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SeekPTO's Origins:

In 2016 SeekPTO's Founder was a first-gen college student in Virginia facing a common problem: she wanted to travel the world but couldn't afford it—aka, The Money Problem.

While she was applying for college scholarships, she had a thought: if there are scholarships for tuition, are there scholarships for travel? After much research she discovered the answer was yes—but there was a catch. The opportunities were hidden. Buried on page 47 of search results. Shared only in certain circles. Advertised in ways only the most persistent seekers would find. Luckily, that's exactly what Gabby was: persistent.

She dove into this hidden world and won $40,000 to study in Dubai. Then South Korea. Austria. Fiji. By the time she'd won $200,000+ and traveled to 40+ countries, something became clear: this information was systematically gatekept from the people who needed it most. The Money Problem wasn't a money problem at all. It was a gatekeeping problem. So she started sharing the Paid Travel Opportunities (PTO) she would find on her personal Instagram. People started winning. Then they told their friends. Those friends won too. The trickle became a flood.

By 2019, SeekPTO was born—a centralized platform where students and young professionals could seek and win PTO without falling for scams or hours of frustration. Today, we're a team of 3 serving 12,000+ subscribers. Our members have traveled to 50+ countries and accessed $4.4M+ in funding. That's the law of SeekPTO: making the incredible, accessible, and Ungatekeeping travel for the everyday person.

Our Approach:

Most travel platforms do one of two things...

  1. Dump thousands of unverified links on you (good luck sorting through them)

  2. Sell you dreams promising to "unlock travel secrets". We do neither.

Here's how we're different:

🔵 We curate, we don't aggregate. A trained human being from our team manually vets every opportunity, and we use AI to do a wider credibility check. If it's a scam, unverified, or requires unreasonable fees or application process—it doesn't make it in.

🔵 We teach you how to win, not just where to apply. We don't believe it's enough to know an opportunity exists. You need to know how to beat the other 500 applicants. That's why we share strategies from real winners, and our Founder, in our Apply & Win Lab.

🔵 We're mission-driven, not profit-obsessed. We're not trying to become a billion-dollar startup. We charge $8/month to cover costs and pay our team fairly. We're trying to help you see the world and overcome The Money Problem.

🔵 We serve the people who've been left out 70% of travel opportunities have restrictions (age, nationality, education). We built advanced filters so you can find the 30% you DO qualify for—whether you're over 30, not a student, or not a U.S. citizen.

SKIP DEBT, SEE THE WORLD

Find them in the PTO Dashboard:

SeekPTO members have secured travel funding from world-renowned organizations such as:

SeekPTO is a membership platform that curates vetted Paid Travel Opportunities™️ (PTOs) and teaches you how to apply and win them. We handpick and AI-verify legitimate scholarships, programs, jobs, and contests that specifically offer an element of travel—then give you the tools and strategies to apply competitively and get selected.

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Meet the Team!

We're a small remote team passionate about ungatekeeping travel. We're not trying to be a billion-dollar startup—we're trying to help you see the world without going broke. Want to join us? We're always looking for mission-aligned people. Email [email protected].

Gabby Beckford

Founder of SeekPTO

First-gen college student who turned $300 and a scholarship search into 60+ countries and $200K+ in funding. She founded SeekPTO in 2016 to help ungatekeep travel for people like her who were told it "wasn't for them." Gabby runs her lifestyle and travel account @packslight full-time as a Creator and Thought Leader. Has a BS in Statistics from Virginia Commonwealth University and worked as an engineer before going full-time as an entrepreneur in 2020.

Website, Instagram, LinkedIn

Taylor, Head PTO Specialist

Started as a SeekPTO intern in 2020 and has grown to runs day-to-day operations for SeekPTO. She vets opportunities, manages the platform, and keeps everything running smoothly. Based in Upstate New York, chronically online (in the best way).

Mmachukwu, PTO Specialist

Former SeekPTO member turned team member. Won the fully-funded trip to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival in 2023 through SeekPTO, and now helps other members win their own trips. Living proof that it's possible.

Justice (24), PTO Specialist

A first-gen Nigerian-American, Justice deeply connects with SeekPTO's mission to make travel accessible. Managing community, content, and member support, he also loves baking and gaming (priorities).

We know diversity matters. This is our commitment.

SeekPTO is a Black-owned, woman-owned, first-generation-led business built on the belief that transformational travel should be accessible to everyone regardless of race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, ability, or socioeconomic background. We exist to ungatekeep global opportunities, especially for marginalized communities who have historically been excluded from travel experiences. Our platform celebrates and serves people from all walks of life because we know that diverse perspectives, stories, and dreams make our community—and the world—stronger.

Everyone deserves to see the world. We're here to make that happen.