Strawberry Fields
Earlier this summer, I was fortunate enough to be chosen to attend a Girl Scout "Destination" program to New York City. "Destinations" is a worldwide program that encourages girls...
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My Trip to Paris. Discovering a New World in the City of Lights.
In May I traveled to Paris, France with 19 other...
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A Child’s Tribulations
I used to mistake traveling for leisure, believing that going abroad was simply an intensely exhilarating expedition. However, I learned otherwise last summer during a six-week home stay in Germany. Upon...
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Stanford Trip
My past year has been uplifted to new heights! on August 7th I embarked on a journey to Stanford University in California to attend the People to People Student...
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Outrunning the Sun
It was a bit of a misnomer. Of course, I didn’t find out until much later that there were no wolves on Rising Wolf Mountain. In this season of life, everyday seems to bring new...
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Experiencing the World, and Myself
Adrenaline rushed through my veins; my world seemed to close around me, leaving me like a beacon of light in a world of forever growing darkness. The thoughts of backing out flooded my mind; I couldn’t,...
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Peru Adventures
My name is Lauren Cole and I am a rising senior at Highland School of Technology. This past June, as part of the Gastonia Sister Cities Student Exchange Program, I traveled to Peru where I lived...
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A Surprise Adventure in Paris
All throughout junior year, my default answer to the question of how I’d be spending my summer was “the Europe trip,” which was what I had come to call the 10-day European tour...
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Grand Arizona Adventure: From Red Rocks to the Best View of Them All
The jaded road ahead radiated with heat from the Arizona sun. The land around the asphalt was dusty and cracked. It was speckled with pale green shrubs and was wrapped by forgotten barbwire...
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Getting Lost.
Castles, Cathedrals and Cats, oh my! If there were three things that my trip this past summer had plenty of, those would definitely be at the top of the list. Where do you ask, was the land that possessed...
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European Odyssey
Family: ”a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for.” With that said, I have many families. One that has made the most difference...
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I’m Just a Bill, a Lonely Bill, Sitting on Capitol Hill
As I was walking, I saw this crystal clear lake, glistening from the bright sun. The lake was inhabited by white flawless birds. I saw tourist and locals sitting on the edge of the lake reading,...
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The Road to Excellence
The stage lights turn on and everyone takes their seat and adjusts their stand; the moment is finally here. We raise our instruments and take our first deep breath; everyone hears our director’s...
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Foreign Yet Familiar
Cramped and weary from our seven hour flight, we stepped onto foreign ground fatigued and in disbelief. Twenty students including myself had embarked on a week-long voyage to Paris to immerse ourselves...
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Maine High Adventure Trip
My trip to Maine was a great trip for me and the rest of the crew. You see, I went on this trip with a bunch of Boy Scouts. The trip I went on was one of the high adventure trips the Boy Scouts occasionally...
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5am Morning Call to My “Dream Vacation”
Finally, the day I had worked extremely hard for to board my flight all the way to Hawaii, was here. I had dreamed of waking up on the beach at my own leisure and being pleasantly entertained by fire dancers...
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Philmont Adventure
I am an Eagle Scout who recently went to Philmont, New Mexico. Philmont is a Boy Scout high adventure camp that challenges the scout’s ability to survive in the wilderness. Our...
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A Valuable Exploration
In my mind, I pictured groomed, pristine streets overflowing with fashion-conscious, fast-walking citizens. I’d been to cities before, I knew what to expect—but the moment...
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Definition of Culture
The number of ways to acknowledge another human’s presence is infinite. Waves of the hand, nods of the head, or even twitches of the mouth are all methods of salutation; however, the most unique...
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Pourquoi Pas?
This is me, the health freak who won’t even put dressing on her salad, indulging in ice cream and crepes daily. The same girl who won’t touch beef chomps down on blood sausage and organ meat. When...
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Uniquely Similar
I woke up to a hint of sunlight, feeling strange that I was not in my own bed. Then it came to me: I was in Madrid, Spain, 3,000 miles and an ocean away from the United States. I weaved my way through...
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Boston, MA.: A Look into How the Other Coast Lives
In September of my junior year of high school, I took an unofficial visit to Boston University. Aside from the school’s stellar academics and...
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The UC Berkeley Trip Featuring San Francisco
It was the summer of my junior year going into my senior year and I needed to go and visit my top colleges and universities that I was definitely going to apply to; I suppose that's what led...
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Dansk!
3/1/12 7:55 p.m. After no sleep for about 34 hours straight it is finally time for bed. Maybe I’m in a sleep-deprivation haze, but the...
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For the love of France!
This summer I was given the opportunity...
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British Bunting
My sister and I made our way to the nearest underground station, walking swiftly past the plethora of shops lining Oxford Street as light, but steady rain fell. Taking the Jubilee Line from Bond...
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Somewhere Between Two Oceans
Icy air stung as the weight of panniers propelled my bicycle downwards. The steep road twisted and turned until the sign boldly proclaiming: “Roger’s Pass/ Continental Divide/ Elevation 5,610”...
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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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