An idea dawned on me: If there are scholarships for college, are there scholarships for travel?

Spoiler: there are. I won $40,000, which fueled a year-long study abroad in Dubai and 6 more countries. I was hooked, but I was also graduating. Was my dream so short-lived?

Because, if there are travel scholarships for students, are there travel scholarships for non-students?

That led me to a fully-funded, week-long cultural exchange in South Korea. I had taken PTO from my engineering job to be able to go and it was a fight with my company.

The experience was an ultimatum: would I spend my 20s fighting for paid time off from a job that drained me or seek paid travel opportunities to live a life I love?

The rest was history. I started @packslight and the PTO Dashboard and became a travel influencer to make travel more accessible for other people like me.

I've been awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships, grants, funded cultural exchanges, etc., and have used them to travel to countries like the UAE 🇦🇪, South Korea 🇰🇷, Austria 🇦🇹, Fiji 🇫🇯 and more without the stress of credit card debt, stretching one taco for three meals, or resorting to sketchy money-making or travel methods.

PTOs have helped me:

• have once-in-a-lifetime, bucket list experiences without credit card debt or financial stress
• expand my social and professional network
• improve my professional resume
• start my career as a travel content creator
• accumulate  thousands of free flight miles and travel points
• ultimately achieve financial freedom in my 20s

And I want the same for you.

The 2025 launch of SeekPTO is a culmination of all my ambition, failure, success, and experience. Thanks for joining the journey!