FAQ

Indie Horizons is a consulting agency founded by Andromachos Dimitrokallis in 2015, providing travel coaching workshops, interactive storytelling scenarios, and experience design services. Our team of experienced travellers leads private and small groups coaching experiences, creates interactive games, and designs unique itineraries to every corner of the world, after extensive research of each destination. We work both with business organisations as well as independent travellers, and also manage our expanding local traveller and expat community in Athens.

“Indie” comes from “independent” (like indie music), which highlights our focus to independent travellers. “Horizons” because we want our trips to help you broaden your horizons, whether in geographical, cultural, or any other sense. No matter how close or how far you set these horizons, always aim to travel beyond them!

Travel Coaching is the use of travel experiences as educational material and personal development tools, providing powerful inspiration and insightful food for thought. Beyond a simple tailored travel planning experience, Travel Coaching means creating more meaningful trips, aiming to provide “coaching through immersive travelling”. Each trip should ideally broaden your horizons, challenge your limits, and help you explore new concepts and possibilities.

We provide consultancy and education services, not tourism services, therefore we are not travel agents or tour operators.  This means we can provide you with in-depth information and personalised travel planning, but not any classic tourist services. Although our itineraries are designed to be self-guided, we may accompany you along your journey as travel facilitators, to ensure you get the most out of your learning experience, but this does not mean that we are tour guides or directors.

Of course you can, everyone is entitled to travel in any way they desire. Today, there is plenty of information to be found online, about almost any place in the world.. But at the end of the day, it all goes down to accumulated experience. If you have designed 10 trips, you know many things, but less so than someone who has designed 100 trips or even more. Also, a lot of online information is one-sided: a backpacker blogger has a different travel style than a laid-back flashpacker. And for today travellers, the problem is too much information, which often makes it extremely difficult to discover that particular review or piece of advice which you need to decide. Hiring a Travel Coach offers you expertise, professionalism, and personal service, while saving time and even money, by accessing all these little tricks of the trade which cut down unnecessary costs.

Think of it as an interactive travel guide: a compilation of travel information after thorough and professional first hand research. However, with Indie Horizons you have the privilege of contacting the author directly, to discuss your trip details.

You can always research and book several travel services directly from our self-booking page (thank you in advance for the cookie!).

Of course you can, everyone is entitled to travel in any way they desire. Most trips are organised through the help of local operators anyway. If you prefer a full all-inclusive tourist package, it is best to use a classic travel agency. If you wish to create a personalised unique travel experience, you can use our services instead. Similar to a travel agency, we can design your itinerary, research accommodation and sightseeing, and help you connect with local tour operators. However, these are just a flexible list of suggestions, so you are free to follow them or not.

To be profitable, most travel agencies prefer to deal exclusively with larger groups, often more than 16 people. Travel coaching is an ideal solution for solo travellers and smaller parties of less than 8 people. For similar reasons, most agencies also prefer to deal only with expensive/luxurious and western-friendly accommodation and activity options. Travel coaching is ideal for middle-budget and low-budget travellers, and all those who prefer to enjoy authentic local experiences in their trips. We often work with travel agencies, which direct such traveller profiles to us.

Think of it as the difference between hiring a taxi driver (travel agency) and using a GPS (travel coach). On the first case, it is the driver who decides for you which route to follow and which sights to see. On the second case, it is you who drive the car, and you have a map full of useful information to help you decide, plus a friendly voice to guide you along!

First, select your destination, or browse through our trip pages for additional inspiration. The next step is to contact us to discuss your ideas, and we will design a unique tailored itinerary, according to your specifications, just for you and your organisation. Once we have finished researching and creating your trip, we will go again through the details together, to do any last-minute fine tuning. At the end, you will receive a detailed programme with personalised suggestions of things to see and experience, in-depth information about the destination, a map with all the important points of interest, and all the necessary payment links for flights, accommodation, transportation, and local activities. Of course, we are always here to provide any additional help you might need, before and during your trip.

