PROSE & PASSPORTS
Journey With Every Word
Hi, I'm Kim!
I'm a published travel author and a passionate advocate for slow travel. My passion for world travel ignited when I was 19 years old and learning to hang glide at Lookout Mountain, GA. There I met a traveler on his first stop of an around-the-world trip. I was captivated by his adventures and couldn't believe that such journeys were possible!
Before Instagram, we exchanged emails so I could follow his updates and see his amazing photos from around the world. After a somewhat failed attempt to drive cross country with a stranger (true story—I ended up flying home from Albuquerque), three summers later, I embarked on my first solo backpacking adventure across Europe. I traveled through 14 countries in three months—it was a magical whirlwind. That adventure completely transformed my life and set me on a path of exploring the world.
One week after graduating, I set off for my own trip around the world, enlisting an around-the-world booking service to help facilitate my route. It was during this year abroad that I began to embrace slow travel as a lifestyle. That year of backpacking marked a narrative shift from tourist to traveler. I would spend the next decade returning home for short stints, only to set off to travel again.
By the time I met my husband in my early 30s, I wholly identified as a solo traveler. In many ways, it felt like I was losing my independence by allowing myself to lean into someone else's travel style. It was a more difficult transition than I was prepared for and took several years for me to relax into.
Perhaps other female solo travelers can relate?​
In some ways, this fear of losing my identity as a solo traveler influenced the creation of Backpackers’ Guide to the Globe in 2015. At that time, I didn’t know if children would be in my future, and leaving a legacy for future travelers, women in particular became crucial to my identity. That little project took just over 8 years to complete, and in November 2023, alongside my good friend and co-author Natasha, BGTTG was published!
Though proud of this accomplishment, I felt a void without a project to nurture. So in early 2024, Prose and Passports was born. This blog and accompanying Instagram are for women like me who maybe don’t have children (we struggled through several years of unsuccessful infertility treatments before deciding not to pursue alternative options) are fiercely independent (even within relationships), and may fall outside of society’s script for what "success" at mid-life should look like.
I’m excited about this new adventure, and just like backpacking without a map, I’ve decided to go all-in (AKA: I quit my day job!) and see where it takes me. My motto has become, “If not now, then when?” I believe anyone who dreams of travel can relate.
Prose and Passports is a testament to the idea that travel and dreaming go hand in hand, no matter your age. I hope you’ll join me on my global adventures and maybe redefine what success looks like for you while proving that wanderlust knows no age limits!
Happy Travels,
Kim
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P.S. A little more about me: I love rock climbing, paddleboarding, drinking wine, reading (I always have 2-3 books going at one time), fully justified paragraphs, searching for last-minute travel deals, spending quality time with friends, playing with my adorable Shih Tzu named Pyper, and traveling around the world with my husband.
P.P.S. If there’s any travel content you’d like to see more of, please shoot me a message here!
