The City So Nice, They Named It Twice
As the plane flew over water and edged more and more towards the runway of LaGuardia Airport, a heightened sense of anticipation began to set in; I’d been waiting for this moment for nearly...
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Dancing in the Big Easy
New Orleans' humidity leaves beads of sweat on my nose like early morning dewdrops on flowers. The heat, along with the distant but ubiquitous melodies of jazz, leaves me feeling languid as I...
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Deutschland–June 2011
Walking down the bustling streets of Berlin in the midst of the June breeze was perhaps the most eye-opening experience of my life. My German-hungry mind, and my paternal relatives’ lack of...
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The Trip of a Lifetime
Two summers ago, I traveled to Park City, Utah. My younger sister plays for a competitive Travel Softball team. This summer trip was her trip to ASA Nationals and I distinctly remember my reluctance...
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Beyond Destination
We spend much of our lives trying to be something we are not. Whether one is aiming for a spiritual, social, or physical goal, we’re always headed somewhere. The future is a vast abyss, that...
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Betty’s Travel Blog To Eritrea
The small, flat building they called an airport reeked of African spices. “Welcome to Asmara,” a man in a vomit green colored jumpsuit spoke coldly. I laughed at the way his heavy accent...
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The Most Wonderful People In The Most Beautiful Place
Ecuador takes my breath away; it is stunningly beautiful. In Ecuador, no one rushes to get anywhere, no one is in a hurry and they are frequently late. But they do not apologize or feel guilty because...
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Resurrected from the Mud
I stood, gazing about me in wonder as I absorbed the narrow streets and peered into the shadowed dwellings of a civilization long gone. Prior to this vacation, I never would have dreamed that...
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The World’s Tallest People, Cheese, and Pancakes!
"Where's that?" was the question I got most when I told my friends I was setting out for the Netherlands. “Is that in England?”, “oh, that’s near Sweden right?”, “it’s a city in Canada,...
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My Life Changing Experience.
Less than a week ago, I went on a ten day trip that forever changed my life forever. About a year ago, I never dreamed that I would be standing under the Eiffel tower, watching it twinkle at midnight,...
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A Trip to the Capitol
You don’t have to travel a thousand miles in order to have a wonderful, life-changing experience. During my eighth grade year, I had the opportunity to fly out with some of...
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Kicking and Screaming; Israel
Most consider it a blessing to visit the place that is the basis of most religions. Christians find the sea of Galiee unreal, Jews stare in awe at the ancient remains of the Western Wall, and...
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Restless Morning
I woke up at 5:00 AM, earlier than I ever would have back home in Kent, Washington. I jumped up, ran across the floor, slammed the screen door open, and sprinted up the stairs to...the roof. I took...
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The King in the Holy Land
I stared at it. What stood before me was utterly unexpected and made me reconsider the sanity of the human race. I had always known some of the Israelis were a little out of touch with the rest of...
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My Dinosaur Trip
I have been fascinated by dinosaurs my whole life and am interested in studying paleontology. So, four years ago, my parents took me on a 3-week trip to all the museums and places where I could...
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The Trip Of A Life Time
In 2010, I went on a month long road trip around the United States! It was such a great time. I went soleley with my grandma Alverna and we went in her Mercedes SLK sports car.. What an...
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Camper Vacations Can Be Fun-Even with a dog
Our family is large, so staying in hotels can be expensive, which led Mom and Dad to purchase a hybrid camper trailer in 2008. Closed up, it's 23 feet, but opens to 30...
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Day At The Dumps
Some days are always remembered, not because of the laughter or happiness, but because they changed your life forever. Touching poverty like never before, I had the privilege of being part of a volunteer...
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Three Days in the City of Canals
From the time I was a young girl, I was captured by the tragedy of the Holocaust. I devoured books on it, and especially loved "Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. Frank's optimism...
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All 8 Of Us Tear Through the Southwest
"Now these are called 'hoodoos'," calls the guide of our horse-back tour of Bryce Canyon in Utah. "Hoodoos" are tall stacks of rock that have been formed through...
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From America, to Saudi Arabia
It is believed that in order to broaden the mind of an individual one must journey through the world. In order to grasp the true fundamentals...
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Massachusetts on a Foggy Day
We left the hustle and bustle of a soaked Boston in mid-afternoon. The rainy...
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The Race Around New York
I think I’ll never be able to forget my trip to New York city. I’ve been trying to for the past three years with no luck, but the trip had its pleasurable advantages. I remember first...
