Bio

 

Hello and welcome to my site, so glad you stopped by; Cup of tea?

My name’s Nancy Lawrence; This year, I finally decided to pursue my lifelong dream of going where the wind takes me, sort of, I do have a loose plan… I am using 2020 to wind down my suburbia life in Texas and plan a 2021 departure date to set out on this adventure. I caught the travel bug at an early age from my parents; once you’ve got it, there’s simply no cure…

The Pick a Passport name was chosen as I have both U.S and UK passports. I was born in North Wales, UK, and lived there until two days before my 9th birthday, when my family immigrated to the USA. I was young, so I just set about making friends and assimilating into the American lifestyle and culture; my Brother and Father did the same. My Mum didn’t make the change as easily; Her teaching degree and experience weren’t recognized in the U.S, so she stayed home; I believe the loneliness and isolation got to her. She hated being so far from her family, friends, culture, etc., so after being in the USA for almost 2 years, my parents decided we would move back to the UK.

Before leaving the USA “For Good,” they decided we’d see as much of The States as possible. We spent 2 ½ weeks in an un-airconditioned Ford van and drove from Buffalo, NY to LA, on to San Francisco, then back to Buffalo. EIGHT of us in that van. (Relatives from the UK joined us for the adventure.) It was quite a trip, SO many miles, and when Auntie Val lit up her cigarettes, it was as if we were ALL smoking them, gotta love the 70’s! 

Approximately 6 months after returning to the UK, my parents had yet another discussion and decided that they had probably just made a HUGE mistake and should’ve stayed in the U.S…. So you guessed it, we moved back AGAIN, dog and all! After three trips across the Atlantic, our poor dog didn’t know which side of the car to get into!

Since then, I have been to all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Belize, Honduras, The Bahamas, British, and the US. Virgin Islands, Mexico, Canada, Japan, France, Monaco, Channel Islands, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland. That may sound like a lot to some, but I know it’s not even a scratch on the surface, and I crave to experience the rest. I understand I won’t make it to all the countries on the planet, but my goal is to step foot on every continent and explore places more thoroughly than I have ever been permitted in my past travels. 

I am currently a Field Paramedic for a rural EMS system in the central Texas area…Yes, those are banjos you hear! Sometimes as we’re bouncing down the road in the middle of the night on the way back from a call, I’ll think to myself, “How on earth did a little girl from Wales end up in central Texas??” 

Footnote:

Soooo COVID happened, and my plans (like so many of us) have changed, slightly… I have completed almost 8 years as a paramedic, more than enough time to see things I never wanted to see and do things I never wanted to do; I’ve met so many people on their worst day, again and again, it has made me grateful but weary. There were highs, lows, exhaustion, sometimes hours of boredom interrupted by a massive adrenaline dump, followed by God only knows what! I have made some wonderful friends, had more than my fair share of bizarre and beautiful experiences, but it’s time to move on, so my launch date got moved up! I have sold my house, my belongings, dropped down to part time status, and am taking a huge leap of faith that I can do this….I’m hoping my love of photography can help fund these travels, fingers crossed!

I’d love to share my travel experiences with you, so please stay tuned 😀