Making a New Family in Colorado
This summer was amazing! I, Monica Estrada, was able to spend my summer in Trinidad Colorado in a program called Math Science Upward Bound (Also known as MSUB). With MSUB I got to experience the...
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I Climbed The Great Wall
On August 5, 2011, my family embarked on an adventure. Our adventure would take us to five continents, 16 countries, and countless cities and towns all over the world. We spat in the face of normal...
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Alamosa
Running. Most people consider it a hobby, or something that people without lives do. However, for me, and the other members of my cross country team, it's a way of life. Because of our trip to...
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New York City also known as the “Big Apple” With so Many Wonderful Places to See
The big city of New York had always been on my list of places to go. As seen in the movies, the tall buildings and the thousands of people seem to make it all the more inviting!...
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Slovakia: Little Country, Big Heart
Slovakia. No it’s not near Kazakhstan. Nor is it in the Middle East. If your geography is failing you, does Czechoslovakia ring a bell? Actually, Czechoslovakia dissolved almost...
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A Southerner’s Trip to the Middle East… and Back
Though I have had the honor of participating in a multitude of programs throughout my high school career, there is no doubt in my mind that none will ever be able to compare with studying abroad...
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“You Always Fall in Love with the First–My Bleeding Purple Heart”
I have been to Chicago many times throughout my life and I didn’t think this trip would be different. It was....
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Journey Back in Time
I felt a tapping on my shoulder, as I opened my eyes, half awake, I saw my Grandmother pointing wildly out the taxi window. I was filled with excitement as my eyes shot open and I stared outside....
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All Roads lead to Rome
March of 2012 My school took a group of students and parents on a trip to Italy where ancient history loomed. We all signed up on EF...
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“Dees mahn, bullsheet.”
Israeli philosopher Martin Buber once said, “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” I have never entertained that notion until my...
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Finding myself in Deutschland
Last year I was given the opportunity to travel to somewhere I had always wanted to go, Germany. My family is German and my last name, Grosskopf, means big head, so I was always curious about exploring...
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Spain at Seventeen: España 2012
How can a girl describe the wonder of traveling the world? What is it that makes an amazing trip? The food? The people? The landscape? In my recent travel to the magnificent and majestic country...
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58,080 Feet
I stepped onto the cross-county team’s coach bus, and pangs of nervousness tumbled around in my belly. Our bus, equipped with fuzzy-screened DVD players, chugged up...
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Hanging by a Thread
They say it gets easier after the first step. That the hardest part is leaning back, putting all of your trust in and weight on the cord...
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Desert Dreams: A Tale of Santa Fe Magic
When my parents first revealed to me that our family would be spending most of our winter vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I was admittedly less than pleased. A great deal of pre-conceived...
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La Vita e Bella
Travelling with your family is not always easy especially when you consist of two adults and three grown teenagers who barely squeeze into the back seat of a car. Being the youngest, I always got...
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The Road to Oceanside…and Contention
While planning our family's summer trip, my mom and I decided that it would be fun to do something new and exciting. Instead of doing our standard "fly to San Diego and drive to Oceanside...
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How to be a Teenage Fashionista in Paris
The theme of my trip to Paris was simple: convince all the natives that I belong. Seeing as the trip was for my 16th birthday, and my insufferably touristy mother was accompanying me,...
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A Window Into Paradise
I signed up for the Rustic Pathways Amazon Explorer trip, expecting to have a good time, but I never expected I would fall in love. Fall in love I did - with the trees and the sky,...
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El tiempo que fui a Espana (The time I went to Spain)
Last summer, my school put together a group that was going to go to Spain. We went through a larger, organized tour group called EF Tours. There were at least five other schools from around the US...
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Howling Monkeys, Sleepy Slothes, Jumping Toads, Oh My!
Howling monkeys, lush green leaves hanging down from towering trees, waterfalls splashing cold crisp water, brilliant blood red and orange sunsets like out of the movies, bananas hanging...
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The 1%
Upon hearing the words “Grand Canyon”, 99% of the world’s population pictures an endless wasteland carved by the Colorado River. The lingering 1% sees him or herself looking up...
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Locked Up
The last place I imagined being that morning was locked away from civilization, screaming for help, fighting to escape, knowing that every breath I took may very well be my last. Well at least that is...
