Tales From a Mountain Side
After nine hours, I finally stepped off the small, confined plane into the cool Alaska breeze. Gorgeous mountains, peaks covered with snow surrounded me. The picture perfect scenery, as if painted...
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Service Trip in Mississippi
From July 15 to July 21, 2012 I, along with other students from Saint Ignatius went to Mississippi for a service trip. We stayed in Walls, Mississippi, which is the poorest County in the United States....
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The True Meaning of Wealth
Going to Nicaragua this past Febraury was a life-changing experience. I went with my temple, Temple Shaaray Tefila, and Bedford Presbyterian Church, on a trip sponsored by Bridges to Community. The...
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Key to Nature’s Door
I’ve never really been a nature walker, but after travelling to New York I have recognized the beauty and wonder of nature in its simplest and grandest forms. With my family, I visited...
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Just Take the Tube!
I had never been in England before. Rarely had I ever travelled without my parents in the past either. Yet both these situations somehow came together in my trip to London this summer with my brother. ...
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Japan: Connecting to My Heritage and Studies
Authors are awe-inspiring. They miraculously create vivid images and emotions which depict fierce battles, heartbreaking romance, historical societies, scientific discoveries, suspenseful adventures,...
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Wedding on the Westcoast
Having our mother work for the airlines for most of our childhood has provided us with great experiences that my sisters and I consider ourselves very lucky to have had. Unlike many of the people in our...
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“You Always Fall in Love with the First–My Bleeding Purple Heart”
I have been to Chicago many times throughout my life and I didn’t think this trip would be different. It was....
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Journey Back in Time
I felt a tapping on my shoulder, as I opened my eyes, half awake, I saw my Grandmother pointing wildly out the taxi window. I was filled with excitement as my eyes shot open and I stared outside....
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An oasis of serenity..11 miles away from a volcano
I felt my heart racing, my lungs begging for more oxygen, my feet hurting with every step and my brain screaming at me “Are we close? What were you thinking, bringing yourself all the way...
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Defining Alaska
Alaska…snow, Eskimos, and igloos, right? Well, not exactly. When I first touched ground in Fairbanks, Alaska, I was completely shocked. “This isn’t the Alaska that I see in movies and...
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Going West
The summer of 2012, my aunt, uncle and cousin Sasha invited me on a three-week trip to Colorado and Utah. I was there partially to keep my cousin company on while camping and touring state and national...
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The Colors of Joy
Everything’s brown. That was the first thought which entered my mind when I stepped off the train and looked at my Indian hometown Malda. I had been excited for my cousin’s wedding...
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Adventuring To Key West & Mexico
My trip began at the Port Of Miami where my petite mother Sharon bustled along trying to make sure everything is in order. My inaudible sister Brigette was ears deep in her head phones listening...
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A Yellowstone Dream Come True
Last summer, when I went on a family trip, was the BEST summer of my entire life. The memory of that special vacation is forever imprinted into my memory… and I smile to myself as I sweetly...
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Haiti=love=LIFE CHANGE
Chaos had flooded the already poor, small island country of Haiti, and they needed (as they do now) America’s help. At age 15, I went to Haiti naïve and ready to do “a good deed”...
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Garmisch: Place of Adventures
Being a military child, I get the opportunity to travel quite a bit. I have visited all over the world, lived in exciting places, and taken many vacations to places I never thought I would. Out of all...
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All Roads lead to Rome
March of 2012 My school took a group of students and parents on a trip to Italy where ancient history loomed. We all signed up on EF...
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EF Tours provided more than just an Italian tour for my family and I
Through the international travel foundation, EF Tours, I visited Italy this past summer for 12 days with my family and a group of over 30 from places such as North Carolina, New Jersey, and Michigan. ...
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“Dees mahn, bullsheet.”
Israeli philosopher Martin Buber once said, “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” I have never entertained that notion until my...
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???? ? ?????? Children of the World: A Thai Kid Adventure
I was exhausted - mentally and physically worn out. I’d spent the entire morning taking a load off of the Thai teachers at a village school: entertaining and teaching some...
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Texas, My Own Personal Paradise
On July 5th I had the pleasure of waking up at 3:00am to get to a 5:15am flight. And since it was the 4th of July the night before you can imagine how well that went. When me, my...
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Big City, Big Dreams
For most kids in my school, spring break means a warm, sunny week at the beach, but my sophomore year, it...
