Traveling with Pinoy Pride: A Blog Giveaway
When traveling, you are not your name. You are your country.
I’ve had countless encounters with fellow travelers or locals while on my 2.5-month solo trip around Asia, wherein they ask me where I’m from (and I do likewise), we engage in a brief conversation, and part ways without ever knowing each other’s actual names. We then resort to referring to each other as the Dutch couple I met in Laos, or the Filipina that I met in Sri Lanka, or the tuk-tuk driver in Battambang, Cambodia. And that is the truth of some single-serving friends you meet while traveling.
As such, I feel that whenever we travel or interact with foreigners in our own country, we are really ambassadors for our country.
![DREAMERS & DOERS: Tricia Gotamco & Erin Chu of Made For Movement Yoga & Travel
Life really does send us synchronicities every so often, we just have to be open enough to recognize them, and keen enough to act upon them.
Series of Synchronicities
About a month ago, I claimed a 2-week Deal Grocer pass for Urban Ashram, and a former ICA batchmate, Tricia, was still teaching there then. Incidentally, I had also been looking through Made For Movement’s site in search of a travel-friendly yoga mat a few days prior to attending Tricia’s class. From my bazaar rounds for Punchdrunk Panda, I knew Tricia Gotamco owned Made For Movement with partner Erin Chu.
After seeing Tricia that day and briefly chatting with her after her class, I just knew I ought to write about her and Made For Movement for my blog.
So we agreed to meet again at my regular haunt lately, Pipino, this time with Erin to chat more about yoga, business, a bit about vegetarianism, and an unexpected lot about passion.
[[MORE]]
Moving On To Better Things
Tricia shared that as Made For Movement, “We aim to provide high-end products at mid-range prices for travelers and the yoga community”, given that most available products are much more expensive.
Back in March 2010, when Tricia had just come back from traveling and attending yoga teacher training in India, ideas of a business began percolating in her head. At the same time, Erin was feeling increased stress from work and cubicle confinement. Having been friends for the longest time, and partners on other “mini-business ventures” back in college, it was a natural decision for them to partner up again.
So they just dove in.
Erin left her full-time job at a bank to focus on the business, while Tricia started to put some of her yoga teacher training to practice, which would later prove beneficial to their business.
They started the business with their bestselling line of microfiber travel towels. And given their mutual fondness for yoga, eventually moved on to yoga mats and accessories and accessories as well.
The Perks of Travel & Yoga
Tricia and Erin’s eyes sparkled when talking about their travels and yoga beginnings. Traveling allowed them time to unwind, be inspired and come up with new ideas. And while they had their own motivations for beginning their yoga practice (for Erin, it was a physical activity that effectively relieved her of stress without requiring hand and foot coordination; for Tricia, it was initially to lose weight), their love for yoga is among the things that bind them as they are gaining popularity as the only local brand that provides more affordable products for the yoga community in the Philippines.
Moving Forward
Having graduated from Fashion Institute of the Philippines, and as the natural course of their brand, Tricia would like to introduce a line of yoga and travel wear for the brand. With what they’ve accomplished so far, and with their still growing success and recognition, I am confident that Tricia and Erin will go even further with their brand.
And because I think it is no accident that I got in touch with them, and gotten to know them better as individuals (and even conducted a passion test on them), I’ll definitely be backing them and rooting for their success.
For my Life in 10KGs Giveaway, the nice ladies of Made For Movement are giving three (3) lucky winners a Made For Movement travel hand towel each, along with other goodies summing up to P2000 worth of prizes!
Back to prepping for my trip,Jen
Follow my tweets • Find me on Facebook • Sign up for my newsletter • E-mail me](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m69c2fAl0I1r0u81eo1_1280.jpg)
DREAMERS & DOERS: Tricia Gotamco & Erin Chu of Made For Movement Yoga & Travel
Life really does send us synchronicities every so often, we just have to be open enough to recognize them, and keen enough to act upon them.
Series of Synchronicities
About a month ago, I claimed a 2-week Deal Grocer pass for Urban Ashram, and a former ICA batchmate, Tricia, was still teaching there then. Incidentally, I had also been looking through Made For Movement’s site in search of a travel-friendly yoga mat a few days prior to attending Tricia’s class. From my bazaar rounds for Punchdrunk Panda, I knew Tricia Gotamco owned Made For Movement with partner Erin Chu.
After seeing Tricia that day and briefly chatting with her after her class, I just knew I ought to write about her and Made For Movement for my blog.
So we agreed to meet again at my regular haunt lately, Pipino, this time with Erin to chat more about yoga, business, a bit about vegetarianism, and an unexpected lot about passion.
