Memorable Moments From a Blank Itinerary
I peered down at the fried fish whose eyes bore back up into me and knew right then this trip was one for the books. I was accompanied by my newspaper advisor, three fellow reporters, and a chaperone,...
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A Privilege Hidden Among the Sierras
All my life, my father has taught me about adventuring in the world. My sister and I always tentatively listen when he mimicks stories about his backpack travels in Alaska, recalling sights of mother...
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Through Their Eyes
Through my eyes luxury was defined as expensive cars, five star restaurants, and high class living. But through theirs it was clean running water, a safe home, and enough food for the day. When I first...
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Feeling the Land of the West
Gone was the sea breeze and moist air of our salty South Carolina coast. Here in Kanab, Utah our lips cracked like the sand tresses of the red canyons we gazed upon. This place made us dig deep into...
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Exciting Expeditions In Ecuador
Traveling is always an exciting experience, especially when it’s somewhere foreign. Just recently, I spent 10 days exploring and volunteering in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in South America. Not...
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From Russia with Love
The boat that had taken us through the waterways of St. Petersburg docked at the entrance to Peterhof, signalling that at last we had arrived at the mystical palace and its famed gardens. Although our...
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Face to Face with the Top Predator of the Ocean
Orcinus Orca. The Killer Whale. They do justice to this nickname—a pod of orcas can defeat a Great White Shark. They are the top predator of the ocean. However, they are also curious,...
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Mint Tea and Cookies
Not even three days into the service trip in Rabat, Morocco, and already I heard something that seems to reflect the culture and resonates with me very deeply. “Service like this is what feeds...
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St. Lucian Paradise
The Caribbean islands have long been considered the ideal travel destination for their beautiful beaches, sunny weather, and vibrant culture. The island of St. Lucia embodies all of these notions and so...
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Remedy for Myopia
Lift up your eyes and see Windy Gusts o’er ocean corn: Prairie Vanishing. Lift up your feet and soar; Clouds stooping to harvest rain So farmers...
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Yellowstone: A Disaster Only A Family Could Love
At the beginning of eighth grade, at an ungodly hour in the morning, my 36 classmates and I gathered at the airport in t-shirts, shorts, and hiking boots. Packed in our suitcases were outfits similar...
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Cycling Around My Sweet Potato Island
The chilling, fuzzy wind swooshed pass my ears covered with a cycling-head-kerchief. My neon yellow windbreaker jacket is dancing against the speed of my bike. I see the numbers on the odometer increase...
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Coffee is the Universal Language
During my sophomore year of high school, I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Austria with my school choir for a week long performance tour. The historic cities of Salzburg and Vienna provided...
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Oatmeal Walls and Sticky Sunlight
My body is about to give out, completely and pathetically. My heartbeat is slamming against my temples. And my parents are not here to ask if I am okay. It is just me and my clammy sheets of skin. The...
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Home Sweet Home
Just before I turned the knob of the door that would lead me to the family I hadn't seen in 9 years, I took a deep breath and berated myself for being so nervous. This is your family! I said to myself....
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The Yellow Building
While my family loves to travel, we haven’t often gone out of the country. The last time I used my passport was when I went to the Dominican Republic. Now, the DR is known for its beaches and resorts,...
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Exhilarating Moments in South Africa!
I believe that traveling is meant for exploring things outside of your normal, everyday life. In September 2011, my family visited our friends in Johannesburg, South Africa, and we decided to...
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Trial and Error in the Guatemala Markets
During the summer before my freshman year in high school, I went on a mission trip with my mom, bother, and a few members of my church to Panajachel, Guatemala. We traveled down there to help an organization...
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Superfamily
“Caution: Trail not maintained. Use not recommended.” I think that is an accurate representation of my family vacations. My mom has...
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Cliff Jumping and Conversations
Have you ever been on vacation abroad and become frustrated because you can’t find a Starbucks or a fast food joint? So have I. But through my travels with my family I have realized that sticking...
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An Unexpected Treasure
QUARTER-FINALIST 2015 FTF TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIPSpacious greenery surrounds me on all sides, dabbled with dots of civilization. We are distributing food atop a short but broad mountain...
