7 reasons to follow the Traveling Psychiatrist

Hello and Happy New Year! As England has recently gone into a third national lockdown, it is a good opportunity to re-visit my post ‘Self-isolation, social distancing and wellbeing’ first published in March 2020, during the first lockdown. At the same time, as this is my first post this year, it is a good opportunity to re-introduce myself and my blog, the Traveling Psychiatrist. Or, rather, I am going to give you 7 reasons to follow the Traveling Psychiatrist in 2021:

1. Tips for Greece & the Greek islands from a Greek

Having been born and raised in Greece, I have always loved sharing tips to help people see my home country through my eyes.

Since I launched the Traveling Psychiatrist in June 2018, I have visited and shared tips on many Greek islands, both popular and lesser-known ones: Santorini, Mykonos, Kos, Sifnos, Serifos, Folegandros, Amorgos, Koufonisia and Skyros. I have also suggested several island-hopping itineraries, based on my very own experience.

Then, a few months ago, I shared tips for a weekend in Athens, as well as my hometown, Thessaloniki.

2. Tips for Norway and Scandinavia from a Scandiphile

It is not a secret that I have been a Scandiphile since a very young age. As a matter of fact, in the last few years, I have been to Norway and the other Scandinavian countries multiple times.

Since launching the Traveling Psychiatrist, I have visited and shared tips on the main Norwegian cities: Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Ålesund and Tromsø, as well as on Copenhagen and Stockholm.

I have also shared an itinerary for a 9-day journey in Norway, and recommendations about music festivals taking place there.

3. Tips for London & the UK from a Londoner

I have been living in the UK for over a decade, and have shared tips for the places I’ve lived: Leeds and London. I currently live in Ealing in West London, which may not be as popular as Central London, but it’s definitely worthwhile exploring.

In the last few years, I have also travelled multiple times to Italy (Rome, Florence, Verona), France (Nantes, Megève, Martinique), Austria (Vienna) and California, USA (Los Angeles, San Francisco), and have shared my tips for all these destinations.

I have also shared recommendations about film and music festivals taking place in some of these places (London, Austria, California).

4. Wellbeing tips from a Psychiatrist

As a Psychiatrist, I have extensive knowledge about mental health and wellbeing. My post ‘Self-isolation, social distancing and wellbeing’ exemplifies my holistic approach towards a better mental (and physical) wellbeing.

5. Nutrition tips & healthy recipes from around the world

In 1997, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization drew our attention to obesity, which was recognized as a global epidemic. Nowadays, we all know that our diet, nutrition and eating habits can affect our physical health. For example, a diet rich in antioxidants may protect against many illnesses, including cancer.

Fewer of us, however, know that our nutrition and eating habits can affect our mental health too. There is increasing evidence that diet significantly affects our mental health and wellbeing. For this reason, as a Psychiatrist, I strongly believe that a healthy and balanced diet should be part of a holistic approach towards better mental health and wellbeing.

Having been born and raised in Greece, I am used to following the Mediterranean diet, one of the healthiest in the world. The Mediterranean diet includes relatively high consumption of fruits and vegetables, olive oil, grains, legumes and nuts, moderate consumption of fish and poultry, as well as red wine, and low consumption of dairy products and red and processed meat. It has been linked to reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and increased longevity.

Then, COVID-19 came… Unable to travel during the first lockdown, I found solace in cooking and baking. Not only I baked dozens of healthy cakes, cupcakes and muffins, cookies and biscuits, and other bakes inspired by my travels (in Greece and elsewhere), but I also tweaked these recipes to make them as healthy as possible.

Then, before and during the second lockdown, I started tweaking traditional Greek recipes (such as ‘Moussaka: a classic Greek dish’), always trying to make them even healthier.

6. Reading recommendations

During these challenging times, international travel is not as easy/safe as it was before the pandemic. One can only hope that this will change soon… In the meantime, a good book can take us to all those places we can’t (or may not yet want to) physically travel to.

But, reading can be much more than that: it can be therapeutic. It can be an effective way to improve one’s mental wellbeing. In fact, this is exactly what ‘bibliotherapy’ refers to: the therapeutic use of reading and storytelling.

An avid reader, I often share reading recommendations about books I’ve read; some of these books are about foreign countries, cultures and travelling (‘5 (+1) Japanese novels to read in 2020’, ’My favourite books and films about travelling’ & ‘A literary trip to Norway with Alex’), whereas others are about wellbeing (’15 Books about Happiness For All, Forever’ & ‘The 7 Secrets of Happiness: An Optimist’s Journey’).

7. Cinematic & musical journeys around the world

At the end of each year, Barack Obama shares his annual list of favourites — books, films, and music. According to the former US President, ‘outlets like literature and art can enhance our day-to-day experiences’. As a Psychiatrist, I couldn’t agree more. In fact, in the last year, I often found solace in books, films and music.

As a film and music enthusiast myself, I would often embark on cinematic and musical journeys to my favourite countries (i.e. ’10 + 5 Music & Film Festivals in California in 2020’ & ‘Traveling to Greece through film & music’).

Last year, for example, I went on ‘a cinematic journey to South Korea’ and shared recommendations about my favourite Norwegian and Icelandic TV series.

I also went on ‘musical journeys’ to France, Great Britain, Austria and the Greek islands, and shared recommendations about music festivals taking place in Norway.

Happy New Year everyone!

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)