About

We are a mother and daughter team who love to travel. This blog chronicles our one year, round-the-world travel adventure.

Four years ago, my daughter, Elise (now 10), and I moved to Berlin so that she could become fluent in German in honor of my German Dad, Rudolf Ollmann, who passed at age 60, and of her own Dad, Mark Kahle, who spoke German (and Spanish and Portuguese), and who passed at age 53. Given how young they both were, it is crystal clear to me that we must act upon our dreams or risk never realizing them. Thus, I decided not to wait until retirement to show Elise this big, beautiful (and often complicated) world.

Lucky for me, she shares my love of travel, and has been a fabulous companion on many travel adventures. I recognized this about her for the first time during a month-long MA-FL roadtrip, during which we camped in the Outer Banks and FL Keys, pet the belly of a baby alligator in the Everglades (which, by the way, makes them fall asleep), did a ghost tour in Savanah, and flew a hang glider off an enormous sand dune in Nags Head, NC.

Our RTW journey will take us to South America, Asia, Australia and Africa. Europe won’t be a part of this trip, because it’s our current backyard, and we’re exploring as much of it as we can while we still plan to live in Berlin. So far, we’ve explored cities such as Paris, Salzburg, and Budapest, cruised with Elise’s Gran from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg, and island-hopped from Madeira to Porto Santo, and from Crete to Rhodes, Kos and Symi. (Click here to see a summary with photos).

A bit about me: I was born and raised in the US, and have lived in Germany, Japan, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. Before completing my Master’s in International Business Diplomacy at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, I did fellowships at the German Parliament, German Ministry of Economics, and at the European Commission, and then worked for a decade in international affairs, traveling often for business and pleasure, and then ran my own photography and marketing firm: OllmannCreative.com. Along the way, I expanded my business offerings by earning a degree in Graphic Design, accreditation in PR, and certification in Social Media Strategy. Thanks to a FAWCO grant; I am currently enrolled in travel journalism, travel photography, and memoir writing courses.

My personal travel highlights include my first trip to Germany when I was 9 years old to visit my beloved Aunt Lotte and Uncle Karl. I flew by myself (scary, but exhilarating) and ended up falling in love with all things international, which essentially set the course for my life (thank you, Pop!). Another highlight was my first trip to Paris at age 16 with my Uncle Heinz, a professional photographer who used city landmarks to teach me photographic composition. Other great travel adventures include trips throughout Europe during my junior year in Munich, the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal with Elise’s Dad, the year I spent exploring Kyoto’s temples and artisans’ ceramics shops while on the JET Program, and the dazzling Abel Tasmin and Kepler Treks in New Zealand, and most recently, island-hopping in Greece with Elise.

Financing a year of flights, trains, buses, lodging, food, visas, and activities is no small feat, so I am seeking sponsorships for our trip. If you would care to sponsor a country (click here to see our bucket list), or donate ultralight gear please contact us.

I look forward to connecting with others who are also inspired by the love of travel!