Epilogue to the Journey, 안녕!

Via http://qootm.tistory.com/68

안녕!

I would like to thank you for having a nice journey with me for the past 5 weeks.
This time, I have learned a lot about this particular type of writing and communication, 'blog'. Every week, I had fun challenging myself to think hard to decide on topics for my posts and actually take time to write them! Born and raised for my entire life in South Korea before coming to college, I was not 100% sure what 13 to 15 year old American girls would be most interested to read about, but I tried to put myself into the readers' shoes and imagine what I would like to read about at that age.

When it comes to writing, the writer should be conscious of the readers or the audience and the nature of the medium through which the writer is communicating with the readers. For the 'blog writing' genre, I have learned I need to be concise to the point, and make my sentences short and clear. Also, I have learned that posts could become more attractive with visual materials such as video clips, photos with short captions, etc.

Over the course of writing for this blog, I tried to make my posts engaging, personal, and empowering for girls. The following are key messages I would like for you girls to take away from this blog:

• Dream big. 
• Do not be afraid to explore more, experience more, and get out of the comfort zone.
• Do not limit yourselves in any way.
• I believe all of these points should apply not only to travel per se but to 'life.' With a proactive, open-minded attitude, I would like you to throw yourselves into all those great opportunities out there.

Do not forget to dream big, and let possibilities open to you. Make your own bucket list and dreaming about places you would like to go to, career you would like to have, people you would like to meet, or changes you would like to bring to this world. It is fine if you feel you do not yet have enough money, time, or chances to travel abroad or achieve a goal to become a star in a certain industry. Please do not lose heart, and let your passions, your dream open up the paths for you.

In the Korean language, you can say "Hello" and "Bye" between friends with the same expression: 안녕 (An-Nyong). With 안녕, I say bye to you for now, but it is going to be a hello for another amazing journey that awaits you.

안녕!

Love,
Hyuni

Where Has the Time Gone?!

Hello readers!

If you're reading this- then thank you! This project has, in many way, pushed me out of my comfort zone and I appreciate you all reading and supporting us on this journey! Our goal with this project was to make a fun and exciting blog about travel, while seemlessly weaving in empowering messages about female political leaders. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea how successful we were in any of those goals. However, I really hope you gained something from this, as I certainly did.

One of the biggest challenges I've faced in writing this blog is understanding YOU, the reader. This may sound trivial, but I struggled with this in many ways. For one, I don't remember nearly well enough what it was like to be a female young adult. When thinking of topics to write about, it was easy to jump to stereotypical assumptions about what all of you (as girls) would like. I challenged myself to go beyond that and ended up basing a lot of my posts based on what I (a not very girly-girl) found interesting. The topics, often related to the outdoors, were intentionally gender neutral in an attempt to not alienate anyone in a readership with a wide range of interests. Again, I don't know if I was at all successful in this attempt.

During this process of understanding the readers, I also ran into the problem of balancing writing about my own beliefs about what is important in empowering young females and considering how some readers may disagree with me on these beliefs. In one blog post I raised a point that was seen by some parents as controversial and age-inappropriate. By discussing this with my class I was able to understand both sides of the argument but ultimately decided to stand up for what I believed in. After all, writing about empowered female leaders for so many weeks had to rub off eventually!

So, I hope you all feel newly inspired both to explore the world and by your own potential to lead it. I wish you the best of luck!

Oh The Great Time I Had

During these past few weeks, I've had so much fun writing for this blog! Not only did I learn to write more concisely, but also more frequently. Before, I thought there was never enough time to write just for fun, but now I know that you can and should make time for the things you love and what better avenue than a blog.

 

Who knows, maybe I'll start a personal blog in the future or at least take up journaling like I said I would for my New Year's resolutions. Lol what better time to start on those than late February! Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading these posts as much as I enjoyed writing them, so bye for now!

Oh the Things that I Learned!

Writing for this blog has been an interesting and exciting experience for me. I had the unique opportunity to combine two of my passions, travel and politics, while also seeking to empower young girls and inspire them to engage with the world around them. I must admit, this was a challenging task. I learned to write in a crisp and concise way while also working to attract readers and subtly inject politics into seemingly unrelated topics. At times, it felt a bit disjointed, as if I was trying too hard to make the connection between travel and political engagement. However, it also motivated me to think more critically about the world, something I hope my readers observed as well.

I'm not quite sure if we achieved the purpose of this blog--to attract an audience of girls aged 13-15 years old and increase their interest in politics. While there's no way to measure how successful we were, the assignment did prompt me to consider how teenage girls would react to the content I produced. I had to adapt my writing style and adjust how I presented my argument. For me, blogging was a completely new experience, but I found that I really enjoyed it.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this blog as well. Bon voyage!

Via minds.marlboro.edu

Oh the Things I've Discovered!

Hey Ladies!

