Island swing: Island hopping from Mykonos to Naxos

For me, wellbeing can be as simple as taking the time to enjoy a bowl of thick, creamy Greek yoghurt that has been meticulously prepared. On a late September morning, I sit on my private terrace at Boheme Hotel in Mykonos, where breakfast is served overlooking the Aegean Sea. Coconut flakes doze next to garnet-like berries, each adorned with amber strands of local honey. To live well is not a concept found in spectacle, but in the seemingly mundane rituals of the morning. Living in presence, rather than performance.

On the flight here from London, as tray tables bounced and sandwiches were unwrapped, I overheard passengers reciting ambitious Greek itineraries of monuments, beaches and bars. But after a year sprinkled with endings, grief and uncertainty, I want something else. I long to witness the islands of Mykonos and Naxos as they truly are — not through the best restaurants or the most famous sights, but through the ordinary and the sensory, taking in the humanness of it all.

The evening drive from the airport reveals views of rocky landscapes and serene villages from the windows, before giving way to glimpses of Boheme, a mere 300 metres from Mykonos Town. Drawing up at the entrance is less an arrival, more a continuation, the property almost knitted into the land itself.

Not long after, sitting beneath the historic manor’s crisp white pillars, a glass of herbaceous lemonade in hand, I feel my breath sync with the sea sprawled before me. Boheme’s essence lies in its natural integration, which can be traced from the jaw-unclenching fragrances of oregano, mint and thyme that drift from the garden into dipping oils served with fresh bread at Bilo, the on-site restaurant that weaves Cycladic authenticity into every dish. In the heated plunge pool, I watch the sun’s last gasp turn the sky to ombre pink. Everything around me asks to be noticed. Even the service has a tenderness, each interaction akin to a nurturing act of care.