USA Today’s Young and In Debt serie presents Tolu Adeleye, a MIT Sloan graduate who charged $35,000 in credit card debt due to travels during business school (he also has $25,000 in business school loans). Out of all the stories, his is probably the one I can most relate to. I LOVE to travel, and I can understand how it’d be easy to swipe the card for plane tickets, hotels, and dinners when you’re at a top business school with prospects for a high-paying job. Now I know it’s not smart to rack up credit card debt, but I can see Tolu’s side of the story. He’s been to 22 countries! I guess you can say the experience was priceless. 
His $25,000 student loans was a good investment – Tolu has a $100,000+ post-MBA salary, with more opportunities for advancement. He lives in Minneapolis, so those six figures will go much farther than in New York or San Francisco. If he buckles down, I think he can pay off his debt relatively quickly.
I’ve heard that many MBA students take out more school loans than they need for tuition and room/board (which has a lower interest rate than credit cards), and just use the rest to travel. I know it’s not prudent, but when the travel bug bites, it bites hard! Most MBA students have worked for 4 to 6 years before school, and will be jumping back into the working pool after two years. B-school would probably be their only chance to be a globe-trotter for a long while, unless they become consultants or something.
Let’s see: I’ve been to Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Uruguay. But some of these countries were only day trips, so they didn’t quite count. I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting England and Switzerland, but only if you count time spent in airport. Every time I get a new stamp in my passport I can’t help but smile. I want to visit Spain, Italy, and Morrocco within the next five years. Hopefully I’ll have saved something for a travel fund by the time I go to B-school.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I was of two minds about this but I think my horror of debt overrides my love of travel. I mean, awesome times, yes, but man!! That is a LOT of unsecured debt. Then again, I suppose you’re right, his prospective earnings far outweigh the debt that he’s accrued. *sigh* travel.
What an awesome travel resume–not just the usual Western European suspects! And Morocco is one we have in common; I’ve always wanted to see Marrakesh. It’s unfortunate that it’s one of those ladies-don’t-come-here-alone places. Thanks for this post; it helped solidify my own short-term savings plans.
I am with Ms mini ducky on this one, traveling is great, but all that debt will take the fun out of my vacations. I’ve always paid for vacations up front, make it easier to realx.
I agree with the two previous comments about the debt being a problem, but if I could go back and relive my school years, I’d probably do the same thing. Once you’re working, it’s a lot tougher to find the time for travel.
I’m with Tolu. While I was in grad school, I studied abroad in Singapore and took full advantage of the time there to travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Hong Kong & Macau. And after graduation, but before work began, I traveled to Guatemala, Belize & Mexico. In both circumstances, my travels were sponsored by my “friends” at Visa & Mastercard. Now, I’m using my salary to pay off the loan. Was the amount borrowed substantial? Yes, but do I regret borrowing it as I did? Not in the least.