Sadie Grigsby, a Park University junior majoring in social work, is in the unique position of traveling the world while being a full time Park University student.

Grigsby has decided to travel the world with her boyfriend, Charlie Wood, who is from the U.K. and insists it can be done.

“I am really driven and focused to pursue my goals and dreams while I’m young,” Grigsby said.

Despite having to work three jobs to save up for her traveling, Grigsby has also saved money to pay for her classes, which total $9,000 for three months.

Having already been to Paris, London and Amsterdam, she has her sights set on the Far East. Next she will first head to Thailand and then Cambodia before venturing into the southern reaches of Australia. This is all while taking 12 credit hours online during the semester.

On her travels so far, Grigsby said that the U.K. was her favorite place because of the beautiful lakes and mountains.

“We went on a steam boat across this pretty lake and even the sun was out for the most part,” she said.

Grigsby said she believes having a wide range of online courses makes it easier to keep on track for graduation by summer 2020. She said that it was very tempting to take a gap year from university, but that working tirelessly to make memories with her boyfriend in addition to taking online courses has given her the best of both worlds.

This dual life does have its struggles, though. She said that it can make life very stressful not only for herself, but family members as well. Some of her family was not happy with this decision initially.

“My mom was opposed to this idea very strongly to begin with. After sitting down with myself and Charlie and we discussed our plans, she jumped on board and has been very supportive,” she said.

After being in Europe for five months in 2018, she is currently back in Kansas City until April, when she’ll head Thailand.