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Traveling to Greece? Insider Tips, Hidden Gems & Custom Tours · Inspired Travels With Patti

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is Greece on your bucket list?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: This episode will inspire you.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's not on your bucket list, stay with us because I know that after this episode, you're going to put it on your bucket list.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: My guests and I are talking about wandering through ancient ruins, tasting authentic Greek cuisines with locals, and really immersing yourself in the culture and waking up each morning somewhere uniquely Greek.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Mary, when someone lands in Greece for the first time, what surprises them most?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's busy and it's hot.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, even with it being busy and hot, what is the biggest thing you hear people that are wowed by?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the Acropolis, the view of the Acropolis where they come to Athens, just it's right there in the city centre when you first land and you come into the center, it's visually spectacular.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And they're also wowed by, I think, their nightlife as well, the culture of being out all hours of the evening and just eating until all hours, really.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: You'll see people going out for a dinner at you know 11 p.m.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: going just starting their meal to go out, and I'll be out till 2, 3 a.m.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: in the morning.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that definitely wows people.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Those of you that are new to Inspire Travels with Patty, I'm Patty Hunt, and I created this channel to inspire you to live life to the fullest.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: For me, that is about travel, immersing yourself in a culture, having experiences, and whether they're in faraway places like Greece or in your local neighborhood and everything in between.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: My guest today, Mary Voss, is originally from Australia but moved to Greece, where she lives with her children and her partner, who is a Greek native.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: She lives and breathes the culture every day.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Her love for the people, the tradition, and the everyday life of Greece inspired her to create Blue Water Dream Travels.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Mary, welcome to Inspire Travels with Patty.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, thank you so much, Patty.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate being on.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: You are welcome.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Just can you just share a little bit about you?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: You are originally from Australia.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: What made you move to Greece?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: I am from Australia.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm from Perth, which is actually the most remote city in the whole world, which is kind of a yeah, a little fun fact.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so to travel around Australia is quite a vast country.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people don't know actually how big it is to travel with over the desert and to get to other states and whatnot.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I grew up uh in a great, like had a great childhood, really, really like beautiful blue water, beaches, um, everything.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Just really nice, you know.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: We had barbecues in the summer, it was just a really great upbringing, like a lot of greenery, um, good schools, good healthcare.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I really loved it.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was a great place to grow up.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, what made you decide to move to Greece?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I travelled there when I finished school, I'd taken my first trip there.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that wasn't my first international trip, but that was one of um summer that I decided to do when I first left school.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I did instantly fall in love with the European culture, being European culture myself, having a Greek father and growing up in that multicultural society in Australia.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: I really gravitated towards like, you know, coming for the summer, having that experience and nightlife, everything that the buzz of it that it had, even though Australia was beautiful, it's quite um in its own way kind of corporate, kind of like rigid, you know, has its nine to five, I would say, more of the nine to five culture in some ways.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So as you get older, you want to experience, you know, a lot of more travelling, sightseeing.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And because Australia is so far away, we I feel like we do have that a little like that real uh dream to leave and explore the world.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't come here uh for work per se.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I came here for vacation the first time I came, so it's really, really changed my perspective through the years, um, from coming as a tourist and owning a business eventually my as I get older to when I was in my twenties.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been really cool experience.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I was here for some time just traveling and doing my um like leisurely things up until when I actually moved here permanently, which was a few years ago.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: When we spoke, you talked about Greece, and there was more than just the places to see, it was the feeling there.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Can you describe that?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it has its own energy.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: I like to liken it to it, it has its own energy in every place that I visit, and this energy specifically has something about it.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's maybe because it's so rich in the history of of such an old city, and it's uh just visually extremely stunning.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it it really has that dream vacation status to me, but also living here every day you wake up and the weather is just one of the things that really like is inspires me because you've got nine months of sun here.