December 2021

Suchi and her family spent a fun-filled 2 weeks traveling throughout Greece to celebrate 2 milestone birthdays, a wedding anniversary, and being with each other. They enjoyed a fully private tour with personal guide and vehicle, stayed in private villas, and a customd-designed itinerary with unique sightseeing and activities. See their bespoke itinerary HERE. Contact Planet Hoppers to create your own dream vacation. 
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Q. Why Greece and why September?
A. We were going as a family, so me, my husband, my parents and my 2 sisters. My husband is turning 30 in December and my sister was turning 21, so it was a birthday celebration for both of them. My family and my husband were all into Greek mythology.  In 2 weeks, we did 2 islands (Crete and Santorini) plus the mainland (Athens of course, the Peloponnese, Delphi, and Meteora). We started planning months ago, in March or early April 2021.

Q. What was your personal favorite part about Greece?
A.  Crete was my favorite island, I thought it was just fantastic and the people there were so nice. Very much an island vibe to it. And it’s a big island, too, you could experience a lot of different things when you visit: we were on the beach, we did the San Maria Gorge hike which was incredible, we did a pottery workshop which we loved. The history of Crete goes back to pre-Greece; the Minoan civilization was an amalgamation of different cultures. We just learned so much about culture and history. 

What we didn’t realize going into it, was that there was actually a lot of vegetarian food on the islands.  We all eat meat, but my dad is a vegetarian.  The food was really very good.  We brought home olive oil which is really, really good and which they don’t export to America. So Americans don't actually get to taste pure Greek olive oil.  The guides and the store owners taught us how to look for the best kind and the right taste. I would love to try and make some of the baked feta cheese dishes we tasted, with roasted peppers and honey crust. They do stuffed peppers and stuffed tomatoes with rice. 

Q. Did you have any concerns prior to traveling?
A.  We were a little nervous about traveling, we were going back and forth about whether we should cancel it. Right before we left, there was a huge spike in COVID so, from the US’ perspective, Greece was put on a higher risk tier. So we were a little concerned, but we followed it closely and looked at it from a data-driven perspective, researched vaccination rates, and looked at the restrictions that countries are putting in place.  Some minor inconveniences, like wearing a mask, to be safe and protect ourselves was completely worth it. We were a group, we stayed mostly in villas, everything was private, our drivers and tour guides were all vaccinated, most of the activities and the dining are outdoors, so we felt more comfortable. We felt safe enough to make the trip and we got to experience so many places with way fewer crowds. We were nervous but, we were very glad we got to go.

Q. When you traveled this time, how was that experience different than traveling before COVID?
A. My husband and I were lucky that we were able to sneak our honeymoon to Asia in early 2020. Then we came back and everything locked down. During our honeymoon in Asia, the pandemic was only just starting. There were no mask mandates in place, but people were starting to wear masks more. 

Anyone coming into Greece now had to show they were vaccinated, or show a negative PCR test taken in the last 72 hours and/or a vaccine card. That also proved true traveling domestically, like between the islands. Masks required on planes. Everyone wore masks in Greece and there were also vaccine requirements for indoor dining, and museums. A lot of what we did was outdoors, so we felt safe with that, but we knew that there was a pandemic happening. It was very common for people to wear masks, maybe not always covering their nose, but I don’t think we ever saw anyone not wearing a mask. 

Q. When did you first start working with Amy and what are the advantages?
A. We started working with Amy for my honeymoon in Asia. Greece was our second trip with her. It's really nice to have everything taken care of, and have one point person if anything goes wrong, and not worry about pick-ups and drop-offs. It's so convenient. Also having her assistance in building out the itinerary. There was so much we wanted to do and so many people involved and all with different ideas on what would make a great vacation. It was great to have someone who could make all those ideas coalesce and produce an itinerary that would hit on so many different things. I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own, it would have driven me insane. The research that Amy put into trips, like our honeymoon where we visited Thailand, Cambodia and the Maldives, finding places that really hit on things we never even thought about it, made for such a great trip. She brings a lot of experience, there was so much she offered us from a personal perspective too.

Q. What's next on your list of places to visit? 
A. We’ve been wanting to go to Japan. If we can make that happen next year, then yes, but you never know. I also want to do a lot of Eastern Europe, but wherever I can go, I will go. 

As travel resumes, we are revisiting some of the best images from years past.  Please #planethoppers your Instagram photos so we may follow all your future journeys!