A Volunteer At Home
My favorite and most meaningful trip started on June 9th, 2012, my first day of volunteering in Nicaragua. A few months back my friend proposed a plan that her, my father and I took a trip down to...
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Wet Cars, Wet Shoes, and Dampened Spirits
Everybody has one. One vacation during which all forces of the universe work together to create the perfect storm of events, a storm that picks you up by the collar of your shirt, tosses you around,...
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Nothing Like New York
One theoretical conversation lead to one of the best experiences of a lifetime. An annual trip between my mother and her friends was the topic...
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Fear is Fear of the Unknown
I was overwhelmed to be back to such a historic and majestic park surrounded by tall elegant trees that were covered in a faded blanket of snow. It was surreal. There were birds singing happily in the...
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Adventure in Oregon
My Mom walked into my room in Colorado saying, “Crystal, you have way too many things, we don’t have room for all that.” Confused, I looked down and only saw one suitcase and two...
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But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
I remember my experience with one of the most notorious things about travel: lost luggage. Though I used to not define Strippi as luggage, she was lost. My father and I were traveling...
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Switzerland Swept Me Away!
This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Europe with the Voyageurs Florida Ambassadors of Music. The trip lasted 16 glorious...
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To Germany and Back Again: A Tale of Exploring and Gaining Independence
June 12, 2012 8:30 a.m. MSP Airport, Security Checkpoint I was crying. The trip to Germany hadn't even begun, but my eyes were wet as my friends and I waited in the long...
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Waltz Across Texas
As author Mary Lasswell once said, “I am forced to conclude that God made Texas on his day off, for pure entertainment, just to prove that all that diversity could be crammed into one section...
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Running Late
“Good Lord I’m late!”,I screamed as I barreled down the hall. I looked up at the clock. I could feel it mocking me …”6:45a.m”, shamefully late as usual....
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Digging
As a five-year-old, I remember sitting on the salty shore and contemplating whether or not my friends could have been right when they told me that if I shoveled long and hard, I would hit China. ...
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Island Ecology Trip 2012
This past June, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to the largest Bahamian island, Andros Island, on a school trip. With a population of only...
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Dream Trip for the Fiercely Patriotic
I stood with nerves tingling among a small, shy group of teens at the airport. I, at fifteen years old, paid for my own tuition and plane tickets to come on this four-day Washington D.C. trip...
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Strawberry Fields
Earlier this summer, I was fortunate enough to be chosen to attend a Girl Scout "Destination" program to New York City. "Destinations" is a worldwide program that encourages girls...
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Home Is Where The Heart Is: Scotland 2009
Home is where you hang your heart, and it’s fair to say that my heart has stayed in Scotland since we arrived in Edinburgh (pronounced Edin-burrah to those of you who dinna kent) in March,...
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Small town girls in the Big Apple
Ever since my mother was a little girl, dreams of traveling to the big and bustling city of New York flourished.; I was no different. Both of us, having grown up in the quaint and sleepy towns of...
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My Trip to Paris. Discovering a New World in the City of Lights.
In May I traveled to Paris, France with 19 other...
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The Week Abroad that Changed My Life
A year and two months ago, (yes I know the exact duration) 19 of us traveled to the beautiful country...
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Surrounding Myself with Culture: My Beidaihe Vacation
Greasy takeout, kung-fu, and Jackie Chan are some of the stereotypes that come to mind when most people think of Chinese culture. Being of Chinese heritage, however, I have experienced the true essence...
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Storm Warning
As we pulled through the entry gate of the nearly deserted Nebraska campground, I peered out the car window at the lake— Lake Minatare. It was by far the spookiest-looking lake I'd ever seen. ...
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A Child’s Tribulations
I used to mistake traveling for leisure, believing that going abroad was simply an intensely exhilarating expedition. However, I learned otherwise last summer during a six-week home stay in Germany. Upon...
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Beauty’s Pure Form
Early on a July morning, I rubbed my eyes and roused myself from sleep. Normally my godmother and her family let me sleep, but not today, today we were going to the mountains. In an effort to fully...
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I’m In My Happy Place
I step back from the microphone with a smile on my face, letting a small sigh of enchantment and...
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Stanford Trip
My past year has been uplifted to new heights! on August 7th I embarked on a journey to Stanford University in California to attend the People to People Student...
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They are More Afraid of You Than You are of Them
I just returned this past week from a vacation with my family to South Dakota. The soul reason for this trip was to visit family members. It...
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Our Trip (Which Involved a Castle and the Longest Sled Run in the World)
While we all love excitement, my family has never been known for its dedication to thrill seeking. But when some good friends asked us to go sledding with them, we immediately agreed. After all,...
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Lost in a Foreign Land
My family of six had been talking about traveling to Europe for years. It didn’t happen until just recently. During the summer of 2011, I went on a family vacation to Italy. We traveled to...
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