Cebu Pacific Air’s “Juan For Fun” is a premier backpacker challenge designed specifically for university students. Over the years, the program has evolved from an Amazing Race-style adventure into a profound platform where participants not only discover the wonders of travel but also use their journeys as a springboard to spread meaningful advocacies, understand different cultures, and broaden their personal horizons.
Cebu Pacific Kicks Off Juan For Fun Challenge
The 2019 edition of Juan For Fun aimed to do just that when Cebu Pacific asked loyal passengers to nominate exceptional young individuals by answering a single core question: "What makes the life story of your nominee amazing?" Thousands heeded the call. After evaluating the massive influx of entries, five passion-driven, budding travelers stood out to lead their respective adventure teams.
A Woke Generation of Travelers
Speaking about the selected batch, returning Juan For Fun mentor and travel writer Jude Bacalso shared his observations. "They belong to the woke generation because at eighteen, one of them already founded an NGO, while the others have their own distinct advocacies. I was thinking about lipsticks when I was eighteen," Bacalso remarked.
The five finalists, whose ages ranged from eighteen to twenty-three, included: Bin Nur Mangangcong, a young Marawi siege survivor who aimed to champion a deeper understanding of diverse Filipino cultures; Jeric Cabanillas, an artist with a heart for educating children in Palawan; Jessica Rench, a Cebuana who founded an NGO reaching out to kids across the Visayas region; Artus Enriquez, an avid bird watcher aiming to protect endemic species in the country; and Dariel Vallez, an agriculture graduate advocating for youth-led farming initiatives.
Joined by two of their closest friends to form five distinct three-member teams, these participants journeyed to various destinations across the Philippines for seven whole days. Each team was assigned specially curated travel itineraries across key Cebu Pacific destinations, including Siargao, Bohol, Tuguegarao, Mindoro, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, and Davao—with each group flying to at least three different provinces.
The Gift of Travel
During the official send-off party held at the Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu Resort, the teams gathered to listen to sage advice offered by their respective travel mentors. Popular vlogger Kyle "Kulas" Jennerman of Becoming Filipino implored the participants to say no to single-use plastics while on the road, emphasizing the massive environmental impact that independent travelers can make by actively participating in island conservation efforts.
TV personality Joyce Pring narrated how the gift of travel completely transformed her personal perception of the world. "I only got my passport when I was twenty-one. Before that, the only place I had traveled to was Manila to Baguio," she shared. She encouraged the young participants to step out of their comfort zones, embrace the scale of the world, and cultivate a lifelong sense of environmental responsibility.
Actor and creator Mikael Daez egged the audience on to experience two adventures in a single journey by intentionally adding culinary exploration to their overall travel goals. Meanwhile, Jude Bacalso highlighted the vital role that social media and travel writing play in amplifying unique local narratives. She recounted how her feature article on Cebu's distinct culinary landscape snowballed into a major chain of events, eventually leading to the production of Netflix's hit series Street Food: Asia episode on Cebu.
Cebu Pacific’s Youth Legacy
"Juan For Fun is the longest-running youth program by Cebu Pacific. This marks our eighth year of enabling the next generation of travelers to experience their defining travel milestones," stated Michelle Eve De Guzman, Cebu Pacific Director for Marketing. "The initiative has evolved significantly. This year, we intentionally removed the competitive racing aspect because our alumni noted that it didn't matter who won in the end—the journey itself is entirely priceless. Consequently, we integrated the participants' personal advocacies and designed their travel tracks directly around them," De Guzman added.
"In past editions of Juan For Fun, I observed how profoundly these young individuals transformed by the time they returned from their seven-day journeys. You can see it clearly in their eyes that they truly experienced the adventure of a lifetime," Bacalso recalled. Tracing the program's history shows that calling it life-changing for its participants is an absolute understatement.
