My Soul Search in the Himalayan Mountain Range
The benevolent and unselfish nature of Mother Earth has given every human being something to cherish and worship. In India, the concept of displaying one’s devotion to a natural force or existence...
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Getting Dirty in Costa Rica
This past summer, my high school took a group of students to volunteer in Sitio de Mata, Costa Rica, where we stayed in the homes of the local people. There are two major things that I realized during...
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Destiny Across The Sea
It all started on an early morning on December 3rd, 2011, I woke up to the voice of a loud, anxious, yet excited mother yelling, “RISE AND SHINE TODAY IS THE DAY!” In reality, I...
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Best Friends: Around the World and Back
Upon graduating from 8th grade, I had the opportunity to travel with my best friend, a few classmates and teachers/chaperones to Europe. Through Educational Tours, we traveled to London, Paris and...
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3 teams, 3 stadiums, 3.3 million citizens, 1 city
"Ole Ole Ole, Cholo Simeone!" the crowd chanted loudly in unison as their home team ran up and down the pitch. It was a Sunday afternoon, no clouds in the sky and it was just the right...
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Visiting the True Americans
From July 7th-13th, I had the privilege of meeting the true Americans. My church youth group went on our annual trip, and this year our destination was the Pine Ridge Reservation...
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There’s Something Missing
This summer I had the opportunity to travel with a choir group to a remote and desolate part of Africa. I saw a land of wild beauty and grace with a touch of devastation that seemed...
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1st Trip To Europe
On a recent trip to Europe, I saw and experienced many wonderful aspects of European culture. My mother and I went on a Globus bus tour with 20 other Americans. We traveled from Italy up through Switzerland,...
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High Stakes at Stokes
Living a fast paced, new age life style is no easy task, and my family prides itself on our ability to keep up with the demands of everyday living. We own the carpool route like it’s nobody’s...
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Becoming A Family Far From Home
“She was right there.” The venerable old woman pointed a crooked finger toward the flowerbed in front of her. All four of us stared into the little bed that was brimming with golden chrysanthemums....
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The Creation of a Great Vacation
Day 1 – Tuesday In the beginning, there was no fun in Arkansas. The weather was hot and the heat was unbearable. So a mother...
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Wake Up
“Marie, wake up. Wake up.” Early morning calls to the San Gabriel Mountains on sunny summer days wasn’t exactly how I thought I’d be spending my summer, but now...
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Vietnam Under the Setting Sun
The gray roads slid by monotonously as the shuttle hurtled down the road to the airport. Twenty-two hours later, the green oceans, looming mountains, and clear skies of Saigon appeared outside of...
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My trip to Mars (Indio)
Last summer, my cousins decided to call us up and take us on a road trip. “ROAD TRIP!” we shouted as we began packing up our things. Our uncle told us that he had a time share at...
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An Atmosphere Change
As I walked out of the airport all I could feel was the overwhelming humidity in the air of New Orleans, Louisiana. I sighed in relief as we finally arrived at the cool, huge Hilton hotel. My church...
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Trip to Roaring Gujarat
In the summer of 2011, my parents, my sister and I took a trip to India to visit our family. It took about 16 hours of flying time to reach Mumbai, where we waited overnight for the morning...
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Big Things Come in Small Packages: The Island of Barbados
My trip to Barbados in the summer of 2011 was without a doubt, one of the best trips I have ever experienced in my life. Barbados, the birth country of super-star Rihanna, the well-known cricketer...
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Chicken, Rice, and Beans in the Dominican Republic
“Bienvenidos a la Republicana Dominican!”—Welcome to the Dominican Republic. I had been anticipating for over a year to hear those words and when I walked into the Puerto...
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Immersion in Nature – Yellowstone National Park!
As a teenager I vehemently protest any attempts whatsoever to get me out of bed before 11:00 A.M., I consider this a longstanding tradition that I have upheld since...
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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
Of all things, I am happiest to have inherited my father's 'travel gene'. His tales of traversing the European continent with his own father instilled in me a powerful wanderlust, an...
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With Travel It’s Always a Surprise: A Camping Adventure in the Smokey Mountains
The senior project is a period before graduation that is allotted to the seniors of Columbus Academy to design a project, complete it, and reflect on it. Sitting in the chemistry room, we listened...
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The Big Apple Break-Up
My oldest sister once told me that young women in Japan idealize France to such an extent that when they eventually visit, they are most disappointed since it could in no way live up to their expectations....
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The Wholeness of Purpose
It was early spring of 2012 and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, the lawns were lush, and the sun was warm. We had traveled to D.C. for WAMUNC, a four-day Model United Nations conference at...
