Kellie
Kellie Flanagan McIntyre has traveled to 50 countries, including nearly 40 with her daughters. When she's not traveling, you'll find her writing about travel and drinking sweet tea at her home in Alabama.
View storiesAbout Us
Global Family Travel Goals
We are a family of travelers who set out to explore six continents together before our daughters finished high school. Country by country, trip by trip, we marched toward our goal. Some trips lasted just a week; others lasted two or three.
But as all travelers know, for every country you strike off your bucket list, two more take its place.
So our mission to give our daughters a global education through experiential learning led to two family sabbaticals: the first during middle school, and the second at the end of high school.
The Passport Project Book
What started out as a family goal turned into a first-class education from economy seats. And that education has turned into The Passport Project: Two Sisters Ditch Middle School for a Life-changing Journey Around the World, a family travel memoir with a unique twist: it’s written from our daughters’ (then) teen/tween perspectives.
While The Passport Project was written for teens and tweens, its 5-star reviews span generations, genders, and races. It is also being used by middle schools to teach social studies and geography.
Our Travel Philosophy
We believe…that travel is the greatest gift you can give your children. It doesn’t break or go out of style, and the memories will last forever.
We believe…the lessons that are learned through travel cannot be duplicated in the classroom. And these lessons—like the importance of freedom, tolerance, and an expanded world view—stick with you forever.
We believe…family travel creates lasting bonds and shared memories that will last well beyond childhood.
We believe…that most of the world can be traveled independently and for much less money than most people think. Our motto is:
No tour groups. No trust fund. No problem!
We believe…that with careful planning and research, you can take extraordinary trips on an ordinary travel budget.
Why We Decided to Take Two Family Sabbaticals
International travel has been a part of our family from the beginning. Kellie was attracted to Dale for his wanderlust and blond curls. He was attracted to her sense of adventure and frequent flyer miles. Although the blond curls and frequent flyer miles are long gone, we’re still exploring the world together.
When Delaney and Riley came along, traveling took on a different sort of importance. Like most suburban families, we spend our days on the hamster-wheel-of-life. We run off in different directions—school, work, church, extracurriculars, etc.—and at the end of most days we wonder if we did anything that actually matters.
When we travel, it’s the one time we are all going in the same direction, experiencing the same things, and growing together.
Every year we would put another small notch in our travel belt, all-the-while dreaming of doing something more meaningful and life changing—like explore the world as a family.
When we first started talking about it, it seemed so radical.
It was only something that young-and-single or rich-and-retired people could do. Not suburban families with kids, jobs, pets, and a house, right?
Wrong!
After spending two years stalking following the blogs of families who were traveling around the world, we realized this:
The only difference between them and us is that they stopped talking about it, and actually did it.
And so did we! And we hope you will too. 🙂
