Hong Kong Highlights

Also known as " how long is my layover?!" As you prepare to travel internationally you will soon realize that there is no such thing as a direct flight from Des Moines to your destination.  When I applied to study in Hong Kong I had no idea that the city I'd end up fixating on in my travels was Los Angeles (LA).  I can only shake my head in amazed disbelief at the fact that I have had two twenty-plus hour layovers in LA.  Layovers, security, and the airplane rides themselves are all things that lie between you and your destination.  Below are some lessons and observations I have gleaned from my travels that will hopefully help you get through the different ordeals and survive the airport. Packing your carry-on The sad truth is that regardless of how well thought out and carefully packed your suitcase is, the very first thing you do once beginning your journey is to say goodbye to your suitcase at the check-in counter.  From there on out you must rely on your c

Common steps before going on a study abroad:  Send in program application.  Google your destination highlights (check tripadvisor.com).  Google "study abroad tips."  Compile a master list of what you need to get ready.  Stare desolately at the suitcase that you have chosen to contain everything you need in order to live for the next however many weeks/months and wonder why you have put yourself in this situation and try desperately to get the suitcase to remain under fifty pounds. I cannot tell you that the weeks before you leave won't be stressful.  I rotated between small anxiety attacks about leaving home and going halfway around the world and feeling disconnected from reality, knowing that I would be leaving soon but unable to attach meaning to that idea.  What was most unsettling for me was that I literally could not picture what life would be like in two months - an imagination gap caused by living in the same town of 50,000 for twenty years to going to a

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live your life differently?  What would have happened had you chosen a different path?  If you were born in a different time or place?  What life could be like if you followed your imagination rather than sticking to your carefully created plans? I have always longed to travel.  My mother was born in Canada and only moved to the US for her PhD.  From her I learned of life in a different country and throughout my childhood I periodically boarded planes to visit relatives in Canada.  I fell in love with airports because they meant I was about to see places and people I rarely saw.  From my father I gained a longing to see places outside of North America.  My father works for the university and I can remember him traveling to India, to the Republic of Georgia, to Japan.  I remember him leaving to places I struggled to picture as a child and thus I began to want to see these places as well. When I entered university I had a car