My name is Giannis Apostolou and I am 48 years old. I live in the capital of Greece, Athens. I am married and have 2 children. I work as a decorator in an architectural office. I am a mountaineer and a climber since I was 17 years old.
For the past 10 years, in my spare time, I organize trips in Greece as well as abroad for friends/climbers and I guide the group to the mountains!
I have a page on FB called LOCAS BOTAS (crazy boots) with 4000 fans.
And the link https://www.facebook.com/locasbotas/.
I also have a site https://www.locasbotas.gr/ but unfortunately it’s all in Greek.
All photos on the site are from our travels. And our YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwtJSKDodpHQS86GmC3lBJg
where we upload brief videos from our travels.
The aim of our team is to walk the best treks of the world and, thus, see other countries!
We have traveled to 13 countries so far and we plan to continue! For the summer of 2020 we have arranged to go to Iceland and Spain.
As you understand, organizing all these trips requires a lot of information and research! One needs to look through a lot of information in order to be able to plan an itinerary or make any necessary changes. A valuable contributor to all of this is google maps and, more particularly, the local program guide. All of these trips are perfectly organized through the valuable help of local guides. That was the impetus to get started and I could share information as a local guide.
It is something that we jointly build and do to grow and acquire value through our actions.
Over the years our team has grown. So we decided to do something more than travel.
On October 17, 2019 we had the opportunity to organize a charity event. We donated all the proceeds to a charity which helps children in need. 170 people attended this event that day, in order to help us with the charity/event. It is unbelievable that with something as simple as a mountain walk, you can make a difference and really help!
In Greece, after a hike, we usually eat all together at a restaurant and then return home. As you understand, in this occasion it is not easy to find so many restaurants that can serve so many people. Thanks to the local guides we found all the information we needed! We found the village’s restaurants, reviews, comments from various local guides that led us to the right choices. The end result has justified us. All of these people satisfied with the prompt service, the delicious food and the beautiful scenery.
We are very happy and proud of what we did!
I shared this little story to show you the true value of the program to me which has been so helpful in so many levels. That is, I found out that when all the information is properly evaluated people’s daily life can be much easier. But in this particular case it has also helped us for a good cause!
What I want to develop more now is my contribution to new places. Because I am often in unregistered places (mainly in the mountains) I see that the program needs help there … and I will help!
Thank you for your time.
Giannis Apostolou.