OK, Let’s make a list of things you might hate about living in Crete. I have mentioned many things that might frustrate you when you move to Crete, but today I want to make it easy for you by making a list. Although Crete is a great place to live, there are some things that will irritate you, and as someone who has lived here on the island for a while now, I think I am qualified to share this info with you.

Things you might hate about living in Crete. I mean, I have read many articles about how amazing Crete is, and don’t get me wrong, it is. But just like any other place, Crete has its own Pros and cons, so today we are going to discuss the cons, because I have many posts that talk about the pros, like the sandy beaches, amazing food, warm weather, etc.

Things You Might Hate About Living In Crete Power Cuts

In the winter or during windstorms, power cuts can happen in different parts of the island. also, when the power company is doing the maintenance they will cut the power. Now I am not sure if they give notice beforehand, because all the times we’ve had power cuts no one seemed to know what is going on.

The thing is because the information is given in Greek, sometimes, you will not know what is happening around you unless you have good neighbors who are willing to share information with you, of course, the said neighbors have to be able to communicate with you in Let’s say English, or whatever your language is, French, German, etc.

Not Getting Information And Lack Of Public Transportation In Most Areas Of Crete

This brings me to the next thing that you will find irritating and frustrating at times. Not being able to get information, or not getting correct information especially when it comes to sorting out your paperwork. I mentioned this in another article where I said information comes in small doses, which makes things even more complicated.

It’s not enough that you have to go from one office to the next, but you also have to deal with the fact that, you will not get all the information you need In my opinion, its better to find someone who can help you sort out your paperwork, someone who is familiar with the Greek system, and most importantly, someone who knows what kinds of stamps you need.

As we discussed in another post, a missing stamp can cause you lots of headaches.

Lack of public transportation in most villages is also frustrating, there are buses, that operate within the highway, but for villages each time I tried to type Chania to whatever village I chose, it returned  a message that read ” there is no route found for that location” Try to find a bus for your area, you might be lucky

Being Rudely Awakened Early In The Morning By The Van Guys Selling Chickens And Vegetables

OK, so there are these guys who drive around the villages selling all kinds of things. Some sell live chickens that you can buy either to keep or for your dinner. They make a point to let you know how good the chickens are by announcing using a loudspeaker that is usually placed on the roof of the van.

The problem with the van guys, they get all the dogs in the village barking so even if you were not sleeping you will still get irritated. I understand they are just doing their job, and trying to sell their goods, but it is super irritating, especially when all the dogs are barking at the same time.

Can you imagine if you are one of those guys who work online, and Let’s say you work for an American company which means the time difference will make it that you are mostly working at night? Which means maybe you want to get some sleep, and then just as you go to bed and starting to fall asleep, the guy starts talking about his chickens, his onions, and how delicious and fresh his tomatoes are today.

Now imagine all the neighborhood dogs also barking at the same time.

Things You Might Hate About Living In Crete Dust Storms

Dust storms used to happen in the Spring, but these days just like everything else, it’s hard to predict when the dust storm will hit. Problem with dust storms, it could hit, and then once it’s gone, you clean up everything just for the storm to return a couple of days later.

Also, the dust is like clay so you have to really scrub to get it off. I remember last year we had the dust storm and we cleaned everything, and then two days later it returned and again everything was covered in dust, funny thing, my neighbors were giving me that look and saying look it’s the sand from your country lol.

Kenya is far away from the Sahara desert so, I am not to blame for the dust but, I felt like they were looking at me as if I was responsible lol.

Garbage Separation, Recycle System In Crete

When husband and I go to visit family in Denmark, I have a hard time with garbage separation, because that is not something that is done so much here in Crete. I was surprised to see each house having like 5 different garbage bins. If you are coming from a country where you are used to separating your garbage, you might find it frustrating that you have to mix everything and throw it in one bin.

I mean some parts of the island are better than others when it comes to garbage separation. We do have yellow bins that are supposed to be for glass, and we do have blue bins that are supposed to be for recyclable materials like plastic, paper, aluminum, tin, and cardboard.

And then we have the green bins that are meant for normal household waste, the problem is, people are not in the habit of separating their waste and therefore, the yellow bins that are supposed to contain glass, are usually empty, and the same goes for the blue bins, but the Green bins are filled up.

Stray Animals Mainly Cats And Dogs

I have already written a detailed post about this issue. Stray cats and dogs are something that will make you very sad especially if you are one of those people who love animals. And the thing is, even if you take in as many animals as you can, you are actually not helping because there will be even more coming looking for food and water.

Problem is, some Greeks don’t believe in neutering animals, so they just let them have kittens or puppies in the case of dogs, and then they just take the little ones and leave them next to the garbage bins, I guess in hope that someone will take them. This has caused the island to be full of stray animals.

Please read my article about this subject to learn how you can help and how to deal with stray animals click here

Things You Might Hate About Living In Crete The Heat In July And August

OK, I know most people like the Greek islands because of the warm weather, but let me tell you something. July and August go to the extreme, actually, that’s when people from other countries choose to leave the island. Temperatures in August can rise as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107F).

Now although you are moving to Crete to enjoy the warm weather, I think it could get too hot, just remember to wear your sunscreen, drink lots of water, and don’t go cycling in that heat. Honestly, I don’t know how people can do it, on July 1st which was the hottest day so far in Crete with temperatures hitting 42 degrees Celsius, in the afternoon we met a guy on his bicycle and I couldn’t believe it.

Neighbor Troubles

Well, this one can happen anywhere in the world, depending on the kind of neighbors you have. But as I have mentioned many times in other articles, most neighbor troubles occur in apartment complexes due to some people refusing to pay their share of communal area maintenance fees.

This happens a lot here in Crete because some apartment buildings don’t have systems to deal with these kinds of issues, so it’s left for the neighbors to agree on how to do things, and most times things go wrong because without a signed contract if some refuse to take responsibility for the communal areas, it leaves the burden for the rest of the neighbors which creates bad blood so to speak.

Things You Might Hate About Living In Crete Can’t Throw Paper In The Toilet

In most places here in Crete and Greece at large, it’s prohibited to throw paper in the toilet bowl, this gets people frustrated and it takes time to get used to. The funny thing is, even houses that are not connected to the Let’s say city sewage system, are still built using thin drainage pipes which means they clog easily so still no paper in the toilet.

I mean I understand that the houses that were built a long time ago cannot be changed but how about the ones that are being built now? OK so they say the Greek sewage pipes are smaller in diameter than Let’s say the pipes used in the US or the UK, but can’t we get those kinds of pipes here? Just wondering.

Anyway bottom line, no flushing paper down the toilet because the pipes will clog and your house will be a mess lol.

Landlord Troubles During Tourist Season

I have heard a few people complaining about the landlords being strange during the tourist season. What happens is, if you are renting an apartment or a villa, when the tourist season starts, the landlord/landlady might want you to move out because he/she wants to capitalize on the tourist season.

So unless you have a long-term lease agreement, where you have already paid in advance, you might find yourself homeless when the tourist season starts because they want to make more money by listing their houses on, Let’s say Airbnb.

Conclusion

Crete, just like any other place, has its own challenges as I mentioned in the beginning of this post. These are just a few things I think you might find frustrating, but I am not saying by any means that Crete is not a great place to live, I am just giving you a picture of what to expect.

That being said, it’s not guaranteed that you will face these challenges, so it’s not all depressing lol. One piece of advice, take things calmly siga siga.

Anyway, I hope you have found my post helpful, if so why don’t you drop me a comment below, and share it on your social media? it really helps to push my content on there.

Thank you for your time.

Rose.

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