I first had the idea for my travel brand in the summer of 2015. At the time I was working at a 9 am – 6 pm office job. I knew that I wanted more than the traditional career path but I didn’t know where to start. Taking a chance, I bought a domain name using a high school nickname “Sarah Funky”.
“My goal was to show people how they can experience a more fulfilling life while having a full-time job through travel tips, hacks, and advice.”
In 2017 a new chapter in my life began, I took a leap of faith and quit my 9 am-6 pm job to pursue travel content creation full time. My husband and I traveled the world using our savings. We lived in a different country every month, met amazing people, and did things we had only dreamed about. It was like living in a real-life travel movie.
However, in 2018 I returned to the USA broke with $300 to my name and no further ahead in my goal of being an on-camera travel show host.
I didn’t want to go back to a traditional job, and I knew that there must be a way to build the travel brand of my dreams. I decided to start a YouTube channel all about New York City using the skills I had gained as a full-time traveler and a lifelong New Yorker.
I spent a week filming my first three NYC videos, then hired an editor using the only money I left in my bank account. Today those three videos have over 2 million views and helped me launch a successful YouTube channel that has grown to 200,000 subscribers and 21 million channel views.
Today I am an on-camera travel show host, run a tourism company in NYC, and can make a living doing what I love.
I am paid to travel the world by tourism boards and I have the honor of being an on-camera host for major brands like GoDaddy and Travel + Leisure.
The moral of my story is that you should never give up on your dreams no matter how long they make take. Dream big, stay patient. You can do anything you put your mind to. Thank you for hearing my story and for your support!
-Sarah
