Down Another Rabbit Hole – All in the name of Greece!

Since reaching retirement age, I seem to have thrown myself into a frenzy of different projects that had been swirling around in my brain for some time. If I were to imagine what that would look like, it would be something along the lines of a big pot of alphabetti spaghetti soup being violently agitated by a giant whisk. Each letter a thought or an image that I needed to try and make some sense of. My poor husband could only watch in utter exasperation, his face saying, ‘What the hell is she up to now?’

Earlier this year it culminated in a web-based travel toolkit, a suite of tools aimed at independent travellers in Greece, along with a companion ebook where I endeavoured to unravel the mysteries of the scattered and sometimes illogical Greek public transport systems. I’m still not sure if I’ve totally cracked it, and I’m not sure I ever will. Completely that is.

As if that wasn’t enough whilst juggling my day job and everything else that goes with life, I recently threw myself headfirst into another of those rabbit holes for another ‘little’ project. Getting the travel planning toolkit (or a version of it) into the Google Play Store.

Now, this was no mean feat. I’m no techy by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, I can find my way around a WordPress website OK, but designing and developing an app is a completely different ball game. Anyway, not being one to let a minor detail like that put me off, I thought I’d go ahead and have a stab at it.

This was probably one of the biggest challenges of my life. At times, it became all-consuming. Collating and checking numerous spreadsheets of data, getting to grips with Google’s very challenging demands and not to mention fathoming out Android Studio, AAB files and a whole bunch of stuff I’d never encountered before. Days when I brushed my hair were rare. It wasn’t pretty.

After several months of hard slog, I was ready for the next step.

One of Google’s requirements was to recruit a small army of testers to put the app through its paces. I was very lucky to find a ‘coalition of the willing’ to help me out, and thanks to their feedback, suggestions and several revisions later, the app is now ready to go out into the world. I’m not going to lie – It was akin to birthing a new child!

Google has given the app their final approval and Taaaadaaaaah! it’s now available in Play Store. I’m chuffed to little mint balls!

Plan Your Greece. Who is it for?

If you’ve ever tried to plan an independent trip to Greece from scratch, you’ll know the problem. The information is out there, but it’s scattered across dozens of websites, ferry company pages, regional bus operator sites and travel forums. Working out how to get from A to B, let alone A to B to C to D, takes hours of research before you’ve even started thinking about where to stay or what to do when you get there.

Plan Your Greece is for the traveller who wants to make their own decisions. Not the package tourist, not the person happy to hand their itinerary over to an AI and accept whatever comes back. The independent traveller who knows that Greece rewards the effort of planning properly, and who wants the right tools to do it.

It’s for the first-timer who doesn’t know where to start and the seasoned island-hopper who wants everything in one place. It’s for anyone who has ever missed a bus because the timetable was buried three pages deep on a website in Greek. It’s for the person who wants to track every island they’ve visited and work out which one to tackle next.

In short, it’s for people like you. And, if I’m honest, people like me.

What does it do?

There are five parts to Plan Your Greece, all the tools you need to put the whole of Greece in your pocket.

Seek — Not sure where to visit next in Greece? Rate 22 preferences across four different themes: scenery, experience, vibe and practicalities. Seek will score your choices across 101 carefully curated Greek destinations, both islands and mainland. No sponsored results, no algorithm. Just an honest match based on real knowledge of the country.

Route — An interactive map of Greece’s entire public transport network. Every airport, ferry port, KTEL bus station, train station and metro stop, all in one place. Tap any marker and you get regional information plus a direct link to that operator’s website for current timetables. Every KTEL operator in Greece, at your fingertips.

Tools — A directory of everything you need to book a Greek trip in one place. Ferries, flights, accommodation, transfers, tours and activities. No hunting around.

Plan — Build your itinerary day by day. Add flights, ferries, hotels, transfers and activities, track your budget as you go, and export your complete trip plan as a PDF when you’re done. There’s also a Before You Go checklist covering everything from document backups to Greece-specific preparation.

Ticked — A personal tracker for the ardent island-hopping fan. Log which of the 130 carefully selected Greek islands you’ve visited and which ones you want to put on your bucket list. Watch your map fill up as you work your way through the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, the Ionians and beyond.

The important thing to mention is that this is not an AI itinerary generator. It is not a booking platform that takes a commission and nudges you towards whatever pays best. This hasn’t been created by a team of people who’ve never set foot in Greece in their lives. Every destination rating, every transport connection, every resource link has been researched, tested and curated by hand and is based on personal experience. Much in the same way that I’ve approached everything on this blog over the last fifteen years. And I think that counts for something.

If I can bear the thought of putting myself through this again, I may attempt to make a version for iPhone. I don’t have an iPhone or an Apple pc so that’s the first stumbling block, but I’m not one to let such minor details stand in the way. Besides, I have a couple more Greece trips lined up, and that will always take priority!

Watch this space.

After that rather long and drawn-out preamble, Plan Your Greece is available now on Google Play. £11.99, one purchase, no subscription, no adverts.

Plan Your Greece in Google Play

A Greek Oddity Homepage

That’s one more thing ticked off the list – and it’s not going to stop here! Maybe at 66 (nearly 67) there’s a new burgeoning career in the offing. The one I’ve had so far has been more diverse than the KTEL bus system. But with a website, a web-based travel planning toolkit and an Android app now under my belt, it begs the question. Can I now call myself a Tech Bro? 😍