Paolo Garrido is AirAsia's Create Camp Storyteller!

Why do we travel to another city, town or country? We may have our own reasons, it could be because of the food, art, culture, the people and/or even about nature. What's certain about it is that we all have a story to tell after every trip. I'm sure we millennials agree that the best way to showcase it is through photos and videos.

In line with this, AirAsia Philippines came up with its first-ever social media reality search for the next AirAsia storyteller called #AirAsiaCreateCamp. The competition started with 500 entries, narrowed down to 50 until the top 4 contenders were chosen based on creativity, originality and quality of storytelling. These finalists traveled to Bohol, Tacloban, Cordilleras and Palawan, and were challenged to up their game on photography and videography under the mentorship of current AirAsia storytellers. In the end, Paolo Garrido of Mapua Institute of Technology bagged the title as #AirAsiaCreateCamp Grand Storyteller Winner wherein he bested other finalists from Baguio, Cebu and Iloilo.

CreateCamp Finalists and their awards.

3rd Runner Up: John Paul Saluba

2nd Runner Up: Raymond Baguilat

1st Runner Up & People's Choice: Cara Durano

Paolo, the Afro Wanderer of MAPUA was first inspired by Jason Magbanua way back in high school and is now hooked into creating travel videos. Apart from the usual drone shots and destination videos in travel videography, Pao enjoys getting to know the people and their stories in that destination. What sets him apart is that he goes beyond what is expected and thinks out of the box. He has the thirst to learn and to be the best version of himself in any challenge.

According to AirAsia Philippines CEO Captain Dexter Comendador, aside from Paolo's quality of work, admirable level of skills and creativity, he also represented the value of hard work, attitude and passion among the youth even during the rigorous camp that took them from highlands to islands for a month. And that is why Paolo is #AirAsiaCreateCamp's Season 1 Storyteller.

Comendador also said that, "AirAsia's success story is about the power of a dream, a strong mindset, and an exciting history fueled by passion, creativity, and adventure. There are so many stories out there for everyone to discover, through #AirAsiaCreateCamp we are providing the platform for these young aspiring talents to shine."

Oh BTW, the grand winner received over 1million pesos worth of prizes composed of AirAsia Philippines flights to domestic and international destinations, an Apple Macbook Pro 13, Nikon D5600 camera, fully sponsored 3 days 2 nights stay at Amorita Resorts in Bohol, and is now an official member of AirAsia Storytellers community.

So if you are up for this challenging journey and awesome prizes, you better prepare for AirAsia's Create Camp Season 2! Just visit their website at www.airasiacreatecamp.com for details.

Having watched their video stories during the Grand Finale event, I must say they were all deserving with the amount of effort, creativity, and hard work they put in it. To think that they are just students, the output they produced was professionally crafted! If I could have the chance, I would love to be in their amazing shots! But since I won't be able to do that, might as well do what I do best: take #OOTDs at the venue.