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's today, it's it's winter and it's like 63 Fahrenheit, right?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's February.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that is that's one of the reasons.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, a lot of people ask me why what the best thing I would have to say, funnily enough, weather, even though a lot of places in the world have beautiful weather year-round, you might get tropical storms, you might have really, really extreme weather conditions.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Here it's quite mild year-round.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, essentially, also the feeling that you get of just being in that more of that relaxed feeling, summer, especially, like in August, everything shuts down here, so everyone's really, really chilled out.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: There is no rush, there is no hecticness, it's just really shuts down.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's on at the beach 24-7, so that's part of the feeling that I get, and also the culture of the traditions that they uphold.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like today, for instance, it's a um public holiday, it's clean Monday, so it's celebrating the first day of Lent, the 40 days of Lent.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And here it's quite uh they're rich in their culture, so they do celebrate Easter and Christmas, and it's got a lot of traditions.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And today that it was kite flying, and there was carnival over the weekend, and so that's one of the things I feel like they celebrate life here, and that's what a lot of places don't offer, and Greece definitely offers that for me.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds amazing.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I am really, I just am overwhelmed by the pictures that I've seen of the beaches and the amazing blue water that again is the real thing.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: That to me is where I'd want to be.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: What are some of the other a lot of people know about the beaches?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't you share some about those types of places in Greece, the beach type towns in Greece?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: I keep some of the places hidden.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: I have a couple of spots that I funnily enough don't reveal because they then they become touristy.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if I won't share those, some local beaches that I have.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but if I was talking more on a grand scale of somewhere that I would recommend, like that I love to go that's like visually stunning, I would I would always say, I mean, not beaches per se, but Santorini is a must-see.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Once in your life, you have to go just for the pure, like amazing, you're on a there's volcanic rock and you're on a cliff side, I mean, overlooking 360-degree views, it's amazing.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I would recommend for that Santorini for sure, but for beaches um for actualist like swimming, there's so many different places.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you were gonna go for a family holiday, Crete is just amount amazing because it's just one big island and it's the biggest island, and so it's like its own country.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: So the beaches in Crete are stunning and the food there is amazing.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I would recommend going to Crete.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing with Crete is you can't get so many different places, so it's got different like nooks where it's in nightlife or just beaching or just more cultural history, so that's one place I would recommend.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And also, I personally love the southern Aegean Islands.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, like I said, Santorini, uh Naxos is one of my favourite islands, and I we do go there a lot with our business.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'd like to go personally, it's the food again is amazing.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really the people there haven't lost the charm.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you go there and it's um the charm of the place, and also the beaches are among they've got a lot of the blue, it's called they're called blue flag beaches, which are in Europe, the Eurozone.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: They um it has to have a list of requirements of for it to meet criteria for it to actually be approved as a blue flag.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So Naxos has a lot of blue flag beaches, and it's got one of the most, yeah, blue flag is uh it's like cleanliness and it has to have adhere to different standards of with it within the uh like um uh environmental, it has to meet environmental standards.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that has multiple beaches on that particular island, and also I was talking to someone today about the windsurfing there, it's not well known.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's got the most like well-known windsurfing in Naxos Island within Europe.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to go to windsurfing, that's where you go.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I just that's just two of my places that I really, really think people should experience.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And there are islands closer to Athens.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can take day trips as well, that you can just see just as amazing beaches as well.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, so much.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm already okay.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Sign me up because everything you've said is right up my alley.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I am, I am, I'm in the weather, the sun for beautiful waters.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: What else do you recommend?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: You do a tour and we're gonna get into what people should look for when they're going to go on tours, as well as you know, the way your company does tours and what you do.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: What are a couple other things you would recommend that people do not miss?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Do not miss.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, uh Athens for sure, you have to see Acropolis, as we mentioned at the beginning, 100%.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: You have to do a tour of the Acropolis and visually see it up close and go in and take photos.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's the number one.