Page 18 - American Girl (September - October 2018)

International
Travel
As in the first part of our trip, we
did schoolwork in the mornings and
explored in the afternoons. In Australia, Here we are
we had a picnic in a park with kangaroos exploring the
and giant native birds called emus. We streets of
also went to the beach to swim and wore Melbourne,
We spent a beautiful week in Maui, special suits to protect us from being Australia.
Hawaii. Lots of sunsets and palm trees.
stung by moon jellies. I still got stung on
my chin, but it wasn’t too painful. In New
Zealand we went to a black sand beach
that was one of the most beautiful sights Next, we made our way to Tel Aviv,
of the whole trip. That country is very Israel, where our travels slowed down a
green and has a lot of sheep. bit. We went to the beach and spent time
This is one of the
When we got to Chiang Mai, Thailand, at a playground in the sand. We also saw
amazing temples
we settled in and stayed for three weeks.
we visited in people kite-surfing on the water! It was a
Cambodia. It was nice to be in one place for a while good day. In Jerusalem we caught up with
because most of the trip was go, go, go! friends from home who are living there
We hung out and caught up on some for a few years. We got to spend time
schoolwork. After taking a little break, with them and visit their school.
we started to explore again. We visited The last part of our trip wove through
several colorful local markets in Chiang Europe. We started in Rome, Italy, and
Mai. The food at the markets was very then went to Greece (Athens and Crete).
spicy! We also spent time in Bangkok and After that we headed to Germany. My
traveled along the Gulf of Thailand to a sister Julianna and I visited an English class
smaller beach town. We ate dinners on at a local public school in Oldenburg,
the beach and spent a day on an elephant Germany. The kids asked us lots of
safari in a national park! It was very cool. questions about our trip, and then
When our time in Thailand came to an we played with them during recess.

it was cool to make connections
with people who live all the way

We went to this Buddhist on the other side of the world.
temple in Thailand.

end, we continued our travels with two After Germany we went to Austria,
short stops in Cambodia and Vietnam. Hungary, France, Spain, the United Kingdom,
The main focus of our time in Cambodia Ireland, and Iceland. We went to lots of
was a visit to the famous temples near incredible places, and it was so cool to make
Siem Reap. One of our favorites, Ta connections with people who live all the way
Prohm, has become part jungle. The on the other side of the world. I’ve also
trees are now part of the temple and gotten to know my family better. At home,
it’s amazing. We also went to a floating we lived under the same roof, but we all led
village on Tonlé Sap Lake (the largest separate lives, going to different schools and
freshwater lake in Southeast Asia). jobs. On our trip, we were together every
We saw many floating houseboats and second. It’s great to be home, but I miss
fishermen. In Vietnam we couldn’t believe our trip. These days, when I hear someone
all the motorbikes—they moved through mention the “other side of the world,”
Ho Chi Minh City like a big cloud. it doesn’t seem quite so far away.

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