Fulfilling Her Wish
I slowly drift out of a light sleep and glance out of the plane window as we descend into Managua. I notice the endless expanse of Lake Managua that could easily be mistaken as ocean. The volcanoes,...
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The Art of Living: An Effortless Community
I almost cried when we stepped into our room in the Ashram.HONORABLE MENTION 2015 FTF TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIPThe Spartan room held four cots, each laden with a sparse cotton...
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Trial and Error in the Guatemala Markets
During the summer before my freshman year in high school, I went on a mission trip with my mom, bother, and a few members of my church to Panajachel, Guatemala. We traveled down there to help an organization...
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The Old and the New
This past summer of 2015, I joined my Japanese class from my high school on a short exchange program in Japan, a beautiful country very different from my familiar America.SEMI-FINALIST 2015...
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Left Boston a Teenager; Came Back a Soldier
June 16th, 2015, the day my life changed forever. My mom tried to hide the tears in her eyes as she told me how proud I make her. It was the last time I would see my mom and sister...
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Superfamily
“Caution: Trail not maintained. Use not recommended.” I think that is an accurate representation of my family vacations. My mom has...
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Cruising through the Mediterranean
The imagination of a child can go to great extremes. I always imagined myself exploring castles and going out on adventures while riding on a unicorn, going through streets...
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Cliff Jumping and Conversations
Have you ever been on vacation abroad and become frustrated because you can’t find a Starbucks or a fast food joint? So have I. But through my travels with my family I have realized that sticking...
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An Unexpected Treasure
QUARTER-FINALIST 2015 FTF TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIPSpacious greenery surrounds me on all sides, dabbled with dots of civilization. We are distributing food atop a short but broad mountain...
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It’s a Long Way From the Cook Islands
Sprint Canoeing might not sound like the most engaging Olympic sport to spectate, but every event has some element that captivates the audience. For example, water polo is possibly the only sport played...
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Sometimes All It Takes Is Applesauce
I love Disney, and I was rather...
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Open Your Eyes and Let Yourself Fly
We arrived at the La Casa Del Arbol in Baños, Ecuador. I was overwhelmed with beauty as I gazed over the mountain...
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A Metropolis at Your Fingertips
I suppose it begins 8 hours into our first day there. Stumbling out onto the streets of New York City with only five hours of sleep, we certainly looked the part of clueless tourists—my camera was...
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Wildfire
There is a strange, painful beauty in watching the forests burn. This must be why so many others have pulled over to the side of the highway, entire families leaning against their dusty cars, staring...
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From Textbooks To Reality
I stand on the beach of Colleville –sur-Mer in lower Normandy, France feeling the chill rise from the ocean. The longer I stand upon the same sand that over 2000 men died fighting for, historic stories...
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Becoming a Global Citizen
In the summer of 2014, I had the opportunity to travel to Europe with People to People Student Ambassadors, a study abroad program created by President Eisenhower. With a group of 36 high school students...
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Discover Yourself: One Journey At A Time
A gust of warm spring air strikes the open windows of the 768-step tall cathedral. The soft breeze sweeps beneath...
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Arizona is a Long Ways Away
I have always wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. I imagine it would be beautiful to hike part of its 227-miles of length or to camp in the valley and stare up at the mile deep walls of rock. Instead,...
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Eau de Grasse
As a perfume fanatic and aspiring perfumer, I have wanted to visit Grasse ever since I learned it was the perfume capital of the world. I have had wild dreams featuring colorful meadows with rows and...
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In the World, Not Of the World
Breathing in was like breathing in a new culture, adventure, and life - taking it all in at once. Here I was, along with twenty-one adults and students I’ve known most of my life, experiencing this....
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My Home is the World
We rumbled down the worn dusty road passing families on mopeds, donkeys carrying bundles of grass and battered taxis. The silhouettes of rocky hills and desert dunes stood...
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A 6 Month Journey
At first I thought my parents were joking. Leaving school behind for six months to travel across...
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A Lesson Learned, A Perspective Changed
This past summer I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for a trip to Bolivia and Peru for 24 days. It was with the Youth Ambassadors program sponsored by the...
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Divided by Borders, United by Blood
Paved roads turn into gravel roads and gravel roads turn into dirt roads; the pickup truck leaves pavement behind, entering an abyss of pebbles and mud and ditches. I hold onto the metal handle bars...
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Musings on My Father While in Moscow
My Dad always loved Russian literature. Every once in a while he’d plop down one of his books on my bed for me to read, but I never would pick it up. The books’ slow,...
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Lies of Pond Painters
When I heaved myself onto the dock, I was tinted yellow. I was also slightly oily, with subtle odors of mud and sulfur. I grinned at my reflection and breathed deeply, inebriated by the scent of crisp...
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Peculiar Friends: The Tale of A Goat And His Boy
The heat of the Saharan sun beat down on our minivan full of sweaty, tired tourists. The convection oven with wheels intensified my hunger and my deep craving for salty, deep-fried Americanism:...
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On Wings Like Eagles
I must admit, when my mother first pitched the idea of zip lining through the trees in the beautiful forests of Alaska, I was nervous, my mind instantly filled with questions and concerns. What if I...
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In Stitches
Blood dripped from the patient’s thumb as an intern jabbed the crescent needle into the nail. The man felt no pain, as he’d received painkillers moments earlier. Clad...
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Assisi: St. Francis’ Fertile Fields
The golden glow of the pastoral Tuscan countryside had lulled us into a stupor from which our tour guide had so rudely awakened us. He announced that we were taking a stop outside Assisi for lunch, claiming...
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The Center of the World
When Zeus instructed two eagles to circumnavigate the earth, I doubt he envisioned that thousands of years later, a younge blonde girl with red plastic sunglasses would stand in awe marvelling at the...
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Nature’s Performance
The sun was beckoning for me to join him on his daily journey of rising and setting. Usually he goes on his task of bringing forth the day and making way for the night without igniting...
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Above the Clouds
I yawned for what felt like the twentieth time to clear my ears. The sign out my window said 5,000 feet. The road...
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The Flip on the Fourth
On mile 17.1 of the Colorado River is House Rock rapid, a class 4. This rapid has two holes, a small one left of center at the top, and a much larger one directly center at the bottom after a bend....
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Tumbleweeds and Little Seeds
When you think of any national park, you probably think about a place with bright green foliage and craggy waterfalls scattered over a few acres of land. In Joshua Tree National...
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Traveling Beyond the Barbed Wire
I would go insane if I lived in a place like this. The dirt, rocks, and sagebrush look the same mile after mile, in contrast with the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains looming in the background of the desolate...
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Embrace Your Culture to Fit Into This Maniacal Society
The minuscule island located just the beneath India is like a speck of dust to the human eye. This island is so small, no one...
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