Wedding bells signal the beginning of a new life together. For a recent UF graduate, it signified a new business plan.
Jay Swedlaw, 29, was inspired to create a travel business after attending a wedding with a friend about a year ago. He was inspired by the wedding's gift registry.
Swedlaw's website, myvojo.com, is meant to help people who want to travel. Instead of receiving gifts for a birthday or graduation, users register online and allow their friends and family to contribute to their trips.
"It seemed like something people could get behind," he said.
Swedlaw used $7,500 to start the website, which he spent the last nine months developing.
"We also did lots of research ... to see if there was anything like this out there," he said. "We took a risk."
He graduated from UF in 2004 with a degree in psychology.
The cost of using the site correlates with the cost of the trip.
Myvojo.com charges 9 percent of the total amount of money a user receives for his or her trip.
Not everyone thinks the site is a good use of money.
Hannah Dwyer, a printmaking sophomore, said she could just have her family give her money directly instead.
However, she said the website might be good for some people.
"I feel like that would really encourage traveling and seeing other cultures," she said.
The site went live about three weeks ago.
So far, it has had plenty of visitors but not many customers, Swedlaw said.
"We need to turn those site visitors into site users," he said.
"We were always brainstorming about the next million dollar idea," he said. "Right now we have to have our humble beginnings, and hope that it moves up from there."
