Jessie Voigts's Blog, page 219
June 25, 2016
How to Do Disney - Without the Endless Lines
Nothing can ruin a good vacation like standing for hours, often in the Florida heat. Although Disney has done everything they can to make waiting in line more enjoyable (or at least less miserable), from outdoor fans to touchscreen games, nobody likes to wait.
Flickr cc: Missy Meyer, adapted by Wandering Educators
In fact, most of the time when I talk to somebody who doesn’t like Disney World (gasp!), they feel the time they spent in line simply wa...
June 24, 2016
White House Summit on Study Abroad and Global Citizenship
I truly believe that international education can change the world. From studying abroad, hosting exchange students, working abroad, doing international internships, taking international classes, learning languages, taking a gap year, asking questions and learning about people’s lives, and traveling, there is a plethora of ways to learn about people, places, cultures, and ways of being in the world. But first, it takes a spark o...
Visiting Alcalá de Henares on the 400th anniversary of the death of Cervantes
When we boarded a train in Madrid for a day trip to Alcalá de Henares, I began thinking of the legendary figure Don Quixote lashing out at Castilla-La Mancha’s giant windmills with his faithful squire Sancho Panza in tow.
Situated about 22 miles northeast of the capital, Alcalá de Henares is the birthplace of Spain’s best known writer, Miguel de Cervantes. His famous novel, Don Quixote, is considered European literature’s first modern novel.
Like s...
Studying Abroad in Malaysia? Here’s How to Get There
In graduate school, a friend of mine had just returned from studying in Malaysia for a year. Her stories of the culture, food, and living there entranced me (yes, even the durian). Since then, I advise study abroad students who want a unique experience to look at programs in Malaysia (you included!). It’s one of the top destinations in Southeast Asia, and offers much, from food to beaches to city to off the beaten track experiences. It’s a land of s...
From Toulouse to Houston, then to Mars!
With the combined efforts of the world's leading space centers, Cité de l'espace and Space Center Houstonhave launched the Youth Mission to Mars program to cultivate space and science education amongst youths from around the world. High school students from France, Singapore, and the US worked together for a year to plan an achievable exploratory mission to Mars with regards to human adaptability, cross-cultural differences, and technological obstacle...
Moments to Not Vacation With Your Family
Vacation. What a wonderful thing. Family. What a blessing. Vacationing with family? It should be wonderful blessing. It’s a time to relax with your loves ones. So why am I suddenly thinking I don’t want to vacation with them?
I’m usually pretty gung-ho about vacationingwith your family. I’ve even written a series of articles on how to survive traveling, vacationing, and staycation-ing with them, but sometimes my survival instincts tell me...
June 23, 2016
The best book to inspire your kids to try new things
Do you want to encourage your small travelers to get excited about change and exploration? We've all had those moments when entering into the new was scary. I've got a lovely new children's book to share with you that addresses this feeling - and shows how wonderful accepting and exploring change can be.
Written by our friend Gabrielle Yetter (who wrote the incredible travel guide and moving manifesto with us, Moving to Cambodia), Ogden, the Fish Who...
June 21, 2016
The cemetery's blue glow at dusk
On the side of the road leading to the busiest area of my town is an old, sprawling, cemetery. It spreads all along the road, and if you look into the cemetery, you can tell it goes on for thousands of graves.
I pass the cemetery many times in a week, and every time I do, I notice a big, round patch of trees. The trees tower over the rest of the cemetery, and they are distributed in a circular area. I explore the cemetery with my sisters, and the big...
Wandering through Bangkok, Thailand
To my left, tuk-tuks and moped drivers zoom by faster than I can say sawatdee ka (hello). To my right, the street is lined with hundreds of stalls of delicious smelling Thai food and handcrafted goods. Towering above my head are metal giants - skyscrapers. There is only one place I could be: Bangkok.
Nestled above the Bay of Thailand is Bangkok, the modern and vibrant, yet still traditional, capital city of Thailand. The city is a unique place where...
June 20, 2016
How Schools in Africa's Slums Create Hope for the Future
A few weeks ago, I found myself in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, in Kibera and Mathare, Africa's largest slums and home to some young men and women whose world is riddled with painfully common gang and sexual violence. It's a constant struggle to access clean water, find toilets. Their families live on next to nothing, but if a student here wants to go to secondary school, the government requires they pay school fees.
Public secondary school is no...
