Learning in transit
Drew Arellano learns lessons on the go
Drew Arellano loves visiting various places in and out of the country, believing immersion is the best way to learn about things.
“It’s the experience eh,” he said. “It’s something you cannot learn just by reading books.”
In fact, Drew considers traveling “good for your health, good for your personality, good for your development.”
This early, he plans to inculcate that mindset into his son, Primo.
“I want him to be exposed to different types of people, ’yun ’yung importante du’n eh,” he shared.
Wondering if he is hinting at Primo joining his show “Byahe Ni Drew,” he said, “No, he doesn’t have to be on cam, ayoko. I don’t want him to work this early. It’ll be on our own accord.”
Not for the money
Drew has been doing “Biyahe Ni Drew” for years now and he considers himself lucky as the show satiates the travel bug in him.
“I’m not even doing it for the money although I could say the money is good,” he said. “I do this mainly for the education and the experience. Actually, I could easily walk away from it if I feel I’m not learning anymore.”
He also loves it that he gets to contribute to enlivening local tourism through the show. Note Drew often goes out of his way to hook up with local tourism units.
“Whenever we feature a place we ask them, ‘Are you ready for the influx of tourist?’ Because I really feel they should be ready.
“Natatakot ako na if we feature a place and then they’re not ready to handle the tourism side, papangit ’yung lugar,” he explained. On “Biyahe Ni Drew,” the 37-year-old makes sure to experience everything a place has to offer. He related how he braved eating strange food, crawled through dark caves, even jumped off cliffs, just to make for an interesting show. “Ang maganda sa show, we don’t have a script so we get to try almost anything,” he said. “Kasi depende din sa presentation talaga, we could just shoot beautiful sceneries ’di ba? Pero mas maganda kung may story behind it.” In everything, Drew related, “I try to be brave as much as I can. Like, I don’t look at the sea before I jump off a cliff. I just go and do it.” They also try to educate viewers with the do’s and dont’s of traveling. “We also give them advice like sa budgeting, kung saan ’yung mga affordable hostels, kung ano ’yung essentials they could bring, everything they need to become the ultimate ‘Biyahero.’” The show has since been featuring places outside the Philippines including Bangkok, South Korea and Japan.
Home is where the heart is
If there is a downside to the whole thing, it’s that the show takes him away from his family for days.
“’Pag local destination usually two days lang, pero ’yung two days na ’yun kating-kati na ako (umuwi). I mean siyempre meron kang new baby na nearly one-year-old, siyempre gustong gusto mo umuwi eh ’di ba? Eh lalo na pag out-of-the-country, mas matagal,” said the Asian Artists Agency talent.
In any case, Drew just tries to make the most of it.
“Iniisip ko na lang na maybe kailangan din namin ’yung time away, para lang Iya (Villania, his wife) could have free time for herself, ako ganu’n din, ganu’n din si Primo, pero siyempre just a little bit, not too long.”
His family is also the reason that when asked which place he considers most beautiful, Drew always answers one thing and one thing alone: The Philippines.
“It’s not just because I’m a Filipino, It’s not because we have among more beautiful beaches in the world, It’s not even the diversity of our culture,” he said. “Iba talaga ang Pilipinas, it’s just so unique, so different... and yeah maybe, because I have my family here and home is home, it is where the heart is.” (With report from Jojo P. Panaligan)