Of Heat and Humanity
The heat slipped into Los Angeles, catching us unaware. Was that the inkling of a coming heat wave, or just a warm breeze? Were those clouds in the distance? Surely, the morning fog meant a mild day? By...
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Dance is the Universal Language
I stood center-stage in a colorful costume and stared out into the crowd eagerly filling the cobblestone square. Beyond, the Sudety mountains stood proudly before a glowing sunset. The music began,...
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Pilatus: The Dragon’s Mountain
LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND. 1421. It’s summer, when the snows have finally receded back into the fang-like peaks of Mount Pilatus. The small lakeside village rests peacefully...
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An Evaluation of Public Transportation or, That One Time I Went to New England and Couldn’t Rent a Car
1. Airplane We arrived at the airport at approximately 4:15 the morning of November 11. My mother, my sister and I were taking a couple days to visit some colleges. We were flying into Laguardia that...
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The Secret Behind the Twigs
When I looked at the island on the horizon, there wasn’t anything pretty to look at. After all, it was very small, like a child had stuck a small group of leafy branches into the middle of a puddle....
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One Ola at a Time
Waving goodbye to my chaperones and fellow exchange students, all of the excitement that had built inside me on the 12-hour plane ride to Costa Rica turned to dread as I realized that my classroom...
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An Unfortunate Day on the River
Skin blistering heat. River water moving as slow as an act of Congress. Disappointment after every turn from hope that we would soon reach the end. Our family’s much anticipated white water rafting...
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Battling on the Courts: A Dallas Story
Red, white, and blue. Patriotic colors fly through the sky as we celebrate America’s independence. Scurrying out the door to enjoy the fireworks, the phone echoes through the empty house. Usually...
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More Than a Postcard
Contrary to popular belief, there is more to the Hawaiian Islands than what is portrayed on a postcard. I myself had been to Hawaii before, but at the time I too was mesmerized by the commercialized...
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The Big Blue
I have visited thousands of places, dozens of countries, lived through marvelous adventures, but nothing will ever compare the amazing experience I had in Polynesia. I was sixteen, I loved swimming...
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When in Rome (Or Assisi)
There are those vacations that leave you with fond memories, and there are those that leave you forever changed; my trip to Assisi was of the latter. After enduring a grueling five-hour layover, a turbulent...
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Remember Me
Shoes. Piles of dark, weathered, worn shoes. If they could speak, they would disclose secret tales, too ghastly to imagine. The leather-bound soles might sigh, weep, and hesitate to tell about the arduous...
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How Paris Showed Me the Stars
All the sounds fade away as the doors close and suddenly I am apprehensive, unsure and excited all at once. The elevator is packed with people who have come from all over the world for this moment....
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Waters of Freedom
Dictators have had a horrible history throughout the world, and although they are not prevalent in the United States, I found my life being controlled, not by a person, but by fear. My fear of doing...
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Dubai: A “Tale of Two Cities”
When you think of Dubai what’s the first thing that comes to mind? If the first thing you thought of was money, mansions, or even people with monkeys for pets then you were a lot like me in...
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Quito’s Canines
Where do I go when I want to stand on the equator but don’t want to sweat and definitely don’t like mosquitoes? Quito, Ecuador. The top of the Andes Mountains. South America. An elevation so high...
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Gordonton
My first foray into the North Carolina I was born to was in the late Fall of my sophomore year in High School. Adolescence is a time made for rebellion, and since my whole existence had been a middle...
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A Stroll in Berlin
If I’m honest about it, I was never grabbed by books about history when I was younger. I found it hard to connect personally...
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A Tale of Two Worlds
I glance behind me, checking that my little sister is asleep on the bed as I slip out onto the balcony of our rented villa. It’s early evening in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, right after the heat of...
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The Fiction of Chicago: The City Behind The News
Bullets were as common as fireworks on the weekend of July 4th, 2016 in Chicago. More than 60 people were shot over the course of the weekend, and all anyone could talk about on my social media was...
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Zorita de Las Gente
He was probably in his late twenties when he died. He was a Christian monk and a member of the Knights Templars of the order of Calatrava. He slept in his armor and he rarely bathed. Let’s call him...
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Sunrise Serenade — Hiking Navaho Peak, Washington
Some ideas are the product of meticulous planning and deliberate thinking, while others just seem to happen. When three friends and I decided to climb a 7,000 foot mountain at 3:00 AM to herald the sunrise...
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My Soul for Santa Maria: Life Lessons Learned from a Volcano
4:00 a.m. is too early to be climbing volcanoes. I’m still dreaming as I wake up, crawling out of bed and into shorts, fumbling with shoelaces and hair ties. Everyone in in our little town of Xela is...
