He got there. He just couldn't afford to actually be present. Then he built the scholarship.

The founder's story

Why this exists.

Growing up, study abroad was the kind of thing I saw other kids do — kids whose parents could make a phone call, write a check, and worry about nothing else. I found a way to go twice. I was proud of that. What I didn't understand until later was that getting there wasn't the whole problem.

I spent months before each trip scraping together deposits with money I was earning in real time. By the time I boarded the plane I was already exhausted. I was there — physically. Mentally I never stopped running the budget. Every meal was a calculation. Every side trip I skipped. Every moment I wasn't present because I was too busy surviving financially.

Being queer made the calculus harder still. Even with the money, the question of where was safe — where I could exist without managing my identity constantly — wasn't one any advisor could answer.

I was there. I was also, the entire time, counting. Every meal, every train ticket, every decision. You don't build yourself in a new place when your brain never left survival mode. That's what this scholarship is actually solving.

Wandering With Pride is a scholarship program for low-income LGBTQ+ students who want to study abroad. It's also a community for queer travelers at any stage. And it's a platform for creators who want to fund something real while building their own audience.

We are incorporated in Washington, DC. We are 501(c)(3) verified. We publish our financials. We are not yet large — and we're honest about that.

What we are, without question, is serious.