As we want to provide a highly personalised experience to all our travellers, we recommend planning a trip about 3-6 months before departure. This will enable us to find the best possible deals, according to your own budget, needs,  and travel style, creating an even more amazing trip for you. Last-minute planning is also possible, but this would mean less attention from us, limited availability at the destination, and probably higher prices.

Of course you can, all trips are tailored to the specifications and needs of the participant travellers. However, the itineraries we propose are usually set during the ideal season for each destination, to ensure you will enjoy all the important sights and experiences each place has to offer, in the most convenient way possible.

Not all our destinations/itineraries are listed in our website, to save space and not overburden visitors with information. Contact us to see if we can cover your needs by our existing research. If we need to perform new research, it is still possible, but understandably we may require additional time and charge extra fees for our effort.

Usually, we design our itineraries with 2-4 people in mind, which means couples and small groups of friends which can fit into a single car. We do not recommend having more than 8 travellers in your group, as the less people in your party, the more ground you will be able to cover. This also allows maximum flexibility and the creation of more specialised trips, better tailored to the specific interests of each traveller.

As a comparison, most travel agency group departures have a minimum of 16+ people (if less they cancel the trip because it is not profitable), and even that is considered a “small group” by the tourist industry. So you travel with a large number of strangers, see less things, follow a strict programme, and still have to pay about twice the cost of travelling on your own!

The indicative cost listed in our itineraries is not corresponding to some bundled tour package, but is the rough answer to the question “how much it costs to travel to X destination”. It is the average rounded sum of all the suggested components of the trip (such as accommodation, transportation, and activities), based on past experience. You will notice that this indicative cost is around 50-70% less than a travel agency. That happens for a variety of reasons, but mainly because our itineraries are self-guided, we cut down the middlemen accessing the local operators directly, we have the flexibility to use more budget-conscious alternatives, and we are not burdened with traditional office costs. The exact cost of any particular trip can only be calculated after all the bookings are completed, and it is often even lower than the indicative amount.

All methods of payment are online, to ensure traceability and easiness of use. We support all major credit cards, direct bank transfer, and of course PayPal. Minor banking fees may apply depending on the case.

All associated trip costs (such as flights, accommodation, or local activities) are paid directly by the travellers, and therefore considered to be third party payments. Although we do provide all the necessary information and recommendations, these services are not part of Indie Horizons, and follow their own respective cancellation policy. We strongly suggest to our travellers to book a travel insurance for their entire trip, to cover against contingencies.

For travellers preferring to pay a single combo price for all trip costs, they can use the help of our partner travel agencies, or one of their own preference.

Our travel coaching fees are always prepaid and non-refundable. A deposit of 50% is usually required for the booking of our services. This applies to private sessions, group experiences, and trip design services. Once we finish our research and hand you over your personalised itinerary, you may do the trip at some later point if you need to postpone for any reason.

If a coaching session or experience is ever cancelled or rescheduled by us, for any reason, participants are entitled to a refund, rebooking to a different date, or convert the facilitated experience to a self guided itinerary.

Absolutely yes! All members of our Travel Club can host/promote their own events, such as hiking, sailing, yoga, and similar travel-related experiences. Hosts are responsible for their own events. However, we kindly request not to post too often, to keep things tidy. The Travel Club organisers may remove posts and activities, at their discretion.

There are many ways to do so! You can offer your travellers our signature hand-crafted itineraries, in addition to your own travel services. If you are a smaller agency, this will enable you to create personalised trips to any part of the world, increasing your brand name and customer satisfaction at no additional cost.

If you are a bigger agency, we can help with those categories you often have to disregard (budget-conscious travellers or groups of less than 8 people), therefore allowing you to allocate precious human resources to more profitable operations while still retaining your customers. In addition to the above, our team can also work with you as private travel consultants, showcasing travel opportunities to your high profile clients on one-on-one sessions at their own convenience.

