Welcome to the Rock
“We drove 2,400 miles, 35 painstaking hours in the car to see a jail, much less one that’s abandoned?” I rest my arms on the boat railing and glanced over at my exhausted family. After a long journey...
Read More 2 min read
Finding Home
After an eighteen-hour flight from Los Angeles, I finally arrived in New Delhi. It had been five years since I last visited and I don’t remember much from my past experiences, but I do remember my unwillingness...
Read More 3 min read
Making Memories in the Mediterranean
My family and I eagerly dipped our toes into the golden sand of Costa Brava and admired the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea after over an hour of scenic driving through the suburbs in Spain. The crisp...
Read More 2 min read
Vancouver! On a Budget!
"Little one! Little one! Would you like a fresh baked cookie Little one?" My 4 foot 6, 11-year-old sister (who HATES being called short) whipped her head around in anger only to see a friendly, elderly...
Read More 2 min read
Land of the Royal Bengal Tiger
“Who are you?” The question that appeared on my last summer English assignment kept lingering on in my head as I flew back to my home country, Bangladesh, for the first time since I came to America....
Read More 2 min read
Into the Great Wide Ocean
My family seems to have an aversion to flying unless absolutely necessary, so we drive everywhere. Fifteen hours to Texas to visit friends. Ten hours to Kansas to visit grandparents. And most importantly...
Read More 2 min read
Ice Cream, Donkeys, and Dingle
It was July 7, 2015 and we were four days into our family vacation to Ireland. I was standing on a grassy hilltop, overlooking this gorgeous, shallow, green valley. Small clovers and blades of grass twitched...
Read More 3 min read
Something Bigger
We handed the key to Ms. Lyza, and she was elated with gratitude. Her broad smile is one that will stick with me for my entire life. During April vacation last year, I went on a school service trip to...
Read More 3 min read
Lady Liberty: Larger than Life
Forty-five kids, two chaperones, one bus; all headed to the world renowned monument known as the Statue of Liberty. This already sounds like a recipe for disaster, considering the usual, troublesome antics...
Read More 2 min read
Puerto Rico: A Rich and Vibrant Hub
In 2017, Hurricane Irma and Maria churned and strengthened along their catastrophic paths across the Carribean, showing no mercy as they tore apart communities, homes, and families-- including those in...
Read More 3 min read
