UO x Hydro Flask
Hydro Flask wants you to live your best life outdoors, which is why we partnered with two of our favorite outdoorsy creators, Maitreya Brooks and Michelle Siman, to showcase how they like to get outside and get moving. Spend the day with them as they take us to their favorite hike spots (Hydro Flasks in tow, of course), chat wellness, and share the nature-inspired phone backgrounds they created just for us.
Maitreya Brooks
My name is Maitreya! I'm born in Oregon, based in Portland! I'm the community manager over at Golde, which is a superfood wellness brand focused on bringing accessibility into the wellness world! Some of my fav things to do these days are work on my house with things like painting or gardening, also going on fun adventures on the weekends with my friends to places like the mountain, the coast, hikes through wildflowers, road trips, and also finding the newest yummy meals around town!
If you drive East an hour outside of Portland is a town called Hood River and it's my go-to adventure spot. There are tons of short and long hikes, swimming spots, rafting spots - it's pretty dry and sunny out there and then post-hike I love to get a meal and a drink in town!
On Saturdays' my friends and I usually pick an adventure for the day, and we all grab bagels then gather our dogs and head out of town! We go hiking, walking, swimming, snowboarding, whatever the weather permits. Then on Sundays, I love to have a slower day where I wake up, make a yummy breakfast and coffee, and then either work on my house a little bit or meet up with a friend to go on a long walk through pretty neighborhoods! Sometime's we'll end up somewhere to grab a bite or something to drink. I love a slower Sunday to ease into the upcoming week.
I really love making these gradient backgrounds, and they're so easy on the eyes for a fun phone or computer screensaver! I create them with colors based on how I'm feeling, or a theme sometimes. This theme was centered around the new Hydro Flask lime color that I love so much!
Michelle Siman
Hi! I’m a brand consultant and strategist based in Toronto, where I was born and raised. I have a podcast where I foster conversations about our well-being and careers. I love spending time outdoors and exploring new places and spaces.
I’ve always gravitated to areas with a lot of trees. I really enjoy spending my time on hikes or long walks away from the city but around nature. When we say nature can be healing, it can support everyone in different ways. For me it is definitely mental. Being immersed in the outdoors has really benefited and supported my mental health, whether it’s been by taking my mind off things or really helping give me clarity and space to think about certain situations I’ve been going through.
I’ve been spending time in NY. Since I live mostly in the city, I like to take the weekends to step outside of that and drive a little bit into the countryside/upstate. Starting the morning packing a bag with snacks and water to stay hydrated then hit the road.I recently visited Bear Mountain which is about an hour outside of the city. Even if it's not a hike, just taking walks and sitting in a park with a different kind of scenery really can hit the spot and allows me to set an intention for the week to come.
I could look at photos of nature all day. Seriously. When I get outside I also love taking snapshots of the beauty I'm surrounded by. The majority of my phone photo roll is photos of the outdoors. As I try to stay as mindful and present as possible when I'm in the outdoors I know I’ll need something to look back on. My phone backgrounds for years have been from past outdoor experiences. I also love putting together collages; they are fun and it's great to have all the photos pasted together. My process for my background was to share some scenery images taken from my latest trip!
I’ll be bringing my Hydro Flask around everywhere with me! I’ll be making a visit to LA soon and hopefully get to go on a hike! Aside from that when traveling I always believe in the importance of hydrating and bringing a reusable water bottle with you.