It’s a place Matteo Guidicelli proudly calls home—Cebu City. So much so, he comes home at least twice every month and spends two to three days tops just to let loose, unwind from the busy world of show business and do nothing.
“This is the place where I can just relax and not think about my schedule, not think about planning where I have to go, what I have to do. I just come here and not have a plan—so that’s the best,” he said.
For someone who loves the great outdoors, his idea of doing nothing is hardly of the sort.
From Manila, he takes the earliest flight to Cebu and if the weather permits, rides his bike—a Harley Davidson Fat Bob, a prized possession he considers his toy and only guilty pleasure in life—and goes on road trips with his buds for four hours at the most, cruising the north or south of Cebu or ride up to Busay.
When asked what it is about riding his bike that thrills him, Guidicelli said: “It’s enjoying the sound, enjoying the soul of the motorbike. It shakes your body. You just enjoy going on road trips with your friends, the wind hitting your skin and all that stuff. It’s a different feeling.”
Apart from that, Guidicelli enjoys a string of outdoor activities and tries to keep active all the time from running, hitting the gym, doing water sports and participating in triathlons.
Sports has always been a part of his life. For him, it’s important and shouldn’t be forced but rather be second nature—a lifestyle.
“I don’t like staying in one place all the time. I try to keep active,” he said. On the flip side, he also values the importance of taking a beat. “Rest is a very important part of our lives. In exercise, in training in doing whatever, I think rest is an essential thing that some people overlook.”
When asked if he considers himself an adrenaline junkie, he responded with an immediate “yes.” Having an outdoorsy personality since he was young, he described his childhood as “the best,” from riding horses at the age of nine at a horse arena in Mabolo, to being a karting sensation, as well as spending the weekends with his family at a beach house they once had in Moalboal.
He might have had a couple of scars and accidents here and there from his stints, but that never stopped him from getting back up on that horse, so to speak.
“Fear is what stops us from doing what we want so we have to face that fear and break that barrier of fear,” he said.
For Guidicelli, this is more than his hometown. This, to him, is a place where he makes the most of what nature has in store. This is his playground.
