Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Landis
Hi Krista, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story begins with a little girl that spent her childhood & youth dreaming of visiting and exploring far off lands, experiencing different cultures and always enjoyed meeting new people. As a child I had many opportunities to travel around the United States (starting with my first cross country trip at 9 months old). I spent lengths of time in over 38 states by the time I was 11. In my teen years I was able to broaden my travels with several trips across North America, several trips to multiple Canadian provinces, 3 weeks touring around London, Surrey and surrounding areas of England and spent 3 weeks exploring Mexico City and surrounding areas of Mexico as my senior/graduation trip. Early adulthood began with visiting family in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Iowa & Arizona, getting married a few months before my 21st birthday, having my first child when I was 22 and my 2nd at 27.
Being married at a young age catapulted me onto a different path than I had origionally envisioned for myself, mainly due to the discovery that the man I had married is a master manipulator whose mask began to slip during the first year of the marriage to reveal the monster underneath. It wasn’t until my daughter was born that his true colors were fully revealed and the addictions and lies he’d managed to hide/cover while we were dating made an abrupt full appearance. My 20’s were the hardest, most painful & difficult years of my life. While most people are able to enjoy their 20’s, spend time figuring out their interests & the direction they want their life to go, pursuing their goals and dreams and exploring areas of interest to them; mine were spent living in fear, being manipulated and lied to repeatedly, and losing hope that I’d ever achieve my dreams. Trapped into a life where I had no control, was belittled, demeaned and treated dispicably. Looking back, those years feel so foreign to me now, like it was someone elses life and not my own.
In the beginning there were small signs and some red flags but unfortunately it was never clear just how much of a monster he was until I had become a mother and his abusive tendencies and behaviors made a full appearance. As a new mother I was learning how to care for my children, fending off his abusive outbursts and doing everything I could to protect my children from him. After enduring over a decade in an abusive marriage I was finally able to flee from that life and escape with my children. After we were settled in our new life I realized I was a shell of who I had been prior to the marriage and it took a long time to find my way back to that carefree, adventure loving girl that I once was. The path to leaving with the children, healing from all the traumas we were subjected to by our abuser, recovering from the chaos and upheavel, learning how to start over from scratch with nothing but the clothes on our back, gaining & growing in confidence and re-learning the feeling of safety has been a long and arduous road over the past 13 years but it’s all been worth it to have our freedom from our abuser.
Through love and the support of family, friends and reconnection with a childhood friend I was able to heal, rediscover my sense of self, create new dreams, goals and find hope for the future again. I remarried in 2013 and it has been quite the journey and adventure ever since! For the past 11 & 1/2 years life has been 1000% different & my children and I are thriving and making the most out of life. We’ve definitely had our struggles and experienced many losses, heartache and turmoil over the years but we’ve learned to lean into the good times and find rays of hope & moments of joy in the midst of the bad ones. That has created a deep bond and connection as a family that I am truly grateful for.
Fast forward to February of 2024, with the encouragment and support of my husband I launched my travel website, stampsinmypassport.com to begin sharing more in depth information, inspiration and stories from my travels. It has been an exciting venture and I can’t wait for all that this new year has in store for us. 2025 will be an exciting year as we celebrate the graduation of our son and the ending of our time in our homeschooling journey (this is our 11th year!!). A month later we will celebrate our daughters wedding and in the fall we’ll embark on our first multi country international trip with our son to celebrate his graduation. There are so many exciting things happening and momentous occasions we are eagerly anticipating for this year and I can’t wait to share them with everyone (you can find the most up to date info on my socials and blog).
One of the biggest surprises is that over the next several months I will be working with a new travel partner to iron out plans for hosting my first group trip (dates are still to be determined)! I am so excited that this opportunity has presented itself and can’t wait to share all the details once they are finalized. So keep an eye out for information about that to be shared on the website/blog: Stampsinmypassport.com and my IG handle https://www.instagram.com/stampsinmypassport1/ for updates & info about how to register and join me for an epic adventure!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In my early adulthood I met a young man, we dated and married before my 21st birthday and I had my first child by the age of 23. The path I had thought I was on ended up being drastically different after the wedding and his facade began to slip and revealed his abusive/controlling and manipulative nature. Life was not how I envisioned it and my daughter and I lived in complete chaos. When my son was born I clung to the hope that things would smooth out and that the physical, psychological, verbal, emotional, spiritual and financial abuse would lessen and that there would be a light at the end of the overwhelmingly dark tunnel. However, things went from horrendous to much much worse. I found myself as a full time college student, single parenting (my ex-husband at the time chose to lean into his addictions of drugs and alcohol and was extremely abusive (whenever he was present) then he would disappear for weeks at a time leaving me to single parent all while wondering and worrying if he was dead in a ditch somewhere. The times he was around were chaotic and we lived on egg shells, doing everything in our power to avoid him because we never knew what would wake the beast and set him off), and managing every responsibility of running a household all on my own. It felt like the world was on my shoulders and that my dreams of traveling & exploring with my children were pipe dreams that would never come to fruition.
