(KapanLagi.com)Off screen, movie star and presenter Tya Ariestya can be found on the beach — if not physically, then in spirit. Tya, who will turn 27 at the end of the month, is currently busy shooting a television film. The former taekwondo athlete has also appeared on the in several films, including Sebelah Mata (Half-Eyed, 2008). In her spare time, she says her mind will wander to Gili Trawangan — a famed resort island nestled between Bali and West Nusa Tenggara.

There’s something about Gili Trawangan that captivates me. The place has got me hypnotized. I fell in love with the beautiful place at first sight.

I went there for the first time for a shooting two years ago and I have been enchanted by it ever since. I keep going back to the place whenever I have the chance.

Toward the end of last year, I decided to set up a backpacker’s lodging. Now, every day off I find myself making long-distance calls to check how things are doing.

I will also regularly send off a staff member to go there.

Why a backpacker’s lodge? Because I myself prefer to go backpacking on vacation; it’s much more fun that way, there’s more freedom in it. The hostel is also aimed at providing affordable accommodation for Indonesian tourists.

There are so many beautiful places all over Indonesia and we as inhabitants of this wonderful archipelago really need to visit these places, to get to know them and enjoy the beauty of our homeland.

So far, my hostel is visited by mostly foreign tourists, but I hope more Indonesians will stay at my place in the future.

I am still focused on running the hostel, learning the management by doing. In years to come, I hope to be able to open more hostels in other parts of the country.

Becoming a businesswoman is one of my dreams. I was glad that I achieved my target of opening a business last year; my target this year is to learn how to be a real businesswoman.

Besides going places on my own, I love spending time with my mother and my two younger siblings. We each have a job now and it’s hard to find time together, and when we do find the time we will either go out
to eat out or just go window shopping around town.”

— Andreas D. Arditya

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