Hi there! Welcome to Revoy

Let's create a bond here before you read what I have to say. I will introduce myself, and you can do the same in the comments!

My name is Renata Goulart Aguiar Marques Doege Gaspar, but you can call me Re. I am a Tourism graduate and Travel Journalism student passionate about regenerative tourism and sustainable gastronomy, especially for travelers with dietary restrictions, like myself.

In 2017, I became a vegetarian for environmental and ethical reasons, which deepened my consciousness about sustainability.

I am Brazilian, but I left my home country to study abroad that same year. I embarked on a journey to study Law at the well-known University of Coimbra in Portugal. As you can see, this is not a law blog, so here's a spoiler alert: I quit after a year. The good things I took from that time in Coimbra were the fantastic people I met and the experiences that opened my mind to a new life opportunity, the tourism industry. 

2018 was a new beginning for me. I left my friends from Coimbra behind, moved to one of the most visited cities in Portugal, Porto, and started a Tourism graduation. I loved my new course, the teachers from my university, ISCET, and living in Porto, but do you remember what happened right after, in 2020? Yes, that's right! COVID!

The second part of my university years was sad and lonely. Still, it was here that I found out about regenerative tourism, and my eyes sparkled again. You probably do not know what Regenerative Tourism is, but I will save this information for the next post. Sorry, folks with anxiety. 

After I graduated, my parents gave me four months to find a job because they could not keep paying for me to live in Europe just because. So I started running, looking after jobs, sending CVs to everyone I knew, every LinkedIn job opportunity, and applying for jobs at Hosco that I didn't even know existed. Until the day I found out, what I described as "I never heard about this job, but now I realized it is my dream job." This was how I became a Tour Escort, aka tour guide and concierge, onboard river cruises in the Douro River. 

At first, I saw this job as an opportunity to acquire professional industry experience and a personal challenge. I ended up staying for three seasons on the job, which I loved. But it wasn't just a job. It was a lifestyle as well.

I will describe ship life so you can picture how it was. You can easily understand what I want to explain if you have siblings. Imagine sharing a cabin and bathroom with three other girls, sharing your meal time with many people, and sharing the moments you wanted to be quiet with noisy people. Sometimes, I could feel like we were even sharing the same thoughts and feelings. Crewmates became friends, and the ship became my house. If you have ever considered going to Big Brother, you could try being part of a cruise ship crew first. It's almost the same!

Jokes aside, it's not an easy lifestyle, but I'm grateful for the whole experience, good and bad. At the end of each season, I cried when I disembarked that giant tuna can I was calling home. 

As nothing in life is just flowers, I struggled a lot with my diet restrictions while onboard, where I could not cook my meals. I was part of different companies with different chefs and cooks but could not get a different gut. It was during the time onboard that all my gut issues got worse, and there was nothing I could do.

It opened my eyes to how challenging food accessibility can be for people with special dietary needs. I could have vegetarian food, but vegetarian food without lactose (which I am highly intolerant to) and with enough protein was almost like water in the desert. 

At the end of my second season, I started eating seafood again. My body couldn't make any improvements, so after a season of pain, a few tests, doctors, and nutritionist visits, I'm now following a very restrictive diet low in FODMAPs. Making it simple: I can't eat things that can ferment in the gut, like onions, garlic, beans, gluten, dairy, some veggies, and so on.

How am I going to survive while traveling? I don't know, but I will visit my family in Scotland next week and tell you all about it. 

Revoy Travel was born from this long and complicated journey. I needed a space to share stories, ideas, and resources that encourage a more mindful and inclusive way to explore the world. This is not only "Renata's blog" because my mission is to build a community that believes travel can be a force for good.

I'm currently taking a Master's in Travel Journalism to strengthen my voice and contribute meaningfully to the industry. I'm learning out loud and inviting others to grow and explore with me. So follow me on this journey, and let's travel together! 

Cheers,

Re :)