My Sunkissed Summer of Fun
Knowing that my family and I were leaving for beautiful sunny California in less than day made me so stoked. Finally, I get to leave lame bipolar Oregon. Nevertheless, my body was pretty burnt out...
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A Whole New World
This past summer I traveled to Central Europe for 11 days with a group of students from my high school. We were chaperoned by two teachers of mine who, every year, organize an...
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Trains and Charlemagne
"In South Korea, nail polish is so cheap! Cheap, cheap cheap!" My face broke into a smile as I turned to look at Min, eyebrows raised in disbelief. "How cheap?" I inquired....
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My two weeks in the most inimitable city on Earth; New York City. This is where my heart is.
The sun shines through my window as I pull the covers off of me. It’s a new day, and the excitement that I have cannot be contained. I hurry to the shower and then hurry back to my room...
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Soaking in the Sierra Nevada
Deep within the Sierra Nevada, there exists a rock whose superior ergonomic form would cause even the most accomplished designers to turn green with envy. Standing just below hip-height, its...
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My Life
When it comes to traveling I have got that under my belt especially with my dad being in the military. When I was around 9-10 years old my dad had to go back into the military because of 9/11. When...
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My travels to Tijuana
I've been to Tijuana with my family so many times. The rides there are a pain, but once I get out the car I am glad to have come because I get to run around. Mexico is our native country it's...
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Missery in Missouri
It was four o clock in the morning and there were four of us stuffed into our small Grand Am. All I could think about was how excited I was. We all couldn’t stop...
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The Neverending Night
We made our way down the darkend walkway to the dimly lit house on the corner. All that was heard was the slap of our feet hitting the concrete beneath us. Soon enough, my...
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Regalos Pequeños (Small Gifts)
This last summer I had the privilege to serve in the impoverished areas of the Dominican Republic with many of my fellow youth group members. We touched them with the material gifts and services we brought,...
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Childhood Dreams Revisited
Ever since I was a tiny little girl, I have been obsessed with the magical world of Harry Potter. I'm sure many people have, but I'm serious when I say it's been a giant part of my life...
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Texas two times.
My mom disappeared when I was 8 years old, and the last time I saw her side of the family was when I was five years old. When I was 15, I finally got on a plan to go to Brenham Texas and see the...
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Adventure
It’s adventure that runs through me, The way I see life is what’s key. I start at the end of comfort zone, And end deep in the waters of unknown By taking...
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A Desert, A Tiny Car, and Some Complete Strangers
The ONLY reason I’m going is to visit my best friend at college, I told myself. Why else would I spend my senior year spring break sitting in a car for 12 hours with people I don’t...
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Kool Kayaking
On May 5th, 2012, I did something I thought I'd never do before: Kayak. Instead of going by myself, I went with a group of friends from my Florida...
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Annual Trip to the Southern Most Tip of NJ
Every year since I've been 7, my family has gone on vacation to the Southernmost tip of New Jersey, a three hour drive that is worth every single second. Just thinking about Cape May brings a...
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Reuniting With The Mayans
The musky, tropical, humid air was the first thing I noticed as I walked down those narrow steps of that six hour plane ride. We didn't even walk into the airport, but right in to the smack middle...
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I Am Where I’ve Been
In August of 2010 I travelled to Germany for a duration of five months. For four weeks I stayed in a comprehensive language camp in Hedersleben, a small village in Saxony-Anhalt. This month-long...
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My Bite of the Big Apple
When my aunt called me a few weeks before Christmas and invited me to go with her and my cousin Allynn to New York for Christmas, I was ecstatic! I had never done anything like...
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Bon Voyage
The summer of 2011, my sister and I had taken a trip to Northern France to visit our aunt, uncle, and cousin who have a summer house there. We were to stay there for a month to earn knowledge and...
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Sleeping on a bus, McDonalds, and New York City
On April 30th, 2008 things went from good to worse, as the Bagley Middle School Band and Chorus were ready and set to go on their yearly trip. This year...
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My Bonding Vacation
I have taken many great vacations with my family, but the vacation that we took in March of 2012 changed my life forever. My parents booked our Spring Break vacation from March 10 – 17, 2012...
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China: too much to talk about, so little room
For a week in September 2011, I, with a small group from my high school’s band, went to Shanghai, China. The food, the smells, the class of people on the street and how they interact, were...
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Back to the good old days
Over the course of every summer my family makes our most meaningful trip of the year. We travel to an old log cabin in the upper right hand reaches of Vermont, a cabin that my grandfather built by...
