My Journey
Kokkari, Samos, Greece
Not everyone has the same experience abroad so here is mine.
From researching sperm whales and boat surveys to hanging out with friends on the beach and to the late nights of hitch hiking across the island. My time In Samos, Greece with Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation gave me the opportunity to live my dream and experience life as local will forever stay with me and I can not express how grateful for the opportunity I had.
Like any great story my time abroad wasn't without it's low points; from fleeing the EU due to visa issues and leaving some wisdom there in the form of a tooth, to the feeling of being so far from home. Yet I would go through it all again to see and experience parts of the world people don't even know exist, meet the people I did and learn more about my field.
On this page you can explore the different aspects about me and my time abroad from what my daily life was as a Marine Mammal Acoustics Research Intern was like to the adventures I did in my free time but also the struggles and cost of everything.
Either scroll through each section or click one to jump ahead
About Me
Hi, I’m a third-year Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences major at Oregon State University, specializing in Marine Mammal Conservation with a GIS minor. On campus, I play clarinet in the OSU Marching Band, work in the OSU Herbarium, and volunteer in the Lubchenco-Menge Lab.
Outside of school, I’m a proud dog mom to a 90 lb White German Shepherd Husky, and I love spending time outdoors training my dog, hiking, and exploring. I also love photography, hammocking, water coloring, and all things marine mammals. I am a self-proclaimed marine mammal nerd if you will, and if you’re wondering, my favorite is the Sperm Whale.
I have always dreamed of studying abroad, and this summer I made that a reality as a Marine Mammal Acoustics Research Intern with the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation in Samos, Greece. That experience was incredible, both professionally and personally allowing me to grow while exploring parts of the world I had only dreamed of.
Sofia Belikov
I created this website to share resources, experiences, and advice to help make opportunities like the one I did feel more accessible as I took an unconventional route. Whether you’re looking for opportunities, scholarships, different perspectives, or even what to pack, I hope you find something helpful here.
Wishing you the best in your own journey but before then enjoy reading about mine!
Everything was so new to me, but thankfully I had amazing supervisors and interns who helped me! The way the internship worked was that I was assigned a project that followed my interests in acoustics, which included completing a literature review, research proposal, and final report where I then presented my work on my last day. My research project focused on comparing manual and automatic acoustic methods for estimating Sperm Whale body size using the length of their clicks. It was a cool project, although there was a bit of a disconnect in the purpose of my project until the end, but it all turned out well.
Most of my days were spent reading through papers and writing, but typically once a week I went out for a boat survey. I also got to do a night survey and a couple of multiple day surveys. There were several positions I learned how to do and rotated through,
My Internship
including collecting environmental data, boat data, marine litter, listening to the array hydrophone, and increasing my observational skills by looking for marine mammals using binoculars. We rotated through these positions every 30 minutes, meaning I spent a good chunk of time everywhere on the boat.
Archipelagos has two boats that I had the opportunity to work on, Triton and Naftilos, both smaller sailboats. During sightings, I was able to practice taking photos of dolphins for photo identification, which was one of my favorite skills I learned this summer. Although this may not sound very difficult, it actually was. The boat was constantly moving, not only from the waves but also as we adjusted course to follow the dolphins. At the same time, you had to anticipate where the dolphins would surface and navigate around parts of the boat to find a clear shot. It required a lot more coordination and awareness than I initially expected, but once I got more comfortable, I was able to get some good shots, especially when they would bow ride.
These boat surveys brought a lot of challenges. Between the rocky seas, heat, smells, and the waiting for a sighting, it was difficult. Yet as long as I had a bottle of sunscreen, my hat, sunglasses, and lots of water, I was a happy camper. Once we got back from these surveys, we had to clean the entire boat and take everything off of it, which somehow always took longer than expected. In the days that followed, we were assigned different data to process. I often completed the boat report, where I used the GPS and environmental data to create a route map in QGIS. Although I did spend a lot of time working at my computer, it made going out on boat surveys that much more exciting, because in the reality of research, most of your time is spent working at your computer.
