Hello my name is Aris full name Aris / Aristides Baliakos.
Actually to be honest the site should be named Aris and Christina around the World but i was told that aris around the world was big enough already. Christina is my wife and we have two kids and live since 9 years permanently in a small city in Greece named Karditsa and i work as a dermatologist. I used to live in Germany for several years doing my specialization there.
We are together with Christina since…i can t remember 🙂 I believe in Karma or Kismet sooo Christina has not been been only my travel companion, wife, mother of my childs she is my soulmate the person that was meant to live with some of the most extraordinary moments in my life,i can t say what time will bring but she is the biggest chapter in my life and it will not change. I have to praise her for many things but i must admit that she gave me some hard times in some trips because it has not always been easy.
Enough now with emotional confessions some words about travel. Since i remember myself i had a craving about history, foreign cultures, religions, local traditions (of course) food and the impact they had in shaping and evolving our world. I bought books about architecture, great monuments,natural wonders. And my dream was someday to visit them all. So this is still my dream to visit them all, walk in ancient paths,swim in hidden coves, gaze sunsets and sunrises, witness rituals, taste local flavors, learn habits of the locals try to learn and see through their perspective.
The recent years internet and Instagram helped in a way making places under the radar more popular but in a lot of cases this popularity caused major problems ruining the authenticity. I don t want now to be judgemental but as a traveler i am opposed to an uncontrollable development without limit and respecting local particularities.
As an example i will give you Santorini a unique place of my country which is an impressive island but is not the same anymore with thousand of tourists strolling in narrow cobblestone streets almost all year long now. So i try to find authenticity though it is really tough nowdays.
I will end with 2 cliche quotes but they are true and will always be uptodate
Fascism can be fought with learning and Racism with traveling
Miguel de Unamuno
The world is a book and if you don’t travel you read only one page
Saint Augustine
Sooo I hope you will enjoy and …work eat travel celebrate repeat.
When I first met Aris I couldn’t imagine the extraordinary experiences I was going for.
The trips we made and our life together, made me the better person I am.
I still learn and evolve by his side. He is my always and forever. My strength and joy.
A life full of travelling to places I didn’t know they even exist.
Christina