This nurse-turned-content creator has a special reminder for individuals who loves travelling.
“Sabi ni St. Augustine, ‘Life is a book. Those who don’t travel only read a page.’ So travel, you’ll discover a lot about yourself, about the world that you’re living. I’m also using my platform to help my audience make traveling convenient, na work on their budget,” Shayne Funcion told The Philippine STAR/Latest Chika.com in an exclusive interview.
“Ayoko kasi talaga ng oh travel kayo nang travel, tapos ubos-ubos ‘yung biyaya. Kasi nga, ‘di ba, nag-travel tayo for our mental health, tapos pag-uwi natin, magre-reklamo tayo kasi ang dami nating utang. I mean, right. So travel, but travel responsibly,” she adeed.
Shayne graduated with a degree in nursing from the Velez College in Cebu. After passing the board exam, she tried working at a hospital but eventually resigned to pursue her passion.
“I worked for a year. And then, I took up master’s degree in nursing. I was a youth minister of a Catholic organization. I think dun ‘yung experience ko as a youth minister was my foundation talaga on how I create content and how I deal with people and how I communicate,” she shared.
She then started writing in her own blog in 2019, noting her first travel destination. “My niche found me. At that time, I was a remote worker. Na-realize ko, ‘Punta kaya ako ng Boracay?’ So, I went to Boracay, I stayed there for a month,” she said.
Shayne said that she was eager to prove that traveling in Boracay can’t be that much expensive.
“Ang first viral video ko was sa inaabot ng 500 sa Boracay. And then it went super viral. Nag-viral dun ‘yung P250 na accommodation. Nag-viral ulit ‘yung karinderya. Tapos, I started to, okay, so I think this is the way for me to reach more people. I grew from 10,000 followers to 100,000 followers in 10 days. Tapos, ginawa ko lang ‘yung na pattern. Na gano’n, budget,” she said.
In 2022, she travelled to Sagada and explored the province for one month.
“I get to experience the local life. Like how they live. I ate what they’re eating. Siguro totoo ang sabi nila na kapag na heartbroken ka o kung gusto mong hanapin sarili mo, pumunta ka na sa Sagada. Because Sagada will remind you that life is beautiful. Ganun ‘yung naramdaman ko sa Sagada. And para sa akin, I want to create more videos like this so that people will have meaningful travel experience,” Shayne recalled.
According to Shayne, part of her advocacy is to visit places that are not that famous to tourists.
“I want them to want to go there.For example, maraming takot pumunta ng Siquijor. But if only you get to visit Siquijor, my gulay! The best in the Philippines nasa Siquijor–dagat, waterfalls, culture, tao, pagkain. The best,” she said.
Shayne also wowed netizens after she shared her experience in travelling to Culion, Palawan.
“Before Cullion, nasabi ko na my goal as a content creator is to create content about a place na dahil sa content ko, people will visit that place. Tas grabe talaga. Kasi they invited me last May for their festival. Tapos, pinakita nila sa akin ‘yung number of visits,” she said.
“Before, I posted my content ‘yung visits nila, yung 500 lang, nasa 1,000 lang. Tapos, after I posted my content, 2,000, 2,500, ganun. Tapos, every time they asked daw, ‘How did you discover Cullion?’ So, ‘Ah, napanood ko sa video ni Shayne.’ Oh my gosh! This is it! Ah! Oh my! Masabi ko na malayo pa. Pero sobrang layo na,” she added.
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Shayne admitted that it was a bit challenging to visit the town, but the journey was definitely worth it as it was rich in history and untouched beaches.
“Yeah, it’s nice to go to other countries, pero let us also discover our own land. It will make you feel so proud for being a Filipino. May nasabi nga na ah, ‘‘Yung mga ganyan kasi na lugar it’s not for everyone eh.’ Tas para sa’kin, na-challenge ako. ‘No, they should want to go there,’” she noted.
