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 2012 Annual Christmas Family Vacation  — my second-ever cruise, first warm and tropical one — and it did not disappoint in the slightest. We boarded our floating metropolis in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, full of anticipation and excitement. Our first stop was Princess Cays, Bahamas. The sun blazed in a sky so blue it almost hurt to look at, and the warm breeze carried the scent of salt and adventure. We spent the day exploring, lounging on the pristine beaches, goofing

December 2011 It was our annual Christmas vacation—tropical, just the way we like it. My family (Mom, Timmy, then-stepdad, TK, Grandma, and my cousin Andrew) spent a week in the Bahamas, and it unfolded like a dreamy, relaxing escape. Most days were spent lounging by the pool or riding waterpark slides—one of which went right through a shark tank, thrilling and terrifying all at once. We stayed at a nearby hotel but explored the Atlantis Resort extensively—casinos, restaurant

December 2010 I say “ironic” for a reason. Our Christmas vacation to the Dominican Republic was all set—Mom had orchestrated everything, and the group included my brother, then-stepdad, and me—until about 48 hours before departure, when Mom realized her passport had expired. After panicking and triple-checking the date, it became clear: she couldn’t go. With parental consent notes in hand, TK took Timmy and me, and we arrived at our picture-perfect Punta Cana resort, walled o

Summer 2013 I’d been studying Spanish since 6th grade, and my dear friend Marta, from Madrid, had been a foreign-exchange student at my high school. To celebrate my high school graduation and 18th birthday, I set out to visit my “soul sister” in Spain for about 10 days. Marta and her dad picked me up from Madrid’s airport, and I stayed with them in the suburbs for the first half of the trip. We explored the city, visiting historic plazas, cathedrals, government buildings, and

Spring Break 2018 We had 10 days to cover a lot of ground during spring break, and my family’s itinerary was packed. We flew into Venice, then took the train to a charming Renaissance-style hotel near the water. Our first day was spent wandering the narrow alleyways (no cars here—just foot and boat traffic). It rained all day, which added a romantic flair to the already magical city. This was my second time in Venice, but my first with family, and I happily navigated us throu

Summer 2010 One random summer evening, my family friend Haley asked me to go to Germany with her the following week. Her mom, a longtime flight attendant, put us on the standby list for employees’ guests. Convincing my mom was easy—free flights, free accommodations—and off we went to visit Haley’s then-boyfriend Marco, a former foreign-exchange student at our high school. Teenage angst, over-plucked eyebrows, and all, I’ll never forget how relieved Haley was that I said yes (

Summer 2011 Since I’d loved my first experience with People to People Student Ambassadors, I signed up again—this time for a three-week trip to Australia with a different group. We spent weeks preparing with pre-trip meetings at local schools, packing, and studying up with our three brave teacher chaperones. About a week before we left, volcanic activity in Chile sent ash across the Pacific, forcing us to skip our planned week in New Zealand. Instead, we spent three unexpecte

December 2017 My family—Grandma, Mom, my brother—and I were supposed to fly into Ft. Lauderdale to board our cruise, but Mother Nature had other plans. Flights were canceled, so we hopped in the car in Virginia late at night, snacks in tow, and drove straight through. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on a gorgeous, sunny day and boarded the ship without a hitch. First stop: Princess Cay, Bahamas. A day of lounging on white sand and swimming in crystal-blue waters quickly turned i

Summer 2018 This was one of my favorite trips ever and really cemented Southeast Asia as one of my top vacation spots. The summer before it actually happened, my friend Morgaine (Mo) and I joked about doing a backpacking trip somewhere cool before we had to “grow up.” I had just finished my first year of law school, and Mo was considering grad school, so we were itching to travel while we still had flexibility. I suggested Southeast Asia—it had always fascinated me, and I’d h