Xaymaca: The Land of Wood and Water
In the middle of the Caribbean lies a beautiful island submerged by an alpine mountainous terrain and encompassed by the turquoise crystal clear waters of the Caribbean sea. Its unprecedented beauty and...
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Finding Perspective in Ireland
I have lived in Southern California for my entire life. Although I can’t deny the blessing that is our year-long perfect weather, the crammed freeways, dry summers, and busy lifestyle can make even the...
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The Great Barrier Reef: A Whole Other World
As we stepped on the boat that would take us to the Great Barrier Reef, I was buzzing with excitement. My family and I had just arrived in Queensland, Australia and a new adventure awaited us. The sun...
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A Visit to Norway: Fjords and More!
I had heard from those who had visited Norway that its fjords were one of the most beautiful natural formations on the planet. So when my family and I paid a brief visit to Norway as part of a two-week...
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Europe Without Baggage
Vacation - it is a time when the worries of life are temporarily forgotten as reality is placed “on hold” for a brief period of mental and emotional rejuvenation. From May 27 to June 5 of 2018, I took...
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Home Is Where the Statue Is
This is Vietnam at 6:00 in the morning. I peer out from the tenth story balcony of my hotel, watching her body wake up. Here, somewhere in these winding streets, is a small hospital. This is where my story...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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....
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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,...
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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.”...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Mortality In Paradise
During the summer of 2014, my family took a trip to Costa Rica. We explored San Jose, then traveled to Tortuguero where we visited the national park and took a canoe tour down the river. Not long into...
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Hidden Gems of the Sequoia National Forest
It was the last day of school and French class had been reduced to listing words to describe summer vacation. People started dishing out words like “fun” and “beach”, before it came to my turn...
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One Step Forward
A tightly-sealed door never failed to guard my hesitant heart from outside adventures. But on that otherwise gloomy day, a tiny spark escaped. The carefully engineered clicks rang throughout my ears, the...
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The Great Adventure of Around the Block
One never knows when they step outside what adventures they might run into. Exciting adventures like someone watering their lawn or a person walking their dog with headphones glued to their ears. I stepped...
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Go Play In The Snow!
The wind tugged playfully at my hair and the cold nipped at my redding cheeks. I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck and ran down the airplane stairs onto the tarmac. I had never felt more invigorated....
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The Limitless Beauty of Punta Cana – Expanding My Horizons From Sky to Sea
To celebrate our highly anticipated 2018 high school graduation, my best friend Eden and I embarked on a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. After hours of paperwork, four declined passport photos,...
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Santiago’s Tears Of Joy
Pilgrims drop to their knees, tears of joy hit the ancient stone, Scottish music plays, church bells ring, and the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela towers above the square. El Camino de Santiago,...
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A Winding Road
As I climbed up the stairs, I underestimated the significance of the next few steps I was taking. I struggled to hoist my luggage up the winding staircase and finally joined the group on the upper level...
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The Camp Colorado Experience
The San Gabriel Mountains - the Condor Mountains - slid away, and my sister Justina and I flew over a dust-red land home to the rugged canyons symbolic of the West; on our way to Camp Colorado II, a weeklong...
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Mississippian Ripples
The sun beats down on my exposed arms and legs as I rest my kayak paddle across my lap. The lake water drips merrily off either end. I gaze around me, grateful for the sun, the water, the air, my family....
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Savor(y) Switzerland
As my friends waved goodbye and left me behind for the third time this trip, a wave of disappointment crashed over me. My altitude sickness and inability to climb beyond base camp ensured yet another lonely...
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E’s Favorite Place
My mother has always had a slightly unhealthy obsession with estate sales, and because of this I have learned that there are many cheaply priced gems to be found within the midst of old towels and used...
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The City / The Girl That Never Sleeps
“Connor, it’s rising! It’s rising, I can see it!” The sun, a lioness waking from her nap, stretched and woke at approximately 5:30am in the Upper West side of Manhattan, late June. I had not...
