When people plan a trip, normally the only thing that people think about is the destination. They think about where they are going and what they are going to do there rather than how they are going to get there. To me, the journey is just as important as the destination and there are many ways to make that journey. Whether you travel by car, plane, train, rv, bus, or van, every mode of transportation has a different effect on the feel of the journey. Before starting a journey, you must first determine what type of journey you want it to be.

If you are planning a family trip I most definitely recommend traveling in an RV. If you are looking for ultimate family time on a vacation then this is the way to go. When I was 14, my family along with my other two aunts families went on a week long road trip around the western U.S.. The trip itself was an absolute blast but what really made the trip so fun was the time we spent together in the two RVs that we rented. It is surprising how many people can fit into one RV! We fit a total of 9 people in one RV and 8 in the other! With a king bed in the back, a fold out couch, and a bed above the front driving cabin it was only slightly a tight fit when driving because we were all trying to sit in the main part of the RV. Riding in the RVs also meant that we stopped in RV parks every night. At the parks there were parks and grills so every night we grilled out and played games in the parks. I wouldn’t exchange that trip for anything in the world.

When going on a vacation, it is common to use 1 or 2 different types of transportation. Sometimes, a trip can also go from land on to water. Last year my family went on our second family trip out West and we spent our vacation on both land and water. After driving in two 10 person vans from Las Vegas, we rented two houseboats on Lake Powell. We stayed on the houseboats for about 5 days and I wish we could’ve stayed longer. It had 5 beds so we weren’t tight for space and it was very spacious with a full kitchen. There was a slide off the second level which had room for sunbathing and you could also steer from there. It was truly like having a fully functional house on the water. We would spend our days moving to a different location or swimming around the boat.

Traveling is very important to my family. The bonding time and fun we get out of all of our trips makes me wish that they would never end. Sometimes, not traveling in the fastest and most convenient way may just make your trip that much more enjoyable. I hope that after reading this, you consider taking a trip like these with the ones you love.

This coronavirus pandemic has caused many people to miss out on the things they love to do most. For some, that includes birthdays and for others, hanging out with friends. For me, this includes my graduation but most important to me is my trip to Spain. Every 4 years my school’s spanish teachers take spanish students who would like to go on a trip to a spanish speaking country. This June I was supposed to spend a week and a half traveling in Spain. In this blog post, I will be talking about where I wanted, and still want, to go to Spain. 

Madrid is not only the capital of this beautiful country but it is also a city full of beautiful art and architecture. The site that I wanted to visit the most in Madrid was El Retiro Park. This gorgeous, centuries old park was first created as an area of religious retreat and devotion. It wasn’t until hundreds of years later that it was opened to the citizens of Madrid to enjoy. Not only is this a very popular place for picnics and walking but it is also full of beautiful statues such as the famous Fallen Angel.

The second city I wanted to visit while on my Spain trip was Sevilla. Sevilla is a city full of culture. If it’s flamenco school, bull fighting ring, and art museums are enough to show the liveliness of this city, I don’t know what will. The places I wanted to visit most in this city is the Cathedral of Sevilla. This beautiful building is listed as a World Heritage Site and was built between 1402 and 1506. The many different sections of this building contain many different types of art. One of the sections, the main chapel, of this cathedral is full of 45 different wooden sculpture scenes from the life of Christ and sculpture of Christopher Columbus. The Royal Chapel contains the royal tombs and the crown of the Virgen de los Reyes. This building is so large and full of so many rooms that I could just spend all day in there.

This Pandemic has cause many people to miss out on what they love most. For me, I will be missing out on the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit a foreign country with my friends from school. While I am extremely upset about missing out on my trip, I know that someday I will go to Spain because traveling is my passion and Spain is definitely on my bucket list.

Things are really scary right now. The number of cases of Coronavirus are continuing to rise along with the death toll. Everyone is afraid to leave their house even just to go to the grocery store. I mean, before just recently going to my aunts house in Chicago, I hadn’t left the house in two weeks! I was bored out of my mind and had probably watched almost every movie on Netflix. Some of them are really, really bad. Along with all this movie watching i’ve been doing, i’ve also been thinking about what i’m going to do and where i’m going to go when the quarantine has been lifted. In this blog post, I will be giving 2 suggestions on where to travel to when the quarantine is over. These suggestions will consist of places that have been badly impacted by the Coronavirus and are in need of some serious tourist money when this pandemic is over. Also, I mean, why not take advantage of super cheap airline tickets!

