#2 :: I've been to 5 out of the 7 continents

I was born in Minneapolis, MN and then moved to Atlanta, GA, which are a part of North America. Also, I've been to various cities in Mexico. I need to get to Canada!

In 3rd grade, I went on my first international trip. My parents took us to Hong Kong and China. I kept a journal the whole time. Pretty smart of my mom to make us do that, except I journaled about things like my dad almost stepping in dog poop, not about the differences between Hong Kong and the United States in 1995. We did go to a really awesome amusement park though!

During the summer before 8th grade, I went to Europe for the first time. I spent a week with family friends at their family home just outside Lisbon, Portugal. I ate fresh snails for the first time and also flew without my parents for the first time. I got to fly first class on the way there, too!

In the summer of 2002 (after 10th grade), my family spent 2 weeks traveling through Spain and Portugal. One of our stops was Tarifa, Spain, where we crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and went into Tanger, Morocco. I wore shorts and a tshirt that day and spent the entire day feeling self-conscious because all the African men stared at me. Finally I wrapped my dad's jacket around my legs. This was the same day I rode a camel for the first time. We also went whale-watching in Tarifa and saw some pretty huge mammals.

My most recent continent visit was this past winter break. My family took a cruise through the Panama Canal, and one of the stops was in Cartagena, Colombia. I was expecting machine guns and drug lords on every street corner, but really it was just like any other city I had never been to. There were a lot of police officers, but they seemed more concerned with ogling the American tourists than protecting us. I was really bummed that no one tried to sell me cocaine. I did get some really awesome Colombian coffee to bring home as Christmas gifts for friends, and I got some bangin' Colombian emeralds!

I think I want my next continental conquest to be Australia. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to brave Antarctica, but really they are both kind of far away, and with my newly acquired fear of flying, it might not work out so well.