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.
I’m learning Spanish. 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?!” हामीले सोध्यौ।
“के? 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 raहरसँग यो पृथ्वीमा मेरी आमा छ, तर उनको अनुपस्थितिमा म पाएको छु भन्ने कुरा खुशी छु कि म मेरो सामु साहसिक छु।
(हेदर र उनको आमा)
*** प्रवेश गर्ने सबैलाई धन्यवाद। काश मैले तपाईंलाई सबै छनौट गर्न सक्दछु तर दुःखको कुरा, मैले बिटकोइन वा कुनै पनि अनौंठो क्रिप्टुरोयमा लगानी गरेन, त्यसैले म सक्दिन!
मलाई आशा छ कि यो प्रतियोगिताले तपाईंलाई कार्य गर्न प्रेरित गर्दछ, एक यात्रा योजना, र ठूलो सपना। मँ तपाईको भविष्यको यात्रामा तपाईलाई राम्रो चाहान्छु र मेरो पुस्तकलाई मेरो पुस्तक कसरी यात्रा गर्ने आशा गर्दछु कि दिनको $ 50 एक दिन तपाईलाई सस्तो, राम्रो, र चलाख कहाँ पुग्ने मद्दत गर्दछ।
खुशी छुट्टीहरू, मेरी क्रिसमस, र खुशी नयाँ वर्ष!
यो वर्षको अन्तिम पोस्ट हो, 201 2018 मा तपाईंलाई हेर्नुहोस्!
– म्यान
कसरी एक दिनमा $ 50 मा संसारको यात्रा गर्ने
विश्व यात्राको लागि मेरो न्यू योर्क टाइम्स बेच्ने पेपरब्याक गाईडले तपाईंलाई यात्राको कलालाई कसरी मास्टर गर्ने देखाउनेछ ताकि तपाईं पिटेको मार्गबाट टाढा हुनुहुन्छ, र गहिरो यात्रा अनुभव हुन दिनुहोस्। यो तपाईंको ए z योजना गाइड हो कि बीबीसीले “बजेट यात्रीहरूका लागि बाइबल” भनियो।
धेरै धेरै सिक्न यहाँ क्लिक गर्नुहोस् र आज यसलाई पढ्न सुरू गर्नुहोस्!
तपाईंको यात्रा बुक गर्नुहोस्: लगइनिकल विचारहरू र युक्तिहरू
तपाईंको उडान किताब
सस्तो उडानमा छायादारहरू प्रयोग गरेर। यो मेरो मनपर्ने खोज ईन्जिन हो किनकि यसले वेब साइटहरू र विश्वभरि एयरलाइन्सहरू खोजी गर्दछ ताकि तपाईंलाई सँधै थाहा छैन कि तपाईंलाई कुनै ढु stone ्गा हराएको छैन।
तपाईंको आवास बुक गर्नुहोस्
तपाईं होस्टेलवर्ल्डको साथ तपाईंको होस्टल बुक गर्न सक्नुहुनेछ। यदि तपाईं एक होस्टल बाहेक अरू कतै रहन चाहनुहुन्छ भने, बुप्रदायिक र होटेलहरूको लागि तिनीहरू निरन्तरतापूर्वक महँगो दर फिर्ता गर्न चाहन्छन्।
यात्रा बीमा बिर्सनुहोस्
यात्रा बीमाले तपाईंलाई रोग, चोटपटक, चोरी, र रद्दहरूको बिरूद्ध सुरक्षित गर्दछ। यो केहि गलत छ मा मामला मा विस्तृत सुरक्षा हो। म विगतमा यो धेरै चोटि प्रयोग गर्नुपर्दैन किनकि मैले यसलाई धेरै चोटि प्रयोग गर्नुपर्यो। मेरा मनपर्ने कम्पनीहरू जसले उत्तम सेवा र मान प्रस्ताव गर्छन्:
सेभेरेडिंग (सबैको लागि उत्तम)
मेरो यात्रा बीमा (ती of0 भन्दा बढीको लागि)
मेडजेट (अतिरिक्त निकासी कभरेजको लागि)
तपाईंको यात्रा बुक गर्न तयार हुनुहुन्छ?
तपाईं यात्रा गर्न को लागी सबै भन्दा राम्रो कम्पनीहरु को लागी मेरो स्रोत पृष्ठ जाँच गर्नुहोस्। जब म यात्रा गर्दछु म सबैलाई सूचीबद्ध गर्दछु। तिनीहरू कक्षामा सबै भन्दा राम्रो हुन् र तपाईं तिनीहरूलाई तपाईंको यात्रामा गलत गर्न सक्नुहुन्न।