Death on the Bridge of Life
Calm waters shift slowly on one side. Driven, velocious cars journey on the other. A living form of juxtaposition. I feel the shadows of those who marched on the Edmund Pettus Bridge beside me. Heads up,...
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Hope in the Midst of Despair
The building looked innocent enough from the street. With its greying stone, plain rectangular structure, and uniform windows, it looked like simply another old office building that you could walk past,...
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Of Heat and Humanity
The heat slipped into Los Angeles, catching us unaware. Was that the inkling of a coming heat wave, or just a warm breeze? Were those clouds in the distance? Surely, the morning fog meant a mild day? By...
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Pilatus: The Dragon’s Mountain
LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND. 1421. It’s summer, when the snows have finally receded back into the fang-like peaks of Mount Pilatus. The small lakeside village rests peacefully...
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The Universal Language: Ice Cream Cones and Crayola Crayons
My eyes grew sleepy as winding hills consumed my view, sloping gently into the background with no sign of relapse. I watched as sunflowers danced in the wind and wildflowers mingled haphazardly; the colors...
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A Stroll in Berlin
If I’m honest about it, I was never grabbed by books about history when I was younger. I found it hard to connect personally...
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Sunrise Serenade — Hiking Navaho Peak, Washington
Some ideas are the product of meticulous planning and deliberate thinking, while others just seem to happen. When three friends and I decided to climb a 7,000 foot mountain at 3:00 AM to herald the sunrise...
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My Soul for Santa Maria: Life Lessons Learned from a Volcano
4:00 a.m. is too early to be climbing volcanoes. I’m still dreaming as I wake up, crawling out of bed and into shorts, fumbling with shoelaces and hair ties. Everyone in in our little town of Xela is...
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Where Humans and Wildlife Collide
The miniature howler monkey clung to its mother’s back as the older monkey undulated through the branches of the twisted tree. With one movement, the mother pushed off the bowing bough and transferred...
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A Thousand Ones
The silence is so strong it hurts my ears. It’s as if the people around me are trying not to wake the souls that lie below our feet. The water around us seems shadowy, but I know what is there. It’s...
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The Blossoming of Compassion
"Anything will help. God bless you." "Mother of 4." "Homeless. In Need." Everyday as I drive to school I pass signs resembling these. I sit nervously tapping my foot on the gas pedal trying to...
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Navigating the Dark in the City of Light
Travel is the insane desire to become lost. Lost in a culture, a language, lost in ourselves. And when I decided to study abroad for a year, I was completely unaware of how my world would change, of how...
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Storming Castles and Hunting Dwarves in Poland
As a kid with an incredibly active imagination, I loved acting out the stories that my Mom read to me or what I saw in movies. I taped flashlights to my arms to shoot lasers like Buzz Lightyear, and built...
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A Grand Design
No one had to tell me to feel the way I did. I felt it all on my own. With depths as bottomless as the ocean, and craters so vast they seemed to spread across the world forever, the view was like nothing...
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Rediscovering My Roots
400 years of my family’s heritage lies rooted south of the American border, in Guadalajara, a blossoming city located in the heart of Mexico. An economic recession drove my immediate family out of the...
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Too Close for Comfort
As I looked out the car window, we passed a short concrete hut-like building. And then we passed another, and in the next village, another one. I asked my mom what these strange buildings were. I had never...
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Seoul-searching
Over the past few years, I've chastised my friend for being obsessed with Korean culture without understanding what Korean culture really is. I was angry because I thought her interaction with Korea, one...
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China’s Treasure
I’m here. Ancient stones are only steps away from my touch. I see a high point in the glorious distance and make it my goal to at least make it there. I take my first step and just admire the wall itself....
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Joy Amidst Devastation
If someone had asked me a year ago, "Where will you find utter devastation alongside genuine joy?" I'd have tapped out and asked for a new riddle. And I know for a fact that the last place that would've...
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Finding My Sister
This was a trip three years in the making. From the moment we stepped off the plane, the thick, balmy air hit me like a wall of tropical bricks, inducing the hazy, dreamlike feeling that dominated the...
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Forest, Farm, and Southern Charm: Why Hayden, Alabama Is the Best Southern Travel Destination You’ve Never Heard Of
Never heard of Hayden, Alabama? No surprises there. According to the 2010 U.S. census, Hayden had a population of 444 and no stoplights. Some of its attractions include two lovely...
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Rural Japan – A Vacation for Those in Need of More
Owase is a serene fishing town nestled comfortably in southern Mie prefecture on Japan’s eastern coast, surrounded by towering mountains and twisting rivers. Although Owase is the rainiest place in all...
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Wild Wonders of the Himalayas
As you step out of the train, you quickly notice the crisper, cooler air of the Indian town of Kathgodam compared to that of populated cities like Delhi. The Himalayan Mountains stand tall in the backdrop,...
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Second to None: Why Chicago is America’s Heart
Gritty, blue-collar town, City of Broad Shoulders. Hm. Strolling along the breezy blue lakefront, among the joggers, jugglers, bikers, chess players, volleyballers,...
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We’re Still in Kansas, Toto
“Where are you from?” “Kansas City.” “Oh...so you live on a farm, right?” I cannot even count the number of times I have received this response after informing someone of my place...
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What a Desert Oasis Really Looks Like
Tucson, Arizona offers a unique experience for any traveler. It is modern and historic, Mexican, Native American, and American, natural and man-made. It is as wild as its desert and as calm as its endless...
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A Panorama of Life: Poughkeepsie, NY
The breeze sifts through my hair like a million playful butterflies; the sky is a singular swath of blue above my head; 160 feet below is the splendor of the Hudson River. I am walking on the longest pedestrian...
