How a woman went from being stuck on vacation to earning $1.3 million from her travels

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Oct 14, 2022

Shakeemah “Keem” Smith aka The Passport Abuser is a travel influencer from East Orange, NJ. She has visited 62 countries solo and is the creator of the Travel Like A Bawse course, which has generated over $1.3 million in revenue to date.

Before venturing on his first solo trip, Keem traveled three times a year with friends.

“I’ve always loved traveling because it offered such an adventurous escape from the daily 9-to-5 rush,” she says.

Little did she know that an incident occurring on one of these girls’ trips would soon lead her to a life of solo travel as well as a lucrative new business.

How it all began:

In 2016, while on vacation with two friends in amsterdam for her birthday, Keem got stuck without warning.

“I told a friend that I thought her boyfriend was using it. I noticed that for the rest of the night she didn’t speak to me. When we got back to the hotel, she Said she was going to chill downstairs in the hall while I went to the bedroom.She then asked my other friend to stay downstairs with her for a drink.

Keem woke up the next morning on her birthday and noticed they weren’t in the room. When she called them to see where they were, they informed her that they had secured a new hotel room elsewhere.

learn from my mistakes

“I immediately hung up and blocked both of them on Instagram. I never spoke to either girl again. Waking up in the hotel room blocked on my birthday was like if this was the worst day of my life. I had no idea it would be the experience of pushing myself over the fence of solo travel. I did not choose to travel alone. Solo travel chose me. I started my solo journey the following year and never looked back.

Keem’s first solo trip of 2017 was to Paris, France. Since then, she has traveled to 62 countries alone, including some of her favorite destinations like Antigua and Barbuda, The Maldives, baliand Thailand.

Sharing photos and videos of her travels on social media, Keem began to receive many inquiries from other women about the ins and outs of solo travel.

Help other women:

“So many women searched daily to find out how they could achieve the same results. In 2018, while visiting my 34th country, South Africa, I decided to create my online solo travel course.

When she first started travelling, Keem never imagined she could make money from her travels. Now she’s become a successful entrepreneur doing what she loves and sharing her ideas. Travel Like A Bawse has helped 10,000 women from 14 different countries achieve their travel goals.

“Travel Like A Bawse is my nine-week online course that teaches women how to be successful on their first solo trip, and also how to master solo travel safely, confidently, and without emptying their bank account.”

“What it took me 62 countries and years of experience to learn, students can learn in just nine weeks, making their solo travel transformation much easier than mine. I teaches women how to build the confidence to travel solo, how to do it cheaply, safety tools, and even provide daily FaceTime calls on every woman’s first solo trip.

Demystify misconceptions

One of the things Keem helps his students do is put aside the misconceptions and fears that have been instilled in them by the media and naysayers who have tried to dissuade them from traveling alone.

A common misconception that Keem commonly encounters is that travel must be expensive and drain all of your funds. In her course, she teaches different ways to save to travel and see the world more cheaply.

“One of the things I did when I was on 9-5 was set aside flights to stay within my monthly budget. I also packed my breakfast and lunch to save more money. ‘silver.

Make solo travel comfortable:

Two other big misconceptions she often hears are that it’s not safe to travel the world as a solo traveler and that it’s lonely or boring to do so. Keem says that is far from the case as she has had some of the most epic experiences of her life on her solo travels. When it comes to safety, she offers several tips to help women stay safe when traveling alone:

“Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. This is a FREE service for US citizens to register with the local US Embassy in each country you visit. Send them a copy of your itinerary prior to arrival and keep the U.S. Embassy number in your cell prior to travel in case of emergency.”⠀
“Use ridesharing apps whenever possible. No yellow taxis. Why? Because the activity of you and the driver is tracked. Otherwise, you won’t have any reference information such as name, reviews, or license plate number handy.
“Keep your stuff in the back seat with you when driving. Just in case the driver tries to overload or you start to feel uncomfortable, it’s easier to get out of the car with your things. »⠀
“Ask your hotel staff or Airbnb host about local scams. In Brazil, we’ve been told that kids will ask for $1 and when you pull out your wallet, they’ll grab it and give it to a waiting adult. near.
“Have solid transportation when visiting another country. Taking the train in Paris is cute, but if you don’t read French, or if you miss your stop, now you’re lost, you probably look lost, and now you’re just a easy target. ⠀
“Have multiple forms of communication with the hotel staff or Airbnb host. Say you lose your key while partying in Madrid, or say your driver can’t find the address, having an email address won’t help you then. Have another form of communication with hotel staff, such as a local number or Whatsapp.

Learn more:

These are just some of the tips students learn in Keem’s course. To learn more about safe and affordable travel around the world, Click here to attend her free masterclass or click the link in her Instagram bio at @thepassportabuser.