Meet Scott Furman, Out Adventures new cover boy, er, man.

Out Adventures teamed up with Bulldog Productions in Croatia to shoot our 2018 Never Lose Your Sense of Adventure campaign, premiering this coming Friday on the Out Adventures Blog.

Before the premiere, we wanted to introduce the campaign’s charismatic cover man, Scott Furman. To no one’s surprise, our digital marketing coordinator Carl Hiehn volunteered to connect with the dapper Daddy in L.A. via Skype.

Scroll down to read the full Q&A, including Scott’s take on charming Croatia, his personal approach to travel and how the campaign slogan Never Lose Your Sense of Adventure resonated with him. As an added bonus, Scott agreed to share some of his personal travel photos.

Carl Hiehn: Good morning! How are you?

Scott Furman: So far so good, thanks. How’s Out Adventures?

Out Adventures is great. Kevin says hello, by the way.

Hi Kevin!!! I had so much fun with Kevin, Robert and Matthew in Croatia.

I know you and Rob have been friends for a while. How did you originally connect?

One of the websites we have at my company (Q.Digital) is gaycities.com and through GayCities I attend a lot of the travel gay conferences such as IGLTA’s annual conference. Through those events, I met Robert. I’ve known him professionally for 10-ish years.

One of the main reasons I wanted to join the gay cruise – apart from the fact that it was Croatia – was because Rob was personally going to be hosting. I love HIS sense of adventure.

Very broadly, tell me a little about yourself: where you’re from, what you do…

You got it. So I’m Scott Furman. I’m from Burbank, California, originally, but I moved to San Francisco 15 years. About seven years ago, I moved again to Los Angeles.

I’ve been working in LGBT media since 2007. Currently, I’m the Director of Sales here at Q.Digital. I love my job and this industry. I’m very fortunate because I get to travel a lot for work. It’s absolutely fabulous.

What was your experience like in Croatia?

Overall it was an amazing and incredible experience. I didn’t know what to expect out of the Out Adventures portion, as this was my first tour with you guys. Admittedly, I didn’t know what to expect of Croatia either.

The trip just sort of happened unexpectedly. Back in January, when I was looking to book some summer travel, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew it needed to be in a warm place, near water, a beach maybe. I was on Facebook, and out of nowhere, what should pop up on my newsfeed but a post by Robert about the last two spaces available for your Croatian gay cruise. The minute I saw it, I knew I wanted onboard.

Knowing Robert was hosting the trip, I really wanted to join, so I messaged him and snagged the last two spaces.

Just snuck in there.

No, REALLY. I dialled Robert and was like, “ROBERT!!!”

And this was your first time going on a vacation together?

Yes. We’ve travelled together for work, professionally. But never on a trip like this together.

What were the highlights of your Croatia trip?

Where do I even start?!?

From the top!

The thing that stands out the most would be the Adriatic. It was incredible to just jump into the water two or three times a day, right off the boat, and swim. I’ve never had an experience like that before. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Magical.

The other thing that stands out was Croatia’s culture and history. I was kind of in the dark about the country, but all the opportunities we had to learn about the region were incredible and informative. I’m a history buff, so the city walks and guided tours were fabulous.

So best of both worlds: super warm, water-based vacation but in a historical, cultural country.

It was unfortunate because I was stuck in Canada when y’all were in Croatia. Rob kept messaging me pictures throughout the tour to post on our Instagram. And I had to be like, “Rob, stop; you’re making me so jealous. It’s unfair.”

Well, that’s the point of social media, isn’t it? To make your friends jealous. I posted a ton of pics while I was in Croatia, and my friends are still coming up to me saying how jealous they are. So I know I did my job.

Have you ever been on a gay cruise before?

No, this was my very first gay cruise.

In that case, what did you think of gay cruises before going versus after joining Out Adventures’ Southern Croatia Gay Cruise? It’s my understanding people have some preconceptions

I’ve obviously heard about a lot of the larger gay cruises out there. I’ve never really been attracted to that kind of vacation. I’ve just never wanted to be on a large boat with all of those people doing all that. Gay or non-gay, I just don’t have a lot of desire to do that.

But a cruise like this which is a lot smaller and more intimate and personal, makes it a whole different experience, so I was definitely open to it and glad that I did it. It was a great experience because it was a smaller group of people. Ya, more personal.

You still get all the things you get on a larger cruise and a larger boat. Like on this cruise, we still had a chef on the boat, and the food was incredible. It was amazing. The service overall was amazing. The guys and the woman who worked on the boat were fabulous. It was a great overall experience.

Tell me about your experience filming Out Adventures’ new campaign, Never Lose Your Sense of Adventure.

Honestly, it was just fun.

Yes, the camera was around, and Matt (the director) was there, but he was super fun to work with. Such a nice guy. I really didn’t feel like I was doing any work. I was just playing and having a good time. It was fun to remember I was on camera and ham it up, but a lot of the time I forgot he was even there.

It was a great addition to the adventure.

Never Lose Your Sense of Adventure is the slogan for the campaign. How does that resonate with you?

I could go to the same place over and over and over again because I love it, and it’s fabulous and amazing, but I never want to lose my own sense of adventure and I want to keep visiting new places every year. Or at least try to.

I went to Croatia, a country I’d never thought I’d go to. I went, and I fell in love with it. In my opinion, that’s me keeping my own sense of adventure.

It’s so great to go to Mykonos every year or Barcelona every year, but come on, there are so many things out there to explore.

What has been your favourite travel experience in your life?

In my entire life?

In your entire life.

I would have to say my Tanzanian safari in 2016. I’d never been to Africa before. I got to experience a whole new continent. And to see the wildlife up close was incredible.

When you travel, do you travel for a vacation, an adventure, just to get away, to experience new cultures…? Basically, why do you travel?

There are two main reasons I travel.

One, I just love seeing things, experiencing the world and learning about the history of places.

And two, I work in an industry where I’m surrounded by adventurers and tour operators and veteran travellers, people like Rob, and it makes me feel a stronger desire to go out and travel more. They inspire me.

Where are you off to next?

I’m going to Florida for New Year. And I’m planning a trip to Hawaii in February for my birthday. If you can believe it, I’m a native Californian, and I’ve never been to Hawaii.

Oh! Happy (early) Birthday. I hope you have a great trip, and thanks for speaking with me.

Thank you. Cheers

All aboard Out Adventures’ annual Croatia Gay Cruise. Find details and departures here.