During a college course that I was taking at the time, a special guest speaker spoke about domestic violence and abuse. It was then that I discovered I had been living in a cycle of abuse with a narcissist. Through her presentation I finally heard several terms and explanations, gathered invaluable information about domestic abuse and life changing resources that were available to DV victims in my home state. Until that class I had never heard those terms or explanations before. I had no idea what gaslighting was and had never heard the description of a narcissist, which was a spot on description of my (ex)husband. Through the course I realized that the chaos and confusion that had been a part of our everyday life wasn’t “normal” & that I wasn’t “crazy” for questioning things. My (ex) husband gaslit me all the time, did everything in his power to convince me that I was making things up & making them “worse” than they actually were, that I was crazy and that no one would ever believe me. Prior to the class, my children and I were victims of domestic abuse and violence for years with no way to escape. After the class I was able to connect with the speaker and gather some much needed resources and options available for my children and I. It took everything I had to muster up the courage to leave, make a plan, arrangements and flee the only life my children and I knew. We fled our abuser in December of 2011 and spent the next year and a half living in hiding due to receiving multiple threats from our abuser.
This new life was unfamiliar, filled with moments I never thought we’d figure out and so many unanswered questions. But, we did it. We survived and thrived. After my divorce I worried I’d be alone forever and have to raise my children on my own, but God had other plans for us. When he brought the perfect man back into my life I was shocked at how natural it felt to share about the trauma and heartache my children and I had experienced and were processing through. He stepped back into my life when we needed support and unconditional love the most, helped repair 3 shattered hearts and filled them with joy and hope for the furture. In the summer of 2013 we were married and he stepped into his new role as husband and father seamlesly. He encouraged us through all the ups and downs, stood by us as we worked through our trauma and continued our healing journey. Our life together has been focused on building a safe and stable home for our children, creating wonderful memories together and supporting one another through all the ups and downs along this journey.
Over the course of the past 9 years my husband and I have been battling a court battle to maintain full custody of our children and protect them from their abuser (that most people are completely unaware of, which has made it a very lonely road at times..). It has been a long, difficult, trying and extremely painful silent battle and I am so grateful to say that we are finally near the end! Throughout the course of these battles in court life threw in a lot of curve balls and added in all sorts of chaos on top of already stressful situations, but through it all we remained strong as a family unit, created millions of memories and adventures along the way, looked to God to guide our steps & our decisions and ultimately we were able to keep our children safe and protected from further exposure to their abuser.
During the past 11 & 1/2 years my husband and I have focused on creating a happy & healthy home for our family, making memories together and sharing experiences as a family. Some of those adventures included traveling numerous times to multiple destinations around the USA, visiting every corner of Oregon (our home state) and nearly everywhere in between. In 2022 & 2023 I was able to branch out beyond the US and travel to visit 8 other countries (Brad joined me in visiting 4 of them). In 2024 I revisited British Columbia Canada, multiple areas of California, Washington, Nevada, Utah and Arizona and booked a future cruise to celebrate a special birthday in the fall of 2025. I am so excited to say that I am currently working with a travel partner to organize my first group trip that I’ll be hosting!
In February of 24′ my husband encouraged me to create my website Stampsinmypassport.com and to begin sharing about our travels, post my travel insights, itineraries and journal about the adventures I’ve had over the years. There have definitely been bumps along the way and there has been a learning curve but I am so excited that I took the leap, stepped out behind my comfort zone and embraced even more of what the world has to offer. Finding the time to write, create my itineraries and share about previous trips has taken a lot of balance and a learning curve. Life has been full of adentures, challenges, discoveries, learning and re-learning numerous things and quite a wild journey so far but I wouldn’t change a thing. The many obstacles and challenges in my past have molded me into who I am today and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead throughout the course of 2025 and beyond!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in helping plan amazing adventures, organizing unique experiences, bringing inspiration for travel to dreamy destinations, encouragement & guidance throughout the planning process, creating customized travel itineraries, providing insight and tips to carve out the perfect & affordable vacation, travel planning guides, pre-set/pre-arranged itineraries for purchase, as well as travel inspiration and guidance for anyone hoping to step out of their comfort zone and add some new adventures to their life.
