New Delhi, India.
In 2013, Vestavia’s Dale and Kellie McIntyre along with daughters Delaney (14) and Riley (12), uprooted their comfortable and content lives for a five-month do-it-yourself
journey around the world.
Friends and family questioned their reasoning. Others wondered about the wisdom of withdrawing
their daughters from Liberty Park Middle School.
And yet Dale and Kellie ascribed to the Mark Twain philosophy of “don’t let school get in the way of your education.” So, off they went.
As they traveled across Europe, Asia and Oceania, keeping journals along the way, important life lessons were learned and relearned. Some were humiliating—like surviving public nudity; some were valuable—like learning to outsmart scam
artists; others were terrifying—like being detained in a communist country. But this journey helped stitch the fabric of their lives in
interesting and unique ways.
During the Covid lockdown, Kellie aggregated
her recorded memories along with her
daughters’ blogs and personal journals into
a book called The Passport Project: Two Sisters Ditch Middle School for a Life-Changing Journey Around the World. The memoir is equal parts adventure, education and encouragement offering a literal and figurative map for other families who want to seek out meaning and adventure through travel.
Their journey begins and ends in Vestavia Hills, but it has been named to the California, Indiana and Mississippi reading lists in 2024 and sold copies on five continents.
BOOK EXCERPT
The Passport Project
Chapter 13 Land of Smiles (Thailand)
November 13-28
Pull a thread here and you’ll find
it’s attached to the rest of the world
—Nadeem Aslam, The Wasted vigil
The Cobra Show
Delaney, 14
“Whose bright idea was this?” Dad shakes his head.
“Mom’s,” Ri and I say at the same time. “Jinx! One-two-three.”
“C’mon, y’all. You can’t go to Thailand and not see a king
cobra show.”
“I could,” I say. Dad and Ri agree.
We enter the cobra show arena. On the floor is a ring that looks like a giant baby pool. The edge stands about a foot high. Four rows of wooden bleachers curve around the snake stage.
We climb to the third row. We are the only people here, so we could sit in the front row. But what moron would sit four feet away from a 15-foot-long snake?
The king cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world. They can grow up to 18 feet long. One bite, and you’re dead within 30 minutes. Even an elephant can die within three hours. And here we are, sitting less than 10 feet from the circle-of-stupidity.
“Welcome to the Krabi King Cobra Show!” a man yells into his microphone—like there’s an audience of 400 instead of four. “Introducing the bravest cobra charmer in Thailand…Paithoon.”
Paithoon enters the ring, where a couple of large boxes already sit. He opens box-number-one. Using a long hook, he pulls a cobra out. Then another. And another. Three six-foot cobras slither around him. Paithoon gets down on his knees and elbows. He clasps his hands in front of his face like he is praying. Which is exactly what I’d be doing if I were in his flip-flops. The three cobras form a semicircle around him. They’re in cobra pose with their necks standing tall and hoods flared. The hairs prickle on the back of my neck, and my arms breakout in goosebumps, even though it’s 90 degrees out.
Paithoon grabs one. He holds the serpent in one hand with his arm outstretched. The cobra stiffens into a six-foot rod. I want to die. After showing us a few more cobra tricks, Paithoon puts the snakes back into their box. Hallelujah. It’s over.
“Let’s G-O.” I stand, rubbing the goosebumps off my arms.
“It’s not over.” Mom nods toward the ring.
Paithoon opens box-number-two and pulls out a monster-sized king cobra. This snake—that’s longer than an SUV—slithers around the ring. Ri and I move up to the fourth row. We sit
glued together like Siamese twins.
I picture the snake turning into a king-cobra-rocket and launching at us. The cobra is longer than the distance between the ring and the fourth row.
I. Hate. This.
My heart races. Paithoon teases the cobra like he wants it to strike him. He kneels and stares in its eyes. The cobra flares its hood, bobbing his head back and forth like a boxer. Paithoon moves closer and blows in his face. The snake strikes! Paithoon ducks to the right just in time. Paithoon continues to harass
the snake by tapping on its head or pointing his finger right
in its face. And just as the cobra strikes, Paithoon moves out
of the way.
I’m frozen in the tropics when Paithoon puckers his lips and moves in for a kiss. He is going to die! And then we’re all gonna die! Will my school yearbook include a page dedicated to my
tragic death-by-king-cobra on a stupid family trip? All the kids
in my school will be so glad they have normal families.
The announcer yells into his microphone, “SAVE YOUR LIPS, MAN. SAVE YOUR FACE!” over and over.
Paithoon slowly goes in for the smooch. Somehow, he plants
a kiss on the cobra’s head without getting a fang in the face.
The torture is over.
“Y’all need to give him a good tip. He deserves it,” I tell my parents.
“No doubt,” they agree.
Dad two-hands Paithoon a wad of baht, and we leave. Alive.
No yearbook dedication page necessary.
Where are the McIntyres now?
While Delaney and Riley love traveling the world, they found their true loves in Vestavia. Riley is engaged to marry Vestavian, Cole McPheeters, in August. Delaney married William Tapscott, also from Vestavia, in 2022. Delaney is a labor and delivery nurse at Brookwood Hospital, and she and her husband are expecting their first child in May. Dale continues to sell real estate in the OTM market, and Kellie speaks to schools and organizations on the intersection of travel and cultural intelligence.
To buy The Passport Project or for more travel inspiration,
visit 4wornpassports.com.
