The beginning of our 1.5 weeks in Thailand was spent on the west coast, in the town of Krabi. After a short flight from Singapore, and a quiet, 40-minute taxi ride from the Krabi airport to our accommodations at the Bananas Bungalows, Marie and I arrived at what would become my personal paradise for the […]
Laura is my oldest friend – we met in second grade as 7 and 8 year olds and have been running around together ever since. We’ve gone to the same schools up until college, and I’ve been so lucky to have such a steady friend for the past decade and a half! She’s studying to go […]
I spent a lot of time researching travel careers and jobs that require travel as I entered college. For the most part, I found the same few opportunities. I could volunteer for a few years with Peace Corps, become a travel blogger or social media star with a big enough following to turn a profit, […]
I met Leana through work – she was a longtime colleague of my boss, Dr. Ochoa, and a close friend who now works with us on our HOPE projects in the juvenile correctional facilities. I quickly found out that she has had a lifelong passion of traveling and although she is now officially retired, continues to have adventures that rival […]
Of the places I visited in Southeast Asia, Malaysia was one where I experienced the most intense culture shock. This was likely intensified by factors like illness and jetlag, which are not directly related to Malaysia and can be attributed to mistakes we made. None the less, after reflection I identified a few things that […]
Tyeisha is an undergraduate student at Indiana University, who I’ve worked with in two mentoring programs there, College Mentors for Kids & HOPE Mentoring, where I currently work. She’s an incredibly sweet person who has just recently caught the travel bug, and it was a pleasure to interview her and hear about her first trip and what she has […]
In Southeast Asia, Marie and I spent about 3 days in Kuala Lumpur (KL). If we had more time, I would have liked to explore the rest of Malaysia and take a few day trips around the country. I know there are plenty of beautiful nature sites outside of the city we missed. I suspect […]
I met Anna during middle school, when we had a few shared classes and sports teams. We struggled through softball, cross country, and volleyball together but we didn’t become really close until the night Melissa returned from her semester in Germany. The Suitcase Six gathered at the airport to greet her (though S6 was far from conceptualized […]
Melissa, one of the Suitcase Six is, is the featured Woman of the Week. Read her interview here!
The good, the bad, and the ugly sides of the United States juvenile justice system.