I didn’t get my first passport until I was 24 years old.
The first place I went with it? A cruise to Mexico where I only spent a few hours on international soil and they didn’t even stamp it.
Even though I never really traveled as a kid, once I got a taste of it, I was hooked.
Within 6 months of going on that cruise to Mexico, I had planned a whirlwind Eurotrip to London, Paris, and Barcelona – all in 10 days. That was the first time I had been on an airplane in over 10 years.
The next year I went to Thailand for 2 weeks and that’s where my life really started to change. We met a couple from Austin, Texas that was traveling Asia and Australia for 4 months straight. 4 months?!?! Who does that??!
The seed was planted.
I spent the rest of the year convincing my boyfriend that we too should quit our jobs to travel the world for a few months. It took a lottt of convincing, but he eventually gave in to yet another one of my crazy ideas.
I planned a rough itinerary and a budget that I knew we could stick to and be able to come back home and bounce back from. And long story short, we did. And it was the best year of my life.
I went from having never stepped outside of the U.S. to visiting over 30 countries and filling up my passport 5 years prematurely.
Not only was our trip around the world (we literally circumvented the globe!) incredible, but it’s what also gave me the courage to finally start the business that I had dreamt of for so long (SPLICE clothing). Once you quit your steady job, leave the safety of your hometown, and embark on a 10 month trip around the world, you tend to lose some inhibitions.
I didn’t know getting my passport was the first step to my dreams, but turns out it was.
I didn’t know getting my passport was the first step to my dreams, but turns out it was.
Ashly ryan
