Nicholas John Nakis

My name is Nic Nakis and I come from Sedro-Woolley, WA. I started this travel blog as "The Mad Greek's Travel Blog" when I left North America for the first time in 2006. I documented that first 6-month, around-the-world trip extensively. Then, I returned for a few updates around 2010. I revived the blog in 2022 in order to record my ongoing travels and fill in some of the gaps.

I am a filmmaker and a fitness coach.
nicholasjohnnakis.com is basically my online resume as a Writer/Producer/Director.
youtube.com/nicnakis and vimeo.com/nicholasnakis will show you some samples of my documentary film work.
smartfitandclean.com is the home of my fitness coaching business, espousing my philosophy of mental fitness, physical fitness, and spiritual fitness.
I blog at nicnakis.com, where I also plan to share my art, photography, and community work in the future.
I post daily practical fitness tips and content from my documentaries at instagram.com/nicnakis and facebook.com/nicholasjohnnakis
My first documentary, True Born African, a Reggae music biography of Winston "Flames" Jarrett, has its own website at truebornafrican.com
Recently, I've been making documentaries about the sport of Functional Fitness. Info on those can be found at functionalfitnessfilms.com
I've started a Patreon page in order to support the documentary films. You can find that at patreon.com/nicnakis

Happy reading!

At the East End of the Orchard: A Tribute to SunRay Kelley

North America » United States » Washington » Clear Lake July 22nd 2023

SunRay's Last Building

Nicholas John Nakis

The New Friend I made a new friend this year. And now he is gone. So, I’m sitting down to smoke a little of my new friend's herb and write a tribute to him. This summer, I had the pleasure of working with legendary designer, natural builder, electrical vehicle maker, and sculptor SunRay Kelley on the last building he ever made. I helped him at a challenging time. We had a lot of deep conversations together. And then he died. I am still in a state of shock over this, and I miss him, but not in the same way as his family and long-time friends do. It’s something different for me, but still quite potent. I miss the opportunities to learn more from this man, whose philosophy I strongly believe, and whose works I fully ... read more

Return Journey

North America » United States » Washington April 24th 2023

Nachos for Nate

Nicholas John Nakis

(This post also appears on my personal blog at nicnakis.com) The return journey was not nearly as interesting as the way coming. After all the excitement of seeing new places, meeting new people, and enjoying new experiences, backtracking home in a rush just doesn't compare on the same level of storytelling interest. But, I am a completist, and I will complete the story. We only got about 3-4 hours of driving done on Sunday night, so that meant we had a long way to go on Monday. With appointments starting at 6am on Tuesday, and school for Nathan, we were going to have to make it all the way from Dunnigan to Sedro-Woolley in one day. We drove from a little after 8 in the morning until a little after 10pm. There's not much to tell ... read more

King's Canyon Nyahbinghi Tabernacle

North America » United States » California April 23rd 2023

At the Gates

Nicholas John Nakis

(I have also posted this on my personal blog at nicnakis.com) Into the Mountains Every road leads to somewhere. When Nathan and I left the monastery, I was using Google Maps on my phone to check the route to the next destination. There were 3 options, within about 5 minutes total travel time of one another, but they each went totally different directions. One started North, one started South, and one started East. As the King's Canyon Nyahbinghi Tabernacle was basically due east of me, I chose the route that headed to the east and thus into the mountains. It looked like the most direct route to me, but I was wrong. We began with a left turn. Having come in from the other side, this entire route was new to us. No backtracking. Forward, ever ... read more

The Gateway to Heaven

North America » United States » California April 21st 2023

Is this Africa?

Nicholas John Nakis

(This is a cross-post with my personal blog at nicnakis.com) Nathan and I woke up in a place called Woodland, California. The sun was up early and so were we, taking a few minutes to polish-off the leftover Laos food from the night before. With only about 3 hours' drive to our next destination (in San Miguel), we weren't in much of a hurry. But, considering that our original plan had been to camp at the monastery the night before, we wanted no more delays. We didn't actually know anything about what the program at the monastery would entail. All I'd seen was a simple image, shared with me through a messaging app (Viber, I think?), all in Amharic. The only information in English was the date and the address. As we drove the dusty California ... read more

