2008-07-23My Journey to Total Karma
My journey began on the beautiful island of St Lucia where I was taking a well needed break from a stressful office job in London. My intention was to relax on the beach and perhaps take home a few Caribbean souvenirs. Instead I ended up getting taken out on wonderful sailing trips and bringing home the man who soon became my husband!
Very shortly afterwards we had our son, Karma. I often get asked about the name and where it comes from. It is actually a Tibetan word that means Destiny and I knew that Karma would be my destiny.
We all spent the first few years together in England quite happily but we knew that if the right thing came along in a warmer climate by the sea we would take it.
In April 2005, my company sent me on a business trip to Rhodes town. I attended a seminar there for a couple of days and then flew David (my husband) and Karma out for a short holiday to Lindos. I had read about Lindos in the past and knew that it was on the hippie trail for many years, so decided that if ever I visited Rhodes I would want to visit Lindos. We had a glorious week staying just above Pallas Beach and met a lot of the locals. We were very lucky because it was Greek Easter, so a truly magical time of year where all the wild flowers were covering the mountains and the Greeks were having a marvelous time and sharing it with us.
We ended up getting invited for Easter lunch (roast lamb on a spit) by one of the local characters and property owners, Socrates, and his family, on the beach, which was very special. We became friends from that moment and vowed to come back to Lindos on holiday as soon as we possibly could.
We did come back to Lindos again in the September and were very happy this time to have a full two week holiday. We spent a lot of the time again on Pallas Beach as we had made friends there and it was a great, friendly atmosphere. A week into our holiday, we were enjoying a relaxing time on the beach and Socrates approached us asking if we would like to buy a bar! I could not believe it at first as this was of course most people’s dream – to own a bar on a Greek Island! Then he showed us the building and although it looked like a building site at the time, it was clearly one of the original Lindian houses and had bags of character. I knew that we could do something with this. By the end of the holiday I had put down a deposit and went home owning a bar!
With David coming from the Caribbean and being a Rasta, we decided to create a reggae bar (the first on Rhodes). I was also keen to include some of the influences and artifacts that I have gathered from my many travels around the world. Karma Bar has therefore become a mixture of bohemian and Caribbean influence. We are now into our third year and our customers keep on returning so we must be doing something right!
We as a family have benefited hugely from our move to Rhodes. We are able to spend more time together, we do not have to worry about Karma (who is now six years old) as there is no crime, and the whole way of life is so much more relaxed. It also makes so much difference waking up with the sun on your face 300 days a year! I believe that I have found my way to total Karma........
Nicola Thomas, Karma Bar, Lindos
