Travel Crush Tuesday: Tessy
Photo Source: Tessy and Instagram
Welcome to Travel Crush Tuesday!
Our TCT Tessy is an educator and philanthropist, among the projects she pursues. Tessy's love of travel goes deeper than site-seeing as it's her form of self care, her vehicle for growth, and her passage to healing. She uses her platform to inspire others to gain from travel what she does, as well as to create the means in which she can give the gift of travel to young women.
Tessy most certainly knows how to ball on a budget, so when you've gotten to know the woman behind the insta, go check out her page for more money-saving travel tips.
Tell us about yourself! Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do? What inspires you to travel?
My name is Tessy & I’m from the U.K. I’m also Nigerian. Mansa is a nickname because one of my idols is Mansa Musa the richest person that ever lived. I’m a computer scientist, an educator and I also run a charity that sends disadvantaged girls to school. I travel because it’s how I grow, how I explore and how I find healing. By connecting with others, by experiencing other cultures, music, food, it opens me up to bigger dreams and aspirations. I’m hoping through my platform I’ll be able to empower others to do the same and also raise funds to help my girls from the charity travel.
Most everyone dreams of incorporating more travel in their lives but sometimes life can get in the way. How do you make frequent travel your reality?
I have a full-time job and run a charity, as well as pursue other projects, so it’s very important for me to embed travel into my life. I ensure I travel frequently by planning breaks in the year specifically for me to go to new places or revisit places that help my well-being. I think this is really important. In order to achieve this, I’m very flexible with the destinations on my list and I do a lot of research to find out what’s cost effective. For example, I might not visit a place at its highest season because I could be paying a lot more. January/February and then Sept/October are usually the low seasons.
What is your best money-saving tip for traveling?
My page is mainly savings tips so I have a lot but my main one would be to start a travel savings fund. It helps a lot to make savings on bookings etc if you’ve already put some money away and can then use it on sales and offers.
How many countries have you visited? Which country was your favorite and why?
I’ve been to about 30 countries, I don’t have favorites to be honest because each place is special to me for different reasons. But Mauritius, Mexico, Gambia, Spain are at the top of my go to recommendations.
When it's safe to travel, what is your first destination on your list to visit and why?
I’m going straight to Greece because it been on my list for the longest time and it’s close to the U.K. The pandemic made me realize that I should have been traveling a lot more because it was almost taken away forever.
Where else can folks find you?
I’m on Clubhouse @astoldbymansa, I also have my charity website educatingafricafund.org which I would love for people to sign up to our newsletter etc. I’m hoping to start a podcast soon.
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