“Freedom,” the First Word to Come to a Traveler's Mind

An Interview with Tamarah Davis by Sabriya Dobbins, Founder of Project Passport

Born in a small town in Wilkes, NC right outside of Boone, Tamarah Davis found herself required to take on the experience of a lifetime. As a Teaching Fellow at UNC Greensboro, she found out that she had to study abroad to maintain her program requirements. Coming from a tight knit family, she had never been more than a few hours from home. Anxious and scared to take on such a dynamic experience, 20-year old Tamarah selected the January 2019 semester abroad program in the U.K. She had become the first to study abroad in her family.

Buckingham Palace, London

When looking back, she felt her overall experience in the U.K. was good however she found herself homesick because of her distaste for the food. Her frustration only exacerbated when her family came to visit her reminding her about the delicious meals they had enjoyed back in the U.S. prior to their arrival. Together they visited Disneyworld in Paris.

“Where I stayed [Hull, U.K.], they fed us true authentic U.K. food. So they fed us blood pudding, which is literally blood in like a little circle. Beans for breakfast. Sausage that was disgusting like we were really eating all of it. You know you were literally eating cultural food.”  

Besides the food, she said that she would do it all over again. Visiting the U.K. was a whole new world for her. One of the most impactful moments she reflects on was the bus rides from Cottingham to Hull as she traveled to school each day. She had a chance to truly immerse herself in the “elder culture” as many of the older adults accompanied her on the bus rides. One tough moment that made her question the world for a second was when some rude ones refused to sit near her. She wondered, “Was it because I was American or my race?”

Another obstacle during her experience, was the change she underwent in her family dynamics. Tamarah and mother had been close for years. “I have always been under her wing,” she explained. However, through this experience, she found herself being forced to grow up, no longer the little, protected girl she was before. Although the conversation of becoming her own woman was tough to have with her mother, Tamarah is proud of who she is today.  

Tamarah’s first tattoo while abroad

“Something I brought back here in my own family [from traveling with other cultures] was talking things out and not letting things just build up.”

When asked why it was important to travel for one’s mental wellness, Tamarah stated:

“It is important to travel because it allows you freedom. This word keeps coming to mind. It allows you freedom, adaptation and experience. You have to adapt to something different and you have to be self-aware. You don’t have to worry about issues back home. For a short while you let it all go and learn about yourself and other people.”

In a few years, she hopes to obtain her Master’s in teaching and move to South Korea to teach. This experience has opened her mind and horizons up to an even bigger world from her little town.

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Project Passport is a mental empowerment retreat and event company created to help women connect with one another and gain the tools to improve their lives in the best way possible. Each retreat experience has a unique theme with carefully designed activities to help participants grow and experience transformation. We are making mental wellness the norm, one retreat at a time. Learn more at project-passport.com.