It was just a week ago when Raena Abella arrived back from a trip she’s long wanted to take: an overlanding adventure around the Philippines just by herself. For the past four months, she was driving around the country—warding off drunks, battling bad weather and rough roads, and then waking up the next morning to a majestic seaside view—all while practically living inside her Nissan Navara pickup.
The 45-year-old artist photographer was not on assignment, nor was she preparing for a show. And it definitely wasn’t an “Eat, Pray, Love” kind of sojourn—don’t even suggest it. But it was the craziest, scariest, and most thrilling trip of her life. Now back home in Antipolo, she has yet to completely process everything that happened during those 121 days. There are a ton of stories and learnings to unpack. But in a nutshell, it was one hell of a ride.
‘I wanted to test myself’
Raena had long harbored a desire to explore the entire country by her lonesome. “This is something that I really just wanted to do for myself,” she tells us in between sips of red wine on a Friday night. “I wanted to test myself if I could do this big expedition and come back alive.”
She got a push of encouragement five years ago, having gotten the opportunity to travel and shoot in Baguio, Zambales and some parts of Rizal for a show of her ambrotype photography. To the unfamiliar, ambrotype photography involves the tedious, time-sensitive wet plate collodion process of image-making from the early 18th century—which produces incredibly ethereal, haunting pictures. Throughout the trip, Raena successfully operated a mobile darkroom inside her truck. And that’s when she realized her dream of embarking on a solo adventure around the country by land is totally doable.
But she needed a lot of preparation. The trip would require a car she could transform into a darkroom slash kitchen slash sleeping quarters. Since she didn’t own one, she borrowed the 4x2 truck from the family business, a construction company where she holds the post of VP for operations (“I monitor and visit all projects. I check on our engineers, manpower, materials, heavy equipment, and collections.”) She started building her overlanding setup as early as July last year. “I started with the canopy, ref, power station, and all-terrain tire,” she tells ANCX. She had a tiny kitchen custom-built at the back of the car, got a roof tent, two big water tanks with a faucet, and a lithium battery setup to power her refrigerator. “It's a zombie-apocalypse-ready truck,” Raena says smiling.
It was only when her parents saw her building her rig that they started to grasp the idea of what their daughter was going to do. “They couldn’t believe until I left, and they supported me throughout my journey,” Raena says. Her 23-year-old son, Razi, on the other hand, was not exactly surprised. He knew once his mother set her mind on something, she’s going to do it.
121 days
Being from Antipolo, everything began in Luzon, naturally. Raena completed the Luzon loop in 38 days. Then she was headed for the Visayas, driving first to Batangas where a ferry would bring her and her truck to Mindoro. Then it’s down to Panay, Negros, then Cebu.
“From Cebu, I drove down to Bohol. After driving around Bohol, I went to Siquijor.”
While she had a planned route to follow, she didn’t have a set schedule per day and just went wherever she pleased. She would stay longer in a place if she liked it. She was in Panglao for two weeks because she took up free diving lessons. She went up to Anda, also in Bohol, known for its beaches and cave pools, and stayed for five days.
“Then I went down to Iligan, Dapitan, Zamboanga, Pagadian, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato, Gen San, Mati, Davao, Glan, General Generoso, Baganga, Lanuza, Cateel, Surigao City,” she says, rattling off her next stops. “Then I met my sister in Siargao and spent four wonderful days there. Then I went back to Surigao City, then Southern Leyte. Drove up to Samar, Eastern Samar, went up to Western Samar, Matnog, then back na to Luzon, drove to Legaspi, Naga, Siruma, Quezon then back to Antipolo.”
In total, she visited 24 cities and 55 municipalities. If there was a campsite in the area she was in, she’d rather set up camp. If there’s none, she’d stay in a transient house, a dorm, a cheap resort, or an airbnb.
For the Luzon loop, she spent about P100,000 which includes diesel money. For Visayas and Mindanao, she shelled out about P150,000 a month over the next three months. It was more expensive since she and the car had to take the Ro-Ro.
Asked to look back and pick the best part of her trip, she says, “That’s a tough question for me to answer.” Who can blame her? There was just so much she saw and experienced. “From getting to swim with turtles every day, to setting up camp in the weirdest places. Even the hardest parts of that trip have a bit of joy in them.”
In her tour of Luzon, she loved Lake Tabeo in Benguet, where she stayed for four nights. In Sagada, she had the rare opportunity to witness the Begnas thanksgiving ritual. In Currimao, Ilocos, she immensely enjoyed the time she spent with renowned Filipina sculptor Agnes Arellano and her partner, Billy Bonnevie. She loved Palaui Island in Cagayan, and Baler in Aurora where she camped out at a place where there was no electricity and water for three days.
