Bond Girl

Discovers Beauty of the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Travel they say makes one wiser. For Rachel Grant, wisdom came with the eye to see beyond the beauty of her birthplace, the Philippines.

Grant, who gained fame as a Bond Girl starring opposite Pierce Brosnan in the movie “Die Another Day,” engages the local culture in various islands of the Philippines like no other beauty has done before. She takes time to reflect on her adventures and exploration, then presents them to her followers with gusto.

Grant is on a mission to show the beauty of the Philippines, one destination at a time. Born in Luzon and raised in the United Kingdom, Grant’s tour of the Philippines is documented by Storia, a unique social multimedia platform that curates and creates user-generated contents that entertain and inform.

Painting with children at her school project

Grant’s partnership with Storia gives birth to a 12-part video series entitled “Fun in the Philippines.” The Department of Tourism has endorsed Grant’s videos.

Through Storia, Grant extols exotic beaches, unique dining spots and tourist attractions. The variety of Grant’s stories relates well with Storia’s core message to promote diversity of thought to create a dialogue among communities.

In one of the released videos, Grant sips coconut juice as she gets “boiled” inside inside a large wok of spring water with local herbs and flowers. Her Kawa Hot Bath experience was facilitated by the Kayak Inn in Tibiao, Antique.

In another video, she is thrilled by the possibility of playing footsie at the Labasin Waterfalls Restaurant. Located at Villa Escudero in Tiaong, Quezon, the restaurant lets diners enjoy local cuisine at the base of a waterfall.

Grant explores Angel Cave, an uncharted cave in Bani, Pangasinan that she helped discover.

In her Hundred Islands National Park tour, Grant explores hollow caves and underwater adventures of a lifetime.

Grant also visited a coconut palace; the Calabeng Falls in Bani, Pangasinan; and Angel Cave, an underground cave system that Grant helped discover.

Off-cam, Grant is deeply involved in humanitarian efforts. In one of the Storia videos, Grant tells of her initiative to establish an evacuation center in Bani, Pangasinan for the residents who were displaced by Typhoon Emong in 2009. The center is near a relocation area called Fountain of Love and also serves as the community’s school. 

Rachel Grant at the Watermelon Festival in Bani, learning how to swim like a mermaid at the Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy in Boracay (right).

Grant is a rising viral video star whose first hit viral content was a 2-minute video entitled “How to pack over 100 items into a carry-on.” Since its release in August 2016, the video was covered by over 200 websites, aired across the globe and was shared by Oprah, Ashton Kutcher and TIME magazine. Local publications have also shared the content.

A recipient of the Shorty Award, Rachel’s other videos on travel and lifestyle have accumulated over 100 million views.

Log onto the following links to view Grant’s adventures: Kawas in Tibiao: https://www.facebook.com/storiaglobal/videos/1980674425540022/

Villa Escudero: https://www.facebook.com/storiaglobal/videos/1977381055869359/

All together now: Grant poses with kids at one of her outreach projects.