Elevated Window Of Opportunities

The love to traveling was set in stone for me at young age. I was five years old.

Departure: Krasnodar, Russia. Arrival: Michigan, USA.

I remember sitting with my Baboushka on the airplane on the way to America. I can see myself sitting next to the window. She sat to my right. A hockey game was playing on the small screen above. I can picture my Baboushka wearing headphones, trying to tell me to pick up mine and put them on. I looked up at the screen and then saw a man in a uniform with skates make a goal. I don’t know why my brain decided to remember this memory for the rest of my life. It is such a small moment. I didn’t even know how to speak English, and yet I knew exactly what she was trying to tell me. My mom only remembers me throwing up the food they had served me on the plane. Lucky her. 

(My older brother  has had to put up with me for a long time)

My mother has included me and my brother in trips all over the world. Costa Rica. Galápagos Islands. A trip from the needle point in Seattle to the Redwoods in Cali. Some of these trips were guided by National Geographic Expeditions. I have been one lucky girl. The best time I had was zip lining in the rain forest of Costa Rica. I will never forget how close I had gotten to a tree, thinking I was going to crash right into it. My family tries to plan an annual trip, usually around the winter time. So for winter break, I have gone to the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and of course cannot forget to mention Disney World.

   

 (us kids behaving well, anticipating a fun vacation)    

(little brother playing in the sand while I gear up, Cayman Islands)

(myself, brother, and cousins having a blast in Islas Mujeres)  

(riding horseback along the Coast Rica shorelines)

Growing up with the opportunity of physically discovering the world, I aspire to keep the hobby last. As a college student, I want to study abroad. My dream destination is Barcelona, Spain. I have studied Spanish all four years of high school and am currently enrolled in a Spanish course. Three months of learning Spanish culture would be such an opportunity. My previous trips have more like vacations, but getting to live in Spain independently with cultural people is a different story. I also want to travel to Machu Picchu once in my life, and also bring my mother along. Her dream has been to go there ever since she was in grade school. I want take her to Machu Picchu. I am grateful for all the trips I have experienced, so I’d like to do the same for her one day.

 

 (posing in the Redwood National and State Parks)

(up close and personal in the Galápagos Islands)