Mission

By finding affordable flights based on custom criteria, Afford Your Travel’s mission is to improve accessibility to both domestic and international travel, with the aim of enriching the worldviews of clients and those they come into contact with.

Motivation

I know firsthand the impact of travel on expanding one’s perspective and believe it should be a right. However, especially in the U.S., a high perceived cost of travel prevents many from experiencing new countries and cultures (or even traveling domestically). Due in part to costs, many of my friends and contacts still have not traveled outside of the U.S., or even outside of their region. It was finding flights for a friend that got me interested in flight-searching techniques, and I’ve been informally helping friends, colleagues, and contacts find cheap flights since 2015.

The Impact of Travel

To travel to new countries is to expand your view of the world, and thus enrich your understanding of it. International travel yields appreciation of and reflection on different values, traditions, and habits, prompting you to reevaluate your own. “Micro-encounters,” including discussions and even new friendships with members of other cultures, can help enrich perspectives the most. Travel not only shifts the way you consider ideas and cultures, but it can also enrich the perspectives of those around you through the stories you tell. And of course, it’s also fun!

Although everyone deserves to experience the benefits of international travel, statistics find that this remains a privilege reserved for a select few. The perceived cost of travel is one likely cause behind the bleak figure that less than 19 million Americans even hold passports. Even the most optimistic measures find that the majority of Americans (54% to 64%) do not hold valid passports.

Expanding access to travel helps to dispel stereotypes, enrich the dialogue of how we discuss other cultures, see the value of different beliefs and practices, and to humanize those we may have only seen through media. Though broad, this impact is achieved simply through one trip and one conversation at a time.

Expansion

While my current services will benefit those who have a small amount saved for travel, I regret that I cannot do more to help those with no current savings. Should you know of any sponsorship opportunities, so that I may establish travel grants for such individuals, please contact me directly. Thank you!