An Exchange for Change
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. I am proud to say that I am an optimist. I have taken the opportunity to travel to Peru...
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Home is Where the Heart is
Being in a military family all my life, I never appreciated the opportunities I had over others to travel...
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Beautifully Impoverished
Finally landing on the tarmac of the Belizean Airport was such a relief. I am a terrible...
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S.I.M.S.A (Safe In My Sisters Arms)
It’s August 5 of 2007, the first day I went to camp. It’s was an all girl’s camp called S.I.M.S.A so I knew I wasn’t going to like it. All girls in one room together were...
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Traveling Through Time: A Pioneer Reenactment
A few summers ago I took an unusual trip to the middle of Floridian no-where with two siblings and several hundred other youth. The trip was more through time, rather than to a place; for we...
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Broaden Your Horizon
Being Mexican-American comes with a great advantage. Here is the thing why it is so great; I get to travel to Mexico annually. I am one who is fascinated by culture, religion, language, you name...
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OAWV613B Wilderness Voyage
The trip I took was to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. I applied and got accepted to go to Northern Tier, a Boy Scout high adventure camp, to be a part of the Order of the Arrow Wilderness...
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Remembing Haiti
Throughout the beginning of my high school career I never really knew where I fit in. I’d had my troubles through my freshman year of high school, and I guess you could say I was ready to give...
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Discovering myself at Discovery Cove
My trip to Discover Cove wasn’t far, but it has been my most memorable and self-developing adventure. For my sweet 16 my family went to Discovery Cove since Ive always wanted to swim with dolphins....
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A Hike of Realization
Two months ago my teacher informed my literature class that we would be taking an all-day hiking trip to a local national park. I cringed at the thought of climbing impossible hills and dripping...
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Our family vacation to Germany
This winter my dad, a Colonel in the army, had to take a business trip to Germany, so we turned it into a family vacation. We have a close family friend that lives in Kaiserslautern, and he offered...
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Different Background …. Same Goal
These days it can be tough to have a fun and fascinating opportunity. With the emergency of final exams that overwhelm students to get a better grade and leave a complete mark for the end of the...
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USA History Rush
A select group from my eighth grade class poured into the busy Ronald Reagan National Airport, in Washington DC. The purpose of our group was to see as much of DC as we could in two and a half days....
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My Summer Vacation Transformed Into an Emotional Rollercoaster
I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Manizales, Colombia. We are known for our breathtaking sunsets and our friendly people. Growing up in Colombia I grew up very close to my cousins. We...
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New York, New York Winter Trip
In the winter of December 2011 I journeyed to the breathtaking and wondrous place known as New York City. I traveled there as the annual trip that my dance team takes every year, our Spring Show...
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Danger Ahead
"Go with your gut feeling." This quote definitely played a part in my hiking adventure with my brother one humid July afternoon in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We were walking down...
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A Leap of Faith
If you have ever planned a trip a year in advance without knowing when, how, or where you were going then you have an idea of what my summer adventure was like. I had no idea how I was going to make...
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Genius Loci
First off, I suppose I ought to admit I’m not really a travel kind of person. I’ve always preferred the comforting clinks and whirs of home to the alien rush of an unfamiliar place. The...
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The Way I Saw the Lake
This spring for the first time in my life I went to Lake Tahoe and it was worth waiting sixteen years for. Although the trip began on a sour note it was definitely the best family vacation I have...
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A Different Perspective
Last summer, I went on a mission trip to Los Angeles, California with my church's youth group. While we were there, we served at various missions and worked at a daycare for Hispanic children...
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My First Official Cruise With My Crazy Family
So there I was, sitting in the car looking out over the beautiful Los Angeles area, barely containing my excitement for the next day that was coming my way. I had never been on a cruise before and...
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Seat 16A of the Flying Metal Box Changed My Life
Thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic, lies a land called Florence, Italy. I first discovered Florence through a uniquely boring documentary in my World Studies class in high school. The information,...
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From Dreams To Reality
Mexico has been a part of me since I was born. Although, I never remember a time where I last went, I dreamed about the opportunity to revisit it again. This day soon arrived when my family and I...
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My Trip to Durango, Mexico
It was the Year of 2009, and my parents decided that we were going to spend the holidays in Durango, Mexico. Making this decision meant we agreed to have fun all day, every day. On the way there...
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Melancholy Love
There is a type of love I’ve felt before that can be best described as a bit painful. It’s a melancholy kind of love that I feel only when I have passion and devotion for the thing I...
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The Old World: Israel
When I told people I was going to Israel, the first question I was asked would always be, “Is it safe?” Truth be told, I was more scared waiting in the airport for our El Al flight on...
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Disney World Trip with the South Range High School Marching Band
Ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to explore the world. I was always interested in meeting new people and embracing their culture. I have wanted to travel to different...
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My Nomadic Experience
Home. It's usually not the first thing you think of when you see a 30 foot RV. But that's what it had to become for me. After selling our house 2 months before school ended, we were forced...
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Evanescent Magic, Everlasting Wonder
It was two summers ago that we had taken this trip to Yellowstone National Park, home to more than seventy five percent of the world’s geothermal features and sitting smack dab...
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Into the Heart of the Big Easy
Usually, we do not play "tourist" on our trips to the Crescent City. Usually, we settle in a little town right outside the hustle and bustle of downtown New Orleans to visit with family...
