In the Unglamorous Side of Traveling, We Often Find the Remarkable
It was the scenery. The colors in the market in Otavalo to the sun just visible behind the peaks in Maccu Piccu. But it was also the food. Fish tacos in a nearly deserted restaurant on the shore...
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It Passes All My Understanding
As we neared the ground to Cusco, Peru I took notice to the beautiful mountains. Green. Not from the trees... It was an incredible view from above. The farm lands looked like a patchwork quilt of different...
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A Week with a Few Half Wild Elephants
I had always wanted a “real” volunteer experience and so, after three years of saving and a dream I thought would never be true, I was now sleeping in the jungle of Chiang Mai, Thailand with my sister,...
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Slices Of Life: Charleston, South Carolina
My momma passed a hand over her eyes the other night and mumbled, “I need to get out of town.” She’s an artist, you know – one of those pensive, sensitive types. She needs to keep her chakras in...
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An Agnostic in Paris
March 23, 2011 I'm not sure how to cleverly start this, so I just have to begin with the basic fact that I am currently on a speed train going through the French countryside. I've just spent two wonderful...
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Never Sea-sick – Our Baltic Adventure
Last summer I went on a family vacation that surpassed all my high expectations. My “frequently cruising” family announced that our next trip would be a Baltic Cruise by Celebrity, and prepared for...
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The Innocence of a Child: Mexico Mission Trip
As the shore approached, I reflected on the reason of my being here in Mexico. A group of 11 from my home church of House on the Rock had gathered with the shared goal of spreading God's love on foreign...
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Travel Teaches: What I’ve Learned about Diversity from Travel
You’ve heard: Everyone is “one of a kind”. No mat
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Deux Semaines a Paris (Two Weeks in Paris)
It is really quite a surreal feeling. My whole life I had been planted firmly in America, having no knowledge of the world outside of my confinements. When the massive airbus 380 touched down in Paris,...
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Change in the Canadian Rockies: Banff National Park
There are many Canadian national parks, but perhaps the oldest and most well know is the Banff National Park, located 110—180 km (68—110 mi) west of Calgary, Alberta. Its large area (6,641 sq km;...
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Feet in One World, Eyes in Many
Very early in a post-rainy morning when the skies remain gray and the streets idle, two young girls travel home. Returning back to the apartment house after spending a night at the country house (dacha),...
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A Piece of Me in NYC
Sometime at the start of my junior year in high school, I became obsessed with the idea of living in New York in a teeny apartment filled with more art supplies than living space. Forget the fact that...
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A Week in Alaska — a Twilight Zone
I step off the airplane and look around nervously; I scan the unfamiliar faces until I suddenly make eye contact with a graying-redhead. I smile, run over, and give her a hug of pure exhilaration. I check...
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Jazmine’s Trip
My trip was from Mexico to the United States, during the spring of 2009. It was my first trip without my parents. It took my aunt and me three days to travel from San Luis Potosi to Chicago, Illinois....
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I Grew Up
Funerals and burials in America seem so easy, simple, and closing. Once you step into another country, it’s completely different. Traveling to Dominican Republic for the burial of my grandmother changed...
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Homage to History
After a ten hour drive across California, Nevada, and into Utah, it is always nice to step out of the car and take in the fresh mountain air. At a quick stop, on the way into Salt Lake City to pick up...
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A very different summer vacation
When I was thirteen years old, I took a trip that changed my life. After a summer spent constructing awkward Spanish phrases I was ready to board the plane to Nicaragua. A beautiful country, Nicaragua...
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Rain Or Shine: A Family Intertwined
With a jolt, my family and I were awoken by the piercing horn of the ferry, signifying our entrance into Norway. To my mother, this was a melancholy reminder of the life she had left behind to raise her...
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My amazing trip to China
My trip to China was amazing. I miss China even more now than I did the day I had to leave. I was able to visit 6 different cities, Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Shanghai, Wuzhen, and Hangzhou. Shanghai was...
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Chosen Family
I have always been told that “friends are the family that you chose for yourself”. Last summer I took a trip of a lifetime with my chosen family. My three best friends and I went on a...
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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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