On Becoming an Active Spectator
It’s six in the morning. Today is my last Sunday in Huejuquilla, Jalisco—my birth town—before my family must head home to the United States after having spent the entire month of December here,...
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The Whispering Path
As I walk down the trail, I am in awe of the beauty around me. Tall oak and maple trees tower above me with sunlight streaming through the leaves touching the floor of the forest...
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Trivandrum Tirade
I dodge a white projectile headed for my shoulder. Darn birds-they always try and ruin whatever you’re wearing. I slip on my chappals and sprint to the car bobbing and weaving as I must in order to...
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Sonqoykipi Apakuway (Take Me in Your Heart)
We are all broken people living in a world that is filled with hopelessness, sorrow and hate. At times we ask ourselves if there is still humanity and love in this planet that we call home. However, there...
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The Sacred Triangle of Temples
When I found out that I would be visiting Greece for a family reunion last summer, I was beyond thrilled. As a child, I would often find myself buried in a Greek mythology book, so visiting the real...
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Answering a Mother’s Call
Dawn’s warm sunbeams peered through cloud cover at intervals, illuminating patches of emerald rice patties throughout the low-lying mountains of Southern India’s ghats; the faintest of breezes glided...
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Eyes Widen and Heart Soars
Picture this: You're walking down a cobblestone street, to the left you can see a small glimpse of the canal that runs through the town and to the right...
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Searching for Sunrises
My eyes are barely open as I unzip the tent fly and stumble outside onto the wet, morning grass. I wonder why I can’t remember hearing the sound of rain the night before, then realize that it must...
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Peruvian Cultural Immerison
Machu Picchu, llamas, and the Spanish language are things that come to mind when thinking of Peru. These ideas are important aspects of Peruvian culture, however, the country is more diverse and cultural...
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In the Steps of History
The first three days went by so quickly, I hardly even remembered to text anyone back home or let my mom know how everything was going. My new Dutch friends were kind enough to answer many of the questions...
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Lost and…
Aruba, home to Dutch chocolate and clear water, was proving hot, brown and spurious as my family of nine bounced across the desert in a rustic van frantically searching the unforgiving landscape for...
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Becoming Friends with the Mayans
After the 45-minute bus ride from the port of Costa Maya, we finally arrived. My dad and I had had a front row seat for the tour guide’s lecture and were ready to discover the ancient civilization...
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I Do
I am, by far, the least musically inclined person I know. Yet that doesn’t...
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The Uganda Diary
As I plopped a lemonade-flavored, electrolyte hydrating tablet into my plastic water bottle, I could feel Sylvia’s big eyes watching my every move. With our rear-ends simultaneously bouncing up and...
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A Memorable Trip To Bryce Canyon
Travelling is a beautiful journey that leads to many experiences. Around the world people travel to take a break from their daily routines and explore their surroundings. They travel to learn about...
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Catskill Mountains: Birthplace of My Dreams
In the 1960s, a book called My Side of the Mountain inspired a young man’s dream to live in the wilderness and train raptors (eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls). As a young man he moved to Roxbury,...
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48 Hours in London
Comely cornerside shops selling fish and chips, ancient yet steadfast Gothic architecture among sleek silver skyscrapers, the thick whirl of a gray-tinged Thames -...
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Walking with Wolves – A Trip to West Yellowstone
It was the middle of July, and it was snowing. To my younger sister and I, this was a miracle in itself; back home in Texas, we got a few inches of snow once or twice a year if we were lucky,...
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Dad, Rafting, and Me
Every time dad called me and invited me to go somewhere, it was special for me. I did not get to see father very often because my parents divorced and he moved to another city. Also, dad’s job included...
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Pickett’s Charge – When Even God Mourned
You can still hear the sounds of cannons, the steady tap the drummer plays for the army, and the cries of men, young and old, who will never make it home to see their loved ones again. These dreadful sounds...
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A Journey Through Music and Time
It is known as the city that never sleeps, a name that only seems appropriate with its millions of bustling people, thousands of restaurants, hundreds of successful companies, and one Lincoln Center...
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A Day in Their Shoes
On February 17th, 2017, I embarked on a 12 day trip throughout Eastern Europe with a group of students I had never met before. See, I was a senior at the time, well the only senior on a trip full of...
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A Little Too Much on Island Time: My Visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands
The rays of the Caribbean sun first greeted my family as we stepped off the plane. I looked around at the mountains surrounding the airport’s runway, as I climbed down the shaky,...
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Seven UnBelizeable Days
Last summer I went on my first international mission trip with my church and a church group from Alabama to Dangriga, Belize. There I spent seven days in the hot Belizean sun making memories and friends...
