Spain Part 1: My First Time Traveling Alone

Three years ago, my family was given the amazing opportunity of hosting an exchange student from Spain. Her name was Natalia, and she lived with us for 5 months for the second semester of the 2012-2013 school year. Living with someone from all the way across the world was definitely a cool experience. She taught me some Spanish, and we helped her work on her English and assimilate into American culture; we were each other’s windows into new and foreign cultures.

The following summer, (summer of 2014), at barely 15 year old, I flew all the way to Spain on my own to spend a few weeks with Natalia’s family just outside of Madrid. I was about

Traveling Teen

I’m 16 yrs old, a high school student. You might ask how a high school student has the time and opportunity to run a travel blog. I ask this myself from time to time. I accredit most of my travel to parents’ love of travel. They’ve taken my siblings and me to the ends of the earth and back, and I couldn’t be more grateful. When my mom travels, she meets people from around the world and develops connections. Connections that last even today and bring us back to those places where the connections were made. She has friends and connections in France, Seattle, Montreal, Guatemala to name a few, and she’s drawn back to those places with the promise of seeing an old friend (not to mention free lodging), and

Canoeing in the Boundary Waters

Last weekend we headed up to the Boundary Waters for a little canoeing and camping trip. The Boundary Waters is definitely a one of a kind place. It’s a chain of lakes that that sits right on the boarder between Minnesota and Canada, hence the Boundary Waters. Campsites are set up around the lakes, but the only way to reach them is by canoe. So we loaded up our canoes with supplies, and set off on a two hour canoe trip to reach the campground. It was an adventure!

As luck would have it, it was a rainy weekend. The canoe trip into the campground was filled with on and off rain, as was the first night camping. That first night in the rain I was
wishing for the magic tents used in Harry Potter. The ones that don’t seem to be much

Sakatah Lake State Park

We had originally planned to camp up north, but storm warnings steered our trip south, and so two nights in Sakatah Lake State Park were reserved. Driving through the park, the road was lined with trees and trees upon trees making up a giant forest. The forest bordered Sakatah River, and the state park itself was the forest area that bordered a bulge in the Sakatah river more formally known as Sakatah Lake. When we made it to our campsite, we were literally surrounded by forest. It was awesome.

To Camp, or Not to Camp

As the weekend fast approaches, so does our annual cousin camping trip. Every year, we go camping up north with my cousins for a few nights, and even though I know some people find the idea of camping completely appalling, I love it. That’s not to say that there aren’t some things about camping that maybe aren’t the best. I want to share some of my camping experiences, both the good and the bad, to show why I think camping is worth all not so great things that come with it.

I think most of the bad things about camping are more obvious than the good things, and that’s maybe why some people steer clear of it, because they only see the bad. At most campsites, the nearest bathroom can be up to a five minute walk away, that is if you’re lucky enough to be near more than a port-a-potty. And sometimes, taking a shower requires taking a drive into the nearest town. A few summers ago, we camped at Glacier

Venice: A Photo Diary

I do realize that this post is long overdue since we returned home exactly a month ago, but here it is, finally. Venice was the last stop on our trip.  Although we stayed only a few nights, it was enough to soak up Venice’s most stunning sights. Life revolved around the canals, but surprisingly, they were lined with sidewalks. It also came as a shock that most people that lived there actually had their own boats to use on the canals and didn’t really ride on the gondolas to get around; the gondolas were used by tourists.

Umbria and Tuscany: A Photo Diary

We spent about a week in Umbria, where we enjoyed Umbria’s beautiful landscapes and had a great deal of relaxing. Not to mention the couple of trips we took into nearby Tuscany to visit Florence and experience Tuscany’s splendor.

A Typical Day in Umbria

We’ve been in Umbria for a week now and it’s been amazing. We’re just about to leave for Venice but I want to share a little bit more about Umbria first. Our days have fallen into something of routine, at least the days we aren’t trekking off to Florence or Rome for the day (yes, we did take a train back to Rome for a day this week).

Unwinding in Umbria

After a week in Rome, some time in the countryside is just what I needed. Not that I didn’t absolutely love Rome, but after so much time in the city, it’s so refreshing to open your shutters each morning to the smell of morning dew, the sound of the birds and the warmth of the sun. The next leg of our Italy trip has taken me to Umbria, a region neighboring Tuscany, with landscapes very similar to Tuscany’s rolling hills. The past two days have been filled with hikes through Umbria’s forests, books in lawn chairs and visits to small towns glued to the hills as if by magic. The pictures below sum it up pretty well.

I’m really thankful that we were able to add this little piece of nature to our trip because there’s something about nature that’s so grounding. Being surrounded by nature here in

Rome: A Photo Diary

Rome is a city meant to be photographed, at least I think so. This past week in Rome has been amazing, and I’ve made sure to capture as much of it as I could on camera. Here are just a few little snippets of my week in Rome.