The time she spent with her sister in Siargao was very special, as were her two-week stay in Panglao and that impromptu trip to Cotabato. She initially wasn’t planning to go to Cotabato because she thought it could be dangerous—but she got help from fellow photographer Veejay Villafranca who endorsed her to a local. “[Mindanao] is an undiscovered part of the Philippines and it’s slowly opening up,” says Raena. “It’s a beautiful place.”
‘I have a gun’
Not only was she able to witness the beauty of the Philippines, see parts of it she’s never laid eyes on, but she was also able to meet wonderful people along the way. “Nakakaiyak yung mga experiences na pinakain ako ng masarap, pinatulog ako sa kama, tapos ayaw tanggapin ang pera ko,” she says, referring to a couple in Gen San who took her in. “They told me, ‘You can use your money elsewhere, you have a long way to go.’ I think if you emit a happy vibe, you get that back.”
But while there were guides and new connections, she was alone most of the time. Did it ever get lonely on the road? No, she says matter of factly. In fact, she relished the solitude. “Maybe I’m just really comfortable being alone,” she says with a laugh. “Why would you be sad if you get to swim with turtles every day? How can you feel sad if you wake up in a really nice beach? There are people who need to be around people all the time. I’m not that.”
The 121-day expedition was not without its hurdles. One of the problems she encountered was her car getting held in one of the ports. There were also instances when she was already feeling so exhausted from driving and she had yet to find a place to sleep in. Like that time when the boat docked at 11:30PM in San Ricardo, Southern Leyte. “It was a very provincial place that didn’t have any resorts. I wasn’t able to book an accommodation. I was driving and it was pitch-dark. [Establishments] were closed,” she recalls.
At that point, she found herself whispering prayers to her guardian angel. “Could you help me find a place to sleep?” After ten minutes of driving, she saw a sign that says “Open 24 hours.” She asked the guy at the front desk if they had a room available and they did. “Prayers work!”
One of the scariest parts of her trip was the first night she camped out at Blue Turtle Cove in Morong, Bataan. There were drunk men in the area. “They were pestering me asking me questions like bakit ako mag-isa, why am I doing this, kung kailangan ko ng kausap, kung malungkot ba ako, hindi ba ko natatakot.”
Prepared for such a situation, she mustered up the courage to tell the men that she can protect herself. “May baril ako. I have weapons,” she told them. The men walked away. From that night on, she would sleep surrounded by her taser gun, knives and pepper spray.
Was there a time when she thought of turning back? “It wasn’t an option for me,” she says. Even when she got sick, felt feverish and in pain while in Dauin, Negros Oriental, she opted to just call in a doctor, take her medications and rest for a week. When she felt better, she continued her trip. “There was no point when I thought of driving back. Sayang eh. I thought to myself, ‘Ang layu-layo mo na, uuwi ka pa. Ituluy-tuloy mo na.’”
No damsel in distress
What did her adventure reveal about herself? “[I realized] that I can easily adapt to different situations. Pag may problema, I don’t get frazzled,” says Raena. “I’m not a damsel in distress. I got a flat tire, I knew what to do. I had a problem with the brake system, I knew what to do.” The lady took up diesel engine mechanics in 2003. “My mechanics and I were restoring trucks and heavy equipment back then and I needed to learn more so I took a class.”
But while she could count on her training and rigorous preparation, she also proved to herself that prayers were her all-around secret tool slash weapon. Getting to visit different churches around Luzon not only allowed her to marvel at beautiful architecture and learn about a town’s history. “Pag nandun ka na sa church, ano pa gagawin mo, e di magdasal. I brought with me a rosary that my lola gave me and I started praying. It’s one of the things that helped me make it back alive. It strengthened my faith. That’s one of the best things [I gleaned from this whole experience].”
To those who would like to embark on a similar adventure, the best advice Raena could give is to be prepared. “You have to be financially, emotionally and mentally ready. You have to manage your expectations. You have to prepare for whatever problems you may encounter along the way,” she says. “A lot of times, kailangan kalkulado ang mga galaw especially if you’re planning to camp.”
The other important advice this artist photographer would like to share is to enjoy the experience of seeing the country. “Ngayon ko lang na-realize na ang ganda-ganda ng bansa natin,” she says. “Discover and explore our country first before you go elsewhere. Ang ganda-ganda ng Pilipinas. There’s so much to discover.”
Photos courtesy of Raena Abella
For more photos of Raena’s adventure, visit her Instagram by clicking this link.