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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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“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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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I Do
I am, by far, the least musically inclined person I know. Yet that doesn’t...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Cleveland!
As we traveled across the sleepy Ohio landscape, no one imagined the history we were about to encounter. We made our way through the tree lined streets till we were greeted by Alan Canfora, a self proclaimed...
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Shoebox Campout – The Things A Person Will Do When They Are Hungry
There is an annual boy scout campout my troop does every year called Shoebox Campout. Of all the trips that our troops does in the year, this is one of the most challenging. For one weekend,...
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Lost in Iceland
One year ago I had the opportunity to journey to Iceland with my father in hopes of finding an adventure. Beside the island’s infamous volcanic eruptions and music from Bjork, Iceland is home to a...
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Small Ship Cruising with Families
I have been on three cruises: one with a traditional, large cruise line and two with small ship companies. Yes, big ships offer swimming pools, rock climbing walls, and teen lounges. But...
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Yaquina Head: A Journey Never to be Forgotten
The vast ocean lay in front of me, a massive blanket with no end in sight. Overhead, streaks of cirrus clouds graced the pale blue sky like the wings of an enormous Trumpeter Swan. Beneath my feet lay...
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Italy: The Path of the Gods
The narrow, serpentine road hugs the hillside, rocks and vegetation to the left, a sheer drop to the Mediterranean to the right. We’re taking the Sita...
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The Way That Water Washes Over
If I had to pick one thing, for-sure, that I love most about Thailand, it would be the rain. Where I'm from (San Francisco, I tell everyone I meet, because it's close-by anyways and far more well-known),...
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Climbing to New Caledonia
The American flag waved above me as I paraded across stage with forty other Americans all wearing red white and blue. We were surrounded by the reds, whites, greens and yellows of twenty-six other flags...
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A Final Night to ‘Never Forget’- The Journey Between Summer Camp and Auschwitz
My whole life revolved around summer camp. I would dream of climbing onto the bus and taking off for another summer spent lakeside with my best friends at Emma Kaufmann Camp. The school...
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Dance is the Universal Language
I stood center-stage in a colorful costume and stared out into the crowd eagerly filling the cobblestone square. Beyond, the Sudety mountains stood proudly before a glowing sunset. The music began,...
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Fifteen Cent Priceless Glossy 4×6’s
I can still see myself standing in the middle of the Budget parking lot, basking in the scent of rental cars, trying to imprint the moment in my memory for the rest of my...
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Uprooted in Gold
It was that night by the gas station when I felt it. A liquid, a lightness, kind of like the golden air over my shoulder as I sat on the curb. For a moment it was stretched out soft, carrying me with...
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A Different Bird
I had been counting the days, then the hours during the plane ride. Finally I am in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, my home, the place I had been longing for the past year. And yet, back in the city, I feel...
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The Secret Behind the Twigs
When I looked at the island on the horizon, there wasn’t anything pretty to look at. After all, it was very small, like a child had stuck a small group of leafy branches into the middle of a puddle....
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An Unfortunate Day on the River
Skin blistering heat. River water moving as slow as an act of Congress. Disappointment after every turn from hope that we would soon reach the end. Our family’s much anticipated white water rafting...
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Memories Are Amusing
I remembered serenity: crunchy, sweet and sour bowls of chaat in outside cafés, aimless walks down busy streets admiring lavish storefronts, gentle, white flowers, tumbling from trees above. Memories...
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How Paris Showed Me the Stars
All the sounds fade away as the doors close and suddenly I am apprehensive, unsure and excited all at once. The elevator is packed with people who have come from all over the world for this moment....
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My Adventure in India
Travelling is a mentality. Am I willing to start the adventure? Vulnerable enough to step out the door to learn more about others, and, by application, myself? Not a tourist, but someone...
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