Cabo San Lucas and One Unforgettable Dive
With a forceful surge of energy, I heaved myself up out of the chilling water, and collapsed onto the closest bench. The whole snorkel-boat shook -- though admittedly, it was scarcely more than a large...
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Tiger Hunters
The rustic orange color of mud had completely taken over my black converse high-tops, my hands, and my knees by the time we got through the dense forest. The mud combined with the water flowing from...
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Ogunquit: Beautiful Place by the Sea
Maine is a beautiful state nestled on the coast of New England. It kisses the chilly Atlantic Ocean while spreading its arms toward the Canadian Province, Quebec. It’s filled with natural...
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How to Have a Successful African Safari
Cameras clicked. Everyone sat motionless. I peered through a pair of binoculars at five cheetahs laying in the afternoon shade. My family was in one of the four safari vehicles that...
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Blinding Beauty
Arriving at 10:00 pm anywhere can be a little unsettling. I’ve seen a total of 8 cars in 45 minutes since I got here. It’s quiet. Too quiet. Just the eerie lights that reflect off of the stagnant,...
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The Lesson Taught By Concrete
20 hours, 12 empty cups of off-brand ramen noodles, 2 cramped legs, and there I was passing through Washington on my way to the great big apple. We, my father and I, vainly opted to take the train instead...
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Wild Travels in the Wild West
Many summer vacations include relaxing on the beach or lounging in a hammock under a blue sky with warm sun. However, my summer vacation was much less relaxing but surprisingly every bit as enjoyable. My...
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The Blue Morpho of Tortuguero
A slight flutter in the corner of my eye captures my attention. I turn my head to catch a glimpse of the brilliant, shimmery blue morpho butterfly. As a butterfly enthusiast, I drink in...
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Capturing the Heart of Athens
The most unexpected moments sometimes turn out to be the ones that influence you the most. This was the force of the mighty Syntagma Square, the prominent historic area in Athens, Greece. It...
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From Zebras To Love
“It’s a zebra!!!” Not hidden behind barred gates or three inch glass but standing directly in front of me. I leaned in close, throwing all caution to the wind with this seemingly-harmless...
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A Glimpse Into My Future
"What colleges are you applying to?" "Do you know what you want to major in?" "Are you going to get a dorm or live at home?" Every high school senior has heard these questions...
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The Unexpected Joys In Bread, Cobblestones, and Graffiti
During every vacation that my family takes together, I insist that we must visit various historical sites. When we travelled to France, I fought for a detour to Normandy. When in London, I dragged them...
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Trivandrum Tirade
I dodge a white projectile headed for my shoulder. Darn birds-they always try and ruin whatever you’re wearing. I slip on my chappals and sprint to the car bobbing and weaving as I must in order to...
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The Sacred Triangle of Temples
When I found out that I would be visiting Greece for a family reunion last summer, I was beyond thrilled. As a child, I would often find myself buried in a Greek mythology book, so visiting the real...
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Eyes Widen and Heart Soars
Picture this: You're walking down a cobblestone street, to the left you can see a small glimpse of the canal that runs through the town and to the right...
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Lost and…
Aruba, home to Dutch chocolate and clear water, was proving hot, brown and spurious as my family of nine bounced across the desert in a rustic van frantically searching the unforgiving landscape for...
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A Memorable Trip To Bryce Canyon
Travelling is a beautiful journey that leads to many experiences. Around the world people travel to take a break from their daily routines and explore their surroundings. They travel to learn about...
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Dad, Rafting, and Me
Every time dad called me and invited me to go somewhere, it was special for me. I did not get to see father very often because my parents divorced and he moved to another city. Also, dad’s job included...
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A Day in Their Shoes
On February 17th, 2017, I embarked on a 12 day trip throughout Eastern Europe with a group of students I had never met before. See, I was a senior at the time, well the only senior on a trip full of...
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Rediscovering My Roots: A Trip to Vietnam
It was a steamy day when our plane touched down in Da Nang, Vietnam. But then again, what summer day wasn't hot in Vietnam? Being Texas natives did not make my family immune to the blistering sun. It...
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Santo Domingo, A Whole New World
In the summer of 2016, my family rented a charming townhouse by the beach, packed our bags and took on what would be one of the most eye-opening experiences we’ve ever had. Ideally, being...
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Finding Home
This is Vietnam at 6:00 in the morning. I peer out from the tenth story...
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The Trip of a Lifetime
When I was a little girl, the best presents I would receive were from my grandmother. My chest would cinch with anticipation as I spotted one of her coveted parcels lying in the doorway. Inside would...
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Munich: Beyond the Hofbrauhaus
Munich, Germany is known as the beer capital of the world and is most famous for its annual Oktoberfest, but this city was founded on more than a love for beer. On a recent trip to the village which...
