Epic Dream Grant · Applications Open
The biggest
dream wins.
One grant. $10,000. We're funding the most ambitious plan we receive — travel, sport, or vocation. Not the safest. Not the most sensible. The one that keeps you in the field the longest, doing something that changes the shape of your life.
Write us the plan. The panel picks the best one. You go.
Follow @finnwardmanfund on Instagram. Every 10,000 followers, we award a $10,000 grant. Four grants a year. $40,000 total.
Sport
Adventure
Vocation
We fund the plan nobody told you to have.
Finn Wardman died on April 8, 2023. He was 20. His last day was spent surfing with his brother.
He was a freeride skier, a wanderer, and the kind of person who said yes before he'd figured out the logistics. He was also our son.
The Finn Wardman World Explorer Fund was built in his name — not to be a monument, but to keep moving the way he did. One of the ways we do that is this grant.
Every 10,000 new followers on @finnwardmanfund, we award one $10,000 grant. Four grants a year. Not a gap year for someone who can already afford one. A real plan from someone who can't — ambitious, specific, and probably a little terrifying.
If the only thing standing between you and the plan is money — that's what we're here for.
One grant. $10,000. No catch.
The Epic Dream Grant is awarded every time @finnwardmanfund gains 10,000 new followers on Instagram. One winner per milestone. $10,000 USD disbursed directly to fund their approved plan. Up to four grants per year — $40,000 total.
There's no equity. No repayment. No brand deal attached. You don't owe us anything except the trip. No purchase or payment of any kind is required to apply or be considered.
We do ask that you document it — photos, video, a few honest words. Not to make content for us. Because the next person applying needs to see that real people actually go.
Three kinds of dream.
One grant.
Adventure
Adventure
You've been building toward something outside. A route, an expedition, a crossing. The kind of plan that requires months of preparation and an honest risk assessment. We funded an aspiring marine biologist who spent a year in the field because she couldn't afford the programme on her own. The common thread: they trained for it, planned it, couldn't afford it, and we helped them actually go.
Sport
Sport
The gap between talented and competitive is mostly money. Travel, equipment, entry fees, coaching — it adds up fast. We funded a young Bermudian racer who travelled to the UK to compete in motorcycle racing because the entry cost was the only thing between him and the circuit. If you're good enough to be there and the only thing stopping you is the cost, we want to help you get there.
Vocation
Vocation
The plan that doesn't fit a category. We funded a young Mexican woman who had never been on a plane before. She moved to Germany for six months of intensive language training because she couldn't have done it without the grant. An apprenticeship in a craft. Three months training with someone who's spent 40 years doing what you want to spend the next 40 years doing. Vocational grants are for people who know exactly what they want to become and just need the money to get there.
You're 18 to 26.
You have a plan.
That's most of it.
This grant exists for young people whose dreams are bigger than their bank account. You've got the plan, the talent, or the drive — but the cost of getting there is the thing holding you back. We don't care about your grades, your CV, or how many followers you have. We're not looking for the most polished application — we're looking for the most honest one.
- You have a specific plan, not just a direction
- You've already done something to make it real — trained, researched, applied, saved
- You're between 18 and 26 at the time of application
- You're willing to document the experience and share it
- Your application includes a short video
- Open worldwide — any country, any background
You probably shouldn't apply if you haven't thought beyond "I want to travel" — not because that's wrong, but because the panel will ask you to get more specific, and you'll have a better shot if you've already done that thinking before you submit.
Open to applicants worldwide except where prohibited by law and except for residents of countries subject to OFAC comprehensive sanctions. No purchase necessary. This is a merit-based grant, not a lottery or sweepstakes. Full terms.
- No CV or academic record required
- No institutional endorsement needed
- Previous applicants may reapply
- Previous recipients not eligible for a second grant
- Short video required with application
- Open worldwide, any country
- No purchase necessary
What a winning application looks like.
Ambition
We want the plan that makes the committee slightly nervous. Not reckless — ambitious. There's a difference. Reckless is no prep and high stakes. Ambitious is full prep and high stakes. Know which one you're submitting.
Specificity
"I want to spend a season skiing in the Alps" is a sentence. "I've been competing at regional level for three years, I have a specific coach in Verbier who has agreed to work with me, and this is my qualifying window for the junior circuit" is an application. The more specific you are, the more seriously we take you.
Evidence of commitment
What have you already done to make this happen? Trained. Saved. Reached out. Planned. We're not the first step — we're the bridge. Show us what you've built before you came to us.
Honesty
Tell us what could go wrong. Tell us what you don't know yet. Tell us the part of the plan you're most uncertain about. Honest applications outperform polished ones every time.
Two ways in.
The Epic Dream Grant runs in two rounds — a short expression of interest first, then a full application for the ten finalists the committee selects. If you need a smaller grant for a shorter trip, you go straight through.
for the biggest plan.
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1The plan
What you want to do, where, and for how long. 100 words max. Write it like you're explaining it to a friend.
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2Rough budget
A number. How much you need and what you already have lined up.
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360-second video
Shot on your phone. Tell us who you are and what you want to do. Realness over production.
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4One link (optional)
Instagram, a blog, a race result, a trip report. Anything that shows us who you are beyond the form.
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ADetailed plan and budget
Line by line. Why this plan, why now, what you already have covered.
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BThree referees
Personal, academic, and professional or athletic — with full contact details.
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CSupporting documents
Academic transcript, financial endorsement, liability waiver.
4 questions · Under 10 minutes · Ages 18–26 · Open worldwide · No purchase necessary
for focused plans.
Smaller in scope, same in seriousness. Start with the same short expression of interest. Shortlisted applicants complete the full application — references, budget detail, and documentation.
-
1The plan
What you want to do, where, and for how long. 100 words max.
-
2Rough budget
A number. What you need and what you already have.
-
360-second video
Shot on your phone. Tell us who you are and what you want to do.
-
4One link (optional)
Instagram, a blog, a race result. Anything that shows us who you are.
4 questions · Under 10 minutes · Ages 18–26
Common questions.
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No. We don't ask about enrolment status.
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No. The grant funds plans that haven't launched yet. You can be in preparation — but the funded portion of the trip should begin after the award.
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Talk to us. Life changes plans. We'd rather know than have you go quiet. We've worked with previous recipients to adjust scope — the goal is that you go, not that you go exactly as described.
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No. It's a grant. It doesn't go toward tuition, fees, or institutional programs. It funds the plan itself — the travel, the equipment, the training, the thing.
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Yes. Previous applicants are welcome to reapply in future cycles. Previous recipients are not eligible for a second grant.
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By direct bank transfer, in one or two tranches depending on the plan structure. We'll confirm the disbursement schedule with the winner.
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The selection team committee rotates between who is available. We have about 10-12 peers, other young adults, alumni, and co-founders. The process is; you apply through the lite application process, the founders do a quick run through to see if you are a good fit. Then we will ask you to put in a more robust application with references. Once that happens and are happy with the plan, we interview you. After the interview, the selection committee all votes, we need a quorum of 6 people to interview. That's it! You got this!
Epic Dream Grant · Applications Open
The plan is already
in your head.
You've been thinking about this for a while. The route, the season, the person you're going to train with. You've looked at the cost and done the math and wondered whether it's actually possible.
It is. Write it down. Send it to us. The worst case is you get your plan on paper.
The best case is you go.
Apply for the Epic Dream Grant