Go Overseas Community News

When we started Go Overseas, 10+ years ago, we were just coming out of another world crisis. Andrew and I had just returned to the US from living in one of our world’s most wonderful, welcoming countries: Taiwan. My own life experience taught me one thing, beyond everything else: Human beings are all connected, and we all rely on each other. Travel, at its core, humanizes us, softens us, connects us, and creates a level of compassion, empathy and love for other human beings that changes the way we interact with the world. Founding Go Overseas came from a deep desire to help bring those life-changing feelings to as many people as possible. Now, with travel coming to a standstill, our entire world is disconnecting at a time when we need each other more than ever.

Let’s also be honest about what this means for our field: This is going to be impossibly hard for all of us, mentally, emotionally, and financially. As I type this, I am literally pausing to take some very, very deep breaths and give myself time to feel through the meaning of these words.

What does this mean for all of us, as a field? When this crisis ends, we’ll need to travel more than ever. We’ll also need the good people in this field more than ever. For now, as we wait for this to pass, let’s support each other in every way possible. Let’s provide responsible and calming leadership. While we can’t shake hands and offer hugs, let’s look each other in the eye with a look that says, “I see you, and it’s all going to be OK”. Let’s take a moment to look inward and realize we don’t need as many material things as our culture tells us. We need three things in life: Family and people to love, clean air to breathe, water and food. Everything else is just a bonus. Recognition of these facts can provide a sense of emotional freedom, and perhaps an eventual silver lining to come from this crisis.

While all of this is happening, we want you all to know that Go Overseas is here to help you, and to provide support. Here are ways that we can help serve:

• Community connection: I’ve been talking with founders and leaders all week. If you would like to connect with peers, please reach out. I’m here almost 24/7, and happy to talk with anyone to provide both emotional support, and practical support.
• Financial resources, advice and support: This is having an unprecedented impact on our field. We are all going to need to make difficult choices. I’ve been having non-stop conversations with founders, CEOs and leaders in the field. You are not alone. I’m happy to provide support, advice, or just to listen. We can also connect you with others, and form working groups. Some of you have hundreds of employees, some of you have just a handful. Each and every one of them matters.

At Go Overseas, this also means incredibly hard times. We’re cutting down, and ensuring that we will be here for you when this passes. When we all come out of hibernation, when planes start flying again, and people start booking meaningful travel, we’re going to support you in every possible way. For now, as you need help, support, and encouragement, let us know. We’re here at home and we’re happy to have a video chat, even if it’s just to listen and share a good cry. These are going to be challenging times, but we will get through this together. Our response to our surroundings is all any of us can control. As leaders, we are determined to act responsibly, and model calm and compassion.

We are here, we are with you, and we care.

Sincerely,
Mitch & Andrew

Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that individuals are using our logo and company name to scam people into paying money for Au Pair opportunities in the United States. The scams are variations of au pair job opportunities with "Go Overseas Corporate Travel." As part of this scam these individuals are asking for money transfers to pay for "visa" and "program" fees. Do not pay them!

Things to watch out for:

• Emails from gooverseas@protonmail.com or any non @gooverseas.com emails.
• Mr. Philip Taylor or Mr. Kevin Anthony with WhatsApp number +1 416-907-4179 or +1 (415) 887-2398
• Mentions of company “Go Overseas Corporate Travel”
• Andrew Dunkle as "Host specialist"
• Au Pair job opportunities in the Facebook group Daily Jobs in "Gulf"

We encourage our users to be wary of internet scammers and please reach out to info@gooverseas.com if you are questioning the validity of any emails or correspondence from Go Overseas.

We are saddened to learn that our users have been affected by this scam and its predatory practices. We are working with the appropriate authorities to try and shut this down as soon as possible, this is proving difficult as we believe these individuals are operating out of South Asia, outside of our legal jurisdictions here in the United States. We want to make this information as public as possible to help people avoid this scam. We are genuinely upset that people are preying upon the good intentions of our users for personal gain, and we will do everything we can to help prevent it.

InterExchange has also put together an excellent article on How To Protect Yourself From Au Pair Fraud that's worth a read.

At Go Overseas, every day at work is a pretty great day. We work hard, we love what we do, and we're committed to our mission. We get to help educate interested readers about traveling the world, connect people with program alumni and companies to help find the right opportunity for them, and every once in a while -- we get to change someone's life.

It might not seem like it, but the scholarship campaigns we run each year -- to encourage studying abroad in New Zealand and Ireland, as well as through our own scholarship program -- are a big project. Several members of the team work hard for weeks before, during, and after the campaign, putting in long hours to make it all possible.

There's one moment that makes all that hard work worth it. Once we've received the applications, reviewed all the finalists, and chosen the winner, two Go Overseas team members get to fly to that student's school and surprise them. This year, our winner was Hailey Suina, who attends the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Hailey is a creative writing and indigenous studies major at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). She was selected from 3,368 applicants to receive the $15,000 (USD) scholarship. The scholarship will provide her with the unique opportunity to experience New Zealand, a place she’s wanted to visit since childhood.

Traveling to New Zealand and immersing herself in Maori culture has been a dream of Hailey’s since childhood; she explains this in her application essay, “As a child, I remember my mother and I running our fingers across a world map, tracing the paths that our ancestors journeyed to their homelands. My mother ran her finger across the great blue of the ocean down towards the bottom of the world where she stopped at two islands. “Here,” she said, “is where the Old Ones traveled the farthest.” I learned later that this was New Zealand, Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud."

Hailey will be attending Auckland University of Technology (AUT). While at AUT, Hailey plans to take courses within the indigenous studies program, complementing both her studies at home and her community involvement as a Native American woman of the Cochiti Pueblo Indian Reservation.

We followed up with Hailey in the few weeks since she won her scholarship and the reality has started to set in.

"I still can't believe that I have won! It feels like a dream," she said. "I had pretty much convinced myself that I had no chance of winning since I was competing against thousands of other students who all share the same dream of having an adventure in New Zealand. I'm so incredibly thankful to have been chosen to receive this scholarship. It means so much to me that I was selected by a group of people who support my lifelong dream of traveling to New Zealand."

We also asked Hailey what she was most looking forward to in New Zealand. Her response was two-fold. One part, we expected: "I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing the beautiful culture of the Maori people and being immersed in their world. As a young Native American woman, it is always a blessing to be able to meet with other Indigenous people and be apart of their community," Hailey said.

She continued, "I'm also looking forward to a change of scenery! Coming from a desert landscape, it will be amazing to see all the lush greenery and to be so close to the ocean!"

Hailey's strong application and creative photo (pictured above) helped her stand above the thousands of students who applied this year, and her mission -- as evidenced in her essay -- helped our team and the team at Education New Zealand feel confident she will be a great ambassador for New Zealand for years to come:

“Only in New Zealand is there formal education that is centered around the teachings of traditional cultural values and beliefs. I want to develop my personal vision of strengthening and revitalizing my tribe’s language, traditional governance, and values by applying the Maori people’s cultural perseverance and leadership. Upon returning to Cochiti, I plan to share the knowledge I acquire overseas with my tribal elders of the council to show them how to bring effective change to our community and maintain our cultural ways of life.”

Congratulations, Hailey!

You can check out the video we made from our team flying down to surprise Hailey in person:

You can check out our scholarship resource page to learn more about other scholarships we offer. We have a resource on href="internal:node/16438">study abroad scholarships and grants that you might find helpful too.

Thanks to all the applicants who applied, and our partners: Education New Zealand and STA travel.