St. Lucia Is Calling All Crafty Kids
St. Lucia is one of the most striking islands in the Caribbean and while beautiful beaches beckon, when it’s time to take a break from sun and sea, an artistic treasure chest should delight young visitors. Turquoise water, lush vegetation and those stunning twin Pitons rising up from the sea equal tropical Nirvana. With such a setting, no wonder St. Lucia is so popular with honeymooners. Many...
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Long Nights and Loggerheads
Allow me to set the scene for you. You’re riding in the back of a small vehicle, a cross between a four-wheeler and a pickup truck. Buckets and toolkits rattle beside you. The empty beach stretches in front of you, smooth and silent except for the sounds of the engine. It’s two in the morning, and you’re exhausted, but you won’t sleep. The stars twinkle above you, clearer and brighter than...
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Frugal New York City Vacation
Cheap, thrifty, economical and prudent are all accurate descriptions of my mom's spending habits. However, she prefers the word frugal. She clips coupons and shops the “manager’s special” section at the grocery store. She builds her wardrobe by going to 50% off Saturdays at Goodwill and takes advantage of free days at local attractions in Indianapolis. When mom announced we were going to NYC...
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My Guatemala
As soon as I heard that Eli’s family had an opening for their trip to Guatemala, I knew I had to go. They were taking teenagers to Antigua to learn Spanish and volunteer. It took some convincing, but they said yes! And, more importantly, my parents agreed to let me go. My high school Spanish would be put to the test in intensive language classes and volunteer work. The other teens opted to help with...
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da Vinci Day
As my foot landed on the elaborately tiled floor, a chilling atmosphere pricked my body. The air that embraced me was suffused with the history, the art, the surrealness of the images and work inside. In trips prior to this, San Diego’s ambience welcomed me as a sun stained, satin blanket would. Each summer vacation, it’s humid kiss faithfully rested on the cheek full of all my touristic desires,...
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The Treasures Concealed by Mesas of Arizona
“We’re here!” my sister shouts, as our van turns onto a dirt road. The faded sign says “Welcome to Immanuel Mission.” As our car bumps along the road, kicking up dirt into the hot Arizona air, I am in awe of an almost untouched America on this Indian Reservation. An expansive desert with cacti and tumbleweed, horses roaming free, and a mesa rises in this landscape while the sun sets in the...
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Fantasy’s Reality
“Here.” A neatly wrapped, red package fell into my hands. “What’s this?” I inquired. We had just arrived in New Zealand a couple hours before. This vacation was my “early Birthday gift.” I wasn’t expecting another present. “It's part of the trip.” my mom answered. Wasting no time, my fingernails dug into the paper. I tossed the covering away, revealing a thin book; my eyes...
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California Dreams
The sound of waves crashing paired with memories flashing behind my closed eyelids overwhelm me as I stand in front of the salty shore, and I wonder what actions in my life have led me to this one perfect moment of golden state. The trip I took with my family to the Los Angeles region is one to never be forgotten. I tried to remain open minded, but the movies and cartoons that depict Hollywood as...
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The Philippines: Living in a Childhood That Was Never Mine
To visit the country that my parents remember so vividly from their childhoods is difficult; living an Americanized life really detached me from identifying with Filipino culture. They grew up knowing the off-brand soda sold in cheap sandwich bags, the 5-mile walks through thick vegetation to get to school, the nights where they could only eat a steaming cup of rice after the fish spoiled — things...
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Reflections on Omaha Beach
Sand. As far as I could see, sand carpeted the expansive, harmless beach. Yet this wasn’t just any beach, and – seventy-one years before I arrived in 2015 – it was anything but harmless. My World War II pilgrimage brought me to northern France. Five beaches, code-named Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword, dotted a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast. That day I stood on the most famous one,...
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Costa Rica: Baby Sea Turtle Rescue Mission
A shrill call from our alarm interrupted the rainforest cicada’s song and I fumbled in the dark to turn it off. We were assigned the midnight shift. Mary and Kallie slid out of their bunks, so the other girls wouldn’t wake up, and we pulled on our dark census clothes. My shirt clung to my skin and the humid heat wrapped around me like a blanket, but I hardly noticed. We giggled at the excitement...
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Peace in Churning Waters
It hadn’t rained a single day - not in London, Paris, Florence, or Rome - but of course, on our last morning before flying home, on the day we would be spending in the sea, the Italian sky was filled with thick clouds emitting a soft drizzle. We descended the steep steps from the city to the coast, approaching the ferry, nearly running to keep up with our sure-footed tour guide. A small, precise...
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