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think do not miss would be somewhere that a lot of people don't think to go is Meteora, which is northern, um, northern on the mainland, and it has all the monasteries.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just something that's mind-blowing.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: That should be something that's you know, it's on the UNESCO list as well.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just a must-do, even if you're not if you do have the time, it's something that you need to do.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: It is not on everyone's bucket list because of time factor, because you have to drive up there, but you can do it in a day.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's pushing it, but you can do it in a day.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Two days is preferred.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just one of those wonders where you go, wow, how did they build this?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something really specific to the the Greek culture, I feel, because there's very, very Greek Orthodox here, and that's really ingrained in their culture, so that's something amazing to see.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say, I mean, like again, we mentioned about the beaches.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: You you if you go to any beach in Greece, you're not missing out.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a that's just high up on the list.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: But you have to try the food.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think if anything, it's you can you can put someone anywhere in the world, right?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: But if they don't actually try the local cuisines and things that they're really, really missing out.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And a few people I've met have just they just can't quite comprehend some of the foods here.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I say you've really just got to try it because you're missing out otherwise, especially some of the more authentic, you know, locally homemade um produce, which a lot of people are a little bit more scared to try and things, but you know, you just got to give it a go.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Just give it a try.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm pretty much willing to try anything.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: I say that a little hesitantly, but I'm willing to give it a try because you just never know.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I tend to like Greek food.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I guess it's more Americanized Greek food, but we'll see when I come about which foods I try and I like.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want to talk to people about taking tours.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: So whether it's in the US or around the world, going on a tour, I have learned a lot about recently because tours can be very, very different.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: For anybody who is thinking about going to Italy, I did an episode where there is a pilgrimage through Italy.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: That episode was on February 19th.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: People could check that out.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: A whole different way of taking a tour.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And when I spoke to you, you also think of tours in a very different way.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, can you give my listeners some tips when they're going anywhere and they're thinking about a tour?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have some tips what they should look for before they sign up for that tour?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Probably my first recommendation would be to, if you're into social media, I would look, I would probably first look into getting into the website or getting into the person's Instagram, checking out the itinerary, and seeing if that's really what you are keen, or you what you're looking for, I suppose, first.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: You also want to just you, it's good to have in your mind kind of a set idea of what you want to do and see.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: So always include activities that are more up your alley because if you go on something that's more generic trip, you may not get take as much from it as you really wanted to.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So for instance, they do tailor, a lot of people don't realize they do tailor trips to certain like activities, certain group, you know, age range, even though we feel like, okay, you know, I don't want to be segregates, you know, I don't want to go on a tour that's of an age, but sometimes maybe that particular group might just fit what you're looking for just because of the age range, or you know, you might actually feel more comfortable in a group where it's, you know, slow, they call them slow pa, you know, slow paced tours, or you know, just those more of those tours that are just purely for in enhancing your experience to adapt with the culture, right?
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And really immerse yourself.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: So they they do tailor-make those.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can always just pop into Instagram and actually put the hashtag of like what you're looking for, and they do have those key points of highlights if you put in there um you know, slow guided tours or I think they actually have those in there, so you can find that.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Also, if you're looking for like luxury travel, for instance, a lot of people don't realize that they do do trips.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: People think when you do tours, it's going to be just that, you know, uh standardized, but they pe a lot of net people now are offering luxury travel, so it's all about just immersing yourself in complete luxury and they do just a small group of people completely luxing it out.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that again, that might be your thing.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: You might want to do go to some beautiful wineries, overlooking views, you might want to be doing museums and these five-star experiences, and that's that's you know, people love that too, right?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, looking at luxury travel.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, also trying to find maybe tours that are personally guided or not just through a major corporation, like through it, you know, these bigger companies, right?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Where you just jump on and off.