![Maintaining My Yoga Practice While Traveling: Living Light (Part 1 of 2)Life in 10KG Giveaway with Made For Movement yoga travel mat & travel towels
I’ve been practicing quite a bit of yoga for 3 months now, and I’m determined to make it something to commit to. No excuses. I’ve pursued too many interests and let too many fade away, and I want to finally see this through after determining it as one of my top passions. Besides, it’s something I’ve long known to be something I aspire to adopt in my life not just for fitness, but for holistic well-being.
So anyway, given my upcoming travel plans, I won’t be able to attend yoga in local studios very much, so that means I’ll have to maintain a self-practice or really seek out places to practice wherever I go (which something I really intend to discover and share with readers of this blog). Either way, I’d be needing a yoga mat (as not all places of practice have yoga mats available for borrowing). And I found the perfect solution.
[[MORE]]
I was thrilled when I found out about Made For Movement’s yoga travel mat (a brand by Tricia Gotamco & Erin Chu). It seemed like the perfect solution to my quandary about lugging around a bulky yoga mat in my travels. The mat weighs only .77 lbs., and I weighed it for myself and it weighs short of 300 grams! And I love that you can easily fold it. Bath towels are bulkier than this! Anyway, I’m getting too excited endorsing this product but I love it. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now and I love the rubber backing which keeps the mat in place, and the microfiber top layer which absorbs sweat (no need to bring an extra towel), and provides really good traction for your hands during otherwise slippery downward dogs.
I think the only downside is if you’re boney and in need of extra cushioning or support, this may not be the best option for you, but for those of you who like me, really prioritize portability and general function, this is a really great product. (Somewhat like a Macbook Air vs. Macbook Pro dilemma)
I also got myself some of their microfiber travel hand and bath towels. They take up practically no space and dry really quickly, which is ideal for travelers (and gym goers too, if you’re the type, which I’m not).
For my Life in 10KGs Giveaway, the nice ladies of Made For Movement are giving three (3) lucky winners a Made For Movement travel hand towel each, along with other goodies summing up to P2000 worth of prizes. You’ll have to purchase the yoga travel mat on your own. :P
Live light,Jen
Follow my tweets • Find me on Facebook • Sign up for my newsletter • E-mail me](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5vudbOHRb1r0u81eo1_r1_1280.jpg)
Maintaining My Yoga Practice While Traveling: Living Light (Part 1 of 2)
Life in 10KG Giveaway with Made For Movement yoga travel mat & travel towels
I’ve been practicing quite a bit of yoga for 3 months now, and I’m determined to make it something to commit to. No excuses. I’ve pursued too many interests and let too many fade away, and I want to finally see this through after determining it as one of my top passions. Besides, it’s something I’ve long known to be something I aspire to adopt in my life not just for fitness, but for holistic well-being.
So anyway, given my upcoming travel plans, I won’t be able to attend yoga in local studios very much, so that means I’ll have to maintain a self-practice or really seek out places to practice wherever I go (which something I really intend to discover and share with readers of this blog). Either way, I’d be needing a yoga mat (as not all places of practice have yoga mats available for borrowing). And I found the perfect solution.
As you may have read from repeatedly through my blog, I will be embarking on a 2-and-a-half-month journey around Asia for the sheer pleasure of traveling, talking to strangers, learning new cultures and discovering myself and what is truly important to me. And I’ve committed myself to packing a bag weighing no more than 10 kilos.
In the process, I will have to trim down the non-essentials of my life, tangible & intangible. Though the tangible aspect is much easier, and that is where I will begin. :)
From June 18-29, I will be posting the things that will go into my bag, and sharing some of these with not one, not two, but three (yes, 3!) winners.
Each winner will receive:
- A laptop sleeve from Punchdrunk Panda (no less!) - Worth P660
- A microfiber travel hand towel from Made For Movement - Worth P250
- A spectrum pass from White Space Wellness - Worth P1000
- A P150 GC or a pair of slippers from Banana Peel - Worth P150
That’s P2,060.00 worth of prizes per winner! :D
Get up to 16 raffle entries through Rafflecopter below! (And one more per day if you tweet about the giveaway)
View the terms and conditions below for more details. :)
Good luck!
Chairs,
Jen
Follow my tweets • Find me on Facebook • Sign up for my newsletter • E-mail me
The Nomad Manager Setup
Sort of “geeked out” this weekend. That and my previous post on my portable desktop have thus compelled me to write my own version of The Setup, just because I find it interesting to know what tools other people use, and because I’m a big advocate of some of the tools I use, so I hope sharing them with you will benefit you as well. :)
