What's it like to win a trip to space?

Even a decade ago, the concept might have sounded wildly futuristic – but, if recent events are anything to go by, space tourism is becoming the latest frontier of travel.

In August 2023, Virgin Galactic launched its first space flight with tourists on board. For paying customers, it cost $450,000. But for a lucky a few, the experience was comped – including for Keisha Schahaff and Ana Mayers, the first mother-daughter duo ever to fly into space, who won seats as part of a $1.7m programme by the non-profit Space for Humanity. Hailing from Antigua, they were also the first women from the Caribbean to enter space. And the flight itself had the most female engers of any single mission in history.

BBC Travel spoke with Keisha and Ana to hear more about this historic moment – including how flying into space together has changed their relationship and affected how they see life and the Earth itself.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

Keisha, I understand that you entered the competition. Why?

Keisha: Ever since I was a child – and it never left me – I really wanted to go to space. It's something I always wanted to do. I just didn't know how I was going to get into this big blue sky, leave the atmosphere and go up into the darkness of space.

How did it happen?

Keisha: I was travelling from Antigua to Barbados on a Virgin Galactic flight. My daughter was with me. And I saw the ad pop up with Richard Branson: 'Would you like to go to space">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });