The Exit Row
A monthly newsletter for women chasing a big, bold life. Every issue leads with one story, one lesson, and curated resources across travel, lifestyle, career, and every other corner of your dream life.
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Happy Sunday Reader, This week, I want to tell you the story about the Workaway experience that fell apart and how it built my dream life anyway. 2018. ๐Castellamare di Stabia, Italy ๐ฎ๐น I show up for a Workaway, bright-eyed, ready to trade a few hours of work for a free place to stay in a gorgeous countryside town in one of the most romantic countries in the world. I find: a cat actively giving birth in a drawer. Chickens running in and out of the house, covered in sh*t. Unidentifiable red streaks on the bedroom wall. Zero food. And a garden of stinging nettle I'm expected to hand-pull for 8 hours a day. I lasted about... 18 hours Met a girl who'd already survived two weeks there. We bailed together, headed to Pompeii instead. That same week I matched with a guy on a dating app (bandana, questionable style, showed us both around Italy anyway), and that random detour turned into my very first brand partnership. One of the actual first building blocks of Packs Light, and me being able to get paid to travel the world and help others do the same. This is the part of "getting creative with how you get abroad" nobody puts in the brochure: sometimes the creative plan is a disaster. The opportunity you actually wanted falls completely apart. But it can also fall together. Rejection isn't a death sentence, and a failed plan isn't a failed lifeโsometimes it really is redirection! And the most interesting stories, whether for a scholarship essay or going viral on Instagram, come from a life well lived that has ups and downs. The lesson here is: do it for the plot! And keep applying to the weird ones. You genuinely don't know which failed plan is about to become your origin story. This week, we found 15 new ways you can be paid to travel!Fellowships, scholarships, remote roles, sweepstakes, and other funded programs. All vetted, all legit, all waiting for someone like you to apply. Ordered by deadline, closest first. Only for our paid members of SeekPTO. But here's your Sunday Snippet for being on our free list: Lead social media for a major travel media brand (remote with a $120,000 salary!)
๐ตโ๏ธ Share your worst travel disaster for $10,000 to travel anywhere
๐ตโ๏ธ 1-week, fully-funded cultural exchange camp in Japan
๐ตโ๏ธ There's $400,000+ in travel funding, adventures, and opportunities just one membership away. Upgrade today to get the full list of 15 Paid Travel Opportunities delivered straight to your inbox on SeekPTO Sundays.
โ Gabby + The SeekPTO Team ๐ตโ๏ธ |
The Exit Row
A monthly newsletter for women chasing a big, bold life. Every issue leads with one story, one lesson, and curated resources across travel, lifestyle, career, and every other corner of your dream life.