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes these tours they do offer great rates, but it might be worth paying a little bit more and going for something that only eight to twelve people are going, and it's more catered to your what you're wanting to do, or you know, it's more personalized, which is always better.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And also simply having an open mind, I suppose, with a trip as well, like thinking, okay, these people are like-minded as me.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm wanting to go on a trip, it's not going to be, you know, um, essentially really, I might not be always thrown into something that I'm used to, comfortable, so out of the comfort zone and be willing to be just talking to people, um, asking questions to your guide, asking questions before you go on the trip, what do I need?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's always a plethora of information that I think people don't enhance and use.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so then they get there, they kind of feel overwhelmed.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: But if you just ask the right questions and always ask, what do I need to pack?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: It might be the smallest question, right?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: But it might make your trip so much easier if you're just asking, you know, how much cash should I bring with me, or how much, you know, what kind of footwear should I bring?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know it sounds like maybe that's something it's really like the common sense thing, but sometimes it's really not because it's not we it shouldn't be uh you shouldn't feel uncomfortable to ask your guide or the person that you've booked the tour through these questions that are prevalent to what you're wanting to do.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: When we were speaking about it and we were talking about the tours and the tours that you do, hearing some of the things that you talked about fit with something that I would love to do, but other things didn't.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I love, and we're gonna get into it, that your tours are catered for the group of people.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I also think when you're doing a tour, it's a personality thing.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, you to vibe with the person that's running the tour, the company that you're going with, I think is a big deal.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: And to your point, asking this silly what might seem like a silly question, like about shoes or things like that.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: I found out over the last several years of doing this that when you go to places like certain European places, you're carrying your luggage and you're carrying it on cobblestone.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, leave the heels at home or the suitcase you take.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: It might not be that you could wheel it.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: So there are important things that you always hear people learn the first time they go to a destination.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: And let's try to avoid that.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: And and again, really encouraging people to ask those questions are so important.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and also great, get onto Facebook groups, actually.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's such a forum of people that are willing to give information that you uh they'll kindly give you, and it's uh it's a such a safe environment, right?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: So going on those threads and going on to um, you know, move uh, you know, Greece travels or something, or you know, America, you know, Hawaii travels and going into forums where people are and just asking those questions and people are always willing to give you the answer.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what do you think I should do?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think I should take?
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: What was the weather like in this time of year?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, things like that that make it so much easier to plan mentally and get ready for for the trip.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think for a lot of people, some of these places that they go are one and done type things.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all about trying to make the best of it.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: I used to travel with that mentality of I'm going, I'll never be back.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: So let me get everything done.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: I've changed that mindset because I found I wasn't enjoying, you know, when I was there, I wasn't present and enjoying.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's important to make the best of the trip, but not feel like you have to run yourself ragged from it.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: And that's yeah, that's kind of the point.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's talk about blue-white dream tours, which is your company.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, why did you decide to start a tour company?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's a great question.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I always had a travel uh sorry, a passion for travel.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was speaking to, again, I speak to a lot of people from like from get guests that I speak to or people that I talk to online, and you know, and they always ask my my story, and I kind of forget to mention things, and then that someone will bring a question up and I'll think, oh, and I was asked this the other day um about why I kind of enjoy travel, and I told her, well, in a past life I was a flight attendant, which I kind of forgot, you know, to bring that up to my other guests that I met, you know, no one really knew that.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought it's that's something that you put behind you as that was the ty that was the job or the career that I had at that time in my life, but it does all I feel like taper into like it it into why you love what you do.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you're that type of person that loves that, it's kind of ingrained in you.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, in a past life, I was a flight attendant, I did a lot of travelling, and at the time that I did that as well, I kind of always found like I never was too keen on joining any large tour buses, and I wasn't really when I visit these cities, I was a little overwhelmed to just jump on board these big, you know, tour buses that sort of didn't really know where I was going, or I just kind of I liked that more personalized experience, and I was always seeking out like a personal guide in the city that I that I would visit, or I was jumping on Facebook trying to find out information, like who do I contact or ask in the hotel, you know.