can’t be doing so well.
Between 2011-2015, Greece’s net migration was -250,000. For a country of 10M people that’s crazy. That would be like the United States losing New Jersey or Michigan. If not for the Refugee crisis, migration would have remained negative for rest of the decade. After an interruption by COVID-19, in 2022, net migration was positive again.
They are Not eating the Dogs
While in America, pets are not safe, across Greece you see endless stray dogs and cats. Not only are they well fed and groomed, they are better behaved than most household pets. This proves despite your insistence otherwise, the reason your rescued doodle mix is a menace is because of you.
In all seriousness, if you’ve never been before don’t be surprised if you see cats and dogs literally everywhere. Don’t be alarmed though, they generally keep to themselves. If you decide to feed them, don’t be surprised if they adopt you.
Good Infrastructure
I got to experience their recent infrastructure investments firsthand, having driven across the entire mainland Greece in about a week. Although they started their highway system modernization back in 2007, most of it only got finished in 2017. From talking to the locals, this investment has shaved hours off their trips.
Athens is about 500KM from Thessaloniki, driving there today takes between 5-6 hours but under the previous conditions it would have taken closer to 7-8. Honestly the highway is in better condition than any other country I’ve been to recently. Although they have a lot of toll booths. Like every 50KM. I guess they finally figured out you need to generate revenue to pay for things. This is what happens when they take your money printer away from you.
Speaking of Thessaloniki, the city was booming. They recently completed a subway system and are investing ~200M Euros in the port, which was busy. It doesn’t have a beach but has many cultural attractions and cool Ottoman architecture which makes it an appealing tourist destination for people interested in seeing the north of Greece.
Greek Wisdom
Only drink what you can grow
Go to any kafenio, at any time of day and you will see a group of men sitting debating all the woes facing humanity. These men have never stepped inside a gym or know what the hell Resveratrol, NMNs or free radicals are but they will definitely outlive Bryan Johnson, Peter Attia or your favorite longevity biohacker.
^Applies to the Greeks as well
Unlike most of us in so-called civilized countries, they have learnt how to live. They drink, but not excessively. When they do, it always comes with food. When they drink ouzo, they take it with water and ice cubes, not sugary mixers. Until more recently, cigarettes were too expensive, so most people in the country side were not big smokers unlike their fellow Europeans.
Eat What you Can Grow
Greek cuisine is fairly basic but it’s difficult to have a bad meal there2. The country produces most of its own food because the growing conditions are so prime, you can spit the seeds from your mouth and a new tree/bush will grow. Despite being a small country, Greece is the largest producer of Olives/Olive Oil3, Cotton, most fruits, potatoes and certain grains within the EU. Speaking of olive oil, it would have made a great investment. If we aren’t careful Greece might get together with Italy and Spain and start their own OPEC.
Even though many traditional Greek dishes include meat or poultry, they actually don’t produce that much. That’s why sometimes you think you are ordering beef but don’t be surprised if you get lamb.
Fishing With Dynamite Brings Sharks
Although Greece is an ancient country, it doesn’t show the same rigid adherence to rules you might find in other nations with long traditions of codified law. The average Greek tends to rely more on personal judgment when deciding what’s permissible. This might explain why speed limit signs are often interpreted as the minimum acceptable speed.
My local guide illustrated this mindset with a story. After the war, many returning soldiers found themselves sitting on stockpiles of leftover dynamite and ammunition. One such soldier, living in what was then a mostly uninhabited part of Greece, took up fishing. He was already catching impressive amounts of seafood with traditional methods, but he grew impatient and decided it would be faster to fish with dynamite.
Before long, the explosions began to attract sharks. They learned to associate the blasts with hundreds of dead fish floating to the surface and would rush in to feast. Instead of switching back to safer methods, the ex-soldier doubled down and hired divers to race the sharks to the floating fish.
There is a good business and life lesson here: When you rely on shortcuts, you invite more competition, and probably create more work for yourself.
Final Takeaways
Greece is great. Especially the North is heavily underrated. There are lots of great beaches, mountains, historic sites, Mount Olympus etc. Alexander the Great & Achilles were both from the North. The battle of 300; happened in the North. The south is pretty cool too though not going to lie. Basically keep in mind that going to the major islands is not like visiting the rest of the country.
Although the economy is doing better, I still wouldn’t put my life savings in Greek bonds. A safer investment is betting old men will still be sitting around the kafenios long after Bryan Johnson is long dead and forgotten, sipping ouzo debating politics.
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For any G8 country reading this, a surplus is when you spend less than you collect in revenue
Outside tourist traps in Athens & Touristy islands
Italians will boast about their olive oil but we know all their good stuff is just imported from Greece with their label slapped on it. This will cost me some Subscribers.
Very passionate article .. i love it .. im in love with greece too ... and im betting big on the greek economy .. i will try to go arround more next time i visit.