Juxtaposition: The Thobe Traveller

Arabs are known for traveling heavy. They love taking a piece of home with them wherever they go. I have seen Qataris from the older generation take their coffee, dates, bedsheets, blankets, table garments and perfumes to every hotel or apartment they would stay in while traveling.

As an Arab millennial in the gulf, life becomes harder to travel heavy. GCC baby boomers would wear their best outfits to the airports while us millennials would go in pajamas or sweatpants. Our long trips have been transformed into snooze fests because it is our alternative to social media.

I wanted to be like the older generation. I want to take a bit of Qatar with me everywhere so I asked myself what I would take with me from Qatar. My home to the world and the Thobe (a mens traditional everyday clothing) came to my mind instantly.

This is how I started a new Instagram blog called @Thobe_Traveller to exhibit the Thobe on my frequent wanderlust adventures.

The motivation behind taking the Thobe is not merely to brand it. Ever since I was a child I've been in love with images that have bold contrasts and disintegrated meanings that make me see things differently.

So far I have taken my Thobe to Tokyo Tower in Japan, a rural forest in Bali Indonesia and Muscat the heart of Oman.

Arabs and Muslims have been accused for causing major disasters around the world. Conspiracy theorists like to link everything to Islam or Arabs so I always felt like the need to be careful with the Thobe.

In Tokyo, nobody seemed to be bothered by my attire. An old man even said AlSalam Alekom. He thought I was Saudi so we spoke in Arabic. I asked him how he'd learnt Arabic and his response blew my mind.

I obliviously assumed he must have learnt the language in Saudi Arabia while working at an oil plant, but it was the Internet that taught him how to learn many languages!

Bali was similar. I was not allowed to enter sacred temples so I took the Thobe to forests and archeological sites in Ubud. I was completely comfortable in Bali.

As for Muscat I noticed that people are culturally raised in a way not to stare at others unlike other major cities in UAE, Qatar or Bahrain. People have evolved to the point where they do not care what you wear and what you do as long as you do not harm anyone.

I am not sure how I'll be received when I take the Thobe to other major western cities like Berlin, Milan, New York or Vancouver. I hope this Thobe project will help change perspectives and encourage people to travel with their traditional everyday clothing to the world, especially Arabs of different color and ethnic backgrounds.

Where do you think I take my thobe next? Follow me on my Instagram adventures.