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: I would I was more into the smaller type group activities, right?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Or you know, so and I would always watch how they would run things and I would think, oh, this is kind of so exciting.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: They're sharing the best of their culture and then they're actually just making their turning their passion into a business.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that was quite inspiring at the time to do that.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then um I joined a trip, this the trip with my business partner who I run it with at the time.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: We came to Greece, and we brought people from Australia actually to Greece for the trip.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: This was uh well over ten years ago.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: This was in 2013 actually.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we brought people over here and brought Australians over to come with us to Greece and experience it.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we ran a trip over here, and it was more of a hobby for us at the time, so we did it just to bring people and to say.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, we we we've got clients in Australia or we have and they weren't they were clients of my partner's business at the time, so they weren't even to do with travel, it was just purely friends of friends and things that came over.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: And they had such a great time when we thought well maybe we could do this kind of like into something that might be we could move permanently here, or and life caught up with us and we just did it as a hobby at the time, and then COVID hit, as it did for so many people, and I think our vision of what we wanted for life and how it was running and things totally flipped, and we just thought, you know what, if we're gonna go to Greece, we have to do it now.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Time is short, and so we moved over and I contacted a women's group of community of they had a a really large following, and uh I said to her, Look, I'm I've always taken people from Australia over to Greece, and I've traveled so many times, and I know Greece quite intricately, and all the places I love to visit when I'm here, and now I'm here permanently.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm looking at doing women's travel because women like to get together and have shared experiences, and a lot of times they don't have the leisure of being able to um take partners with them, or you know, they've got kids, someone has to look after the kids, and they can only come alone, or they want to travel at a different time, or they're single, or there's all these reasons, right?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: So getting women together to travel together is really inspiring, and um, I knew it had been done in the past with other places, and there are a lot of people do often offer women's travel, but I feel like in Greece it's not a huge destination that women think oh, we'll get together and travel together.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I took a few groups of women's travel together and it just started from there, really.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: The business kicked off from there and just growing as we speak, which is amazing.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk a little more specific about blue-white dream tours.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: So if somebody calls you and they're gonna speak to you, they have no idea.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody like me, I have no idea really about Greece.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I love the beaches and the water, but I also don't want to miss some of the amazing things that you can show people.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things you also talked about was really immersing yourself in the culture, which I love that idea.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, how does that start?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: How does talking about a group tour begin?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: So generally what will happen is if someone gets in contact with me, generally it's usually from a uh at this point, it's usually referrals, funnily enough, if clients come and or guests come and ask me about the process because while someone that they know is taking a trip and they've said, wow, like we've you know, we've got your number or you've met, you know, need to get in contact with you.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so essentially they'll just message me in any forum, like I said, any of those platforms.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as I get the message, I mean, within the time period of pretty much within the day, because I'm on on these um pretty quickly, being, you know, on you have to be straight away getting onto people, it's people's vacation, right?
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they're like, get on to it.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I suppose I firstly I say to them, all right, they asked me, I'm looking for a trip now.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: If they've already got a trip set in mind of what they want to do, essentially, then I will just I'll know exactly a lot of people say I want these exact dates, and these are the islands I want to do when I have a budget in mind and whatnot, and then so we go from there.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: But if they're flatly coming out and saying, I have no idea about Greece, I've just been referred to what I need to do, and then I'll ask those questions first of okay, either I might send them a survey, which if I just talk to them how they would like, would you like me to send you a survey which outlines all of these questions that are probing questions of how long would you like to go for?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: What are the activities that you feel you enhance your experience?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: What are the eight, what is the are you taking children with you?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Is heat an issue?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: Are you a good, you know, are you would you like to do a lot of walking?
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is that a, you know, are you more a beach person?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a whole lot of questions that I'll send them and they'll send that to me.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'll basically just look at it and go, okay, let's design a trip that will then fit all these things that they've put in, like a dream list of what they would like to do.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'll come back to them and say, all right, how is it best would you like to speak to me?
