This was published by the Santa Monica Patch on September 21, 2011.
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Globe-trotters often take their passport for granted, thinking of it merely as a packet of papers they can't forget when traveling outside the U.S.
But Tracey Friley, founder of the Passport Party Project, has a different view. She sees the passport as a key to gaining access to the world, broadening one's cultural horizons and, for young girls in particular, even building self-confidence.
Friley, a San Francisco-based wanderlust, also blogs at OneBrownGirl.com and is executive director of OBG Adventure Camps for girls.
"Through my camp program, I found that 80 percent of girls don't have passports, which are required to travel in my program," she told Santa Monica Patch. "I looked into statistics and found that only 30 percent of Americans have a passport."
To that end, she has launched the Passport Party Project, a multi-faceted adventure through which girls ages 11 to 16 can learn about and acquire the critical document.
Read more here.