Although I originally thought I was just going to gain field experience, I couldn’t have been more wrong. It became so much more than that. I met incredible people from all over the world, and what started as a professional opportunity quickly turned into something deeply personal that will stay with me forever.
For a bit of context, Archipelagos has two bases that both include dorms and workspaces, with teams rotating between them every other day. The main base is in Agios Konstantinos (AK), while the smaller base is in Kampos, about a 20 minute walk away, which is where I lived. Kampos had a quieter, more homey feel, while AK was more active, and together they created a balance that felt like its own small community. Over time, that balance grew into something that truly felt like a family, what we came to call the Kampos Family. Daily life quickly fell into a rhythm. In AK, there were two beaches, East and West, and Kampos
had its own as well. Most days ended the same way. After working outside in the heat, often followed by a long walk back along the main road, we would go straight into the sea for a much needed swim. Those swims became a reset, something we all looked forward to after long days of work. The clarity of the water is something I will never get over. It looked like crystal, and when you put your head under, it felt like you could see forever. In the first few weeks, my evenings were simple. I spent time watching shows with friends, cooling off after the heat of the day, and adjusting to a new pace of life. One of the most memorable cultural experiences I had was attending several Panigiria, traditional Greek summer festivals held to honor patron saints. They are filled with music, dancing, food, and drinks, often lasting well into the early morning hours. Greek people truly know how to celebrate. Each village honors its own saint, which meant I often I traveled across different parts of the island and even to the neighboring island of Ikaria to take part in the festivities.
Despite all the movement, one thing I tried to do every night was watch the sunset. I would sit on the rocks across from my base, which quickly became my safe haven. They were more like large boulders stacked on top of one another, overlooking the sea. Being on the north side of the island offered a unique perspective where I could watch both the sunrise and sunset over the horizon. It made the world feel both smaller and bigger at the same time, and it is something I truly miss. On days when I felt homesick, it reminded me that we are all under the same sky, sharing the same sun and moon.
A lot of our social time was spent at Feygatos, or Fev’s, a local tavern in AK where we would sit for hours talking, laughing, and getting to know both each other and the locals. On weekends, I tried to explore as much as I could, taking the bus to larger towns like Vathy, Karlovasi, and Pythagoreio. While most of my time was spent working or at the beach, my third month became more balanced between fieldwork and exploring new places, including nearby islands.
At one point during my time abroad, I realized I had accidentally booked my flights to and from the European Union(EU) too far apart. To avoid overstaying my visa in the EU, I needed to leave Greece temporarily. I ended up taking an unexpected detour, spending a couple of days in Athens before traveling to Tbilisi, Georgia (the country). Stepping away from the base and reentering a more urban environment made me realize how much my perspective had shifted in just two months. I remember looking out the plane window as we descended into Athens and being surprised by something as simple as a four lane road. It made me realize how quickly your sense of normal changes when living abroad. The longer you go without something, the more you notice it when it returns. Even now, I still think about hanging my clothes to dry in the sun and wind instead of using a dryer, it's little things but they add up quickly. Returning to Samos after visiting Athens and Tbilisi gave me a much needed reset to better appreciate the island and my life there helping me grow and change my mindset for the better.
One of my most memorable experiences came unexpectedly through a loggerhead sea turtle hatchling survey. It was not something I had planned, which made it even more meaningful. What I did not realize at the time was that it would be an overnight survey. To make things more challenging, I also had a 5:30 a.m. boat survey the next morning on the other side of the island. I got little to no sleep, but I still did it, and somehow that made it even more worth it. Helping guide sea turtle hatchlings to the sea was time consuming, but watching them enter the water is something I will always hold onto. After completing a six hour boat survey, I finally got some much needed rest, which turned into sixteen hours of sleep before waking up just in time for a day trip to Kusadasi, Turkey.
At times, it felt like something straight out of Mamma Mia, filled with sun-soaked days and the iconic white and blue buildings, which were just as incredible as you’d imagine. But it definitely wasn’t without its low points and challenges (which I touch on later). Going abroad is two things at once, amazing but also uncomfortable at times. Leaving behind what you know, your culture, language, and food, can be difficult, but it really is what you make of it.