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Visions of Italy
BEEP. BEEP. My alarm clock drones just as groggily as I do at six on a Sunday morning. As I get ready for work I think about the day ahead. After I get off work at noon, I will spend the rest of...
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Ordinarily Beautiful: NYC
To a thirteen-year-old girl in the twenty-first century United States, the concept of beauty is something that she has likely been bombarded with for over half of her life. I was certainly one of...
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Rags and Riches Half Way Across the World
In July of 2011, my family decided to travel south to the Dominican Republic for the summer. I was the only member who did not want to go since I wanted to go to Italy...
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A Week Passing Through Paradise
Last summer, my family and I took a road trip from a tiny town near Houston, Texas to the Grand Canyon and back. Of course, we stopped nearly a million places in between. We saw some breathtaking...
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Devil’s Loop
I’ve always wanted to see the world. Countless times, after a long beach run, I would gaze out at the Pacific Ocean. With my back turned to my town, and the salty winds rushing past...
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The Syrian Experience
I was nervous that first day, as my parents helped me unload my suitcase next to the airport terminal. They hugged and kissed me goodbye as I departed into the terminal, not to see them again for...
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Bahama Breeze
I recently participated on a Royal Caribbean cruise and boy, it was quite a ride! I went with my younger brother and my father to Nassau, Bahamas and Cocoa...
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South African Adventure
Travelling to various countries can impact a person in numerous ways. Not only does it open one’s eyes to other cultures, but it can cause one to contemplate their gratitude of their own nation....
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A China Experience!
Prior to my trip to China, I hadn’t grasped the idea that I was actually going to walk the streets of Beijing, Xi’ an, and Shanghai. But the very second I stepped out of that airport...
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San Francisco-The Metropolitan Paradise
Whenever I am fortunate enough to have the time to look back on all the vacations I've ever been on, it's my trip to San Francisco in...
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Broadening My Horizons
In the summer of 2009, I took a trip to Makati, Philippines, where a new window truly opened up a curious, yet remarkable world for me. Departing off of the plane and stepping into a foreign place,...
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Hope
Stepping out of that bus and seeing more than a hundred people looking at us was frightening, not because they were staring at us as if we were aliens, but because they looked at us with such amazement...
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Allons-y, mes amis!
My trip to Québec city and Montreal, in Canada, was a different kind of vacation that I have never experienced before. I went with my school's French club that I am a part of. My...
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How to Succeed in Stage Dooring by Trying Really Hard
In January, I went to New York to go see Darren Criss make his Broadway debut in the musical How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. One of the first things I did as soon as my...
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Road Trip Across The Country!
I recently had the opportunity to travel across the U.S. with my giant, crazy family. We were kicked out of the house we were renting because the owner lost it. After a long...
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My Trip Across The Atlantic
As a resident of South Florida I am engrossed in a plethora of different cultures and people from every corner of this world every day. These surroundings evolved my interest in the world outside...
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Te Sakam Macedonia
Experience is a teacher. Every breath will show us something we did not know could be possible; every step will take...
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Desert Experience
This past summer I spent a month in Israel with a Jewish tour group, and over that period of time I set some personal records. To list a few, there was longest time spent without sending a text message,...
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Culture Shock:Life Lessons
I was at Logan Airport saying goodbye to my parents. I made my way into the terminal, turned in my luggage, breezed through security and...
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Vietnam And My Baby Sister
It could have been yesterday: The tangled stratum of purposeful noises, the primitive industrial pollution, the draft of oriental fragrances, the fluctuating wall of rushed foreign syllables....
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Definitions of Success
After leaving my clean room at the Kogelo Retreat Villas and Homes, I walked down a red dirt road in Kisumu, Kenya, dodging goats and stepping over puddles and piles of garbage. I was on my way to...
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How I Survived a Hot Tub
I felt an awkward tingling creeping throughout my body as I slowly padded barefoot to the entrance of the public pool, wearing nothing but a towel around my waist. As I shuffled into the pool area,...
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Family Adventure in Big Bear California
One of my most memorable trips is my family trip to Big Bear, California. Big Bear is a beautiful wooded mountain village on the banks of Big Bear Lake. This trip is memorable to me because one incident...
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The Peak of My Success
On a dimly Saturday morning I awoke deep in the wilderness. My first thought was the cold. It seeped past my skin and chilled me to the bone. My tent-mate was still asleep, but I shook her awake...
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Fakahatchee Strand
On April 15, 2012 I visited the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve in beautiful Naples, Florida. Some people would consider this place a big swamp, but no not me! Personally, this preserve was beautiful...
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