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Omaha Beach Experience
Our bus pulled into a quiet parking lot. It was overcast and the beach ahead of us wasn't like the ones back in California. It was quiet, with very few people scattered along the shore. They...
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España, Un Mundo Nuevo
The streets were luminescent with life. Smells of croquetas met yearning nostrils. The fast paced, piquant Spanish dialect was ambient. The air was warm but not humid, and it folded around me, welcoming...
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Choosing to Live Without
The cold winter wind whipped flakes of snow and ice into my eyes, obscuring my vision and preventing me from seeing the trail ahead. Fortunately for me, the dog team pulling my sled knew just where...
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My Day in Mykonos, Greece (And How I Didn’t Die in a Riot).
My two best friends and I decided to go on a month-long tour of Europe, ending with a cruise through the Greek Islands. My father was apprehensive about sending me on the trip, but more importantly,...
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Searching for Penguins
It was June, the dead of winter, but I wasn’t about to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity just because it was the off season. As an AFS...
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BONDING ON THE ISLE OF CAPRI
In June 2012, I ventured on a school trip to Italy with thirteen of my fellow classmates from Haverhill High School. The 10-day trip, which was with EF Educational Tours, began in...
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4M: Metro, Maps, Mishaps & Merriment
Travel is a gift. The experiences that one faces and lives through while traveling, are the most valuable souvenirs one can acquire. These lessons and treasures can be taken, used, and...
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A New View from the Sidelines
I gawked at enormous Catholic churches with figures of Jesus staring with tortured eyes, the brightly colored and glimmering costumes worn by the bravest of bull fighters, and Paellas rich with local...
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Life Is Not a Tourist Attraction
Some people travel the world so they can cross the sites of their bucket list. Leaning Tower of Pisa? Check. Statue of Liberty? Check. I guess I’m not like most people, though, because I’d...
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Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple
I now understand why people go to New York to try to fulfill their dreams. New York just has that special “it”...
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Learning to Sail on Puget Sound
Just over a week ago, I went on my third annual visit to my best friend. A few years ago, her family moved to Port Townsend, Washington. It's been hard not having her just down the...
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Masiphumelele
As we walked across the taxi parking lot, the hosts of our bed and breakfast introduced us the woman who would be giving us the walking tour of their township. She was a bigger woman, with thick,...
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Mountains, Waterfalls and Goats on the Roof
It took tons of research, convincing and finger-crossing to get my parents to take me on the vacation I'd always wanted: a roadtrip to some mountains and waterfalls. Regular visits to the...
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A Check Off the Bucket List
When I think of Barcelona, I can feel it. I can feel the rush of the subway as it passes by and I can feel the wind through my hair as I'm standing on the roof of...
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Lost Abroad
At 17 years old, I believe myself to be very globally conscious-I desire to make a difference in the world, primarily through creating a system that will help those in poverty live in harmony with...
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Climb Ev’ry Mountain
It was dark as we zoomed up the inner bowels of a mountain, and cold too. The train racing at speeds likely greater than 60 miles an hour. The pressure changes were recognized by me and my friends...
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Our Trek from Beaver Bay to Castle Danger
This summer my family and I took a backpacking trip along the Superior Hiking Trail that runs from Duluth, MN to the Canadian border. We started at the Beaver Bay trailhead and hiked thirty-two miles...
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A trip to Spain: Redefining Family Time
In my travels to Spain this summer the idea of "family time" has been redefined. A major part of this realization had to do with the challenge our tour guide gave us at the beginning of...
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Traveling Far To Reach A Close Distance
Travel has always taken place within the human race, raising the question: what drives the need to travel and why is the pursuit of travel never ending amongst our kind?
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My Eye Opening Experience to the Country I Never Knew
Traveling is not only a dream in my life but it is also my passion. So when my parents told me that I would be going to Bangladesh over the summer I couldn’t wait. This would be...
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Spiritual Family Vacay
My family and I went on a trip from May 26, 2012 – June 1, 2012. This was a religious trip that not only us but, other people went on as well. We are Jehovah’s Witnesses so, the trip...
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Depths of the Unknown
Gliding along the dusty path on my stomach, I grab whatever jagged rock I can reach, dragging my body forward down the deep, dark shaft. Stones jump into my pockets as I scrape my knees along the...
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