Passportamore came about simply because so many of my friends, neighbors and even strangers ask me about my travels. Some of which were for work, and some on my own accord!
I want to share, inspire, and encourage everyone who comes across my site, through my stories, experiences, and travel tips.
You will also see posts, stories and social media links from my daughter Janine, who herself is an avid world traveler. Starting as a 15-year old foreign exchange student, Janine has lived in countries like Thailand, England and Canada. Janine has a wealth of knowledge to share about being a high school exchange student, going to university in the U.K. and her recent solo travels, all of which she will share on passportamore.com.
Our mission is for all types of travelers will be able to benefit from the blog. From novice first-time travelers, to well experienced world travelers. I want to share travel stories and tips helpful for the single mom, the recently retired, and even teens looking to start their journeys in the world.
Both solo travelers and group/family travelers will learn about my best travel tips, strategies, ways to save and things not to miss on a trip.
My Exposure to Travel and Culture
At age 17, I took my first trip abroad. It was a 10-day trip to Spain through my high school. This was really the beginning of my quest to learn more about the other side of the world that I’d never seen before.
I realized early on that it wasn’t the destination that excited me, it was meeting the locals and tasting the food and learning to embrace a culture and lifestyle that was vastly different from my own.
I fell in love with the otherness of travel, and I hope you will too!
Volunteer Host Mom Extraordinaire!
I travel the world, going wherever I can, whenever I’m able to. But I truly started my journey exploring the world by not leaving my community at all. in 2008 I took a leap of faith and invited the world into our home. I did this through our local high school’s foreign exchange program.
The foreign exchange program has been at our high school for over 70 years, hosting international teens and sending high school Americans to study abroad.
For almost 20 years, by volunteering to be a host family, has increased my ‘family’ due to having hosted multiple sons and daughters now adults living all over the world.
Over the past two decades my family has hosted some of the nicest, smartest, most mannerable high school kids on the planet. but I’ve also hosted some of the most edgy, wild, and nutty drama queens that you could image…And I loved every moment!
Now that my own kids have both completed university, and life is beginning to settle down, I thought it was finally my turn to explore the globe and travel more intentionally and best of all for myself.
So Why Start a Travel Blog
I started my travel blog honestly to have another place to put my memories. But I realized that I could also help people learn from my experiences and even my mistakes.
I want people and especially underrepresented groups in the world of travel to be encouraged to go out and see the world. All the time people ask me,
“How can you afford all of this travel?” “How do you find the time to travel?” “Where can I find the best deals on where to stay?”
Always answering these same questions over and over was the birth of this travel blog Passportamore.com — to be able to answer all of these questions and more with just the click of a button.
My Travel Style
In a nutshell — I’m a single mom, who’s not afraid to try new things! Now, to be honest, I am not jumping off a cliff, swimming with the sharks or trekkiing up the mountain. No way am I a daredevil, but I am a foodie, loving watching exotic animals (from afar), and having life changing cultural experiences.
I put both my kids and myself through university (more than once). I like to try new foods, and hear about other culture’s life stories and I love hanging out among the locals all around the world.
We love riding alongside the locals in a Ghanaian tro tro, a Mozambican chapa or a tuk-tuk in Thailand. But what I enjoy most is waking up early to go shopping for crafts, snacks, coffee or tea, winding through the narrow passageways of the souks, bazaars and stalls is my favorite thing to do.
To be able to travel well is a skill.
Which means with practice you can be more confident, and prepared to travel the world at a moments notice.
Passportamore.com will give my best tips on how you can travel on a budget, find the cheapest flights to the most interesting places, and have unforgettable experiences.
You will learn how to decide on a destination, and how to embrace the food, traditions, and cultures of your travel destination and most of all, enjoy the world of travel!
So, I hope you want to stick around to see what adventures are around the corner!
Best,
Carla