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Weird Flocks Together
From the beginning of my memory, I have never had a typical mom. Never has she dyed her peppered hair, hid behind layers of make-up, and don’t even try to coax her into a pair of heels. Not only does...
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Swiss Sweets
Swiss cheese, Swiss chocolates, Swiss Alps, and Edelweiss must ring a few bells for everybody. Switzerland is known...
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Seeing All in Seattle
I lean my head against the cool window of the Link Light Rail, watching rain droplets race one another down the expanse of the glass; if I squint they look like tiny men in the foreground of Washington’s...
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First Travels
In the Spring of 2015 I had the amazing opportunity to travel to France for a week. After my first international travel experience, I came to the realization that I have a strong passion to explore...
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Where Humans and Wildlife Collide
The miniature howler monkey clung to its mother’s back as the older monkey undulated through the branches of the twisted tree. With one movement, the mother pushed off the bowing bough and transferred...
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Memorable Moments From a Blank Itinerary
I peered down at the fried fish whose eyes bore back up into me and knew right then this trip was one for the books. I was accompanied by my newspaper advisor, three fellow reporters, and a chaperone,...
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The Rain, the Rock, and the Marmot
This past summer, my parents and I traveled to Yosemite National Park in California for what I can say was an adventure of epic proportions and grueling obstacles. Our goal was to conquer the Half Dome...
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Speaking French In Ecuador
Rule number one to traveling: Study the native language for more than a week. That was something I had not taken into serious consideration as I hopped onto my plane. My destination was...
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Transcending Language Barriers with Manners: Life Lessons from the Japanese
Waking up at five am is never pleasing, especially on vacation. But the blaring alarm signaled a new day, the promise of adventure. With my legs still stiff from the 14-hour flight, I arose and peered...
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Ten Popsicle Toes
When my mother announced the family would be traveling to Iceland for Christmas my stomach dropped. A California girl, the mere thought of Iceland(!) during wintertime (!) made my toes curl, but there...
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A Privilege Hidden Among the Sierras
All my life, my father has taught me about adventuring in the world. My sister and I always tentatively listen when he mimicks stories about his backpack travels in Alaska, recalling sights of mother...
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Life at 10,000 Feet
They told me oxygen would be scarcer, but they didn’t tell me it was the mountains that would take my breath away. I was deep in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, in a small village called Ollantaytambo....
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Navigating the Dark in the City of Light
Travel is the insane desire to become lost. Lost in a culture, a language, lost in ourselves. And when I decided to study abroad for a year, I was completely unaware of how my world would change, of how...
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Storming Castles and Hunting Dwarves in Poland
As a kid with an incredibly active imagination, I loved acting out the stories that my Mom read to me or what I saw in movies. I taped flashlights to my arms to shoot lasers like Buzz Lightyear, and built...
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A Night on Battlefield 1864
The night was cold but the air was clean, so clean that the only thing that had polluted the perfect scent of the wilderness was the smell of fresh pine burning beside our camp smoldering away into...
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Getting to Know Paris
I believe that the point of traveling is to escape a person's normal lifestyle, to break the habits of everyday lives. I grew up in a family of travel; we are always looking for new places to go in...
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From Russia with Love
The boat that had taken us through the waterways of St. Petersburg docked at the entrance to Peterhof, signalling that at last we had arrived at the mystical palace and its famed gardens. Although our...
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A Mandir Medley
The sun sparkled high on this specific Sunday morning in Chicago, the weather perfect for the cultural encounter that awaited me. Yet, I was hesitant to interact with a society whose values and traditions...
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Antarctic Marathon Adventure
One does not simply walk a marathon in Antarctica, at least not without three layers of jackets and sweaters -- I learned that the hard way. It was March 9, 2014. I, filled with adrenaline, looked anxiously...
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My Heart of Turquoise
I had never seen so many junipers in my life. The green, bushy plants stretched for miles into the desert of New Mexico like they could go on forever. We were far outside the city limits...
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China’s Treasure
I’m here. Ancient stones are only steps away from my touch. I see a high point in the glorious distance and make it my goal to at least make it there. I take my first step and just admire the wall itself....
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Yellowstone: A Disaster Only A Family Could Love
At the beginning of eighth grade, at an ungodly hour in the morning, my 36 classmates and I gathered at the airport in t-shirts, shorts, and hiking boots. Packed in our suitcases were outfits similar...
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Cycling Around My Sweet Potato Island
The chilling, fuzzy wind swooshed pass my ears covered with a cycling-head-kerchief. My neon yellow windbreaker jacket is dancing against the speed of my bike. I see the numbers on the odometer increase...
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Enduring Burdens as an Ally of the World
When we entered the Cibeles Palace in Madrid Sunday morning, trailed by a few early spring gusts, it was virtually empty, besides employees and a few Madrilenians tucked in corners of the offered reading...
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