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My Journey of Discovering the Meaning of “Sí Se Puede”
The world is a marvelous place, home to many cultures, beautiful scenery, and many undiscovered beauties. Since I was a child, I dreamt of traveling this beautiful blue marble, called Earth. I had no...
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Rediscovering My Roots: A Trip to Vietnam
It was a steamy day when our plane touched down in Da Nang, Vietnam. But then again, what summer day wasn't hot in Vietnam? Being Texas natives did not make my family immune to the blistering sun. It...
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Galveston: The (Not So) Pristine, Sunny and Glamorous Beach Getaway
It rained so hard on the drive down to the island that the only thing I could see sometimes was the taillights of the car in front of us. Since the sun rose the sky had been grey, and the car crept forward...
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Santo Domingo, A Whole New World
In the summer of 2016, my family rented a charming townhouse by the beach, packed our bags and took on what would be one of the most eye-opening experiences we’ve ever had. Ideally, being...
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Finding Home
This is Vietnam at 6:00 in the morning. I peer out from the tenth story...
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VSA (Vacation of Scholarly Acceptance)
Merriam-Webster says that a vacation is a period of time spent away from work in order to rest or travel, but my vacation was much more than that. My time spent in Nashville, Tennessee, blended together...
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The Pounds I Gained from Paris to Provence
In a word association test pertaining to France, people will likely come up with answers such as Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and Tour de France. However, I had the opportunity to visit France with my family...
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The Trip of a Lifetime
When I was a little girl, the best presents I would receive were from my grandmother. My chest would cinch with anticipation as I spotted one of her coveted parcels lying in the doorway. Inside would...
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Emerald Green by the Sparkling Sea
Ireland. A journey of a lifetime and a land of absolute astonishment for any traveler. Upon arriving via Lingus Airways at Shannon Airport, the hues of green confounded every spectator, and was a blinding...
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Munich: Beyond the Hofbrauhaus
Munich, Germany is known as the beer capital of the world and is most famous for its annual Oktoberfest, but this city was founded on more than a love for beer. On a recent trip to the village which...
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Home in the World, Roots in China-June 2013
This is the story of when I returned to my Found Site. What I saw made me realize how lucky I am. The roads were made of dirt, the building timeworn, and I stood in front of it – my Found...
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5 Tips for Experiencing England
In June of 2017 I traveled to England, with a group of High-School students to explore British Literature and Culture. I traveled to Oxford, Stratford, Bath, Warwick, Canterbury, London, etcI. was...
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A Step That Took 250 Years
You could say this vacation trip actually started over 250 years ago. That’s when my eighth great grandfather (Granddad Matthew) came to America. I bet you are saying…WHAT? Well, his life story...
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Undressed in Atami
Our loaf-shaped tour bus wove up hilly roads to the New Akao Hotel, located in Atami of Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture. Its snow-white buildings had tucked themselves into leafy pockets on the rocky...
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Dying Legacies and A Dusty Attic: The Lost History of Hungary
One thing Andrew Pongratz is notoriously famous for is his horrendous driving. On his visits from Arizona, he would occasionally drive me to basketball practice, involving serious bumper riding and cruising...
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Loving The Unloved: I Can Make A Difference
Large innocent eyes stare at me solemnly, faded from hopelessness and caked with the grit which came from years of living in garbage. Underneath the grime, I notice...
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Restricted By The Lens
It was just yesterday that I was cleaning and came upon a large cardboard box marked pictures. As I opened it up, I looked at the heap of scrapbooks and bundles of photos randomly scattered...
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St. Croix, USVI
It was not the dream trip we thought we had planned. Even still in the plane to St. Croix, USVI, I had expected to...
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Shoot for the Stars
Every family has their ups and downs. Every family is different, every family loves in different ways. Every family is at least slightly crazy, and if this in't true for your family, you haven't spent...
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The Paper Airplane Wars
A week. That’s all I had: a week to experience a new culture, a new world, a new perspective. I assumed that the geography, culture, and people of other countries would be wildly different. What else...
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An Unexpected Present
As we approach our destination of Lake Tahoe, California, a drastic shift from our home town gradually emerges. The tall buildings which ruled the city are replaced with densely packed fir trees, stretched...
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Like a Scooby-Doo Cartoon
I half expected a monster with matted green fur wearing a sombrero to scare me just like out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon. Perched on a two-foot wide stone ledge with no guardrail, I gazed at ancient carvings...
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The Korean Summer Sun
The smell; that’s the first thing I noticed when my plane touched down in South Korea on July 17, 2016. The smell was nothing like I’d ever experienced before,...
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Adventures in Aspen
I'd say that nothing can really change you like travel can. I was sixteen years old, teetering on the edge of elated freedom and terrifying reality. I had never flown without my parents before,...
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