Kali ini Profil Traveler mengangkat kisah seorang travel blogger asal Malaysia. Selain kisah petualangannya yang seru, kami juga ingin membagikan sedikit insight dari para travel blogger di Malaysia. Pertama kali kami ketemu Rayyan di Laos dan sempat sharing tuk-tuk untuk keliling Vientiane. Sejak dari sana, dia sudah mengalami banyak pengalaman seru, di antaranya volunteer work di Leyte dan Bohol (Filipina) untuk bantu korban badai Haiyan serta gempa bumu, dan juga melakukan volunteer work untuk bertahan hidup di Jepang. Yuk kita ikuti kisah serunya! Oh ya, karena dia sudah lama tidak cakap bahasa Melayu, dia sekarang lebih fasih bahasa Inggris dan mengadopsi British accent. So….tidak apa-apa ya kalau interviewnya pakai bahasa campur-campur Indonesia dan Inggris 😉
Nama: Rayyan Haries
Twitter: @rayyanharies Follow @rayyanharies
URL (blog): www.thebigsmallboy.com
Kota Asal: Selangor, Malaysia
Domisili: Everywhere and anywhere? Haha… My last long term stay was a 3 month stay in Inawashiro and Hakuba, Japan.
Ceritakan sedikit tentang Rayyan
A full time nomad who enjoys seeing the world at his pace. Recently discovered the amazing world of volunteering and been hooked up since! In my country, Malaysia or largely in Asia, I am considered as a failure just because I got kicked out from university, don’t have a degree, no car and don’t have a house. But I like to see myself the opposite way. I don’t need a car, a house or a degree to do what I do nowadays. My mission is to live a happy life and do my best to make this world a better place. Oh I am also a vegan, it’s delicious! 😉
Sekarang lagi sibuk apa sih?
Currently volunteering in a school and doing the volunteer cook feeding the homeless project in Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia! Next, am off to lombok and then down under, Australia! 😀
Kapan kamu mulai tertarik dengan dunia traveling dan apakah ada trigger yang membuat kamu ingin lebih berkecimpung di dunia traveling?
I’ve always wanted to travel all my life. Then I discovered travel blogs and I realized that I can actually do it! It was the day that I got kicked out from University that got me traveling, I still remember 16 February 2012, the day I got the news that I need to leave university and the day that I boarded my first train to Thailand, alone! 😀
Dari sekian banyak pengalaman travelingnya, ceritakan tentang pengalaman paling berkesan waktu travelling itu di mana & kenapa?
My time in Philippines was my the highlight of my 1 year abroad. Arriving in a post disaster zone, seeing dead bodies and an unimaginable destruction, I was left in disbelief the first day I arrived in Leyte. But after spending 7 months volunteering, I learned a lot about life, struggles and rising up again. The people, the work and the friends I made- so amazing.
Aspek apa yang paling kamu suka saat traveling?
I love to eat, no doubt about that! But since I turn vegan, I kinda have to forgo that! Haha. I love meeting people, hearing their stories about life! 😀
Akhir-akhir ini Rayyan terlibat dengan beberapa proyek volunteering. Bisa ceritakan lebih lanjut mengenai ini?
I found my love for volunteering a year ago when I volunteer in Langkawi Island at an animal shelter. I was supposed to stay for a week instead I stayed for almost 5 months! Then I heard about Typhoon Haiyan on the news and I told myself that I needed to go to the philippines and help. I went and promised my mom to stay for about 27 days, I didn’t take the flight out nor the next flight out- I stayed 7 months and moved from typhoon haiyan zone to the earthquake in bohol. I volunteer with All Hands Volunteer, we provide reliefs in from of house demolition, clearing rubble and some rebuilding for the victims. After Project Bohol closed down, I made my way to Fukushima, Japan where I volunteer at an cat shelter as well as Minamisoma, where the tsunami hit and nuclear radiator broke down.
Bagi-bagi tips dong untuk orang-orang yang tertarik untuk melakukan volunteering work.
Just do it! Don’t pay to do it unless you know that it goes directly to the people you are helping. There are so many websites that offer free volunteering work. Go out there and discover what you are passionate about. Don’t do it because your friends are doing it, do it because you want to do it! Volunteering is rewarding, it gives you the chance to get to know the local people better, meet amazing kind-hearted people and see the country like the locals!
Bloggers are increasingly used as a marketing arm of big brands. How do you decide which brands to work with and which ones to say ‘No’ to? And…is it ok to say ‘No’?
Yeah, bloggers are the new media now! I used to work for the traditional media and I can attest that bloggers can give better reach than most magazines nowadays especially those travel-related ones! I always see brands that are comfortable working out of their comfort zone. I like brands who understand that not all bloggers are the same. It is okay to say NO especially when those who clearly just want to use you and your network. Learning to say NO means that you know your value.
You are a big supporter of bloggers not working for free. What advice do you have for bloggers who are invited to press events where the only benefit is free food?
Go to these free events if you know what you want out of it. If you are starting up, it’s good to go to these events to get connections and be connected but if you are already a fulltime bloggers and have a substantial number of followers, there is no such thing as free lunch. They expect you to blog about their events and you are left with only a filled tummy (probably worth nothing to these brands) and a blogpost to write. Again, know how and when to say NO. 😉
In Indonesia, bloggers advertising rates are rarely discussed. What are your thoughts on that?
Indonesian social media market is HUGE! They need be educated and given more exposure and that’s it all that needs to be done in this country!
Secara pribadi, Rayyan suka traveling dengan gaya apa?
I am more of backpacker-nomad-unplanned-ish person! 😀
Apakah masih ada tujuan wisata impian yang benar-benar pengen kamu datangin? Kalau ada, ke mana & kenapa pengen ke sana?
I really wanna go to the UK just because that where I was supposed to go and study for my degree! And also Mykonos and Santorini in Greece just because they are beautiful! 😀
Sebutkan lima barang yang wajib kamu bawa setiap kali travelling selain uang & paspor.
Ipod 5, diary, extra pair of shoes, my text and call only phone, and my quotes book.
Sebagai ucapan terima kasih atas kesediaannya dijadiin profil traveler bulan November, silahkan boleh promosi apa saja 🙂
Go out and see the world, it has so much to offer. Go where your heart feels belong. Even if you fall down, pick yourself up again and keep going. Remember, it’s the journey that matters not the destination. This fragile life we are living now, it’s a precious gift given to us by the universe. A gift that you should value.
Terima kasih Rayyan. Pastikan check out his blog, and follow him on twitter !
ngeliat fotonya aja, aku lgs kepengen kenal ama dia 😉 Mukanya itu nyenengin 😀 .. asik bgt kayanya