My first adventure suggestion is Barcelona, Spain. Spain has recently closed its borders to contain the spread of this horrible virus but that doesn’t make this city any less beautiful. Barcelona is about a 6 hour drive Northeast from Spain’s capital Madrid, on the coast of the Balearic Sea. This city is a true wonder, full of art and color. Barcelona was the favored city of a famous artist named Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi created 10 beautiful buildings that were all intricately made to be 100% unique so not one looks anything like the other. They are all truly amazing to see and experience and are all on my bucket list to see before I die.

My second adventure suggestion is Florence, Italy. Italy is a country that has been severely impacted by the Coronavirus and it’s borders have been closed since the beginning of the pandemic. While this city has been turned into a ghost town because of this virus, it’s architectural beauty still shines through the depressing cloud over it. This city is full of beautiful statues, arches, buildings, and Renaissance art that are really a life must-see. One of the most popular sights is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. This cathedral took 6 centuries to complete and is the third largest cathedral in the world. If this beautiful building doesn’t make you want to see this city I don’t know what will. 

The world is a crazy place right now and everyone is scared. Scared of losing loved ones or getting sick themselves. It is in these times that we must hold on to hope. Hope that this will all soon be a bad memory that we will move past but never forget. To have hope means to have hope in a future where life returns to normal or at least close to the normal we had and for me, being able to finally travel where I want to will be my true indication that everything is going to be ok.

It is said that flying is the safest way to travel but this is only true when you are talking about the transportation part of flying. You never know what the people on your flight or in the airport have in terms of viruses and diseases. Many of you know of the recent outbreak of COVID-19, or more commonly known as Coronavirus. Coronavirus is a type of respiratory illness that was first contracted from an animal. The pandemic started in Wuhan, China and has since spread to other countries such as Italy, Spain, the US, etc. Across the world, schools and events have been cancelled to try and prevent further spread of the disease. While people have been suggested to suspend travel, I know that, like me, people are going to still want to travel so in this post I will be giving advice on how to safely travel during the age of the Coronavirus.

My first piece of advice is the most important. Wash your hands. Washing your hands is so important in trying to keep away the virus. Over 94,000 people in the world have contracted the Coronavirus so far and the number is still growing. The most common way that these people contracted the disease is by touching something that an infected person has touched and then had touched their own face with that hand. It is highly recommended to wash your hands for about 20 seconds in hot water with soap to kill off all of the germs and bacteria on your hands.

My second piece of advice is to simply try and refrain from touching your face. Like I said earlier, Coronavirus is most commonly spread through touching something with the virus and then touching your face. An average human touches their face about 23 times an hour so I know that this is something that isn’t easy to just not do. The best thing you can do is just try your best to remember or put something on your hand to remind yourself.

My last piece of advice is more of a myth buster. Although many think this, wearing a mask doesn’t completely prevent you from getting the disease. It is recommended to wear a mask if you already have the disease to prevent you from spreading it to others. The best way to prevent yourself from getting the virus is to follow my previous advice of washing your hands and not touching your face.

We live in a time of fear right now due to this virus. People are afraid of everything including each other because you never know who could have it. As scary as this disease is, I won’t let this stop me from doing what I love. Traveling is what I love and nothing will stop me from doing it.

When most people hear that someone is traveling somewhere, most people immediately think that that person is traveling out of the country. To a tropical island or to a major city in some other country. I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to leave the country to travel somewhere amazing. There are so many amazing places in the United States that some people have never heard of. Here is a list of 3 amazingly beautiful places in the US that should be at the top of your traveling bucket list.

Our first destination idea is Antelope Canyon. Antelope Canyon is located on a piece of Navajo (a local Native American tribe) land in Arizona. The Canyon is split into two parts: The upper and the lower Canyon. I went there with my family last summer and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. We walked through the lower canyon which is about 1,335 feet below sea level. The walls of the canyon have been carved out and smoothed out by wind and water which is absolutely incredible to me. The fact that nature could make such an out-of-this-world landform is breathtaking. 

Our second destination is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I truly believe that everyone should experience this amazing national landmark at some point in their lives. No words do this place justice but i’ll do my best. The Grand Canyon was formed by millions of years of water breaking down the rocks until it has become the beautiful, massive canyon it is today. The Grand Canyon is about 1,902 square miles of beautiful red rock and Colorado river. They have hundreds of hiking trails and even horseback riding trails that go all the way down to the valley of a part of the canyon. It also contains three viewpoints where you can just sit on the massive back porch of one of the lodges and just enjoy the view.