I found that being pushed outside of my comfort zone was when I had the most fun and created the best stories. A lot of it was what I would call “type 2 fun,” where it might not feel great in the moment, but looking back, it’s what makes the experience so memorable. Living in such a remote place really changes your perspective and how you show up for yourself. Being able to experience a place not as a tourist, but alongside locals, is something truly special and something I hope others get to experience for themselves.
Adventures Between Marine Mammal Filled Days
Struggles, Realities & Challenges… Oh My!
Like any great adventure, I experienced my fair share of challenges, some I expected, and others I hadn’t even considered. It’s easy to imagine life abroad as only exciting and rewarding, and while I truly was in an incredible place doing meaningful work, it wasn’t without its difficulties, both mentally and physically. I’m not sharing this to discourage anyone, but rather to give a more honest perspective. Working abroad in wildlife and conservation is not always easy; but would I do it all over again? Absolutely!
To start, I knew it would be hot, but I underestimated just how intense the heat and humidity would be, especially since it didn’t cool down at night. Most nights, it was actually cooler outside than inside, which made sleeping really difficult. Growing up in Redding, California, I thought I could handle the heat, but I quickly realized that air conditioning is very much an American luxury and concept. Over the entire summer, I can count on one hand the number of times I experienced AC. I had to get creative, and one of the best solutions I found (thanks to a friend) was freezing a water bottle and using it to cool down at night. It honestly became my saving grace. Another unexpected challenge was experiencing seasickness for the first time while working on Archipelagos’ smaller sailboat, Naftilos. I unfortunately didn’t bring any sea sickness medication with me as I didn’t think I needed it, I ended up borrowing medication from other interns almost every boat survey afterwards. You might think why don’t you just go to the store? Great question, I tried but Greeks live on their own time and the pharmacy in AK was open very select hours still remaining a mystery to this day as I saw it open only a couple times. And then there were the cicadas, I had no idea they were in Greece, and I don’t think I ever want to hear them again. They were unbelievably loud, especially when I was trying to work outside. It was almost impressive, but definitely overstimulating at times. All of this reminded me how unpredictable it can be to adjust to a completely new environment, your body and mind don’t always react the way you expect.
One of the most unexpected challenges was needing to have a wisdom tooth removed while abroad. Considering everything, it went surprisingly smoothly, largely thanks to how helpful and kind the locals were. Being Orthodox when I walked into the dentist’s office and seeing Orthodox icons throughout the space felt oddly comforting and familiar, even in such a different setting. The language barrier did present some challenges, but nothing that Google Translate couldn’t help with. One major difference, though, was that the procedure was done with only local numbing, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that experience but it got the job done. If you had to guess the cost for the x-ray, medication, and extraction, you might be surprised, it was about $150, which felt incredibly inexpensive from an American perspective. I was very grateful that everything went as well as it did.
One of the most ongoing challenges I faced was actually food. It might sound minor, but it had a real impact on my experience. Through my program, we were provided three meals a day, and I’m incredibly grateful for the effort and care that went into preparing them, this is not a reflection on the food itself. However, as a vegetarian with some food texture sensitivities and allergies, I struggled to eat enough. Over time, I lost a quite bit of weight, which wasn’t in a healthy way at all. This was influenced by a combination of factors, many of which were personal, but it was still a significant challenge during my time abroad.I share these experiences to offer a more honest perspective, so you can go into your own journey with a better understanding of what to expect and how to prepare. Everyone’s experience abroad will look different, but having a realistic idea of both the highs and the challenges can help you navigate it with more confidence and intention.
How Much Did it Cost Me?
Everyone will spend different amounts depending on how they choose to travel and experience new places, but here is what I spent. Compared to others in my program, I would say I was on the lower end. Could I have traveled differently or more cheaply? Yes. Did I always choose to? Not necessarily. It really comes down to what you want to get out of the experience. While it is possible to go abroad on a tight budget, there may be trade-offs or missed opportunities. I am incredibly grateful for the support and opportunities that made this experience possible for me, but I also recognize that this path isn’t accessible to everyone. That’s one of the reasons I created this website, to show that going abroad can be achievable when you find the right path for you.
