My daughter is growing up in a strong community.

While West lived in Houston, he barely knew his neighbors and rarely spoke to them. And even though I had friends, making plans was difficult, especially given the amount of time and effort it took to write something down on the calendar.

On Syros, West said, he was finally able to build a community.

“I would say one of the biggest advantages, at least for us, is the community we have here, from other digital nomad families and expats to local families,” he said. “Community is something my daughter will grow up with. It’s very special and everything I could have hoped for.”

On Syros, the small size of the island makes it easy for you to see your friends regularly. On a normal day, you often run into someone you know while walking around town.

“We meet on the streets, you know, and we can say, ‘oh, let’s play tomorrow or meet for coffee,'” West said. “It’s a lot easier to make plans and be in community with people.”

Balancing an old language and a new one is a delicate dance

West and her husband want their daughter to grow up feeling connected to Greek culture rather than “an outsider,” and consider learning the language an important part of that.

They have been helping her develop her Greek skills by encouraging her to talk to local people, watch Greek shows, and read Greek books.

“At first, she saw it as a negative thing that I was learning Greek,” West said. “She is now much more receptive and gets very excited every time she makes a local friend who speaks Greek.”

This year, her daughter will start at a private school where teachers will speak primarily Greek, although they will translate for English-speaking students.

“I’m worried that as he adjusts to school, speaking Greek will be very difficult for him, but at the same time, I’m grateful that we started doing it at such a young age because I think he’ll adjust much quicker,” West said.

While his daughter learns Greek, West said he will also keep an eye on her English skills. It’s a concern shared by many other English-speaking moms on the island.

“It’s really interesting because we’ve been focusing a lot on our kids feeling comfortable and confident speaking Greek, but now we’re thinking, ‘Maybe they’re forgetting English,'” she said.

I am raising a worldly and open-minded child.

One of the reasons the family decided to move to Europe was the ease of traveling to other countries. This month alone they visited Lisbon, Venice and Paris.

“She’s only four years old and we just visited her 20th country,” West said. “She is exposed to customs, cultures, foods and experiences before even reading them in a textbook.”

From hearing the call to prayer in Türkiye to seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland, West’s young daughter has already experienced more of the world than many people in a lifetime.

West said these experiences have helped her daughter understand early on that people live, eat, worship and move through the world in different ways.

“It’s always the things that you think won’t stay with her,” he added. “I love that she sees so many different ways of doing things.”

It’s hard to be away from family.

For West, living abroad also means raising her daughter away from her family. It is a big concern for her, especially since her daughter is an only child.

“Sometimes I worry that she is missing out on things happening in the United States with my husband and family, and that she might not be as close to certain family members as her cousins ​​at home,” she said.

To help maintain those bonds and keep up with the milestones in everyone’s lives, West makes sure to FaceTime with the family regularly.

“We just make sure it’s a regular cadence for her, so she doesn’t feel that disconnect when she sees them in person,” he said. “And we also try to return to the United States at least once a year.”

We feel safer in Europe

West’s daughter was about 3 months old in 2022 when the Uvalde school shooting occurred. At the time, West and her husband lived in Houston, about four hours away. The tragedy pushed her to think more seriously about where her daughter would go to school and how safe she would be.

“That, honestly, for me, was the biggest catalyst,” West said. “I thought, OK, we really need to look at what it would be like to live abroad, especially in a place where gun laws are much more restrictive.”

Greece has very strict gun laws, and possession of firearms is generally prohibited unless authorities issue a permit. On Syros, West said, island life feels “incredibly safe.”