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East Meets West
When I first arrived, I was cranky, exhausted, and annoyed. All I wanted to do was sprawl on a bed and sleep. Jet lag was not working well with me. On top of that, it took us forever to try and find...
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The Storm’s Second Light
The imminently haunting clouds of an incoming storm juxtaposed with the crystalline waters of Lake Michigan caused me an internal connection to my surroundings. In this divine environment composed...
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Grazie Scotland
After eight hours of sitting in a cramped space we arrived in London. As we crawled through security, I thought of Europe’s promises: meeting my family from different parts of the world, exploring...
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Finding myself in Deutschland
Last year I was given the opportunity to travel to somewhere I had always wanted to go, Germany. My family is German and my last name, Grosskopf, means big head, so I was always curious about exploring...
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Lessons from the Mountains
You probably think I'm nuts saying the mountains have no word for ocean, but if you live here you begin to believe they know everything. They...
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Spain at Seventeen: España 2012
How can a girl describe the wonder of traveling the world? What is it that makes an amazing trip? The food? The people? The landscape? In my recent travel to the magnificent and majestic country...
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The World of Hong Kong
My family and I moved to Hong Kong in 2010. We lived there for two years, up until this June (2012). Living there showed us how beautiful the world is. I have included a few things...
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Snorkeling at Molokini Crater
The sun shimmered through the crystal waters of Molokini Crater. I floated on my back in peaceful bliss. My dad, brother...
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58,080 Feet
I stepped onto the cross-county team’s coach bus, and pangs of nervousness tumbled around in my belly. Our bus, equipped with fuzzy-screened DVD players, chugged up...
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Bear With Me: A Brief Blog about a Brief Adventure
Living in arguably one of the most popular cities in Southern California, one might think that Palm Springs natives would jump at every single opportunity to soak up the sun during the summer.
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The Adventure Begins Here
When people think of Mexico violence and poverty may come to mind. When I think of Mexico adventure and culture pop into my head. My recent trip there, I went with a friend of mine....
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Same World, Different Eyes
It had been approximately 7 years since the last time I'd been there. I'd been just seven years old and it had been about mid-July, right before or after my birthday. Now it was October....
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Family Roots in Missouri
An obscure sky hung clouds in the distance out the windshield of our car…a good Midwestern thunderstorm. The lightning flickered and rain came in a downpour like the dumping of old feed buckets....
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Hanging by a Thread
They say it gets easier after the first step. That the hardest part is leaning back, putting all of your trust in and weight on the cord...
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Desert Dreams: A Tale of Santa Fe Magic
When my parents first revealed to me that our family would be spending most of our winter vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I was admittedly less than pleased. A great deal of pre-conceived...
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Road Trip on the North Shore
Nearly every year that my family has lived in Minnesota, we have visited the North Shore of Lake Superior. Each time we drive...
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White Water Rafting Gone Wrong
This past summer my extended family and I took a trip to the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area. It was expected to be...
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La Vita e Bella
Travelling with your family is not always easy especially when you consist of two adults and three grown teenagers who barely squeeze into the back seat of a car. Being the youngest, I always got...
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Hello Serengeti, I’m Here At Last: Learning to Look Beyond Life in Kenya
As a child, I entertained a foolish fantasy of visiting Africa. I believed it to be, most importantly, the land where my favorite silver screen character,...
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Seoulful
The summer after my freshman year, I traveled to Seoul, South Korea, home to many, but not to me, not anymore. Seventeen years ago I had been adopted from Seoul, and brought to America, into the...
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A mother’s wish
“ Hazme un favor y vaya al Alto de Tabor.” I foolishly accepted the task before even knowing what I was getting into. However, it was my mother’s wish, and whatever...
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The Road to Oceanside…and Contention
While planning our family's summer trip, my mom and I decided that it would be fun to do something new and exciting. Instead of doing our standard "fly to San Diego and drive to Oceanside...
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How to be a Teenage Fashionista in Paris
The theme of my trip to Paris was simple: convince all the natives that I belong. Seeing as the trip was for my 16th birthday, and my insufferably touristy mother was accompanying me,...
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The Road to Change
Spring break of 2012, my life was changed. Instead of going on a vacation to a swanky resort I spent my time in the Dominican Republic with Global Leadership Adventures doing volunteer work. Our group...
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Helping Hands in New Orleans
During the summer of 2009, just before...
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