Finalist Archives - Page 2 of 5 - My Family Travels
Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
“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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
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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Student Article
Travelling With A Mental Illness

As a resident of Orlando, Florida and former resident of Queens, New York, I understand that every city has three sides. The tourist side, the residential side, and the bad side. My first time going to...

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Student Article
If Only You Knew

Have you ever known something, but never really seen it happen in real life? Like getting into a car accident, “oh I know that happens all the time to people, but I’ve never seen one up close, or been...

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Student Article
Heaven Under the Rain Clouds

Cold rains pelt the top of my flimsy black umbrella. My skin is covered in goosebumps despite the winter coat tied close around me. Bodies close in all around me, suffocating my personal space. The wind...

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Student Article
Hiking to Meet the Sunrise

I could see my breath under an inky sky when I left the inn at 3 am. Trail-lights illuminated the face of the 7,359 foot Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada), near Dalhousie, Sri Lanka. I was hiking to meet the sunrise. My...

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Student Article
How a Cartoon Chicken Changed My Life

It was a simple sign that dared the onlooker for the adventure of a lifetime-- bungee jumping. This was Australia after all, a land known for deadly spiders, boxing marsupials, and thrill-seeking adventure. I...

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Student Article
Broadening Horizons While Abroad

The first time I went out of the country I had just turned 17. It was also my mother's first time traveling abroad at age 49. It was spur of the moment really, the perfect amount of circumstances to birth...

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Student Article
To Grandmother’s House We Go

“Crossing the ocean inside a huge plane, to grandmother’s house we go…” My grandparents live in the Philippines, a sixteen-hour flight across the Pacific. Sure, we may navigate over more than...

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Student Article
Turkey: A Bold Sense of Warmth

The aroma of grilled kabobs and the ocean filled the entire city of Istanbul. It was a cool night, and all of the citizens of Turkey were getting ready; I was getting ready. We held the fluttering flag...

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Student Article
Iceland: Living in a Fairytale

As I stood above the thundering waters, I wished I could fly. My mom was at the railing next to me, staring into the mist as the rain splattered upon our heads. The waving green...

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Student Article
Breaking My Cultural Iceberg: India’s Diversity

You awake to the aroma of spices while putting on your school uniform, but it’s a new place. You say “????????!” to greet your host mother and sister, but it's a new language. The culture slowly...

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Student Article
Summer Ice Cream

A few years ago, my family had rented a house in Massachusetts with a pool to spend a week’s vacation. En route to our destination, we had gone to a local ice cream store, SoCo Creamery; the primary...

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Student Article
Through Dust and Debris: Exploring a Buried City

If you take one look at Instagram posts under the hashtag “#vacation”, chances are you’ll see photos of people surrounded by palm trees, tanning beds, and beachside pool service in some far off...

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Student Article
En el Corazón de la Furia Roja

The time is approximately 7:00 AM as I bid farewell to my grandmother inside of the...

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Student Article
There Are Rats All Over the World

Venice, Italy is like no other place in all the world. Venetian beauty cascades from atop the clanging San Marco bell tower all the way down into its teaming maze of canals. Walking the narrow,...

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Student Article
“I Think We Might Die” – Tempting Fate at ‘The Bowl’

It was 5:30 am and my mom was egregiously speeding through Arches National Park in Utah. The speed limit was 25 around long, looping curves and roads that wound between towering spires of red sandstone,...

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Student Article
The Concept of a Home

All around the world, people define the word “home” differently. No matter the language it is pronounced in, every person has their own deeper, more individualistic perspective on the concept of...

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Student Article
The Birth of the Lakeside Varsity Canoe Team

It was a misty June day when a hearty outdoorsman, a math teacher, and an eclectic mix of ten disheveled teenagers arrived at one of the best kept secrets of the Pacific Northwest. Only one of them...

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Student Article
A Misrepresented City and a Thousand Discoveries

Cambodia, Armenia, Bosnia, Sudan, Germany, and Rwanda. Each of these nations has one common thread,...

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Student Article
El Casado

“¿Puedo tener el casado?” The waitress from Tierra Mia smiled at me. “I speak English, honey. You’d like la comida típica?” I nodded my head up and down, careful not to further...

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Student Article
Journey of the Heart: My Time in Togo

Every summer, I go on a mission trip through Seacoast Church. It has been my personal tradition since my freshman year of high school that has taken me to Costa Rica, Thailand, and many destinations...

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Student Article
A Window Into Her Past

     Ever since I made my first venture outside of my home country, the United States, when I was 11, I have had a passionate desire to travel abroad. After Nicaragua, I was continually...

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Student Article
Siblings of the Sea: Ethereal Encounter on the Island of Lanai

I heard them first. The soloist belting out high pitched whistles, each one a burst...

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Student Article
Paris Lies Hidden Behind Florist Petals and Train Station Clocks

I arrived in Paris by train. Greeted by graffiti bricks and a sun strong enough to dry out my damp soul. I had spent the past week in cloudy London surrounded by grand cathedrals and gardens fit for...

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Student Article
The Whispering Path

     As I walk down the trail, I am in awe of the beauty around me. Tall oak and maple trees tower above me with sunlight streaming through the leaves touching the floor of the forest...

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Student Article
Searching for Sunrises

My eyes are barely open as I unzip the tent fly and stumble outside onto the wet, morning grass. I wonder why I can’t remember hearing the sound of rain the night before, then realize that it must...

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Student Article
Peruvian Cultural Immerison

Machu Picchu, llamas, and the Spanish language are things that come to mind when thinking of Peru. These ideas are important aspects of Peruvian culture, however, the country is more diverse and cultural...

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Student Article
In the Steps of History

The first three days went by so quickly, I hardly even remembered to text anyone back home or let my mom know how everything was going. My new Dutch friends were kind enough to answer many of the questions...

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Student Article
Becoming Friends with the Mayans

After the 45-minute bus ride from the port of Costa Maya, we finally arrived. My dad and I had had a front row seat for the tour guide’s lecture and were ready to discover the ancient civilization...

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Student Article
I Do

I am, by far, the least musically inclined person I know. Yet that doesn’t...

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Student Article
The Uganda Diary

As I plopped a lemonade-flavored, electrolyte hydrating tablet into my plastic water bottle, I could feel Sylvia’s big eyes watching my every move. With our rear-ends simultaneously bouncing up and...

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Student Article
48 Hours in London

Comely cornerside shops selling fish and chips, ancient yet steadfast Gothic architecture among sleek silver skyscrapers, the thick whirl of a gray-tinged Thames -...

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Student Article
A Little Too Much on Island Time: My Visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands

     The rays of the Caribbean sun first greeted my family as we stepped off the plane. I looked around at the mountains surrounding the airport’s runway, as I climbed down the shaky,...

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Student Article
Emerald Green by the Sparkling Sea

Ireland. A journey of a lifetime and a land of absolute astonishment for any traveler. Upon arriving via Lingus Airways at Shannon Airport, the hues of green confounded every spectator, and was a blinding...

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Student Article
5 Tips for Experiencing England

In June of 2017 I traveled to England, with a group of High-School students to explore British Literature and Culture. I traveled to Oxford, Stratford, Bath, Warwick, Canterbury, London, etcI.  was...

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Student Article
A Step That Took 250 Years

You could say this vacation trip actually started over 250 years ago. That’s when my eighth great grandfather (Granddad Matthew) came to America. I bet you are saying…WHAT? Well, his life story...

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Student Article
Loving The Unloved: I Can Make A Difference

Large innocent eyes stare at me solemnly, faded from hopelessness and caked with the grit which came from years of living in garbage. Underneath the grime, I notice...

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