Passport Tales

My 2018-early Jan 2026 passport (hole punched) beside my new 2026 large book passport.

I recently got a new passport. I decided on the big book (50 pages) since the US State Department doesn’t issue extra pages anymore. I was running low on pages (less than two left) and with a lot of international travel upcoming, decided not to risk it being somewhere that requires x number of blank pages to transit in or out. I have to admit that needing a new passport 8.5 years into the lift of the current one felt…good/validating/on point. I love to travel and have even embedded my love into permanent ink on my left forearm. 

As I think about travel, though, I think of a conversation with a friend recently. She has traveled even more than me and grew up abroad. Her wise take was that even people in her life that travel as much as her (or more) aren’t always traveling to be in the place. For example, we went to Rio together and she made sure to brush up on common Brazilian Portuguese phrases. She also did research on the city and was excited to live like a local. She wasn’t looking for the cookie cutter familiar brands/experiences with the “wow” moments to go home and tell friends about. She was looking to experience the city fully. It’s also why we spent 10 days just there. It gave us the chance to really dive deep - like my two weeks in Florence (with one weekend in Tuscan wine country). Even small cities like Firenze can be really explored and known in a way that doesn’t feel like you need a vacation from the vacation when you give yourself 1)time to be there 2)pre-research on the place 3)a humble mindset. Like the fashion industry (fast fashion in particular), I see parallels to the travel industry in terms of who has access and how, who benefits from our globalized world, and what it means to travel.

Rainbow over the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Rio - early Jan 2026

For me, travel means exploring - understanding more about the world - the similarities and differences between other countries, cities, cultures to my own - human nature, the natural world, and myself. I am trying to be more conscious about travel as an extractive experience. I also use travel as a way to explore what this American-ness means. For example, on this recent trip to Rio, I had the pleasure to spend a 3 hour bus ride to some islands chatting to a 25 year old Brit working in the hotel industry in London. Among the many topics we discussed - how she can immediately spot the American hotel guests before they talk; how she can spot the Trumpers; the benefits of the British social system - a middle and lower class of society that can live a dignified life; healthcare that doesn't turn people away; the lack of guns; and how she doesn’t understand how some of her friends still covet the “American dream”.  She was also an immigrant to England and bilingual - Portuguese/English, so we also talked a lot about ICE and how she doesn’t fear being taken away from her friends and family and the “humane” system of immigration that the UK has.

I thought that this blog post would be an homage to the places I’ve traveled on this most recent passport. I got her in 2018 after getting married, changing my name, and going on an epic six week honeymoon trip (in lieu of a formal wedding - we did the courthouse thing).  Sadly, this passport doesn’t have the stamps from my honeymoon trip, but it does have some great ones and great trip memories.  Listed in no particular order, and with many repeat stamps for entry/exit and returns (asterisks for repeat visits in the life of the passport):

• Costa Rica*

• United Kingdom

• Brazil*

• Guatemala

• Mexico*

• Panama

• Germany

• Turkey

• Italy*

• Japan*

• Australia

• New Zealand

• SAR China (Hong Kong)

• Singapore

• Nepal

• The Phillippines

• Spain

• Aruba*

• Trinidad & Tobago

• Guyana

• Fiji

• South Africa

• Vanuatu

• Curacao

• Colombia

• France

• Cayman Islands

• Grenada

• Peru

• Antigua & Barbuda

• Turks & Caicos

• French Polynesia

• Chile

• Argentina

• St. Kitts & Nevis

• British Virgin Islands

I’m excited to catch up on the travel posts for countries - I have spent a lot of the last year when not on planes and adventuring, deep in life stuff. I love revisiting my travel memories, so this is an exciting project to return to for me.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge as someone with a course called Liberation 101 that not all passports hold the same power (accessibility). For so many globally, travel is a privilege for many reasons including the ability to get a passport and then the access that said passport offers that person. I highly recommend this book - Love Across Borders - to open your eyes to this reality, especially if you hold a US, UK, EU, Canadian, or similar passport.

I’d love to hear from you - any travel stories that stand out? Any country stamps on your passport that you’re particularly excited by?