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Paris Is A Promise that Aches
Paris forgives, knows, and goes with the flow. And, by example, you learn to value yourself and your dreams. While I walked along the Seine, my feet were screaming in my boots that I have lived...
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Majestic Walls, Tranquil Waters
The word vacation means different things to different people. To some people it might mean relaxing on the beaches of Hawaii, to others it may mean touring all over Europe, but to me it means a week...
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My Sweet Sixteen
The weekend I turned 16 was one I will never forget. My parents had a proposition for me: I could either have a sweet 16, or they’d get me a car when I turned 17. Obviously I chose the latter....
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My unforgettable vacation to Nigeria!
I haven't been to Nigeria over 10 years so when my dad told me that my family was going back to Nigeria for the summer, tears stared to follow down my face. There were many preparations to go to...
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Should Have Had Rice in Bryce
My family is known for our great spring break trips. We've traveled to Costa Rica, England, and Spain, to name a few. Yet the most memorable trip we took was not to another country. Spring break...
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Building an Altar on the Colorado Mountains
The wind bitterly nipped my face as I picked up speed. The snow-covered, majestic mountains surrounding me breathed promises of a higher power into the air. One moment …untouched by...
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A Trip You Can’t Learn In A Class Room!
2012 summer started off with my vacation to Virginia Beach, Virginia, a trip I would never forget. This summer was my second time going to Virginia Beach, and this time around I learned many new...
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Jordan – Über-friendly Hosts, Carved Out Buildings and Ridiculously Good Food
I think my mom was a little worried when I left Norway to go to Jordan for a week. She knew that I would visit a conference for three days and then live with my friend Hashem’s family for five more days,...
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Two Faces of Mexico
Mexico has gotten a bad reputation lately. Every week Americans hear about atrocities committed by the drug cartels. Yet, when I went on a cruise with my family to Mexico over spring...
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Jet Ski Jubilee
For as long as I can remember, my immediate family, my cousins, and I have always camped at a state park for a few days during summer vacation. That’s exactly what I was expecting during the...
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Goin’ tah Bahston….
I remember when my mom first came to me with the idea of going to Boston for a vacation. The emotions came quickly. First came excitement. Second came fear. When she said that we were going to Boston,...
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Music is the Language that Streches Across All Differences
Nashville, Tennessee is said to be the birthplace of country music. If the locals were asked, they would reply that the Grand Ole Opry is more specifically where country music was first played. I...
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Vacation Gone… Meaningful?
As I packed my bags for our last-minute family vacation to the Dominican Republic during spring break this year I was solely looking forward to the beach and all the time I will have to relax, tan,...
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Grand Day in Grand Tetons National Park
Last summer, I had the great opportunity of visiting the Grand Tetons National Park for a few days in Wyoming. My first favorite part had to be spending time with my family in such a beautiful park....
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Life-Changing Experience in India
Service is the performance of any duties or work for another. One human being lending a hand to one in need. Someone once said “You cannot do all the good the world needs, but the world needs...
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Discovering My Inner Self
Every kid dreams of visiting an exciting and exotic, yet foreign, place in their childhood. They want it to be a vacation spot with no rules, no parents, and definitely no school. When it’s...
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How God Healed me in the Alabama Heat
Last Sunday, my choir and I took a trip that would impact our lives. We were headed to tornado alley in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where a tornado had struck a multigenerational community. Prior to the...
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La Dominica–and 19 New Friends
In the summer of 2010, at the age of 15, I applied for a program with the Boston Red Sox. I had no idea what to expect, no knowledge of who I would meet, and only a small description of what I would...
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My Journey to Costa Rica
As the glistening sun peeked above the clouds I could see the outline of one of the most beautiful natural creations-a volcano. I have always dreamt of traveling around the world...
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“When Life Has Other Plans”
All my life, I’ve been blessed. However, I haven’t really had the opportunity to travel to very many exotic places. So, the summer before I turned 16, when my parents told me our...
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Running Through the Mountains of Big Pine, California
"I can’t feel my arm!" I cried out to my cross country teammates, as we were on our way to Big Pine, California. The drive was taking hours from Norwalk, where we were all from; so...
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A Favorite Experience
No other sight that I have ever laid eyes upon has moved me more that of the Roman Colosseum. I visited this legendary monument when I was fifteen years old, during a trip to Italy with International...
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Not Even Debbie Downer Can Spoil This Vacation
You could say that my last vacation was created out of spur-of-the-moment-excitedness, and the availability of a great hotel room at a discounted price. It was located in...
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Exploring Costa Rica
In April 2011 I traveled to Costa Rica with my aunt and her non-profit organization Finding Mona Lisa. When I first arrived there I almost got robbed by this man at the airport. Luckily my aunt was...
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Exploring China Through New Experiences and Adventures!
On March 9th of 2012, my family, friends and I embarked our adventure to China!We departed from Tampa International Airport and had our stop at the Detroit Airport. Once we left Detroit, we were...
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A Fire of Hope
Mixed feelings of excitement and fear filled my mind as I came upon my destination. I had imagined a town that was like mine, but it just needed a little push to get back on its feet - to get...
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“Say What?” The Beauties of Cultural Confusion
There was a school break during which we traveled to the classic old city of LiJiang, China. It’s located in Yunnan province in the Southwest of the country, right in the foothills of the Himalayas....
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