Geomatics grad used engineering to pursue a passion for travel

She’s an entrepreneur who connects travellers with niche travel providers to experience the best the world has to offer – but Natasha Spokes, BSc (Eng)’05, says the toughest journey was finding her own true calling.

That’s the message the Schulich School of Engineering graduate had for a brand-new class of first-year students about to embark on the same academic adventure – and the CEO & Co-Founder of FarCloser Travel summed up her hard-won wisdom in four words.

“Give it a shot.”

Look off the beaten path

As the keynote speaker at the engineering faculty’s welcome rally, Spokes told an auditorium full of scarf-clad freshmen that her best advice is to look off the beaten path, and give your own curiosity a chance to lead the journey, because it may lead you to something truly amazing.

“When I graduated, it was very much assumed most people would go straight into oil and gas, because it was easy and there was money to be made,” she explains.

“Now, times have changed, and things aren’t as obvious for graduates. I think that’s a good thing, because it’s a real opportunity for students to find something they actually they enjoy doing.”

A new opportunity

Spokes, a geomatics engineer, followed the typical path when she graduated in 2005, and the oil industry proved a lucrative employer – that is, until 2017, when she found herself out of work.

Panic? That was one option. The other was to reassess what she really wanted to do with her life and her engineering degree.

“It was the kick in the butt I needed to go after the thing I’d really wanted for a few years,” says Spokes.

Using engineering to see the world

FarCloser Travel is a platform designed to help travellers discover and book unique, multi-day tours that they won't find at their local travel agency, using an intuitive, map-based comparison platform.

For Spokes, it’s a labour of love, helping travellers find the dream vacation that falls outside the traditional options offered by typical travel agencies.

“I saw an opportunity to marry mapping and geomatics engineering with my love of travel, and that’s how FarCloser was born.”

Take a chance

To those looking to engineering as a career, she suggests pursuing as many opportunities as possible while in school, while meeting the people who will form an invaluable network post-graduation.

“Take the opportunity in school to try something new, and take advantage of things like clubs,” she says.

“You never know where it can lead you or who you might meet.”