About the Founder of Greek Balance Tours
I first started travelling to Greece with my parents at a young age. I don’t remember much ,but one memory I kept was visiting my grandfather who lived in Maniatika, Piraeus.
I remember being taken to the local kafenio. All my grandfathers friends kept giving me money to play pinball. (It was great!) He would just just drink his coffee and sit and smile at me, while I put in endless coins trying to play KISS the pinball game.
The second time to Greece I was much older and my experience had a deeper impact. (I was 22 years of age.) At the time I was working as a seaman for the port authority and I had accrued 6 weeks leave. My parents had suggested that I visit Greece and my relatives, (Reluctantly I went..)
At that stage in life I had distanced myself from the Greek heritage and I refused to speak it. What I discovered and experienced changed my life forever. It was a country rich in philosophy , deep in tradition and breathtaking landscapes. Not only did I discover more about my culture, but also more about myself.
From then on, every year I returned. I looked forward to visiting my relatives who lived in Northern Greece, hidden away from the tourist hot spots. I experienced life as a local, enjoying the simplicities.I even introduced my daughter to Greece from a very age and shared many great experiences with her.
It was also around this time I decided to chase my other passion (Personal training.)
I had been training from the age of 13. I was never good at sports but I put in the hard work and determination. Against my peers so called ‘better judgement ‘ I pursued what I wanted to do. I had a great job at the time, that payed very well. My parents wanted me to pursue a career on the sea and become a Captain, but that’s not what I wanted to do. I just wasn’t passionate about it.
I set up a personal training module that incorporated 30 minutes of high and low intervals. I also gave my clients tailored training, with no set programmes. I would challenge my clients and keep their body constantly guessing. Best part is to help them achieve their goals not only physically, but also mentally.
I have been training for over 20 years with no form of advertising and before social media even became an idea . I have retained 50% of my clients for over 10 years and have now passed on a great deal of my knowledge to the next generation.They believe my ideology works for them, by not only helping them look better, but also feel better.
The Greek Balance tours were created after I took some friends to Greece, and decided to show them a different side. I took them to venues that locals like to go therefore they could capture the true essence of the Greek tradition.
As we enjoyed being active I suggested we work out at the beach, enjoying the morning Mediterranean sun and then spoiling ourselves with the rich Greek food. Night life was followed by local wine and celebrating life with an array of tapas at the taverna.As I enjoyed showing them different parts of Greece, I decided to research my concept further.
I discovered other tourist groups were very commercial and that many of them had up to 20 people in the group and went to the same tourist venues. They had limited spontaneity and I felt that guests would miss out on experiencing the local tradition and Greek philosophies, values, and way of life. So, my concept was born.
6 years on and our tours are always evolving.The Greeks have shown (and keep teaching me) life should be about balance. They have also taught me to appreciate the small things and how you must celebrate every moment.
We hope you will join us to experience Greece and guarantee your vacation will be full of memories, (sometimes even too great to be captured by a photo!)