Our Philosophy

The goal of The Passenger is to bring like minded independent women together who crave travel to dynamic and far reaching locations. Our philosophy (and name) is taken loosely from the meaning of Iggy Pop’s song. Which is, through travel with friends and comrades great adventures and unexpected, yet memorable, antics can occur. We want to create an atmosphere that connects women from all over, helping develop friendships/networking opportunities and along the way have fun and make great memories. The end game is to show intrepid women that when done smartly, independent travel can be attainable to anywhere and can be exciting. In 2019, we will be starting small with a 8 person trip to Morocco. But the long term goal is to offer small group travel experiences to Africa, Middle East, India and Central America. We will maintain an emphasis on offering a luxurious experience that is budget friendly. The mission is to avoid cliche tourist activities and truly engage in understanding different cultural identities. Trips will focus heavily on each regions local arts and crafts trades and show Passengers the regions unique contributions to global art, culture, cuisine and design. We understand our passengers are hardworking career women and we don’t want you too leave feeling you need a vacation from your vacation. We will encourage independent time and taking moments to slow down and have a dip in a pool, book a spa appointment or two or three, or go for a stroll. By the end of your journey we want you to return rested and inspired before going back to the daily grind. All the while dreaming of your next trip (hopefully with The Passenger again)! That’s enough talking for now, it’s now time to start exploring!

I blame my wanderlust on the hours and hours of stories my father told me growing up. He fought in Vietnam for two years and then worked on public works projects in the Middle East during the 70’s. He always had the most fantastic stories to tell me about dining with Bedouins who graciously offered him the sheep’s eyeballs. How he would eat amazing pho on the hottest day imaginable and find it still a moment of bliss. About traveling by planes, trains and automobiles to Europe and Northern Africa gallivanting and exploring. He had the most amazing loot he would show me from his travels. I was envious and in awe and knew when I grew up I wanted to have stories and loot to share just like him. Fast forward to now, I am a Interior Designer (13 years strong), Artist, Cook and fellow Intrepid. I am fulfilling my dreams instilled in me by my father one trip at a time. From fabulous, to mundane and then to sometimes scary or a bit grotesque I have experienced it all so far and I have loved every second of it. Sometimes my journeys are with friends, sometimes it is joining a group of complete strangers (who always turn into memorable friends) and sometimes it’s all on on my own. Along the way I have discovered hidden gems for shopping, seen beautiful art, architecture and design and discovered amazing new cuisines that have blown my mind. I love those Lost in Translation moments where you try to find a way to communicate with a local of a different language. I have witnessed time and time again the kindness of strangers and learned to appreciate the practices of other people’s cultures and daily practices. On the flip side I have witnessed extreme poverty, illnesses and pollution. All of it helps me gain great appreciation for what I have while gaining great respect for other people’s experiences and cultures. This brings me to starting this venture. I want to share with other women my experience as a female nomad. I want to create a community among us to encourage us to take more risks when it comes to travel. I too am an ambitious career woman and love my profession as an Interior Designer. I have learned however that travel is critical to my psyche and also my professional and creative development. We all need to take the time to get out of our respective bubbles and experience the world. I want to show other women how important this is. But I don’t want to make it a uncomfortable or shallow experience. I want to offer luxurious experiences that encourage some needed R&R while giving women engaging cultural experiences that don’t feel cliche or touristy. So I hope you decide to join me on this adventure.