FLYTE is more than a non-profit organization. It is a community built by supporters and donors who want to empower students to change their lives – and the world – through travel.
When it comes to seeing the world, Jordan offers one of our favorite tips when it comes to truly experiencing one place rather than fitting in many places at once. Thank you for supporting FLYTE, Jordan! We are grateful for your generosity.
Tell us about yourself.
Originally from the Pacific Northwest, I left to join the military, moved a bunch of times, and am now back in the Pacific Northwest working in travel. Whether I’m at home or exploring, I’m likely to be watching Netflix, researching fun restaurants or planning my next trip.
How has travel impacted your life?
Travel did not really start to make a big impact on my life until I left home to attend college on the East Coast. From there, joining the Navy led to me moving five times in five years and being sent all across the globe by land and sea. Those experiences of meeting and working with people from all over the world really jump started my love for travel.
What’s your favorite travel memory?
This probably has to be going to the North Pole. I was on a submarine that did a trip under the polar ice cap. We surfaced through the ice, dug out a space to open the hatches, and spent a day taking pictures and playing football at the North Pole!
Why did you choose to support FLYTE?
One my favorite quotes is, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindness,” (Mark Twain) and I think that its effects have never been more needed than they are now. So much of my personal worldview has been shaped through the opportunities I’ve had to meet people from different places and experience other cultures, and I love that FLTYE is committed to creating those opportunities for others.
What advice would you give someone who’s about to take their first trip abroad?
I have loved learning to enjoy just one place. Early in our marriage, my wife and I were struggling with all the places we wanted to go over a 6-week stretch, and decided to make the unusual (for us) decision to limit ourselves to one country (Italy) and just take things slow.
Moments of sipping wine at sunset, hiking in the Alps or getting haircuts in a small village are now some of my all time favorite periods of life, and now we much more regularly look for travel opportunities were we can balance getting a deeper experience in one place over how many stops we can jam in.
Avagail is a Filipina-American travel storyteller, content creator, and copywriter based in San Francisco Bay Area after living in South Korea for 4 years. She’s passionate about amplifying BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) experiences in the travel sphere, empowering BIPOC Millenials and Gen Z to follow their travel or live abroad dreams, and educating people about culture through travel – locally and internationally. She has a fondness for elephants, can’t start her day without a cup of coffee, believes there’s always room for dessert, and hopes to one day inspire youth of color to travel the world.