As business consultants specialising in the travel industry and change management, we can also help you organise and further develop your business, coping with the ever-changing modern environment. It is always a win-win deal!

Please feel free to contact us through email, WhatsApp, Skype/Zoom, or the social media. We’re here to talk!

• By choosing to travel with our help, or participate in the events and activities of our Travel Club, you automatically accept our terms and conditions.
• Indie Horizons is a consulting agency providing travel coaching workshops and experience design services to business and non-profit organisations, educational institutions, professionals and individuals.
• All workshop and itinerary details are flexible and tailored to the preferences of the participant travellers, including dates, length, destinations visited, accommodation, transportation, local activities and overall cost.
• Indie Horizons is not a travel agency or tour operator, and does not offer tourist services. Trips, events, and activities are organised with the assistance of local agencies and operators whenever needed.
• Indie Horizons services are limited to travel consulting, providing information and suggestions regarding accommodation, transportation, sightseeing and local activities at the destination, including indicative costs. However, the selection, booking, and payment of such services is the sole responsibility of the participant travellers.
• Travellers participate in trips and events at their own risk, and should be prepared accordingly for the selected activities. The itinerary may get altered or even cancelled by the organisers or travel facilitators, depending on the local conditions.
• Travellers are by no means obliged to follow our suggestions, and if they do so they act on their own accord. Indie Horizons does not bear any liability for incidents happening in the destination, or during our events and activities, regardless of these taking place while following our suggestions or using the services of our recommended local partners.
• Although we have strictly selected our local partners among the best available, Indie Horizons does not have or accept any liability regarding their conducted services.
• All information provided by Indie Horizons we try to be as accurate as possible at the time it is given, although unwittingly mistakes might occur. The use of common sense, official or local advice, and the reality of the destination should always take precedence over our research and suggestions.
• Indie Horizons will always try to inform the traveller as best as possible about the conditions and requirements needed for each trip. However, the traveller is the sole responsible for the suitable and timely preparation for the trip, including passport, visa, medical or other special requirements.
• Travellers are kindly requested to comply with the directives of the local guides, respect the local culture and norms, and take steps to minimise their impact to the environment.
• If travelling with a travel facilitator, these people are there to provide you with assistance and information regarding the destination, to the best of their ability. However, they are not meant to be tour guides or liable for your own personal belongings and well being.
• For any cancellation or mishap, whether from the traveller’s part, the local operator’s part, or due to extraordinary events such as strikes, natural hazards, or local unrest, refund can only be made according to the policy of the local operator or your travel insurance. Rest assured that Indie Horizons will also offer assistance to our travellers to the best of our ability.
• To cover against all odds, we strongly suggest our travellers to complement their booking with travel insurance from a reputable international company, for their entire trip.
• Indie Horizons reserves the right to refuse its services in certain cases, such as to minors, to people disregarding its travel policies or the policies of its local partners, or on legal, ethical, and medical grounds.
• Indie Horizons reserves the right to update its terms and conditions without prior notice.

• By using our website, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions.
• Any trip information mentioned in our website and social media is for travel inspiration and reference purpose only. Prices are indicative, based on past experience, to provide a rough estimate about the cost of a trip to any particular destination.
• All uploaded media (visual, audio, text or information) on display here are property of Indie Horizons or their corresponding creator, and are protected by international copyright laws.

• At Indie Horizons, we prefer things to be simple, not legal mumbo jumbo. We are doing our best to comply with any legal requirements, and to protect our travellers’ information.
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• Should you choose to share with us (for example via contact forms, email, or social media) any personal information (such as your name or email), rest assure that this will be stored safely in our database, and will never be shared with any third party. We are using this information to contact you, and design an even better travelling experience for you. No sensitive/financial data is ever being stored or processed by us. Contact us if you ever want your information to be deleted or need to know exactly what we have collected about you.
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• This privacy policy might get updated from time to time, to comply with any new legal requirements, but in principle will remain the same.