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The Will Of The Weeds
The air in Guilin is scorching hot, and temperatures have climbed to over a hundred degrees. Although we’ve escaped from the city to the countryside, we can’t escape the heat. Even the...
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Holding the Hands of the Broken Hearted
The planning of my summer vacation was a usual routine, but last year, I was a changed live changing lives around me. During the summer I go to the beach daily, help plan the family vacation to the...
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Memorable Chicago
My passion for travel is so great that I am planning to find a career that incorporates traveling as one of the job requirements. Even as a child when my parents would take my sister and I to new...
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The Space In-Between: Foreign Friendship
It was a lonely June morning in our Royal Blue hotel room in Helsinki, Finland. The sound of strange words in an unknown language echoed in my head as I waited patiently for an elevator. The number...
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“These are the children of Lebanon: they are the lamps that cannot be snuffed by the wind.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’d like to welcome you onboard British Midland’s flight 8180 to Beirut …” In all my years on this...
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Windsurfing in Domaso
It was a sunny afternoon in Domaso, Lago di Como, also known as Lake Como, Italy. The wind blew through my sail, and we continued to cross towards the source of the wind. This...
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Return to Roots
Every summer I get the chance to travel to a new exotic place in the world. All these trips are exciting and memorable, but none of these trips compare to when I go back to my native country,...
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Dachau: An Experience That Humbled Me
A few years ago, my family and I traveled with a group from my school to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We went through a humbling experience when we visited Dachau, a concentration camp...
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Empowering Women One Hospital at a Time
The taxi bounced down the side street over large rocks and dips in the road. Through the window I could feel the hot humid African sun beating down… I...
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The Record Breaker
Each city is significant for a distinctive reason. Some are best known for sights thought only to exist in dreams, while others possess history far more realistic than classroom textbooks can describe....
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Personalities of the Dusty Trail
We just finished an exciting morning of horseback riding—one of the few things I wanted to be sure we did before our vacation time was up. We found a homey ranch called
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A Light in the Darkness
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations...” is found in Matthew 28:19 and is the key reason for all mission work. This Spring Break I was fortunate enough to go half way across...
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Power Outage Goes Wrong
This past July, my family and I took a white water rafting vacation in West Virginia. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon, when the sun was casting down its hottest rays. Our cabin was upgraded for...
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Not Your Typical Textbook Travel
I gingerly lower my worn brown boots into the gently rocking boat and duck my head beneath the bright yellow tin roof. I hear giggles and excited squeals as my group begins to slowly move away from...
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Farah 3: The Lost Visitor at the Kariamulliwaikkal beach
A trip to the beach usually means sharing a small area with a large crowd of people while basking in the warmth of the sun. There might be fishing boats, kayaks, or surfers enduring waves while trying...
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“On the Route of the 19 Bus”, on the Border to the Rest of the World
I’ve been lucky enough to travel extensively throughout Europe. However, the most formative of my trips was one where I didn’t learn a new language, I wasn’t confronted with unfamiliar cuisines,...
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Unimaginable Silence
Before Mauthausen, we were just a group of 48 rambunctious teenagers from New York on a trip half way around the world. After, we would never be the same again. I will never forget the day that I...
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Teen Travel to Jamaica
I had been anticipating this trip for years. This would be my first time going to Jamaica to see my family and riding on a plane. On our way to the airport my mother started to go hysterical she...
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Nature and the Modern Human’s Reality
Miles away from civilization, camping at Lane Lake in the high Sierra, the conveniences of modern day life were almost completely gone. As I finished brushing my teeth that cold morning a few days...
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Hemkunt Sahib: An Adventure
Hemkunt Sahib is a Sikh temple in the Himalayas, surrounded by seven snowy mountain peaks. This is said to be the place where the tenth Sikh “guru”, Gobind Singh Ji found God. Many people...
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A Dance With the Pope
Here I stood; in the midst of the excited energy I received from the crowd I was surrounded by. After ten long yearning years, my wish had been granted and it seemed that out of nowhere I stood in...
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My Awesome Summer Experience
During the summer of 2012, I embarked upon an amazing trip that I will truly never forget. My family and I took a breathtaking cruise to three beautifully enchanting islands that we really...
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English Rides
When I try and think of my favorite travel experience, my mind goes numb and I’m forced to ride through various memories that include cute accents, long car rides, short plane rides and eclectic...
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How to Make World Peace
Tavarone is a tiny village nestled in the breathtaking, tree covered mountains of Italy and a destination on the Classics of Europe trip from People to People. People to People is a student ambassador...
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