After a tearful goodbye, I picked up my pillow and carry-on bags, handed my passport to the security agent, and trudged through tedious airport security. I turned back to wave to my mom one last before starting to my gate, but she was already gone. That’s when the realization set in- I was on my … Continued
My friend told me: “Douala is a very dangerous city. Even myself, I am African and when I need to go there I choose to do my chores during the day. A lot of dangerous people live there. Trust me, you don’t want to find yourself alone at night-time in Douala.” I was already nervous … Continued
While in Laos I ate sticky rice with every meal, sometimes every day. It is incredibly good and I’m going to sorely miss it. The other thing incredibly good here are the street vendor pancakes with Nutella and banana! We’ve been eating a lot of those as well as stir fried chicken with cashew and … Continued
The chronicles of a courageous camper in South Africa. Every true traveler must have a courageous camper somewhere hidden among the layers of their exploratory DNA. I am a passionate traveler, but my adventurous DNA has a missing link. Camping is a totally selfless act of sacrifice for my tactile challenged body and sensitive … Continued
Walking the Streets of Utila, Honduras After breakfast we decide to see if we can catch a ferry to the Cays. The sun is sweltering. “Its about 80 something degrees,” a girl says to her mother on the phone. An older man who calls himself Papi tells me to stay away from barrio anglais. “It’s … Continued
As I stood in the Mumbai hospital halls surrounded with the three most important men in my life, tears seeped deep into my heart when we heard of my mother’s diagnosis soon after she was rushed from the hospital room to the ICU with chest congestion. I was attempting to stay strong while my father, … Continued
What was I doing, stuck in a cave, crawling on my hands and middle-aged knees, my face barely inches from some overweight man’s butt? He was stuck and now, so was I. Not just stuck because of his size—he was a big, burly, macho Italian guy, but more, because of his ego. He wanted to … Continued
Since a young age, I have had an odd relationship with fear. During the day, I would revel in light and ward off my irrational fears with rays of lazy sunshine. However, the night would bring with it the worries I had shoved away into the shadows. Due to my experiences with the deaths of … Continued
The District Across our nation, scores of cities and towns possess touchstones for discovery, but for Washingtonians, our city—the District—is America’s touchstone of bravery all by herself. Positioned in the center of Interstate 495, along the Potomac River, the modern world’s bedrock for democracy and the American spirit swell from activity and activism. Wrapped in … Continued
The Dominican Republic Heart of the Caribbean This past summer I had an experience that changed my life, I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a small country on the island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic has a population of more than ten million people, 41% … Continued