I am currently working with a travel partner to plan a few upcoming group trips that I’ll be hosting! We’re still in the planning stage but aiming for Winter 25′ & a late Spring-Early Summer or Early Fall of 26′. Follow the blog & join the newsletter for the most current information. You’ll find updates about dates and destinations and other pertinent information and all the links for registration on my website at https://www.stampsinmypassport.com & on my IG account. I can’t wait to share some amazing travel adventures, create memories on these unique experiences and to meet some of you!
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was a pretty outgoing, outdoorsy kid. I loved spending time playing with neighborhood kids, riding bikes, going to the lake, camping with friends or family, roller skating at our local roller rink, getting together with a group of friends for casual gatherings and organizing/planning “theme” parties/dances/activities and I loved to be the one to help connect people with like-minded “new” friends. I was always the one to suggest a get together and plan a group activity or event. In high school I spent a lot of time participating in sports, being actively involved in church activities, going to concerts and meeting dozens of bands (my best friends mom worked for a local radio station while we were in high school & some of the perks were attending concerts almost every weekend for free, meeting the bands & getting to spend time with them backstage). Music has always been a large part of my life. I spent 11 years taking private music lessons, was a part of the choir in elementary & middle school and was very involved with helping my brothers band when they were first signed by a label.
During high school my hobbies included spending time outdoors, hiking, going to the lake with family/friends and going to the drive-in to see movies with friends, crafting, scrapbooking, taking photos, going to concerts, planning get togethers/parties and traveling. My family traveled quite often all throughout my childhood and I have fond memories of running through multiple theme parks, screaming and laughing as I rode dozens of roller coasters over and over and I can easily recall how excited and impressed I was while driving across the Rocky Mountains or while camping in The Great Smokey Mountains. Both are equally impressive and magnificent locations!
I was very involved in my school leadership class all 4 years of high school. I helped plan and organize every school event/dance/prom and most fundraisers. I was also a part of the school newspaper, a member of the FBLA, a member of the leadership team for my church high school youth group, participated in multiple sports (center forward for the varsity soccer team, the captain of my cheer squad for multiple years and I participated in track and cross country), held 2 jobs and traveled often with my youth group. The youth group I attended had several members who also loved to travel and I was very fortunate to travel to multiple countries and states during that time of my life. Several of those experiences deepened my love for travel, opened many opportunities and created possibilities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I got to see first hand just how vast and wide the world is, understand and appreciate the uniqueness of other cultures and share those memories with several of my closest friends. It was quite a special gift and one I will always treasure.
My favorite hobbies have always included reading, writing, organizing group/friends/family gatherings and events, hosting special “themed” gatherings or parties, scrapbooking, photography, hiking, travel & exploring new destinations. For a time roller skating, gymnastics/cheerleading, soccer, badmitten, long distance running and music were huge parts of my life and occupied my interests. The one thing that has always stood out in my mind and held one of the top place holders has been travel.
Traveling and exploring new destinations has always been like second nature to me. I love to visit new places, being outdoors, discovering unique places while out adventuring and learning the history of a place/location. All throughout my childhood and teen years we traveled often as a family and spent most of our summers/holidays/school breaks camping, hiking, and traveling. For as long as I can remember I’ve dreamt of traveling around the world, visiting unique destinations, enjoyed planning the itinerary for upcoming trips, events & activities, as well as small & large adventures and going to new places. Travel opens up so many exciting opportunities, experiences and chances to learn about ourselves and truly discover our dreams, hopes, goals and purpose. It’s the one constant that holds the power to connect us with others who share the same passions that are in remote areas of the world we wouldn’t have connected with otherwise.
Pricing:
- Travel Guide & Itinerary $14.99-19.99
- Travel Itineraries $14.99-$19.99
- Travel guide $4.99-9.99
- Combo pack $19.99
- Group Trip- Rates coming soon!!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stampsinmypassport.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stampsinmypassport1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stampsinmypassport1/
- Other: https://www.threads.net/@stampsinmypassport1
