As the last bell rang and signaled the start of summer break, many seniors set out to explore new cities, states and countries as one last summer of fun.
Among them was senior Mimi Wood, who began her summer vacation in New York to watch her brother graduate from Bard College and then visited Maine to see family. After that Wood spent time in Berlin, Brighton, London and New York City for her “senior trip,” which was a tradition her mother began, to take all her children abroad before their senior year of high school. Wood said that one of the most striking differences to the United States was how much easier it was to move around.
“Especially in Berlin, I caught a glimpse of how much better public transportation is abroad. It’s cleaner, cheaper and more frequent,” Wood said. “Every city I visited made it extremely easy to pick a destination and follow a route through trains, buses and subways.”
Senior Sophia Halton spent part of her summer overseas in Costa Rica, where she strengthened her Spanish surrounded by native speakers and connected with childhood friends. She said that she returned with a new found confidence and encourages others to travel for the sake of personal growth.
Senior June McKeel spent her summer trip traveling along the coast of California, making stops in Monterey, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. McKeel said that navigating unfamiliar places could be stressful, but is ultimately a small and unavoidable price to pay for a meaningful travel experience.
“I get a bit more anxiety than usual but that’s because I don’t really know my way around,” McKeel said. “But other than that, seeing new things brings me a lot of joy.”
Looking back, Wood said that the trip had its challenges, but the experiences were worth it. She said that the mix of stress and excitement is what makes traveling so unique.
“Vacations are miserable and a gift. Thankfully, I got to plan mostly the fun activities and not organize flights from places to places, but if you have the time and money it’s unbeatable,” Wood said. “You can’t really get anything like it with all the challenges and frustrations that come with them.”
