AN EPIC GREEK ADVENTURE (Best Rock Climbing in the World)

Today, I'm headed to the small Greek island of Kalimos. This island is just about 15 miles off the coast of Turkey. With a population of only 17,000 people, the island has yet to be discovered by international tourists. The island is still dominated by locals and despite its relatively small size and population, Kalimos is actually world famous for its rock climbing, sponge diving, and beautiful rough terrain. The main reason I'm venturing at Kalimos is to work with a new luxury villa client with my Greek photographer friend, Yorgos, and his girlfriend, Maria. In addition to hanging out at this stunning villa for a week and conducting a fun photo shoot for the client, my friends and I got the opportunity to also hike to the top of a gorgeous nearby cliff, explore an underground cave that is millions of years old, and go rock climbing in an area of Kalimos as widely recognized as offering some of the best rock climbing in the world. Let's cue the video. Good morning, guys. It's our first full morning here in Kalimos. I just finished a shower and a morning run. Whenever I travel to a new place I'm unfamiliar with, I like to always go on a morning run. Just no GPS, just run aimlessly in a direction or area that looks promising or exciting. So that's exactly what I did this morning. I'll show you where I went. This is just walking out on my second story balcony right here. And look at this gorgeous view I'm waking up to every morning. So this is one of the main mountains in the region, but I actually ran this morning up to the top of this cliff mountain area over there. It was about a 10-minute run. I just basically rock climbed all the way to the top, and I actually meditated on the top, and I saw a whole 360-degree view of the surrounding area. So it was absolutely gorgeous. For now, good way to start the day. I'm gonna go find Georges and Maria, make sure that they're up and about, and we're gonna get shooting. I'm gonna get as much of the shots done today and tomorrow, so we have the rest of the week to actually enjoy Kalymnos and do some fun activities. Let's go find them and kick this day off. There they are. Good morning. Good morning, sleeping beauty. How'd you sleep, bud? Really nice. I would sleep like 10 more hours. Georges still hasn't woken up. So that's what it's looking like so far today, guys. I'm gonna give it some more time to wake up. I think we're gonna sit down at the table and then plan out our photo shoots for today, the different rooms, the different props. We actually heard from the owner. She emailed me. She's offered to send some meals over from some local restaurants you can use as props to use food on the table and just all over the villa. Okay, so we finished our little meeting. So right now, Maria is gonna go start setting up the rooms. We're gonna do some bedroom shots later. Now Georges and I are gonna start on the exterior of the villa, get the drone up, and just see how much we can get done in one day. It's not a huge property, so we should be able to get through a lot of the shoot in one day, maybe two days tops. And we can use the rest of the week to explore the island and do some fun activities. So let's get the drone up and kick the shoot off. All right, guys, time for the tour as promised. Right now, I'm outside the villa at Castile Bay. So the villa is actually located on this dirt road over here. You drive down from the main road and the nearest settlement is about a five-minute drive. In that direction, there's a bunch of restaurants and shops and really fun stuff to do, but this is the gate that leads into the villa. So let's head on in. When you first enter the property, you'll walk down this path into the studio apartment. The studio apartment is separate from the rest of the villa and is perfect for couples. It comes with its own bedroom, kitchenette, and private bathroom. Now continuing on to the second floor, we will come across two more bedrooms that share a bathroom together. One of the main things for me that stood out in these rooms was all the little details, ranging from the fish netting to the artwork to the ships, the shelves, the blue cabinetry. It all really, truly makes you feel like you are in Greece at the moment. This second bedroom is right across the hall from the first bedroom. While it's nearly identical, another thing I loved about these two bedrooms is just how amazing the natural light is. It just streams in directly from these French doors and leads right outside here onto the patio with this gorgeous view. You will just simply never get over. The second floor patio is absolutely huge. And with all the tables and chairs and utensils from the well-stocked kitchen, we ate a ton of our meals here from this second floor outlook. This was one of our favorite setups and photos from our little photo shoot at the villa. Now heading down to the first floor, you'll come across the kitchen and living room, one of the main dining areas. But my favorite part in the villa might perhaps be the pool area. The pool itself is actually quite large, but my favorite part of this whole area is just the absolutely stunning unparalleled views of the nearby Toledos Island, which is this gorgeous mountain. You can see the background right here. The villa is a perfect property for large families or group gatherings. If you're looking to entertain, this is the property for you. There's simply so many different dining tables and spots and areas to enjoy a meal together, ranging from the second floor patio to the kitchen and living room area to this spot near the pool. Last but not least is the private secluded waterfront area. It's just a quick walk down some steps, and then you can then take in more amazing views just like this. All in all, the Villa Acostilli Bay is one of my most favorite properties I've ever stayed at throughout my career. Simply put, the privacy and location of this villa is unmatched, and I'm sincerely going to miss waking up every single morning to the views of the gorgeous Toledos Island and walking down to this amazing waterfront area. Good morning, guys. It is our day to do all activities and fun stuff here on the island. So I'm with Georges and Maria. We're starting our day off with a fun little hike. I've taken them back to where I went on that first morning run. It's this big rock near the villa. So we're gonna get to the top of the rock, fly the drone, and then try and get to the church on the other side and check it out. Let's do it. Okay, so we just made it towards the top. There is a giant sign at the foot of the mountain, all in Greek, but Georges and Maria translated. This property, or at least part of this mountain, we think, belongs to an old Greek family, and they talked to some more locals. Apparently, there used to be an old castle that was built all the way to the top of this little mountain, and I think I just found the remnants of said castle. Check this out. I mean, this is the old foundation. So now we're going to continue to the top and launch the drone. After finishing our little drone shoot, we met up with a local guide and explored a nearby cave called the Cave of Skalia. To get into the cave, we had to rappel down a dark hole. Exploring this cave with my friends is one of my favorite all-time travel memories. Our guides actually explained that this cave is millions of years old. Our guide, Michaelis, also told me this cave used to be a haven for pirates to hide their treasures in. After finishing up this spelunking in the cave, we then walked basically around the corner to do the activity I was most pumped about, rock climbing. I had not done rock climbing for about 10 years, so I was super excited to undertake this challenge.