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Restricted By The Lens
It was just yesterday that I was cleaning and came upon a large cardboard box marked pictures. As I opened it up, I looked at the heap of scrapbooks and bundles of photos randomly scattered...
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St. Croix, USVI
It was not the dream trip we thought we had planned. Even still in the plane to St. Croix, USVI, I had expected to...
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An Unexpected Present
As we approach our destination of Lake Tahoe, California, a drastic shift from our home town gradually emerges. The tall buildings which ruled the city are replaced with densely packed fir trees, stretched...
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The Korean Summer Sun
The smell; that’s the first thing I noticed when my plane touched down in South Korea on July 17, 2016. The smell was nothing like I’d ever experienced before,...
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Roadtrip to Friendship
On June 30 of 2016, I left my home in Washington State to go on a two-week adventure with my grandparents. For me, the main goal of the trip was to meet my best friend in person, for the first time...
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A Muggy, Mesmerizing Madness: Airports
I am not an avid traveler. I fly occasionally--once or twice a year, sometimes not at all. I wish it was more. My family always drove wherever we went, enduring the cramped car trips to cut expenses....
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Where To Find Me
The most free twenty four hours I ever experienced in my life were spent on a cramped train barreling along the coast of Vietnam. I, and fourteen other teenagers, slept 4 to a car with our luggage as...
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We Are the Lucky Ones
Growing up in an indian family, traveling the almost 20 hour journey to India, was always sought out as a long and tiring one. As a child, my sister and I would dread the journey to the motherland because...
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Sunshine, Sand, Seaturtles, and Summer Fun!
My small hometown in the Sunshine State is the perfect place to visit throughout the year with its perennial temperatures averaging a perfect 75 degrees. The town originally began around the late 19th...
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How Oleleshwa and Kisaruni Changed My Life
On July 20, 2015, 17 American, Canadian, Ecuadorian, and Irish students departed from Washington DC with imaginations running wild over what they would experience in the Maasai Mara region in Kenya...
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Leave No Trace
The Adirondack Mountains, located in Upstate New York, hold forty-six High Peaks above 3,790 feet. One of my favorite vacation activities is hiking some...
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New York Two Ways
The air is sharp, like the people who glance at our mini-man for but a second before discerning our place as outsiders looking into their world. The pale, yet colorful, cynical,...
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An Evaluation of Public Transportation or, That One Time I Went to New England and Couldn’t Rent a Car
1. Airplane We arrived at the airport at approximately 4:15 the morning of November 11. My mother, my sister and I were taking a couple days to visit some colleges. We were flying into Laguardia that...
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Battling on the Courts: A Dallas Story
Red, white, and blue. Patriotic colors fly through the sky as we celebrate America’s independence. Scurrying out the door to enjoy the fireworks, the phone echoes through the empty house. Usually...
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The Boardwalk Where Footsteps Align
The way Coney Island is, you can never pinpoint how exactly it’s supposed to feel; it’s different every time. On the last day I visited it felt especially gritty, from the way the gray overcast...
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Looking Through The Conch
The soft whir of the air-conditioner permeates the small study room as I lay on a bamboo mat, staring up at our makeshift mosquito net with my sister breathing...
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More Than a Postcard
Contrary to popular belief, there is more to the Hawaiian Islands than what is portrayed on a postcard. I myself had been to Hawaii before, but at the time I too was mesmerized by the commercialized...
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When in Rome (Or Assisi)
There are those vacations that leave you with fond memories, and there are those that leave you forever changed; my trip to Assisi was of the latter. After enduring a grueling five-hour layover, a turbulent...
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Fistula Repair in Ethiopia
While working at my uncle’s diagnostic clinic, I was invited to watch four surgeries at the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Fistula Hospital. I was nervous and excited to be in such an important place! Even...
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Remember Me
Shoes. Piles of dark, weathered, worn shoes. If they could speak, they would disclose secret tales, too ghastly to imagine. The leather-bound soles might sigh, weep, and hesitate to tell about the arduous...
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Rediscovering Nepal
In the summer of 2014, my mother, father, brother, sister, and I traveled to my parents’ homeland: Kathmandu, Nepal. We hadn’t visited Nepal since 2007 to catch up with relatives, but this time...
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A Trip To Ecuador: Finding Beauty in More Than One Form
Sitting there, looking out the window, I was in awe at the beauty that the world had to offer. I was used to the dull brown desert of Las Vegas, where you’d be lucky to find a single patch of green...
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Dubai: A “Tale of Two Cities”
When you think of Dubai what’s the first thing that comes to mind? If the first thing you thought of was money, mansions, or even people with monkeys for pets then you were a lot like me in...
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The Beauty in Simplicity
The hot sticky humid air hung over the boisterous city of Kollam, Kerala. I gripped the polyester seating of the dilapidated rickshaw as it jackknifed to the right to swerve around another wayward goat....
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