GOING SOMEWHERE
International Education and Meaningful Travel (IEMT) are the founding pillars of Voy. Whether you or your students are going abroad to study, work, volunteer, or simply expand horizons during an educational gap year or spring break, Voy is a valuable source of relevant travel information based on real first-hand student experiences. A site for travel-enthusiasts, especially students and their mentors, Voy is your one-stop-shop for useful tips, advice, websites, and the latest news relevant to help make the prospect of your next trip abroad, for whatever the reason, all the less challenging. Voy also provides a chance for people who are interested in study abroad opportunities to ask questions, seek advice, and discuss their concerns and excitement with others who are in the same position as them via the discussion forums. Please help us make this site as useful and engaging as possible by contacting the administrator with your suggestions via the Contact link.
We look forward to hearing from you and being your travel partner!
Welcome abroad. We're Going Somewhere. Are you?
OUR STORY
Founded in 2015, Voyage (now Voy) started as a group project in an International Education graduate program at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Once live on the internet, Voyage quickly attracted a lot of attention from students around the country interested in educational opportunities abroad. We also began to receive inquiries from students all over the world interested in studying in the United States.
Voyage was eventually shortened to simply Voy, playing on the Spanish word for "I'm going..." (Voy abroad!), while at the same time utilizing the new domain Voy.gs as a homage to our slogan, "Voy. Going Somewhere".
As more questions and topics poured in from around the world and Voy responded by publishing more and more articles to address them, the project quickly morphed into a valuable online resource full of information helping students organize and plan international educational opportunities.
Now, Voy regularly publishes informative and engaging pieces written by students, for students covering a wide range of topics related to international education and meaningful travel.
Voy offers valuable internships in creative writing, marketing, social media, and other related fields to college students all over the world, providing professional development experience and serving as a platform for students to learn from other students who have faced the same concerns and challenges involving study, or more general travel, abroad.
Voy. We're Going Somewhere. Are you?
MISSION
Voy is here to connect the world through study abroad, international education, and meaningful travel.
Students often give up on the idea of going abroad for countless reasons, often dismissing the notion as nothing more than a dream. International education, however, has proven to have a major impact on student's lives, both personally and professionally. Therefore, our mission is to alleviate common concerns and frustrations students may have leading up to, and during, educational and professional sojourns abroad to make the dream of world travel into a viable reality.
VISION
To increase the number of students participating in international educational and professional opportunities and help reach industry goals of doubling the number of students going abroad by 2020, while also making international students feel welcomed here at home.
SHORT-TERM GOALS
Our current and most exciting project heading into 2020 is to be able to offer travel services to both international and domestic students looking to visit college campuses before, during, or after the application process.
By contacting the Voy team and utilizing our university visit services, a member of our staff will be able to take out all of the hard work in visiting any number of campuses around the country.
Students will only need to know which campuses they would like to visit, the approximate dates and order of visit, and their budget. Armed with this information, our enthusiastic staff will then be able to put together a travel itinerary including flight and accommodation options to make your campus visits a breeze. All for just a small fee!
For more information regarding this service, please go to our Contact Us page or simply email Abroad@voy.gs.
OUR STAFF
Paul Downey
Founder & Chief Executive OfficerPaul Joseph Downey is a graduate of both The Ohio State University with bachelor degrees in Spanish and International Studies, and Florida International University with a Master of Science in International Education. Born in Columbus, Ohio, and currently residing in Washington, DC, he also considers South Korea, Miami, Madrid, Paris, and Buenos Aires all very dear to his heart.
William-Jose Velez Gonzalez
Chief Operations OfficerWilliam-José Vélez González is a graduate from Florida International University in Engineering Management and Biomedical Engineering with a minor in International Relations. Born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, he lives in Washington, DC and has been to Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Debora Aberastury
Assistant EditorDebora Aberastury graduated from Webster University with a B.A. in International Relations, and is a current M.A. candidate in International Relations at Webster Vienna Private University. She studied abroad in England and Greece.
Haylee Thorson
Collegiate CorrespondentHaylee Thorson is a senior pursuing a degree in Journalism and Media Studies and a minor in Child and Family Development at San Diego State University. Born in San Diego to a military family, Haylee has never been one to live in any place for more than a couple of years. Growing up, she was able to experience life in California, Hawaii, Tennessee, Germany, and Italy before returning back to California for school. Having lived in Europe for six years before attending college, Haylee has been able to travel to 27 countries and three continents! Whether she was riding camels through the sand dunes of Morocco, drinking bubble tea at a raccoon cafe in Seoul, or eating a flaky baguette under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, she was always making the most of her time abroad. After experiencing some of the greatest times of her life overseas, Haylee hopes to one day combine her strong sense of cultural understanding and passion for writing and apply them to a future career in travel journalism.
Libby You
Social Media Assistant EditorLibby You is a Senior at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in International Relations & Global Studies and Asian Cultures & Languages with a specification in Korean and a minor in European Studies. Coming from a small town in Texas, she was always curious in the vast world that lay in the horizon. The trips to visit family in Malaysia and Singapore every few years were a welcome adventure, but never enough to satiate her curiosity. This curiosity developed her passion of learning about different cultures and different languages. In the spring semester of 2016, Libby studied abroad in Seoul where she fell deeper in love with travelling abroad. After graduating in the spring of 2017, she hopes to continue her adventures with a trip through Europe and getting a job either teaching English abroad or one that will allow her to continue learning and interacting with the world.
Anna Fifelski
Social Media Assistant EditorAnna Fifelski is a freshman at the University of Michigan pursuing a degree in Creative Writing and Literature with a concentration in Journalism and a minor in Polish Language. She is well travelled throughout the United States and has had the privilege of experiencing the snowy mountains of Wyoming and Colorado, the sandy beaches of the Carolinas and Florida, and as a Michigan native, exploring the upper peninsula and traveling across the border to Canada for weekend trips. In May, Anna will be studying abroad in London and it's surrounding countries. In the future, Anna intends to join the PeaceCorps and begin a career in journalism.