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A Metropolis at Your Fingertips
I suppose it begins 8 hours into our first day there. Stumbling out onto the streets of New York City with only five hours of sleep, we certainly looked the part of clueless tourists—my camera was...
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Discover Yourself: One Journey At A Time
A gust of warm spring air strikes the open windows of the 768-step tall cathedral. The soft breeze sweeps beneath...
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Arizona is a Long Ways Away
I have always wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. I imagine it would be beautiful to hike part of its 227-miles of length or to camp in the valley and stare up at the mile deep walls of rock. Instead,...
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Eau de Grasse
As a perfume fanatic and aspiring perfumer, I have wanted to visit Grasse ever since I learned it was the perfume capital of the world. I have had wild dreams featuring colorful meadows with rows and...
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In the World, Not Of the World
Breathing in was like breathing in a new culture, adventure, and life - taking it all in at once. Here I was, along with twenty-one adults and students I’ve known most of my life, experiencing this....
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My Home is the World
We rumbled down the worn dusty road passing families on mopeds, donkeys carrying bundles of grass and battered taxis. The silhouettes of rocky hills and desert dunes stood...
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A 6 Month Journey
At first I thought my parents were joking. Leaving school behind for six months to travel across...
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A Lesson Learned, A Perspective Changed
This past summer I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for a trip to Bolivia and Peru for 24 days. It was with the Youth Ambassadors program sponsored by the...
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On Wings Like Eagles
I must admit, when my mother first pitched the idea of zip lining through the trees in the beautiful forests of Alaska, I was nervous, my mind instantly filled with questions and concerns. What if I...
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Fifty Feet from the F-22
I could feel the pressure waves reverberating through my body. They started with a tingling in my feet, raced up my torso and stopped in my chest. I was keenly aware of every heartbeat,...
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Breaking the Ice
The snowshoe hike through the Rocky Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado was supposed to 'warm us up' for skiing the next day, but as the wind hurled chunks of snow at my defenseless 14 year old self,...
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Will I Get A Signal If I Climb A Big Tree?
It was mid-April, when school was entering its final throes and summer was tickling at the edge of our fancies. Determined to keep my siblings and me from staring at screens for all of our week-long...
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Lessons Learned Along the Way
On the fifteenth of June, 2015, an eager group of...
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An Indian Sunset
Our small bus inched down the busy dirt road, unable to weave through the traffic as the cars and motorcycles did. The passengers didn’t much care, each dozing off after an exhausting day of sightseeing...
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In der Schweiz
The muggy, humid air that beat down on our travel group had been accompanied by a blazing, fiery sun. As our tour bus crossed the border between Italy and Switzerland, however, the veritable inferno...
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The Day I Opened My Eyes
Travelling lets us explore. It lets us see other parts of the world and how others’ ways of living differ from our own. For me, it was a life-changing experience. I was 15, and straight out of my...
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The Island of Charm
There is a special place in my heart for the origin of my heritage. That place is called Puerto Rico. It was the most dazzling, gorgeous, and love-filled place I’ve ever had the opportunity to visit. ...
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Paradise
As I exited the airport in Carolina, I inhaled deeply—the air was crisp and refreshing, just as I had imagined it to be. I looked around and was in awe at everything I saw; I could see the sandy beaches...
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Tulum Ruins: Seeing with One’s Own Eyes
I was extremely thrilled knowing that I would be seeing one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans....
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Let’s Be Ambassadors for Responsible Travel
The way we travel can have a long-lasting impact on the places we visit. Last year, while traveling for a documentary I am making called The...
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Just My Dad’s Luck
Did you know that its possible to travel internationally...
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The Hike: How I Accomplished What I Thought Was Impossible
There is a mountain in the Dominican Republic named Brison. Never would I have guessed, with my lack of athleticism and of experience in hiking, that I would one day reach the top. But when jumping...
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The Day I Got Released and Confined
April 1, 2013 – to most people this date is not important; they just brush it off as a day that people try to play...
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