One Step Forward
A tightly-sealed door never failed to guard my hesitant heart from outside adventures. But on that otherwise gloomy day, a tiny spark escaped. The carefully engineered clicks rang throughout my ears, the...
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The Great Adventure of Around the Block
One never knows when they step outside what adventures they might run into. Exciting adventures like someone watering their lawn or a person walking their dog with headphones glued to their ears. I stepped...
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Go Play In The Snow!
The wind tugged playfully at my hair and the cold nipped at my redding cheeks. I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck and ran down the airplane stairs onto the tarmac. I had never felt more invigorated....
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The Limitless Beauty of Punta Cana – Expanding My Horizons From Sky to Sea
To celebrate our highly anticipated 2018 high school graduation, my best friend Eden and I embarked on a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. After hours of paperwork, four declined passport photos,...
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Santiago’s Tears Of Joy
Pilgrims drop to their knees, tears of joy hit the ancient stone, Scottish music plays, church bells ring, and the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela towers above the square. El Camino de Santiago,...
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A Winding Road
As I climbed up the stairs, I underestimated the significance of the next few steps I was taking. I struggled to hoist my luggage up the winding staircase and finally joined the group on the upper level...
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The Camp Colorado Experience
The San Gabriel Mountains - the Condor Mountains - slid away, and my sister Justina and I flew over a dust-red land home to the rugged canyons symbolic of the West; on our way to Camp Colorado II, a weeklong...
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Mississippian Ripples
The sun beats down on my exposed arms and legs as I rest my kayak paddle across my lap. The lake water drips merrily off either end. I gaze around me, grateful for the sun, the water, the air, my family....
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Savor(y) Switzerland
As my friends waved goodbye and left me behind for the third time this trip, a wave of disappointment crashed over me. My altitude sickness and inability to climb beyond base camp ensured yet another lonely...
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E’s Favorite Place
My mother has always had a slightly unhealthy obsession with estate sales, and because of this I have learned that there are many cheaply priced gems to be found within the midst of old towels and used...
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The City / The Girl That Never Sleeps
“Connor, it’s rising! It’s rising, I can see it!” The sun, a lioness waking from her nap, stretched and woke at approximately 5:30am in the Upper West side of Manhattan, late June. I had not...
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6 European Cities, 3 Weeks, 2 Travelers
“I’m labeling the bus from Antwerp to Luxembourg! I can’t look at the hostel reservations right now!” I frantically said to my mom. We were in the kitchen, papers strewn across the table, reviewing...
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Green Gardens, Stone Walls, and Falconry Amidst the Rain
Our tour guide Nigel ushered us out of the van with a wide grin on his face and led the way towards the castle. It was overcast, the grey of the sky mirroring the grey stone of Dunrobin’s walls. My mom...
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Little Girl In A Big City
If I close my eyes, I can see it now. Somewhere in the city, there’s an L-train rumbling against a metal track, the clamor of voices inside is loud, but never overcoming the sound. Somewhere in the...
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Ngorongoro Crater: The Eye Opener
Our hardy, four-wheel drive Jeep jostled my sister and I around as we headed toward Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania. We had just stopped by at Mr. Macho’s, a quaint, little shop on the side of...
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Reminiscence at the Crater of Volcano
Every summer, my family and I would go on a trip to different parts of the country. One of the best trips I have ever had was our trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park. We had driven 8200 feet high,...
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A Red Thread of Me Leads to Switzerland
In the summer of 2017, I went on a three-piece vacation through part of Europe for ten days. The trip guide, a teacher of mine, three other girls, and I through Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Although...
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Frolicking through the Festival Fringe
The clock was ticking as we sprinted towards the open doors of the Tube. With the promise of a West End show in less than 2 hours, and a suspecting group to come back to, we knew we had to book it. “Come...
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“Panama, Panama, Panama, Panama” – Van Halen
This summer I traveled out of the United States for the first time; I got to journey to and explore Panama. I am grateful for this experience, which took me out of my head and bubble. When I first landed...
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A Fear of Thunderstorms and Falling in Love With a City
It is seven thirty at night in Washington D.C., and my family is rushing through a deluge, shoving through the flooded streets of the city and flinching each time the sky lights on fire, the thunder soon...
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A Picture Into the Past
~Memory~ We were at my grandma's house in the little outside corridor connecting the house to the rest of the world. The only thing separating the two spheres was a tall black gate. (Every Lagos house...
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Puerto Rico: La Isla del Encanta
Crash! A slamming door startles me from sleep. After frantically looking around to see the time, I lay down next to my sister, burrowing closer to ward off the frigid air pouring from the AC. The droning...
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Beholding Beauty
I had heard stories about the Grand Canyon before, as have most people. We hear how it is so enormous that you can hardly even believe it is real. There are tales of its immeasurable size and horrors of...
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Under Montebello’s Trees
For my brother and I to travel to South Africa without our parents required a lot of effort from them. Since I still counted as a minor when I sat out a flight across the globe, my parents had to sign...
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C’est la Vie: Midnight in Paris
A delayed flight. A connecting train. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes to get to the train station, pass it on!” The message spirals through the line of rushing teens who walk aimlessly down shadowy...
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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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Creature of the Coast
The car had seemed comfortable, roomy even, when we’d first hopped in at the airport. Now, my legs were cramping, the air was stale, and my younger sister crowded me in the back seat. My mother excitedly...
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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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At Home, Three Thousand Miles Away
We entered the woods giggling and chattering following a stomach-churning bus ride down the steep, narrow, winding Muir Woods Road in Marin County, California. Muir Woods was cool and damp, a light fog...
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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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Get Lost: How A GPS Error Led Me to the Beauty of Alexandria, VA
Throughout years of travelling, I’ve learned that sometimes the most exciting adventures result from GPS navigation mistakes. My family has never been gifted with technology, so it is natural that when...
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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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A Leopard’s Way
“Sighting of a leopard.” My head snaps up as the static voice crackles over the radio: “5 kilometers away.” I hold my breath and glance over to our tour guide (and terrifying driver) Lucas....
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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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Peace Train
When I was 12 years old, I made an unlikely friend from halfway across the world. It was the middle of July, and my mother and I were about to take an overnight train from Paris to Madrid. I had never...
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Breathtaking Burials: Bogus or Believable?
My alarm goes off at 3 AM, and I begrudgingly roll out of bed to go dig up my great-grandfather’s corpse. I find myself tripping down the stairs; I’m not used to the dimly lit hallways because it’s...
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An Unexpected Village Dance Party
Whenever I travel, I film videos. I always pack my camera, because filmmaking has become my way of keeping a diary. Its entries each preserve little chapters of my life’s journey. But curiously, our...
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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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Home Is Where You Park It
I open my eyes and the metallic ceiling over me is reflecting the morning light. I slowly sit up and look out the window above my bed. The deep blue waves of the Pacific crash against the rocky shore....
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The Feast
The morning before she died, it was clear that she felt the brush of death. That’s why she was so restless, struggling against the rope that was tying her hooves to the wooden pole. Tears blurring...
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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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The Hidden City
In July of 2015, my family and I decided to take a vacation from our hometown of Houston to the jungles of Belize. After only a ninety-minute plane ride from Houston, we arrived in Belize City. From there...
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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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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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Spanish Horizons
Just north of Oviedo, there is a quaint town where just off the beaten path of the dusty Spanish streets is a hidden gem worth the trip. I have marveled at the great Sagrada Familia in the diverse city...
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