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6 European Cities, 3 Weeks, 2 Travelers
“I’m labeling the bus from Antwerp to Luxembourg! I can’t look at the hostel reservations right now!” I frantically said to my mom. We were in the kitchen, papers strewn across the table, reviewing...
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Green Gardens, Stone Walls, and Falconry Amidst the Rain
Our tour guide Nigel ushered us out of the van with a wide grin on his face and led the way towards the castle. It was overcast, the grey of the sky mirroring the grey stone of Dunrobin’s walls. My mom...
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Little Girl In A Big City
If I close my eyes, I can see it now. Somewhere in the city, there’s an L-train rumbling against a metal track, the clamor of voices inside is loud, but never overcoming the sound. Somewhere in the...
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Ngorongoro Crater: The Eye Opener
Our hardy, four-wheel drive Jeep jostled my sister and I around as we headed toward Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania. We had just stopped by at Mr. Macho’s, a quaint, little shop on the side of...
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Reminiscence at the Crater of Volcano
Every summer, my family and I would go on a trip to different parts of the country. One of the best trips I have ever had was our trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park. We had driven 8200 feet high,...
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A Red Thread of Me Leads to Switzerland
In the summer of 2017, I went on a three-piece vacation through part of Europe for ten days. The trip guide, a teacher of mine, three other girls, and I through Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Although...
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Frolicking through the Festival Fringe
The clock was ticking as we sprinted towards the open doors of the Tube. With the promise of a West End show in less than 2 hours, and a suspecting group to come back to, we knew we had to book it. “Come...
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“Panama, Panama, Panama, Panama” – Van Halen
This summer I traveled out of the United States for the first time; I got to journey to and explore Panama. I am grateful for this experience, which took me out of my head and bubble. When I first landed...
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A Fear of Thunderstorms and Falling in Love With a City
It is seven thirty at night in Washington D.C., and my family is rushing through a deluge, shoving through the flooded streets of the city and flinching each time the sky lights on fire, the thunder soon...
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A Picture Into the Past
~Memory~ We were at my grandma's house in the little outside corridor connecting the house to the rest of the world. The only thing separating the two spheres was a tall black gate. (Every Lagos house...
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Puerto Rico: La Isla del Encanta
Crash! A slamming door startles me from sleep. After frantically looking around to see the time, I lay down next to my sister, burrowing closer to ward off the frigid air pouring from the AC. The droning...
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Beholding Beauty
I had heard stories about the Grand Canyon before, as have most people. We hear how it is so enormous that you can hardly even believe it is real. There are tales of its immeasurable size and horrors of...
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Under Montebello’s Trees
For my brother and I to travel to South Africa without our parents required a lot of effort from them. Since I still counted as a minor when I sat out a flight across the globe, my parents had to sign...
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C’est la Vie: Midnight in Paris
A delayed flight. A connecting train. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes to get to the train station, pass it on!” The message spirals through the line of rushing teens who walk aimlessly down shadowy...
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Out of the Woods
Traveling with family is never without complications. My little brother and I experienced this firsthand this summer, on a vacation to Colorado. On a bright and sunny day, my family and I set off back...
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Breathtaking Alaskan Views
My eyes darted to and fro as I desperately tried to imprint the image before me into my brain. This wasn’t necessary. Little did I know that the view--and the day--would be one I could never forget. It...
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Creature of the Coast
The car had seemed comfortable, roomy even, when we’d first hopped in at the airport. Now, my legs were cramping, the air was stale, and my younger sister crowded me in the back seat. My mother excitedly...
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Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
My summer vacation of 2017 contained several interesting adventures, none of which could parallel the wilderness camp. Camp Tirthan is a riverside camp located in a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Great...
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An American Girl in a Japanese Onsen: Adventures in Nudity, Self-Confidence, and Public Bathing
Walking into the Aso Yamanami Golf Resort where my class would be spending the night, I was completely oblivious to the fact that later that evening the People-Who’ve-Seen-Me-Naked club would be expanding...
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