Nogales is the Place to Go
I live in a town, where everybody knows everybody and you can walk probably everywhere, you know, if you had the energy. Santa Cruz County, also known as Nogales, AZ, is an urban place...
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Hampton Roads: Where History and Beauty Unite.
In 1607, the British colonists founded the first successful American colony of Jamestown, in Virginia. Today, Jamestown is located near where I call home, Hampton Roads, Virginia. Hampton Road's...
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My Family is the Mob and the Amish Shop at WalMart
That is the voice of my mother waking me at 2:30 in the morning to go to the airport. I am strangely wide awake after only 4 hours of sleep and before I am even fully dressed, Grandma is at the front...
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Israel through the Eyes of Jesse
A pilgrimage is when an individual travels to a place that has major religious significance to that person. In the Jewish religion, a pilgrim goes to Israel. A pilgrim...
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March Of The Living
We visited Auschwitz, and saw rooms filled with shoes taken from the prisoners. I saw pictures of babies who were tortured and glass exhibits filled with human hair. We visited Treblinka, a camp completely...
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Trip to Roaring Gujarat
In the summer of 2011, my parents, my sister and I took a trip to India to visit our family. It took about 16 hours of flying time to reach Mumbai, where we waited overnight for the morning...
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Big Things Come in Small Packages: The Island of Barbados
My trip to Barbados in the summer of 2011 was without a doubt, one of the best trips I have ever experienced in my life. Barbados, the birth country of super-star Rihanna, the well-known cricketer...
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The Will Of The Weeds
The air in Guilin is scorching hot, and temperatures have climbed to over a hundred degrees. Although we’ve escaped from the city to the countryside, we can’t escape the heat. Even the...
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Return to Roots
Every summer I get the chance to travel to a new exotic place in the world. All these trips are exciting and memorable, but none of these trips compare to when I go back to my native country,...
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Hemkunt Sahib: An Adventure
Hemkunt Sahib is a Sikh temple in the Himalayas, surrounded by seven snowy mountain peaks. This is said to be the place where the tenth Sikh “guru”, Gobind Singh Ji found God. Many people...
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A Journey Through Golden Fabric
It took 32 hours and three different flights to get to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Being born into the United States Military, travelling long distances was no new experience for me. Except this time it...
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10,000 Miles Worth of Memories
Traveling about 10,000 miles away seems like a crazy trip to make, especially landing on one of the world’s most populated nation: China. Coming from the airport...
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I Love This City: 6 Weeks in Chengdu
Melodious voices rise, mixing and dispersing above the steamy pavement of a corner-side pavilion, attracting curious passersby. Actually, the staring eyes are more likely drawn by the fact that these...
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Wondering at the World at a Wonder of the World: My trip to the Taj Mahal
I swat a few flies away from my face as I plaster on a confident smile and proudly pose in front of the Taj Mahal in the blistering heat. The Taj is undeniably beautiful. Neither photographs...
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The Glass Bottles
“An di! An di! (Eat more!)” My aunt weaves through the small kitchen carrying bowls of hu tieu: vercimilli noodles in a warm, savory broth. It is raucous and rowdy...
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The Best of Times and the Worst of Times
Last summer, my grandparents took my two siblings, my older cousin and I on to Europe, starting with the quintessential visit to London, and ending with a week-long tour of Ireland. My grandparents...
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Summer days in my Second Home
The sun danced in the sky, on this warm summer day in Bavaria, Germany. After days of rain, the spirit of delight hung in the air, as young and old greeted the clear blue sky. This summer, was spent...
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Fulfilling Dreams in Ireland
As a competitive Irish Dancer for 9 years, I had always dreamed of taking a trip to tour the country of Ireland. I felt that it would help me understand where the roots of my dancing came from, as...
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We are home
“We are home” my mom said as the plane landed in the Port Harcourt Local Airport in Nigeria. My mom brought my younger sister and me to Nigeria to live. I was not sure...
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The Colors of Joy
Everything’s brown. That was the first thought which entered my mind when I stepped off the train and looked at my Indian hometown Malda. I had been excited for my cousin’s wedding...
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Same World, Different Eyes
It had been approximately 7 years since the last time I'd been there. I'd been just seven years old and it had been about mid-July, right before or after my birthday. Now it was October....
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Family Roots in Missouri
An obscure sky hung clouds in the distance out the windshield of our car…a good Midwestern thunderstorm. The lightning flickered and rain came in a downpour like the dumping of old feed buckets....
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A mother’s wish
“ Hazme un favor y vaya al Alto de Tabor.” I foolishly accepted the task before even knowing what I was getting into. However, it was my mother’s wish, and whatever...
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Vacation of Security
Ten hours, four sets of security, three new stamps in my passport, two take-offs, two movies, and two landings, the bi-annual family vacation to Lyd had begun. For most people the most eye opening...
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Tossing Colors: India on Holiday
I stepped out of our hotel, the pristine, perfectly air-conditioned Taj Bengal, to the sticky humidity. Already, my hair puffed up around my face. In front of the sleek glass doors, the weather was...
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What Remains the Same
Dusty street carts bustled along the sidewalk, passing various clothing and grocery vendors who lined the streets with umbrellas and blankets covered with fruits, vegetables and trinkets. Lao...
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Finding Shangri-La
We were just a few tourists heading into the heart of Xianggelila in China, hoping to catch a glimpse of mao niu, or hairy cow (yak). The many rice paddies and crumbling stone...
