To begin my Travel Lookbook series, I asked a former colleague and fellow outdoor enthusiast if he’d be willing to participate and luckily, he said yes. Travel Lookbook, by the way, is a revamp of my Trendy Wednesday series, which I started back in 2013 and featured bloggers in their usual outfit on and off the road. This revamped version of the series will showcase all kinds of travelers and not just OOTD planners. I aim to show everyone how different (or not) we can be from our day-to-day looks once our #getoutstayout spirits possess us.
Now, without further ado, let us meet today’s Travel Lookbook featured traveler, dragon boat paddler Ryan Guiaman.
This iron man is currently based in Dubai, UAE and works for a global health insurance company for corporate policies. He is also a member of the Dubai Flying Dragons, a men and women’s amateur dragon boat team in the UAE. The team trains four times a week.
Any trip to the beach or hiking, as long as he is with nature appeals to adventurous Ryan’s inner self. “Discovering old towns or places that look totally different from where I grew up (Philippines) is interesting too.”
During his free time, if not paddling, he either binge-watches Netflix series or works out at the gym. When asked what his usual getup is when he’s not traveling, Ryan said, “Just typical gym clothes. I use it at home and at the gym, and I seriously do not take photos when I’m at home“. Agree! I only take photos of Ilog when I’m at home. LOL
It took long convincing before I get his approval to post this photo, which I had to rummage in his personal Facebook account. Just so you know, this is Ryan on his regular sunny Dubai afternoon.
His choice of clothing really depends on the time of the year, where he is going, and what kind of activities he will be joining in like is he doing kayaking, hiking, or canyoning. “Jackets, lots of layers and boots during winter, and light clothing and flip flops during summertime.“
Ryan believes that doing research on the weather of the place you are going to immensely helps with your packing and ultimately, comfort during the travel. Aside from this, he suggests joining a community of travelers like CouchSurfing that can share more accurate information about the place you are visiting. “Sometimes, Google is not that 100% accurate,” he said.
“My host from Romania and a friend from Hungary taught me how to ski, so I wanted to have a ski holiday once a year,” he shared. His preparation and research on what appropriate type of clothing he should wear for this kind of trip made a lot of difference when he went to Slovakia. “Aha! Yes! In Slovakia! It was negative 4 degrees and snowing the whole day.” I’d agree on this one again. Had I not been properly clothed during our trek to the base camp of Mount Everest, I wouldn’t be blogging today. LELS
I am so proud of you, Ryan! Continue living your dreams of exploring the world. Send me some postcards, yes? 🙂
That’s it for this series. Have an idea who our next featured traveler will be? Stay tuned! 🙂
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