Select Page

Crete Circumnavigation: Meet the Team

by | Aug 30, 2016 | Crete Circumnaviagtion, Expeditions, Kayaking

Eric Lillstrom “Psilos”

Eric is an intrepid traveler of water, land and ice, but is still a Midwestern country boy at heart. As a professional guide, he leads kayaking adventures around the world and skiing expeditions to the North Pole. Eric is no stranger to long expeditions; his favorite memories include a sunset staring contest with a giant sea turtle in Crete, and snuggling with his team’s sled dog, Leoni on a -30°F morning in the Arctic. Also an avid photo taker, Eric loves to share his exploits with the world through a lens, so you can expect a lot of pictures from him and the team on this trip. “Psilos” means “tall guy” in Greek, which is what the locals call him.

William Woodward “pony-boy”

William is an adventure dirtbag to the core. For 1.5 years he’s been living on the road full time in his VW Vanagon named “Ruby”, expanding his portfolio as a lifestyle, travel, and adventure photographer. Along the way, he’s climbed mountains from Canada to Mexico, trekked the Western Fjords and Northern Mountains of Norway, and explored the backcountry in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Iceland, Southern Australia, and Tasmania. While his major experience lies on land, he has taken to sea kayaking like a natural and will be an expedition veteran in a few short weeks.

Chris Paustian “CP”

Chris has been living the professional paddlesports guide & instructor dream for ten years, and has always known that life is better on the water. He’s an American Canoe Association Sea Kayak Instructor and stand up paddleboard racer.  He enjoys climbing, skiing and trail running. He has guided five ski pulk and dogsled trips across the Arctic Icecap to the North Pole in addition to dogsled trips throughout the Boundary Waters. He lists Puget Sound, the Great Lakes and the Aegean Sea as his home waterways, and enjoys them whenever he can on any sort of human propelled craft.

Ryan Allen “Nayr”

Kayaking is one of Ryan’s favorite ways to travel because it offers the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective. He feels lucky to get into a boat at every opportunity, on any waterway and guiding has been a way for him to maximize his time in boats. You’ll find Ryan on any variety of paddlecraft all across his stomping ground in the Pacific Northwest. He knows one section of the Cretan coastline very well and is excited to experience the whole thing.