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm open to speaking to them, and we can have a consult on the phone and they get to know me, and I can get to know more of their personality, what I feel would fit, and we can I could talk to them.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Or if it, or I could have done, I've done both, I've talked to them, or I can send them actually just an email of suggested itinerary, you know, price, when they want to go, etc.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: etc.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then take it from there.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then anything additional that they might like to do, I'll send them an additional, like an optional add-on of activities that they can either book themselves or I can book for them.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's, you know, I can give them the websites or and these are all activities that either I've done or that I personally know that the guest uh sorry, the owner of the business will actually take good really good care of them.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't just hop online on any sort of third-party platform and just quickly Google something.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll say, look, um, if I haven't done this experience and I know this is something that you specifically want to do, I'll make contact with that company and I ask the right questions of what does your experience have?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'll check reviews, I'll do all that.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: Or if if it if it's something that's really, really like a big event that they're wanting to do and they're wanting to have a big group of people, and it's really important that they get that specific activity really right.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'll even fly there.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, I flew into Santorini, someone wanted to do an activity, and I said, Look, I'm gonna be there, I'll fly in and I'll actually go and visit the premise, I'll take photos for you, I'll send you photos of what it looks like.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll, you know, so that's so because I'm in Greece, it's kind of different to maybe a travel agent that's in another country just running trips, selling trips from outside, right?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because they can't fly there and check that out, or you know, and there is the thing of catfish.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's funnily enough, every country you get there is the catfish, so you might book something online and then you get there and it's just visually not what it appears to be.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: So all the places that I book for accommodations, I've either personally been or I've used, or I know someone on the island that knows the person that owns it, for instance.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I do my groundwork in that sense, and um uh when I uh essentially come up with everything that they want in a sort of a bundle, then I say to them, don't worry, I don't just leave it to them and go, here it is, and just pay me and goodbye.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm every step of the way, I'm on I'm on like contact with them.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I had guests that came, for instance, last year and it was a couple, and they said we want to go for a special occasion, a 40th birthday, but like I'm a bit nervous about you know not knowing what to do in, you know, in a when I get here.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: So as soon as they landed, I was straight on the message to them.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: How are you going?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: How was the how was your driver?
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: How are your accommodations?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Are you settling in?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, let's meet.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: If if they if they we don't meet in person, I'll be on the phone to them every, you know, if they want to contact me at any time, they can message me, you know, I'm I'm needing to do this, or can you do this?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then at the end, I'll follow up with them at the end of the trip.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'll follow up with them, you know, how was a trip experience?
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is what do you feel may be any feedback?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always open to feedback because a lot of places that they may have gone, they might have said, oh, maybe I would go there at a different time of the day, or maybe I would choose to do that differently.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, nothing's ever a hundred percent, you know, for everyone's holiday, it's no, it's it's we get it just as close as we can to a perfect that I tried, but there's always that room for, you know, like maybe I would do it differently.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: However, nine times out of ten, thankfully, even ten out of ten, I've never really had anyone say, Oh, I've really disliked that certain food that you've recommended or that place.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been lucky in that sense.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I have read a lot of your reviews, your customers are really happy with you guys with blue, white, dream tours, and I'm gonna put all of your information in the show notes for my listeners.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: This to me is an amazing way to experience an area that, you know, even if people who have been there before, to have you to be able to set things up, look at things, being hands on deck, being there and really knowing where to direct people based on what their needs are, not just the these are the five things you should do, and you say the same thing to people over and over again.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: I really love that idea because a trip to Greece from the US is not cheap by any stretch.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: So when I come to Greece, I want to make sure it is the best trip possible.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing is ever perfect, but to know that you're there and to know that there are things that are set up and that you've heard me and you are clear on the things that I'm looking for, and then making suggestions that I might think, wow, I hadn't thought of that.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's just a great way to experience a country, a new location, and to have those experiences.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I want to thank you so much.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: You have given so much amazing information about Greece.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure there's a lot more.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: And again, people going to Facebook, Instagram, and your website, they could see so much more that we did not cover, amazing pictures.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: As I said at the start of this podcast, you also sent me a lot of photos that will be included in the YouTube version of this.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I am so excited to dive in more to what Greece is like.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I can't wait to visit.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: I have now moved it up on my bucket list.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's so great to hear.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: So for those of you listening on the podcast platform, go to YouTube and check out all the pictures.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely would be helpful supporting this podcast by hitting the follow or subscribe button.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I just want to remind you, travel isn't just about where you go, it's about how you live.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to remind you to live life fully every day.