Hey Reader!

It's officially been 2 months since I announced the awardees of the Study Abroad Redo Grant (SARG).

So... was this a scam? Are these winners real? Did they actually get the money? Are they actually going on their trips? Were they paid actors?!

You all asked all of those questions and more during this SARG grant process! Honestly, many of those comments made me laugh (paid actors?! 😆)

But all jokes aside, I sympathize with the doubt and skepticism. It's hard to know what's real these days, and no one wants to be scammed when they're laying their hopes and dreams out there for a chance. I take your trust and your interest in travel and paid travel opportunities very seriously and I strive to be 100% transparent!

That's why I'm so excited to share update about our SARG winners and where they're at now:

Q: Have the winners taken their trips yet?

Soon! Since the public announcement in June each winner has received their supplementary prizes of The Application Tool-Kit and Get Outdoors 101 courses.

They'll all be taking their trips this in October and November of this year, with Sebastian and Joie heading to France 🇫🇷 to study French language and culture, and Helena to India 🇮🇳 and Kenya 🇰🇪 to film a documentary on the connections between both cultures and a specific study in food!

I've had 1:1 calls with each of these stellar awardees and talked about what they're most nervous/excited for, getting set on the logistics of their trips, choosing programs, accomodations, tips for finding friends, and everything else they need to make have the best redo of the study abroad trips they never had.

The calls went great. it was such a dream come true for me to get to talk with them 'face-to-face', see the passion behind their trip ideas, and share my advice about putting it all into motion 🥹

Q: Can we see their applications? They obviously did something really special to be selected!

For privacy reasons, I can't show their entire application. Luckily, in both the Instagram live announcement and announcement on PacksLight.com I shared the top reasons why each winner stood out to the Packs Light team and the SARG judges! It wasn't about the way they said it, it was what they said. Each of these applicants thoroughly read the application instructions carefully and basically told me and the judging panel exactly what we were looking to hear in why they needed a study abroad redo!

However, awardees Joie and Sebastian have agreed to share their application videos so you can see a bit of how they wow'd the judges and secured their selection!

Use this opportunity to take notes on what stood out to you for future video applications 📝

Joie (29) 🇫🇷

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Sebastian (22) 🇫🇷

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Q: So... when does the next grant drop?!

I'm currently working on the next life changing Packs Light Travel Grant that I will hopefully launch later this year. 🤞🏽

Those who sign up for email updates will be first to get updates! If you want to hear when I launch the next grant just click the button below to get added to my VIP Packs Light PTO email list.

GET PL GRANT UPDATES

That's all for now.

I'll continue to send email updates so that you can all support our winners, follow their journies, and know: YES, people (like you) actually do win these things.

Gabby ✈️