Climbing to Montana Glaciers
Something looks different about glacial runoff water. While the average lake has a banal navy blue or even brown color, one composed of glacial melt has a rich, aquamarine, slightly opaque look to it....
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New York. New Me.
I couldn’t stop smiling, my enormous grin was permanently chiseled onto my face; my heart wouldn’t cease its drumming in my chest, it was as if King Kong himself was pounding his huge fist throughout...
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Finding Peace in Hiroshima
We stared with hands clasped over our open mouths and eyes glued to the figures before us. They were bathed in the red of their own blood, burned skin, and the flames that surrounded them. Their clothes...
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Old New World
Bullet holes still dot the walls outside the Pergamon Museum...
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The City of Lost Souls
Although my story is not considerably phenomenal, it is unique. Because unlike most, I will not tell you a memory of greatness, but rather one of realization. When asked about your...
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TRAVELING THOUGH TIME TO DISCOVER – AND UNCOVER – DINOSAURS, FISH AND TRILOBITES IN THE WILD WEST
This summer I got to travel through time with my family. We started our journey by heading back 50 million years to a spot near Kemmerer, Wyoming. After riding up a mountainside, we stepped into a barren...
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A Day in the Life of Japan
This past June I flew to Japan. I was deliriously underprepared for the experience that awaited me. I had crossed the Pacific Ocean to attend Tokyo’s...
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My Voyage to Living History that Inspires Within
One world blends into another as a formation older than anything else I've ever seen appears in front of me. Sidewalks transform into cobblestone roads, and townhouses become...
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Dirty Water and Inspiration
I was a travel virgin. Until, that is, my grandparents invited me on a trip to New York to see Niagara Falls.
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The 3 Years That Changed My Life
After living in the United States for 5 years my parents could no longer renew our Business Visa. We had to go back to Europe, but this was also the perfect opportunity for my parents to finally accomplish...
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Journey Back to Darwin
“Stepping out of an airplane into the balmy, pleasant air of Baltra Island is definitely not the way Charles Darwin made it to the Galápagos Islands,” I thought to myself, as I walked toward the...
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The Silk of Uncertainty—My Tentative Journey Underground the Guatemalan Jungle
My eyes are bleary, eyelashes split by Guatemalan sun. My hair is damp and tangled in hot, wet air. I tug a tee-shirt over the damp swimsuit that I must have fallen asleep in. I hope there aren’t...
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I Found My Spot
“Every American citizen should stand in this spot before they die,” I proclaim to my fellow students and our chaperones. Despite my tendency to speak my mind before I think,...
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The Eerie Struggle
We were waiting in line to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Our time was ticking and we only had 3 hours left in the city at most. To start off our impromptu 5 hour excursion, I witnessed...
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The Last Homely House
I'm the kind of person who is easily enthralled by the romanticized ideas of adventure. Having always loved fantasy novels and the like, the concept of exploring something...
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Falling Stars
My best friend, Kiana, and I first hung out when we were assigned a Spanish project. We were to take "selfies" of us experiencing different emotions and insert those pictures onto a slideshow to present...
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Éire
Sunshine that feels as though the world is telling you to live. Bright green fields and farms that you can’t get away from. And Helen, who has been by my side since day one, venturing into alleyways...
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The Summit—Climbing the Philippines’ Highest Peak
The morning was cool and damp as I carefully stepped onto the rainy trail littered with dead leaves. I was zipped into my waterproof jacket to stay warm (and as dry as possible). FINALIST 2015...
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Hiking The Swiss Alps: Vacationing to a New Reality
The sun rises in the east, traveling westward among clusters of wispy clouds. Like a saturated version of a fairytale, the world encompasses a hand painted backdrop of craggy mountains and bouquets...
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A Day in the Life of an Italian
Opening my eyes to Rebecca, my roommate, still asleep, I get up and go upstairs for an espresso.
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Indulging in Deutschland
A connecting flight, a six-hour layover in Newark, an eight-hour flight to Düsseldorf and a train to Bochum, and I am finally met with open arms of my German sister (AKA exchange partner). Excitement...
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Get Lost in Paris on June 21st
There is no better time to plan a trip to France than in late June when the temperature is 70°F all day and the sun doesn’t set until 11:00 at night. While I did know that being in Paris during...