Road Trip

North America » United States » California April 20th 2023

Travel Buddy

Nicholas John Nakis

(This is a cross-post with my personal blog at nicnakis.com) One of my favorite movies of all time is a notorious failure, the 1969 blockbuster bomb that almost bankrupted a studio, Paint Your Wagon. This blog has nothing to do with that. So why bring it up? There is a song in the film that says, "I was born under a wandering star," and that's the part I'm talking about. I have always felt that I was born under a wandering star, figuratively speaking, in that I have this sort of unstoppable wanderlust that forces me to move from time to time. This April, Nathan and I went on a road trip. We had a weekend alone, basically, with my parents out traveling on the East Coast, my mother-in-law in Kenya, my wife working without a ... read more

The Spring Break Overlap

North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver April 2nd 2023

Family Road Trip

Nicholas John Nakis

Spring Break I am 41 years old and Spring Break has NEVER been a thing for me... until now. Growing up, I don't remember any big trips over spring break. This was always a week to clean the house or pick up extra shifts at work. Likewise, in college, I was always working on that 1-2 week break in late March or early April. I don't actually remember any spring break vacations in my life. (Maybe one to Vegas when I was really young? I'm not sure, you'd have to ask my mother.) But, now that I have two boys in grade school and a wife who's returned to college, Spring Break has become a thing in my home. Too bad their respective spring breaks don't overlap though. Chelly's spring break was the last two weeks ... read more

Last Day in JA

Central America Caribbean » Jamaica » Ocho Rios February 27th 2023

Last Day in JA

Nicholas John Nakis

And just like that, our quick little trip to Jamaica was at its end. So, what did we do on the last day? First thing, we slept in. Like way in. This was really our only chance to do so. With the lost day (Miami day), our Friday became another hectic travel day. That made Saturday the day we were too eager to go out and see stuff. And then Sunday was church. Monday, the last day of our trip (Tuesday was to be another travel day), became the "sleep in" day. Then we wandered through town looking for souvenirs to bring home for the boys and my parents. It was another gorgeous, sunny day, but much quieter than Saturday because the work week had started. We stopped by Calabash Ital Rastarant one last time for ... read more

A Short Trip to Montego Bay

Central America Caribbean » Jamaica » Montego Bay February 26th 2023

Beauty of Montego Bay

Nicholas John Nakis

One of the important lessons of travel in the "developing world": don't plan to do more than one thing in a day. We had already visited the Orthodox Church today, and that was realistically all we were going to get done. For some reason, we forgot this rule and also planned to go to Montego Bay in the afternoon and visit Ras Flako Tafari. Unfortunately, that did not work out. I have known Ras Flako for probably 15 years. He visits Seattle rather frequently in his capacity as an Ancient of the Nyahbinghi House. We also talk from time to time over Facebook Messenger video calls, but I've never visited him in Jamaica before and this sounded like a good idea. He said Sunday would be the best day to visit the Nyahbinghi grounds in Pitfour ... read more

Jah making the food and the woman look so beautiful to I today Rasta

Long Live Abuna Yesehaq

Central America Caribbean » Jamaica » Ocho Rios February 26th 2023

Long Live Abuna Yesehaq

Nicholas John Nakis

3 Visions In the past two years before this trip to Jamaica, I had experienced two visions of Haile Selassie I in my dreams. This is not counting those visions that came upon me during meditation or from scripture reading, induced by plant medicines, rituals, music, or narratives. Just two natural visions in a dream, as the kind Joseph had interpreted. In the first vision, His Imperial Majesty was in New York City in 1963, approaching the headquarters of the United Nations, and I was amongst the crowd to witness HIM enter the building, but not to see HIM speak. I stood across the street from the UN headquarters building. Both sides of the street were barricaded and secured by police, with large crowds crammed behind the barricades. In this dream, His Imperial Majesty singled me ... read more

A Distinctly Ethiopian/Jamaican Orthodox Iconostasis

Another Night Out Dancing

Central America Caribbean » Jamaica » Ocho Rios February 25th 2023

Finely Dressed

Nicholas John Nakis

So many parties for this birthday girl. We'd already been out one night in Miami, and one night in Ocho Rios. Now it was our third night going out to find dinner, find music, and dance. Pretty sure we started with a nap 😂😂😂. That's how every day was going on this trip, and man did we need it. Our lives back home are so busy these days, and even on vacation we're running around like we're on fire. It would be nice to get an actual break on our "break", but that's how it goes sometimes. We did our best. Now is good time to mention that I was drinking marijuana. DRINKING, not smoking. This is because I feel that smoke has caused me too many problems--with my cardio and with my sinuses--and I want ... read more

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