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Grab a Bike and Explore Wassenaar, NL
Welkom bij Wassenaar! Welcome to Wassenaar! Wassenaar is a quaint Dutch town which lies between The Hague and Leiden, two major cities along the Netherlands North Sea Coast. Wassenaar is more...
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Star of Bavaria: Rosenheim
Southern Germany’s patchwork landscape, dotted with orderly squares of emerald and mustard, plays peek-a-boo with me through the clouds. Below, the familiar Bavarian charm of Rosenheim acts magnetic,...
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Good Things Come in Small Packages
When you come from a small, rural town (technically a village) it is rather tempting to imagine yourself living anywhere else. I often imagine myself walking the crowded streets of New York City, surfing...
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The Normal and Extraordinary Places of Bangladesh
Crowded streets. Cars honking. Burning sun. Tall buildings block much of the sky. Dhaka City, Bangladesh. This may be a typical city. But furthermore, Bangladesh is known as a developing country to much...
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Sweet Simplicity
Around a flickering flame, four young boys lounge leisurely poking the inferno before them with sticks. Cheerily conversing, a few adventurous ones draw the smoldering sticks close...
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Something Just….Clicked
Life changing experiences are rare. Even more rare are the moments where you can recognize their significance as the fabric of your life unfolds. Many people spend years seeking such moments, searching...
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My Hut Is Your Hut
Pitch dark, ten degrees hotter than outside, a stench of manure. I can barely make out the outline of a woman, or rather a girl of twenty, who sits in silence as she feeds her...
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Who Can Get The Closest?
It was reckless. It was reckless, stupid, and dangerous. But, it was just the rush I was looking for in my Yellowstone vacation. Standing outside of the Gardiner, Montana Gateway...
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South African Bush: An Untouched and Invisible World
I awoke to clamoring sounds on the rowdy bus. It became increasingly evident we were approaching our intended destination, as the scenery was devoid of familiar architecture. We were surrounded by...
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Sin Cuenta
Our group of high school juniors and seniors stayed up until midnight at Las Tortugas, a turtle reserve in Limón, Costa Rica. The night before, we patrolled for four...
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A Slice of Literature
Going back in time requires no supernatural powers, no new-fangled machines with walls of blinking buttons and levers—walking into an era long-gone can be achieved as easily...
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Towards Reason’s Horizon
The pungent smell of pine was strong in the air. The firm earth gave slightly as I ascended the slope. The trees towered up into the heavens and the lush canopy swallowed the velvety sky. It was...
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Spending Two Weeks With Mother Nature
Never before have I been in a town with less than five-hundred people: two gas stations, two bars, and a Subway; accompanied by a mom and pop store and a hunting surplus which...
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Taking a Shower
We were warned. Miss Wood, the teacher who led the U.S. and Ghana Exchange Program, had spent months hammering Ghanaian culture into our heads. We watched documentaries, looked...
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Ruby Beach, Washington
Last July, the summer of 2009, my family took advantage of four free airline tickets and planned an impromptu vacation to the Pacific Northwest. We went gallivanting off to the...
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The Three C’s of Mount Kilimanjaro: Clear, Copious, and Constant
The most essential item for a woman climbing 19,340 ft Mount Kilimanjaro is the Sani-Fem Freshette Feminine Urinary Director sold for $22.95 on www.REI.com....
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Writ in Water
Oscar Wilde called it the most sacred place in Rome, nestled in the shadows of that strange, out-of-place pyramid-- the tomb of Keats. Walking along the streets of, not just Rome,...
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Scuba Diving in Costa Rica
The sun dried the sticky layer of salt that coated my skin. I looked out at the sparkling water. Who knew what mysteries lurked underneath the beautiful surface? Costa Rica was...
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My trip to Puerto Rico
I spent seven days this summer in Lares, Puerto Rico, building an altar for the International Bible Baptist church — a trip sponsored by my church in Warminster, Pennsylvania....
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Machu Picchu
I held the seat in front of me in a white-knuckle grip as our tour bus negotiated the switchbacks and hairpin turns necessary to ascend from the valley town of Aguas Calientes to our destination in the...
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Bienvenue En Haiti
In February of 2009, I learned several things about my life, through a trip to Haiti. First and foremost, Haiti is a poor country. Over 80% of the people are unemployed, and have...
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Shooting for the Stars
Curled up in a beach chair, I hunt the myriad of specks for a streak. Flanked by two best friends, all fighting for a piece of the blanket, I search for luck in the Shenandoah...
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Haiti
I take a big breath in, and the smells of burning trash fill my lungs. Though it is an unpleasant first wiff it makes my heart smile and all I can think is, "it's good to be back."...
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A Journey Into the Unknown in a Mega City
"Thank you,” I said to the bus driver as I stepped out of the bus. He was my regular driver whom I saw everyday. I walked home down the same path I walked everyday. I wondered...
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French Fever
The city of love! The city of lights! Baguettes for breakfast, snails as a snack and cheese galore! Wine all the time, cigarettes all around, and berets abound! Sadly, this wildly stereotypical depiction...
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Emerald Water Memories
When reflecting on a significant tradition in my life, I feel sand surrounding my feet and sun rays quickly warming my skin. I hear waves crashing into the shore and I see seagulls flying above, looking...
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A World Away from Home
As I step off the airplane all I am thinking about is if the rest rooms in the Nairobi, Kenya airport are sanitary, because I desperately need one after flying for fourteen hours. I don’t even take...
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Miso Queasy
I began to gag as something slid down my throat; it was long (I had assumed, and really hoped, that it was a noodle) and had nodules on it, much like a tentacle of some...
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Tijuana, Mexico: An Eye-Opening Trip
Gripping my father’s coat, I gazed upon the unfamiliar land with awe and curiosity. My forehead trickled with sweat and my heart raced uncontrollably. Each step became heftier and slower as I approached...
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