In a railway carriage with Iliada-Evangelia Kothra

Iliada-Evangelia Kothra was born in Athens. She studied advertising and marketing and worked as a sales manager in leading houses. For the past 18 years, she has been the Sales Director / Franchise Consultant of MED S.A. In 2012, she created www.living-postcards.com, an international platform aiming to internationally promote beautiful Greek things, bringing down the negative, quaint stereotypes about the country.
 

When she was still a child, she roamed around Europe by train, and she never stopped dreaming, planning and going on new trips ever since. For Iliada-Evangelia Kothra, every departure and every arrival bears a sense of impatience, longing and –why not?– incidental occurrences. Put simply, it bears magic.

How often do you choose to travel by train?

I love trains. A lot, actually. I grab every opportunity to use the train when travelling and I always take my time to prepare for it. You see, for me this is not just a way of commuting, but an entire procedure.

What do you enjoy most when travelling by train?
To begin with, I have time for a book, for note-taking, musing, landscapes, and the people I share the journey with. I have time for myself without stress and pressure.

What advice would you give to travelers?

I never give advice. Especially when it comes to travelling, which is, anyway, so personal. That which someone might think of as a hassle, is for me simply an adventure full of unexpected things I will remember for a long time. However, if I had to give a piece of advice, I would only say: “Keep all these pictures inside you.”

Do you find inspiration in travelling? Do you write or jot down ideas while travelling by rail?

I write endlessly; ideas, new projects, secrets, confessions, film shots, decisions, longings. Trains are a space I find genuinely inspirational.
 

Which destination that nobody can reach today by train would you like to see on the train network?

There’s a lot! I am terribly bored of flights and the discomfort that goes with them, so I would go everywhere by train, no matter how crazy or impossible that sounds. As long as I can get rid of controls, check-ins and the possible hassle of lost luggage, I’m in.

What else do you wish the trains of the future would provide?

Greater safety, comfort and more options.

What does “travelling” mean to you?

Life. Oxygen. New experiences. New faces.