Drew boarded the flight without any worries. Photo / Channel 9
Kids hear no from their parents all the time but when Emma told her 12-year-old son they weren't going to Bali, he decided the word no wasn't what he wanted to hear.
After securing his family's credit card, Drew coaxed his grandma into giving him his passport.
He researched airlines that fly to Denpasar, Bali — realising there was only one that let children aged 12 and up travel alone without a letter from parents.
Then one morning, Drew filled his backpack with enough clothes for a four-day holiday to Bali and then told his parents he was off to school.
Instead Drew rode his razor scooter to the station, took a train to the airport and boarded the plane — no questions asked.
Drew used the self-service check-outs at Sydney Airport which meant he didn't have to deal with any airline personnel until he was physically giving them his ticket.
After a brief stopover in Perth, which Drew said he "sort of stuffed up because I got the deal cheap", the 12-year-old landed in Bali.
When Emma was notified her 12-year-old had never turned up at school, she reported him missing.
Eventually, the family figured out their brazen boy was actually in Bali and Emma had to jump on a plane to get him.
But despite Emma's worry, Drew had thought of everything — booking himself a room at the All Seasons Hotel and using a popular Go Jek bike to get from the airport.
He told hotel reception he was waiting on his sister to arrive but was just checking in early.
The ease at which Drew managed to get from his home in New South Wales all the way to a hotel in Bali has left Emma "shocked and disgusted" and wondering how it all could've happened.
Drew didn't even have any issues when he landed in Perth.
"They just asked for my student ID and passport to prove that I'm over 12 and that I'm in secondary school," he said.
The whole situation left Emma an emotional wreck.
"There's no emotion to feel what we felt when we found out that he'd left overseas," Emma told A Current Affair.
The mum admitted her 12-year-old "just doesn't like the word no".