Dear Kyle,
Travel has always been a passion of mine, however it’s too expensive. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. I have a lot of opportunities to travel here at BVU, but I don’t know if I can afford it. What should I do?

Sincerely,
Miss Landlocked

Miss Landlocked,

Traveling is a wonderful thing isn’t it? I’m getting the wonderful privilege to travel to Cape Horn Chile this Interim as part of the Global Fellows. From what I’ve heard from lots of different students who went lots of different places for lots of different reasons, you most definitely should travel while you’re in college. There is a slight misconception about how expensive traveling can be. While true, it does cost money, BV does a wonderful job of trying to make these trips as affordable as possible. Since you really want to travel, I have a few suggestions for you on how to maybe someday you’ll fulfill that dream.

1. If you are currently a freshman, ask your professors to let you know when the Global Fellows application comes out. This is an opportunity to travel to Chile to do some conservation research, climb a mountain, but still also be a tourist in another country. By being in the Global Fellows, BV substantially lowers the cost of your trip since you had to apply for it and will be doing work in Chile that will benefit the BV community.

2. Apply for scholarships. I know BV has a couple of stipends for travel. For exampl the Henry Olson Travel Stipend is a good option. The application process for these usually just requires you to explain why you would want the stipend, and why you would benefit from going on the trip. And there are outside scholarships, which can also help with costs of traveling as well.

3. Save. This is probably the simplest but most difficult way to have money so you can travel. But, if you really want to travel, saving for a trip might be a little easier if you have that goal of traveling while at BV.
Traveling while in college is a great opportunity. Not only do you get to travel to places you’ve never been, but you learn about these places and develop a different appreciation for them. Through scholarships and saving, traveling while at BV is possible. And most definitely take advantage of that opportunity!!

Wishing You the Best,
Kyle