About Us

Hi, we’re Marge and Mike — the couple behind Passport Pillow.
We’re originally from England, but we spent the last 40 years building a life in the United States. Careers, family, routine… all the things that fill a chapter without you realizing how quickly time moves.

Now we’re writing a new one.

We’ve traded the pace of everyday life for slow travel — choosing to explore the world one country at a time without rushing and without a checklist. No bucket-list sprinting. No “how many sights can we cram into a weekend?” We stay long enough to settle in, learn a place’s rhythms, and enjoy the small moments that make travel meaningful.

We call this project Passport Pillow because those two words capture everything we bring with us: comfort and adventure. They remind us of where we’ve been and where we’re headed next.

Before we got married, we both traveled — but separately.
Marge backpacked through Spain and Italy in her twenties, navigating with paper maps and guesswork. Mike hitchhiked across Europe, slept in train stations, and survived on too many cheap sandwiches. Those early trips planted the seeds of curiosity, even if life took us in other directions for a while.

Once we got married and had kids, travel slowed down. Family life became our focus, and exploring the world became a “someday” idea. But when our kids left for college, we looked at each other and thought: Why not start again?

So we did.

Our first “empty nester” trip was to Jamaica. Sitting by the ocean with rum punch in hand, we felt that old travel spark return. Then came Portugal — twice — because we fell in love with the tiled streets and café mornings. Morocco challenged us, inspired us, and pushed us outside our comfort zones in the best way. And then came Thailand.

Thailand was the turning point.
It was the place where we asked ourselves: What if we didn’t go home this time? What if home could be anywhere?

Since then, we’ve moved through the world at our own pace — staying in each place for weeks or months, shopping in local markets, cooking at home, riding public transport, and wandering without a plan. We’re not just sightseeing. We’re settling in. We’re guests, not tourists.

That’s the heart of Passport Pillow.

This isn’t just a travel blog. It’s a space where we share what slow travel really looks like — the joy, the discomfort, the surprises, and everything in between. We want to show that exploring the world is possible at any age, at any stage, and especially after 50. It’s not “too late.” In many ways, it’s the perfect time.

Our channel and website are filled with stories, slow-living moments, the gear we use, and the honest ups and downs of this lifestyle. We’re not trying to be influencers. We’re just a curious couple figuring things out one journey at a time.

If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing the world slowly — at your own pace — you’re in the right place.
We’d love to have you along for the ride.