“How do you find the time to travel?”
“How do you find the money to travel?”
“Where do you stay?”
“Where do you eat?”
“What sort of gear do you have to get? “
“Should I take my cell phone?”
“How do I stay safe?”
“How do I plan my trip?”
“I have no idea where to start.”
I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. These are questions I hear anytime the topic of travel comes up. They’re the exact questions I’ve had myself. Traveling sounds great until you get down to the reality of costs and actually planning it. Where do you even begin? What if you don’t want to sleep in hostels but you can’t afford fancy hotels?
WHY PASSPORT TO ROAM?
My goal with Passport to Roam is to answer these questions, break the process down into simple steps, and make traveling a very real possibility for anyone ready to see the world. My family didn’t travel much growing up, but in 2006 I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to travel to Greece and Turkey with my AP Art History class and it changed my life. From that moment, I had an insane hunger for travel but never thought I’d have the money or time to travel like that again.
BACKGROUND
I moved out at 18 and with little to no money to my name, I worked my tail off to finish my business degree while working 80+ hours a week for Marriott, Delta Airlines, and Backcountry.com. I knew I
wanted to travel and I knew I couldn’t afford it unless I got creative. With my hotel and flight benefits, doubled with discounts on gear from Backcountry.com, I took full advantage of traveling around the U.S. during those few years, visiting Florida, Virginia, Washington D.C., going on plenty of road trips, camping so often that I barely remembered I was still renting a room in Park City, and even taking a solo trip to New York.
After years of hard work (and play), landing a Marketing job with an energy bar company with a whopping 10 days of PTO per year, and in the middle of a breakup, I cashed in on 2 precious PTO days to go on a whitewater rafting trip with a couple of my best friends. This was the trip I met my future husband/forever travel buddy. I had no idea my trips were about to get a heck of a lot more crazy, scary, adventurous, and fun.
Fast-forward 1.5 years to 2014. I decided to test my fiance in his travel planning abilities. I tasked him with planning our honeymoon.
The requirements were:
#1 – It had to be a surprise
#2 – He had to plan it without my help
I’m happy to say: he passed. Our honeymoon cruise was our first taste of an international adventure together and we were hooked.
In 2016 I quit my full-time desk job to start my own art business. It quickly became a blur of art and shipping supplies, working until 1am, and traveling every spare second we had. My husband and I took our first non-cruise international trip together and it just sunk the travel hook deeper. Thailand forever changed the way we viewed the world and gave us an indescribable appreciation for the simplest of things. We learning invaluable lessons, one of which was that toilet paper isn’t a thing everywhere in the world.
We’ve managed to stick to our travel habits and most people would tell you that I always seem to be somewhere new every weekend. A nomadic life, or even a trip every week or every month isn’t ideal for everyone, but for those who have the desire to travel more than they do now but don’t think they have the time or the money, I say to you: read on. This website is for you. I will show you how to make it happen.