After 27 years as a stay-at-home mom, Kati Gyselinck divorced at 62 and moved to Athens with one suitcase. She now runs a life-coaching business for women over 55.
Alpha Score of 57 reflects moderate overall profile with strong momentum, poor value, moderate quality, moderate sentiment.
Kati Gyselinck landed at Athens International Airport in October 2023 with one suitcase. She was 62, newly divorced after a 27-year marriage, and had spent her adult life as a stay-at-home mother in Israel. She had no plan beyond the Airbnb she booked.
The apartment was dark, no balcony. A few nights in, she kicked her toe against the bed frame in the dark. The whole nail came off. She sat alone, bleeding, unable to find a pharmacy or call anyone.
"Did I make a mistake?" she remembers thinking. "I cried my eyes out for hours."
Gyselinck, now 65, told Business Insider the move was impulsive. She had been a mortgage consultant before her son was born, then stayed home for 27 years. Her husband was a successful businessman; the family was financially secure. But she had no income of her own, and as her three children grew into adults, the house felt empty.
"It had reached the point where it was pretty much, 'Hi Mom, Bye Mom,' as they rushed in and out of the door," she said.
She chose Athens because she had loved Greece since a cruise years earlier. The flight from Tel Aviv is short, she said, making it easy for her kids to visit. She wanted a big city, believing it would be easier to make friends as a single woman.
For almost a year, she struggled. She walked five or six miles a day, exploring neighborhoods on her Apple Watch, trying to feel at home. She met people slowly – a couple in a café, a man who lived in the Athens Riviera, about 25 miles south of the city center.
In December 2024, she rented a 1,300-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment a few minutes from the shore. It was unfurnished. She bought a compact Fiat 500 and decorated the space herself. She swims in the ocean every morning, then sits on her balcony surrounded by lemon trees, drinking espresso.
"Downsizing did me good," she said. "I had never been one to chase designer bags, but I developed an appreciation of the simpler things."
She now runs a life-coaching business for women over 55, built from writing about her journey on Instagram. She gets messages from divorcees, widows, and stay-at-home mothers who want personal space but are afraid to travel alone or eat dinner by themselves in a restaurant.
"You don't have to make a big change," she said. "I'm not telling my clients to blow up their marriages, pack their belongings, and move to Greece. I encourage them to expand their horizons. Take baby steps with a weekend away on your own. If you don't like it, you can always come home."
She hired a Greek tutor last month. The language is hard, she said – 10 different words for everything. But she wants to follow the conversation when her Greek friends talk.
"Older women can cultivate and cherish themselves in whatever way they choose," she said.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.