Our last destination on the list is Devil’s tower in Wyoming. Devils Tower is about 1,267 feet tall  If you’ve ever seen the movie First Encounters of the Second Kind then you know what significance this land formation has. For those who haven’t, in that movie the main characters are trying to communicate with and find aliens on Devil’s Tower where the military set up a secret base to communicate with the aliens. It’s strange texture is what totally freaks people out. When I travelled there with my family, we found that at the base of the Tower there are giant boulders that had fallen from the tower. We ended up climbing up those boulders as far as we could go. It was a really amazing experience. 

This earth is full of so amazing sights and formations that it’s hard to decide what to see first. My last suggestion to you, my readers, is to make a travel bucket list. Just take a piece of paper and write down all the places you want to see before you die. When you are making this list, I hope my list has shown you one important thing; you don’t have to travel out of the country to find a beautiful destination.

Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to just travel the world. I always dreamed of just picking up everything, hopping on a plane, and going somewhere new. Have you ever asked yourself, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Well my answer to that was always Greece. A little strange for a little kid right?

I mean what could you not love about Greece? It has beautiful white sand beaches, bright blue waters, and crisp white buildings but, surprisingly that’s not why I fell in love with Greece. I absolutely love to read and some of my favorite books are by Rick Riordan. Riordan writes fiction books with mythological bases and he’s the one that basically made it my life’s dream to go to Greece. Greece is full of culture and history that is just priceless to me. One of my favorite places is Athens.

Athens is not only beautiful but also contains lots of culture. Athens is home to the Parthenon, which is the greatest reason why I want to go there so bad. The Parthenon is a former temple to the Greek goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom and strategy. How awesome is that?! After about two and a half thousand years, this beautiful piece of history is still standing for people from all over the world to appreciate and experience.

Now I know that not everyone is into mythology and history so another good place to visit in Greece is Zakynthos. A weird name right? Well it’s undeniable beauty definitely makes up for it. This beautiful place is the location of a famous shipwreck in 1980 and that just adds to its beauty. It is also home to loggerhead sea turtles and many other different types of sea creatures. White sand beaches with crystalline blue waters, what more could you ask for?

My dream is to travel the world and I fully intend to do that. May it be in college or after college, I promised myself that I would. I had wanted it to be my senior trip but I am going to Spain with my school. I feel so lucky to be going to Spain but I also know that going there hasn’t been my lifelong dream. Now, i’ve done everything I can to convince you to go to Greece but if you still have some doubts just let me ask you this, why not?

Anyone who’s flown on a plane knows that your carry on is your most important accessory. I have a carry on for every flight i’ve taken, no matter how long or short. My handy-dandy grey Fjallraven Kanken backpack holds everything that I will need on my flight so I don’t have to worry about not having what I need. Here is a list of 3 things that I believe should be in everyone’s carry-on.

The first thing I think that everyone needs in their carry-on is a good, comfortable pair of headphones. Nothing makes my head pound more than the sound of that airplane engine. That droning sound that makes it seem like you’re in a spaceship and not an airplane.Listening to my playlist always seems to keep that sound from my ears but it also seems to make the time pass faster.

Our second flight necessity is a couple of good snacks. I always seem to get the munchies when I’m on a flight and I’m not the biggest fan of what they sell inflight. If you know you’re going to get hungry during the flight then it’s definitely best to bring some snacks. I would suggest to bring a healthy snack but that would be hypocritical because my snacks of choice definitely consist of mostly chocolate. An empty stomach and the air pressure on your flight is the perfect mixture for an upset stomach and a very unpleasant flight. Feeling sick and being on a flight is the absolute worst.

The most important part of my carry-on is my book. I know, I know old fashioned right? I love to read and I think that if other people gave it a chance, they would love to read too. Just like in the car, I always seem to get a headache when I’m on my phone but when I read I never get one. Just one of the many perks of reading a book rather than being on your phone. There also isn’t any service on an airplane and the wifi rarely works so being on your phone isn’t always an option. Although you can just download some movies and your playlist, it’s always a good idea to have a backup book.

Your carry-on is a very important part of your flight because of the important things that it holds. It contains all your flight necessities for getting through a flight successfully so next time you are preparing to go on a flight think of these three things. They could save you from having a very unpleasant flight.