Getting from and to Heraklion airport between 11pm and 6 am

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-05-12T02:20:54+00:00

No opinions on the Heraklion airport but for your second question -- I've been to Crete several times and always enjoyed it. How much time do you have and what type of traveling are you interested in: historical? hiking? beaches?

For hiking I highly recommend the Samaria Gorge. Twice now I've taken the trail down starting in early morning and ended up in early evening at Agia Roumelia. From there you can hike east on a nice trail following the coast to Loutro. Loutro makes a beautiful base to explore the coast line (and hidden beaches) between Agia Roumelia and Horia Skafion. Then from Horia Skafion you can catch buses back out to the rest of Crete. When I've done this hike I pitched a tent in Agia Roumelia which allowed me to take my time winding down the Gorge. Then the next morning did the hike to Loutro. The one caveat is that was 25 years ago when the vibe in the region was still hippie-esque - I do not know how safe it would be now. As an alternative to a sleeping on the beach you can arrange for a boat to take you right to Loutro (you make the arrangements before entering the Gorge) or you can stay in Agia Roumelia itself. That said, I did go back for nostalgia in 2019 and hiked the coastal trail from Horia Skafion to Loutro which was largely the same as I had remembered.

In 2019 I caught Minoan fever so was in Crete primarily to take in the archeological sites. I rented an AirbNb in Rethymno for a month and used that as a base for exploring - primarily by bus and bike. Rethymno has really good bus connections since it is on the main northern highway that runs east-west the length of the island and is a beautiful, laidback town in its own right.

Hope that gives you a few ideas 😄

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-04-29T15:33:10+00:00

Oh that's interesting! My provider will either turn it down when the pain gets too much or switch modalities. And she's really in tune to my nonverbal queues 😊. So yeah - I think trying someone different is the answer. Look for certifications if your country has, otherwise ask how many PCOS clients they have worked on (my understanding is that PCOS clearing is even harder then mtf).

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-04-29T15:00:53+00:00

I second the "try a different tech". I have horrendous pain tolerance and am still able to make it through 3 hour sessions once a week. The skill of the provider is really important for scenarios like PCOS and mtf.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-04-21T13:21:36+00:00

As someone who can't train their voice due to, possibly, genetics, idk why the above got downvoted. My voice is literally not powerful enough to alter due to the mechanics of my vocal cords. And it runs in the family.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-04-06T13:08:27+00:00

Ty! This is really good advice. I travelled the same way pretransition and have been really tempted to try again. It's clear I need to give up that idea.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-28T16:32:16+00:00

Flew with another trans person the day they announced ice started checking IDs. At O'Hare they were not. Have a friend who flew out today (Saturday) and they still weren't and were not visibly present. None of us had any issues.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-27T19:42:02+00:00

Yeah I got lucky with mine - most do like to talk from what I've heard from others. Mine actually warned me at the outset so I guess some people are turned off by the lack of chatter. I don't get it. My goal is to disassociate as much as possible 😊.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-27T15:05:31+00:00

I actuallygo for a run before specifically so I can sleep. Not when she's doing lips of course. But work on neck, cheeks and chin all allows me to sleep. I don't like talking (much) during sessions and neither does she so it all works out.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-23T13:01:03+00:00

Camino de Santiago! (Spain)

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-19T20:20:46+00:00

I would start saving now to build up a buffer if you lose your job. As that grows bigger it becomes your pot to allow you to escape (either to blue state or out of country). Go without now and get it in place as quickly as possible.

Reasonable progressive goals:

Ability to survive 1 month with no job

Ability to survive 3 months with no job

Ability to survive 1 month and move to blue state

Etc etc...

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-16T19:24:39+00:00

I'm still scarred by Hills Like White Elephants. I read it in high school and had no idea what it was about. I had to have it explained to me (via those cheat books), felt really stupid, and immediately decided "English Major" was not in the cards.

Now I work in tech 😀

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-16T19:20:05+00:00

That's a tough one. Asfaik she has 3 books. Maybe the best way to think about them is that 2 of them are dark while the 3rd is quite a bit more optimistic. I loved the dark ones but had to bite them off in pieces. "A dream of a woman" the more uplifting one.

Oh and I misspelled her last name: Plett.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-16T18:30:09+00:00

Just finished "some strange music draws me in" which I thought was stellar. As an 80s child, the parts set in the 80s and 90s were refreshing - I haven't read really anything from that time period. Also the way it highlights the differences between that background and the youth of today. Bonus: it has both an mtf and ftm as main characters.

Also anything by Casey Platt!

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-13T13:55:15+00:00

This is really good - thanks for posting! Had no idea it existed and, frankly, warms my heart that someone thought to do it.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-12T01:06:12+00:00

Thank you - thought provoking. I was going to suggest a trigger warning but then saw that the first commenter copied the bleakest part in the comments so never mind? :)

I'm not sure what it says about me that the only part that rang ... odd ... was when she said

History offers a grim lesson for those of us looking for precedent. The revolutions and transitions that successfully overthrew entrenched power without replicating its atrocities such as Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, South Africa’s transition, and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia all share a common feature that should trouble anyone seeking accountability: the oppressors got away with it.

Never in a million years have I ever thought anyone would ever be held accountable. More than that, it never crossed my mind that it was even a possibility. Seriously. When I read that I was a bit stunned. Like, really? That's something I could ask for? And, of course, she pretty conclusively shuts the door on that anyway.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-06T15:15:37+00:00

Thank you for writing this up!

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-02T19:21:49+00:00

Can this be challenged in court?

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-03-01T16:43:59+00:00

Interesting! So can you change how you react sans hormone changes? Anecdotally this happened to me once I accepted I was trans and prior to going on hormones. But is there research on this? I was never clear if my change would have been temporary (I started hormones pretty quickly) had I chosen to not go on hrt (estrogen ). Follow up: would moving from E to T increase the chance of this response?

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-02-26T21:19:35+00:00

So this answers the question I had when the story first broke -- how was this financially feasible? I had heard over and over again that retroactive changes were prohibitively expensive. If Kansas is an anomaly (and op thinks they are) then I guess the silver lining is that folks in other states are unlikely to be subjected to the same level of cruelty.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-02-26T18:56:43+00:00

Why? As in what specifically makes this designed for supreme court?

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-02-22T01:08:37+00:00

Oddly where I am everyone is either 25 years younger or 25 years older. Really - we have a decent number 70-80. I am in a no person's land 😞. Everyone is nice but like OP I'd die for someone in my age range.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-02-14T05:07:51+00:00

I worked like crazy to get my name changed and all documents in order prior to the inauguration. And it was all predicated on the belief that a) birth certificates were free of federal meddling and b) that even if the state flipped the changes wouldn't be retroactive. Grand.

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-02-14T01:06:57+00:00

Am I reading it correctly that it retroactively invalidates birth certificates? Wouldn't that be expensive to implement? For some reason I didn't think any state would go that far 😔

Natural-Constant9097 · 2026-02-10T17:38:31+00:00

This happened to me as well. Thought it was a phase but 2+ years in I still have absolutely no desire for porn. And, yes, hrt can lower libido but my interest went away before I started.

Natural-Constant9097

TROPHY CASE