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Co’ qui?
Rather than waking up to the drone, hackneyed roar of snow plows in Maine, we were carried out of bed by the soothing lullabies of the restless co’ qui frogs and the pungent aroma of juicy, apple-filled...
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Kristen’s journey to the Bahamas
I was in 7th grade when I got the news "we're going on a cruise to the Bahamas!" my brother J.D told me excitedly, he wasn't supposed to tell me because I tend to get overly...
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Small Voices, Big Hopes
Outstretched as far as the eye could see, stood a sea of colorful little shanties dotting the hillside like confetti. Each one represented a family much like my own; one with hopes and dreams...
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My Enchanted Islands
My Enchanted Islands Imagine yourself walking through white, sandy beaches. You can hear the splash of the waves against the volcanic rocks at your feet....
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La Vita Bella
Many traveling experiences include people like parents, family and friends. In my case, my experience was shared with 17 high school students that I knew through class;...
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One Precious Moment
The brilliant sun almost blinded me that first day. Walking out of the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, my senses were bombarded by the glare and the heat. Modern buildings were interspersed with...
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Sawdust
“Hola chico/chiquita! Como te llama?” I say the words hesitantly, and my tongue feels like it is covered with sawdust as I speak the few Spanish words I know. To say that I am loud would...
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An Amateur Wanderlust
I had never left the country without my parents. I live minutes away from the Mexican border yet I've never crossed it. The last intercontinental voyage I embarked on was to the Philippines with...
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Becoming Beijing
Sticking needles into my arm, they told me not to tense up. I shivered, the pins sitting in my skin. The Chinese nurses seemed to know what they were doing though, claiming their techniques would...
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Capturing Liberties
I wrote this post over the summer during my one-month stay in Uganda, Africa. As a seventeen-year-old photographer, I had the opportunity to live in an apartment on site...
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My Journey
My Personal Journey & Adventure My family and I had been dreaming about visiting the Grand Canyon in Arizona since before I was born. It was always...
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A Trip To Honduras
On Febuary 18, 2012 I took the trip of a lifetime. As corny as that sounds, I could not phrase this experience in a more truthful way. An old teacher of mine, seven classmates, and myself traveled...
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Family Heritage.
Last summer, I traveled halfway across the world to China. My grandparents from both sides of my family currently live there. Most of my family lives in China, so whenever I go there I get bombarded...
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Why I’m Not A Robot
I used to be a robot. Pre-Summer 2011 I was only functioning. I breathed, talked, and walked like a human, but I never quite felt human. All I cared for were grades and test scores; I didn’t sing,...
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Journey To The Dominican Republic
As the runway fell away beneath the plane my stomach dropped with it. I shut my eyes and fought the fear creeping into my mind as the flight attendant alerted us that we'd land in Santo Domingo in two...
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Journey to Jordan
I applied about two months ago for a key, and that key was going to open a door to another world for me. I applied to go on a trip to Jordan to learn about my roots, Arabic culture, and to...
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Vacationing in the Keys
From the moment I know the trip has been planned, my mind anticipates the relaxation, and when I see the low, aquamarine median wall out of the car window on U.S. 1, I know I’m close. Salt water...
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Flags and Footprints
I came around the bend on the wooded path and gasped. Rarely have I ever seen anything quite as stunning as the view that was before...
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Bravery at the top of a temple
The heat of the sun was beating down...
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Vietnam and Cambodia
Our first stop in Phenom Pehn was Tol Slong, a former prison during the Cambodian genocide. Before the genocide it was a high school, but the Khmer Rouge converted it into a prison and place...
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Getting Lost in The Floating City
We docked at the harbor not far from city’s center, we walked through the knee high water. The tour director told us how Venice can flood...
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Life Changing
In the fall of 2009, my parents and I took a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea for 12 days, stopping at 9 different ports in 5 different countries. I always have a great time on cruises, but I knew...
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Teens Westward Bound: It’s More Than a Trip, It’s an Experience You’ll Never Forget!
After packing for days for Teens Westward Bound, the day of departure finally arrived. As my parents drove me to Davidson College, the point of departure, I suddenly began to feel ...
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Find Your Independence… 6,000 Miles Away in Laos and Thailand!
The reason that banks created credit cards was because everyone was looking for a solution to get away from that noisy, heavy, constant reminder in their front pocket: loose change....
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My Life Changing Trip to Syria
The excitement that built up inside me over the year was finally expelled when I saw my parents carry the suitcases upstairs into our bedrooms. The leftover smell of the spices...
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