December 2019 My soul sister and travel buddy, Schyler, had been living in London for a few years, and my dear friends Olivia, Emily, and I finally made the trip to visit her. I’d been to London briefly as a middle-school student ambassador, but never during the holiday season—and I’d heard the city sparkles like nowhere else at Christmas. We flew from Dulles to Heathrow, where Schyler picked us up, and hopped on the Tube to her cozy apartment in Putney, shared with her sweet

December 2013 & Summer 2014 December 2013:  I loved Hawai’i so much the first time that I went back just six months later. My family and I stayed on Kaua’i, the northernmost island, over Christmas break. We rented a car, which is the easiest way to explore the island in a week, and stayed in a gorgeous resort near Lihue. One highlight was Waimea River, where we took a boat cruise and hiked to a waterfall that opened into a grotto. Surrounded by tropical flowers, mist, and wil