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My Grandparents’ Soil Where My Heart Finds a Place
Having emigrated as a tiny baby from the small country of Belarus whose inhabitant amount hardly exceeds nine million, I was...
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A Croatian Relaxation
My trip started off as any normal, long-distance trip starts. I hopped on a plane and hoped that I would find enough entertainment to last the flight, so books are a must on those eight...
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Nauvoo: A City of The Faith
During the summer of my sophomore year of high school, the youth of my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, had visited the magnificent city of Nauvoo, Illinois: the...
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Tourist or Native? A Chinese Adoptee Returns to Hangzhou
Sipping Hangzhou’s famous Dragon Well tea from a small plastic cup, I hear the company representative through our translator, who talks of the tea’s color, texture, temperature... I turn...
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A.M. Accomplishments in Israel
I stepped out of the Alexander Hotel onto the silent streets of a dimly lit Dizzengof Street as adrenaline coursed through my veins; the clock told me it was 2 AM in Tel Aviv,...
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Just A Place In China
A blue tooth brush, a cartoon about a boy, and a little white dog; that’s the extent of the memories, I have of my early life in China. I left when I was 3 years old and going back, I had fancy...
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Exhilarating Adventures in an Unknown Country
After the 13 hour flight, I was ready to get off the plane. In addition to the long plane ride, I did not understand anyone. I was so scared that I was going to get...
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A Time to Reunite
When I was less than a year old, my father decided to leave my mom and I with any form communication between him and us. Twelve years later, my mom and I learned from my father's sister that...
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The True Indian Experience
“Mom, what are we doing for Christmas?,” I ask my mother with excitement. “We are going to visit your Grandma and uncles” she responds rather bluntly. That...
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Home Sweet Home
I have been craving the sweet taste of lambutants, the sticky, hot weather alternates with heavy rain, and, especially, I have been missing a piece of home. A month ago I came back from...
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My Ionian Village Experience
After arriving in Greece after a total of 19 hours of travel, I had never felt such a sense of euphoria. The picturesque white cottages with royal blue rooftops, the deep emerald green grass in contrast...
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Discovering My Roots in Koshkonong
I believe that experiencing places on this beautiful earth that God created brings me closer to Him, provides in
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Broaden Your Horizon
Being Mexican-American comes with a great advantage. Here is the thing why it is so great; I get to travel to Mexico annually. I am one who is fascinated by culture, religion, language, you name...
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USA History Rush
A select group from my eighth grade class poured into the busy Ronald Reagan National Airport, in Washington DC. The purpose of our group was to see as much of DC as we could in two and a half days....
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The Old World: Israel
When I told people I was going to Israel, the first question I was asked would always be, “Is it safe?” Truth be told, I was more scared waiting in the airport for our El Al flight on...
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Forever Bittersweet
Not always are trips worry-free and joyful. At least, that's what I thought when my mother, brother, and I embarked on a trip to my parents' native country of Poland to supposedly enrich...
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Root Seeking Trip: More Than What Meets the Eye
In the summer of 2010, my dad had signed me up for a Root searching trip...
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Meeting Culture
As I walk into the airport, I am hit with the smell of dirt, sweat, and heat all mixed together. Outside the sky is pitch black but there are no stars to be seen due to the multitude of lights surrounding...
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What we don’t realize.
Guyana is someplace that can definitely be considered a third-world country full of poverty and corruption. Filled with humidity and humungous bugs, I considered it to be the serene place on Earth....
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Eid – Festival that distinguishes the polar opposite social classes
As a Bangladeshi-Japanese student studying in the United States, I have learned to accept different cultures and values. When I traveled to Bangladesh two summers ago to see my relatives, I learned...
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An Amazing Traveling Experience Within Lima, Peru
I have had many wonderful trips with my family to Lima, Peru in South America, which a few times, we did have unexpected things happen to us in the process, but turned out making...
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The Deal on Israel
At age fifteen, I found myself on a plane with my family taking a fourteen-hour flight from JFK Airport into Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. After my freshman year of high school, no reward could have...
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My Trip to Home
As I prepare for the exciting challenge that is college, I reflect on my past experiences, particularly one between my sophomore and junior year. While most young adults used their summer vacation...
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Chicken
I barely heard my sister shouting over the rushing waterfall. My hands were quivering with adrenaline and my heart was beating like a drum as I peeked over the edge. Cautiously, I caught a glimpse...
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Exploring the Urban and Rural lands of Argentina: A peek into my heritage
In the winter of 2007, my family and I ventured to the vast expanse of land known as Argentina, located in South America alongside Brazil. My father is from Rosario, a small rural town approximately...
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From Auschwitz to the Negev
Last summer I went on a trip that changed how I view the world. I traveled with NFTY (an international Jewish youth organization) with a hundred other teens to Europe and Israel for five weeks. The...
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My Trip to Nigeria
My trip to Nigeria would definitely have to be a significant experience that has made an impact on my life. My father always wanted me to see my heritage, and has always desired to introduce me to my family....
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The Warmth of Food and Family
Every three years I get the amazing opportunity to squish myself in coach seating between overly excited tourists awaiting their new adventure. As long and claustrophobic as these plane rides are, I would...
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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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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 Syrian Experience
I was nervous that first day, as my parents helped me unload my suitcase next to the airport terminal. They hugged and kissed me goodbye as I departed into the terminal, not to see them again for...
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