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Campus Touring Tips Learned on a California College Road Trip
The idea of a two week college road trip seemed daunting to me at first, and as the date neared for my family to leave, I became increasingly anxious and apprehensive. The basic...
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Alaska: Weather, Whales and Waves, Oh My!
“How is it still raining? It’s pouring down harder than yesterday. We woke up at 6am, planning to paddle 10 miles up to Emerald Cove. My kitchen group ate our leftover Cinnamon-Raisin Bread before...
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A Ferry Crossing
About a year ago, my older brother, my mother, and I decided on a whim to shoot up to Burlington, Vermont. We had no idea what there was to do or see, but we had heard about the city’s vibrant culture...
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South River Girls Soccer Takes Italy
If you ever have the opportunity to travel to Italy, I highly recommend taking the time to explore the beautiful cities that litter the Tuscan landscape. I had the pleasure of traveling with 25 other...
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Lesson Learned
Slapping yet another mosquito off my arms I sigh and trek through the small gap in the trees. Dr. B, our field botany professor, decided to get off the magnolia...
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From Tourist to Traveler
Lost. That’s what I was last summer before I went on a life altering adventure to France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy. I had devoted sixteen years of my life to being the best I could be in school....
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Sand Castles in the Sky: A Trip to Sodus Bay
When people think of New York State, several iconic places come to mind: Niagara Falls, the Big Apple, the Thousand Islands, and the Adirondacks. Many New Yorkers have visited these places, so hearing...
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Unexpected Magical Memories
As I loaded my iPod with music in preparation for our ‘Summer Road Trip’, I knew my mother, my sister, and I were going to be spending many hours together in the van. Our starting point was Tempe,...
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Finding News in Dead Places
Attending the summer journalism camp at Eastern Illinois University and on assignment to explore “Small Town America,” Krystina and I, two aspiring journalists ventured into Teutopolis, Ill. T-town...
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Blind in Costa Rica
I have lived my whole life in Colorado, a place known for its natural beauty. I have grown accustomed to the magnificent Rockies and the incredible sunsets. I have taken for granted my ability...
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Idyllwild Pines: A Destination for Exploration
July 3, 2014 9:46 PMI usually wake up to skyscraping buildings and rush hour traffic and I’m used to the sound of...
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Expect the Unexpected
In March of 2014, I journeyed with my junior class of twenty-six students on a road trip to Washington, D.C. We not only visited the Capitol and most of its sights, but made numerous...
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Striving for More
Travel is a person’s way of expressing desire for something new, whether you’re conscious of it or not. People take trips for multiple reasons: visiting family, leisure, exploration, or charity....
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Big City, Big Lights: A New Home
Good morning Shanghai, my second home. The scattered rays of sunlight that manage to penetrate through the thick smog don't quite do justice to the city, a place better clothed in the sexy black of...
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The Beautiful Disaster
July of 2014. Nashville, Tennessee. My senior year. This was going to be one of the last vacations I take with my parents, so we decided that we should take a 2 week vacation and explore every corner...
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Cambodia: A Whole New World
Three days in Cambodia... That was all it took for the world to change my entire perspective on the world. Three days, and I was never again able to understand how we could categorize Americans as “impoverished.”...
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Wheels and Wildflowers: A Bike Tour Through Cade’s Cove
Grandpa tossed two helmets under the passenger seat and revved the engine. “I’m not wearing one.” He shoved his hand into the Skittles bag. “Me neither,” I tested. His glacier gaze cracked;...
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Yaritza and the Humanity We All Share
The last few decades have seen the rise of an America increasingly enamored of differences, ever more cognizant that diversity means fresh perspectives and ideas. I arrived in Costa Rica with this in...
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Bonding in the Ithaca Gorges
Traveling to Ithaca, New York in July 2014 was both illuminating and unforgettable. Although situated in upstate New York, the most un-foreign of places and only a four hour car ride from home, Ithaca...
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Can-Can with Strangers
The French culture has always been present in my life. My fascination stems from childhood; family members and friends constantly told me that the French culture was...
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School Trip Survival Guide
I am the queen of late nights and early mornings, the master of suitcase-sitting-so-I-can-get-the-zipper-around-this-last-corner, the grudging...
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