Och vinnaren är….

I know you all have been eagerly waiting to hear who has won my round the world giveaway…and today, the wait is over.

We got thousands of entries and it was really hard to narrow it down. It took me a lot longer to read the entries than I originally thought and it took even longer to narrow down a winner. There were a lot of good submissions but, in the end, there can be only one and I had to pick a winner.

And that winner is…

Heather T. from California.

Heather, 26, attended Carnegie Mellon university as a materials science and engineering major and currently works as a senior expert for IBM. inspired by the life and death of her mother, she made a decision to start treating her life with urgency. Heather filled her complimentary time with singing, salsa dancing, scuba diving, amazing friends, and as lots of adventures as she could fit in. At twenty-six, she’s recently applied to grad school so that one day, hopefully, she’ll be making a difference with an advanced degree in Public Policy.

In her own words, here are ten facts about her:

I’m a scuba diver

My sister is 10 months younger than me. For one month, annually we are *technically* the same age.

I make homemade artisan ice cream in flavors like sour cream, mango jalapeño, and sweet potato.

I earned my degree in materials science and engineering from Carnegie Mellon university before taking a job in Business.

I’m used to moving around a lot. I’ve moved a lot more than 20 times (I’ve lost count). I went to 5 elementary schools 1 middle school, 2 high schools and three colleges.

Jag lär mig spanska. I’ve always loved the language. growing up in LA I was surrounded by it and always wanted to learn. I’ve been taking lessons but I’m ecstatic for a lot more hands on experience!

I’m very allergic to cats and strongly dislike them. Technically allergic to dogs too but I’m a pet dog lover so I don’t mind so much!

I haven’t eaten fast food considering that I was 16. I saw incredibly size me in high school and gave it up instantly. soda too.

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart.

I have a huge family. My daddy is one of 5 and my mommy was one of 14. and I have 9 siblings.

She’ll be leaving next month and we’ll be getting updates from her journey. Heather will be starting in South America before heading over to Africa then Southeast Asia and looping back to Europe before grad school! I’ll feature her each month to share what she’s been up to!

Here is her winning essay:

At 16, after 10 years of separation, I met my mother. She had previously been incarcerated in federal prison and I barely remembered her.

My mother was wild and warm. One time, she picked me up wearing bright green shoes, blue pants, a red top, and her hair newly dyed purple at the roots. Puzzled, we stared at her.

“Mom, what are you wearing?!” vi frågade.

“Vad? My shoes match my pants, my pants match my top, and my top matches my hair.”

In January 2015, she was given 3 months to live when she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer that had metastasized to both breasts, lungs, liver, bones, spine and brain. My mother was tough, so she lasted 8 months. I saw the pang of regret in her eyes that only comes from a life unlived. She always waited, believing there would be a lot more time to meet her life.

My mother had the power to make any individual laugh and she could talk any individual into nearly anything. She taught me to live a lot more and take risks. Over the 7 years we shared, she became my best friend. We talked every day. She completed a part of me I never knew was missing. She was the most exceptional person I’ve ever known. even after all the pain in her life, she knew how to find happiness in life and she taught me to do the same. I am so thankful every day that she found me and saved me from who I was becoming.

I feel cheated a lot of days over the short time I had with her. When she passed, something awoke in me. six months after she passed, I took my first trip abroad. I checked out Spain with my sister. four months later I spontaneously traveled to Iceland and got scuba certified so I could dive between the continents in 0°C water. two months later, I got an unexpected break from work, so I traveled to London, Paris and Geneva on a whim. 5 countries in one year. I was on a roll. earlier this year, I took a solo trip to Colombia and in a month, I am headed to Berlin, Prague and Budapest. travelling is now my favorite hobby, especially solo travel, which gives me the opportunity to break out of my shell.

Each day I feel chained to the job that I worked so hard to earn. I dream about taking off and travelling for an extended period of time. This trip would be the best opportunity to do so. I would share my adventures through travel blogging and photography. I think my perspective as a single female black traveler is mainly missing from the travel blogging domain.

Life is short and beautiful and I want to make the most of it. I would much raDet har min mamma här på jorden, men i sin frånvaro är jag glad över att ha lärt mig hur lycklig jag är att ha äventyren framför mig.

(Heather och hennes mamma)

*** Tack till alla som gick in. Jag önskar att jag kunde ha valt er alla men tyvärr investerade jag inte i Bitcoin eller någon annan udda cryptocurrency, så jag kan inte!
Jag hoppas att den här tävlingen inspirerade dig att vidta åtgärder, planera en resa och drömma stort. Jag önskar dig väl på dina framtida resor och hoppas att min bok hur man reser världen på $ 50 per dag hjälper dig att lära dig att resa billigare, bättre och smartare!

Glad helg, god jul och glädjade nyåret!

Eftersom detta är årets sista inlägg, se dig 2018!

– Matt

Hur man reser världen på $ 50 per dag

Min New York Times bästsäljande pocketbok för World Travel kommer att visa dig hur du bemästrar konsten att resa så att du kommer att gå av misshandlad väg, spara pengar och ha en djupare reseupplevelse. Det är din A till Z -planeringsguide som BBC kallade “Bibeln för budgetresenärer.”

Klicka här för att lära dig mycket mer och börja läsa det idag!

Boka din resa: logistiska idéer och tricks
Boka din flygning
Hitta en billig flygning genom att använda Skyscanner. Det är min favorit sökmotor eftersom den söker på webbplatser och flygbolag runt om i världen så att du alltid vet att ingen sten lämnas omvänd.

Boka ditt boende
Du kan boka ditt vandrarhem med Hostelworld. Om du vill stanna någon annanstans än ett vandrarhem, använd Booking.com eftersom de konsekvent returnerar de billigaste priserna för pensionat och hotell.

Glöm inte reseförsäkring
Reseförsäkring kommer att säkra dig mot sjukdom, skada, stöld och avbokningar. Det är detaljerat skydd om något går fel. Jag åker aldrig på en resa utan den eftersom jag har varit tvungen att använda den många gånger tidigare. Mina favoritföretag som erbjuder bästa service och värde är:

SafetyWing (bäst för alla)

Försäkra min resa (för de över 70)

Medjet (för ytterligare evakueringstäckning)

Redo att boka din resa?
Kolla in min resurssida för de bästa företagen att använda när du reser. Jag listar alla de jag använder när jag reser. De är de bästa i klassen och du kan inte gå fel med att använda dem på din resa.