About
I went to Australia. Some of my friends went to Canada and the US.
We had different outcomes. Some of us thrived. Some of us came back. Some of us are still over there, working jobs we did not move countries to do, posting pictures that hide more than they show.
The difference between those outcomes was knowable in advance. Nobody told us. The consultants we paid had a sales target. The friends already abroad were too proud to share the parts that did not work. The internet had a hundred articles about cherry blossoms and CN Tower selfies and not one honest spreadsheet.
This site exists to give the complete picture. Not push you toward going. Not warn you off it. Just everything you need to make the decision yourself.
If your situation makes the math work, I will tell you. If it does not, I will tell you that too. Either way, the decision is yours.
Who runs The Honest Journey
My name is Faz. I run this site on my own.
I did my MBA at Deakin University in Australia, which means I went through the study-abroad decision myself: the loan paperwork, the forex, the cost-of-living maths that never matches the brochure, the visa and the part-time-work limits. I also spent two years of an MBA learning to read financial numbers properly, which is most of what this site does: take the real cost of studying abroad apart, line by line, and show what it actually adds up to.
I work for myself. The Honest Journey is a solo project, not an agency. That matters because of what I am not: I am not an education consultant with a commission, I am not a loan agent, and I am not a licensed financial advisor. I do not earn anything based on which country you pick or whether you take a loan at all. Nothing on this site is personalised financial advice. It is decision-support, built from public numbers, and the final call is always yours.
The reason that independence is on the page: every other voice in this space has a reason to want a particular answer from you. I do not. That is the whole point of the site.
What this site is
- A comprehensive guide showing all outcomes, success and neutral and struggle.
- Decision-support that respects your autonomy.
- Honest about the success stories that exist.
- Honest about the struggle stories that exist.
- Founder-led, with a personal voice.
- Slow to monetize, audience-first.
What this site is not
- An anti-industry crusader.
- Aspirational marketing pushing people abroad.
- Doom and gloom about the abroad decision.
- Sales-driven content that hides downsides.
- Corporate-style multi-author content.
- Affiliate-driven from day one.
How the numbers are checked
The figures on this site are not guesses. Costs, interest rates, tax rules and visa requirements come from primary sources: lender-published rate cards and scheme documents, the Reserve Bank of India and the Income Tax Department for loan and remittance rules, official university fee pages, and government immigration sites for each destination.
Rates, thresholds and policies change. Every article carries a published or updated date, and the money-related posts are reviewed when rules shift, for example after a Budget, or when a destination changes its post-study work or visa policy. If you ever find a number that looks out of date or wrong, email me and I will check it.
How to read this site
Every major decision article on the site follows the same structure: a hook, the basic math, a success scenario, a neutral scenario, a struggle scenario, a decision framework, profile factors, and an honest closing.
Read the scenario that matches your situation first. Then read the other two. The picture is only complete when you have all three.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or your own story to share? Reach me directly at faz@thehonestjourney.com. I read everything that comes in.