About Drew Binsky
Drew Binsky is a full-time video maker and travel blogger with more than half a million social media followers, and 50 million views on his videos. He grew up in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona, but graduated from the university of Wisconsin-Madison with a double major in economics and entrepreneurship.
Drew has travelled to more than 120 countries since 2012. During his junior year of college, he studied abroad in Prague in the Czech Republic, and visited 20 other countries in Europe that semester. That is when he knew that he wanted to make a career out of travelling. After college he moved to a village near Seoul in South Korea to teach English for 18 months, and here he visited 22 other Asian countries. Drew is hoping to visit every country before he turns 30 in 2021.
What is his favorite country in the world you might ask? The Philippines.
We reached out to Drew, and interviewed him about his love for this country.
Drew Binsky
“The most important aspect for me, and the first thing I look for when travelling is absolutely the people, they make or break my experience. The Philippines is really my favorite country in the world. I just love their hospitality, their over-the-top friendliness, they are always so welcoming and happy to meet you, and it is great that they all speak English, so there’s not a huge cultural barrier there. I also look for interesting cultures while travelling, I always try to go off the beaten path. These things are much more important to me than the food, the prices or the weather in the country .”
Drew Binsky enjoying life in the Philippines
Top 7 islands in the Philippines
The Republic of the Philippines is located in Southeast Asia, with 7,641 islands spanning more than 300,000 square kilometers of territory. It is divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
In one of his videos Drew Binsky defined his top 7 islands as Siquijor, Siargao, Palawan, Boracay, Bohol, Bicol and Luzon. He still has Batanes, Kalanggaman and Romblon on his bucket list.
Siquijor and Siargao
During our interview, Drew elaborated on why Siquijor and Siargao are his favorite islands in the Philippines.
“Siquijor is amazing, it is super laid back, calm, there are not that many hotels and resorts yet, and it has the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, it just goes on for miles and miles. I just really like the relaxing lifestyle there.
Siargao is great for surfing, because there are good waves there, and it’s more of like a chilled surfer-bro type of island, with travellers and locals alike, and it is also very cheap, so I love it there.”
Drew Binsky enjoying the beautiful sunset in the Philippines
Mindanao
In May 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law on the entire island group of Mindanao following the Marawi Siege by the Maute terrorist group. Hundreds of civilians were killed by the terrorist group during the siege, and more than 180,000 people were forced to evacuate Marawi City. These events have had serious effect on the amount of tourists arriving in the Philippines, many have questioned whether the Philippines is still a safe country to travel to.
Safety in the Philippines
During our interview with Drew he stated:
“I have not yet been to other places in Mindanao, only Siargao, but i am not worried about the safety there. The Philippines is one of the safest countries I have ever visited, and it will stay that way in my opinion. I have been there 28 times, and I never had any scary situations. The war in Marawi is over now as I know, and I never think about that when I am there.
Drew Binsky enjoying a fresh coconut on one of the many beautiful beaches in the Philippines
Travelling to the Philippines for the first time
The Philippines is without doubt very different from Europe and North America.
Drew explained in our interview that the weirdest thing he has experienced in the Philippines is that they eat Balut, which is a duck embryo, he finds it very strange and quite disgusting, however he loves Sinigang, which is a Filipino soup or stew, Halo-Halo, which is a traditional dessert, and the grilled pig, here referred to as Lechon.
“You also have to know, that being in the Philippines is kind of a slower life, things do not always run on time.”
Drew would advise people travelling to the Philippines for the first time to use Cebu Pacific Airways, because it is super cheap to get around, and to visit as many places as possible, because with more than 7000 islands there is so much to see.
You can follow Drew on his Facebook page and his blog.
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