Without a doubt, my fondest travel experience was the three months I spent studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. From spending my mornings surfing at beautiful beaches, learning to scuba dive, and plenty of travel in and around Australia, nothing will beat living in such an awesome city and getting to explore every corner of it. Sydney became a second home for me, and I eagerly await the chance to return.

Hiking the Walker’s Haute Route ignited my passion for long-distance treks. With 13 days and 127 miles, all through the stunning French and Swiss Alps, this trek provided the perfect mix of hard work and beauty. The best days were those when we had the trail to ourselves, alone out in the Alps. And nothing will top finishing off a hard climb, sitting down in town and feasting on a massive plate of Rösti and a nice cold beer, all while enjoying the view.

I believe one of the best ways to learn while traveling is by speaking with the locals, primarily in their native language. On our around the world trip, I spent the four weeks we had traveling through China acting as our interpreter. For one year leading up to this, I had been taking online courses learning Mandarin. At just the age of 11, I helped lead our family around an unfamiliar environment and learned so much in the process. Everyone we met in China was very supportive and also appreciative of the efforts I made, and this inspired me to continue studying languages to enhance our own travel experiences.