Wow - what a fun five weeks it has been with you!  I've gone from a novice poster to confident blogger, and I hope that you've enjoyed the ride just as much as I have.  Writing this blog has been exciting, frustrating, and everything in between.  Below are some reflections as I look back over these past five weeks as a travel blogger:

• I've learned to challenge myself in many aspects of my writing.  First and foremost, I have certainly learned to be more clear and concise.  I have also learned to really consider my audience when writing.  That meant adjusting my language, my content, and the format of my posts throughout the term.
• I hope our readers learned that you can do anything that you put your mind to.  Whether they took that away from our posts about empowering women in politics, the fact that we decided to start a blog without previous blogging experience, or even our fluff posts about the places that we've traveled to, I truly hope that our readers know that they can accomplish anything.  
• One of the biggest challenges that I faced was getting discouraged about my posts.  Not knowing if our target audience was reading our blog or even what they were thinking (as I truly don't know a single 13-15 year old girl) was frustrating at many times throughout the term.  However, I tried to put myself in their shoes to the best of my abilities and I hope that paid off. 

And with that, I leave you all with a quote: 

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

-Laozi 

(via http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/travel)

Though traveling the world may seem far away for a teenage girl, traveling is much more than just going to Europe or going on a vacation.  Traveling is a journey, and I encourage all of you to take that single step and begin that journey, wherever that may take you.

Until the next adventure, 

Sarah 

Oh the Takeaways from this Blog!

Hello there!

It's been a fun past five weeks here on this blog!

Here are some of my general takeaways that I learned and struggled with in this project:

• It can be tricky weaving political leadership topics into subjects that are intended to appeal to young teen girls...sometimes I felt like I was forcing core information rather than having it naturally flow.  
• I wasn't sure whether young girls would be more interested in U.S. political leaders, per say, or those of other countries.  I wanted to provide global perspective to link the travel theme to politics, but sometimes it seemed like we were blogging about things just a bit too far away from the daily lives of our audience, whether in terms of location or time period.  
• I struggled with finding a balance between inspiring girls to get out there and travel and feel like they can do anything with potentially disempowering some girls who don't have the means to travel to such exotic locations. I tried to combat this issue by enforcing the message that you don't have to go far away to have great experiences, but I still fear that this topic could isolate girls or cater more to the upper middle class who are able to go to Mexico for spring break, for example.  
• I wanted to inject my own personality and experiences into this blog, but sometimes I feared I was coming across as "that rich girl who gets to go everywhere."  I didn't want to alienate readers by sharing experiences that not everyone can have, so as the term progressed I focused more on other people's travel experiences.  At the same time, though, I think that this resulted in a loss of some of the personality on the blog that could make readers feel connected to the authors.  
•  To go along with the personality attraction (but not make the personality so much about the blogger) I thought about the possibility of making this more of a "Guess who went where?" type of feel so readers would be pulled in by seeing where Taylor Swift went for example, rather than just reading about a location.  I think there is potential to be very successful by weaving in famous personalities which I tried to do in a couple of cases but could probably be done to a greater extent in future blogs.  
• I learned that you have to be very careful to avoid controversial material!  Even if something may seem innocuous, we have to remember that we are part of the "Dartmouth bubble" and that our culture is not representative of the nation at large.  This was a good exercise in helping ground me with the general public and look at matters through a very discerning eye.  I didn't want any law suits for a class project! 

Overall I  had a great time with this project and tried very hard to put myself back in my 13-15-year old mindset!  

-Lindsay 

Sometimes the Best Place to Travel to is Home

While it's super fun to travel to new places, sometimes it's just as nice to go back home. I'm super exhausted from all this schoolwork and just ready to head back for a few days over spring break. Lol I even started making a list of things to do when I'm back in the DC area that you guys might want to try if you're ever down there!

Not only will I be indulging myself in food from places like El Pollo Rico, this amazing Peruvian restaurant in Arlington, but I'll also go shopping in Georgetown. Mostly though, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends, family, and my adorable little pugs. Ughhh let the countdown to spring break begin...

Malala: A Young Activist

Think you have to be an adult to fight for issues you care about? Think again.

Wikipedia.com

This is Malala Yousafzai. She is merely 16 years old and has been a political activist for years. She lives in Pakistan where girls are often oppressed and sometimes not even allowed to attend school. Even though school can be boring at times, it is something that we as Americans are lucky to always have a right to.

Malala had been promoting girls' education for years, when a member of the opposing rule attempted to assassinate her. They were thankfully unsuccessful, and Malala continues to be an international voice in promoting equal rights for girls everywhere! In 2013 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and was the youngest person and first girl nominated for it.

Hearing about Malala's story makes me feel challenged to stand up for what I believe in and persevere in the face of adversity. Despite being a young girl, she is making a huge difference in the world.

Lübecker Marzipan

Marzipan Nut Cake and Marzipan Coffee

Lübeck is a city in Germany to the north of Hamburg.

The city is famous for its highest quality specialty, Lübecker Marzipan! 

Marzipan Sweets

Marzipan is made of lots of almonds and sugar. It is often used in cakes, chocolates, pastries, and other sorts of desserts! In a chocolate shop, you can see little hand-crafted chocolates of animal figures or fruit figures filled with marzipan.

Stollen (German Christmas cake with Marzipan) recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/stollen-recipe.html

-Hyuni

(All the photos in the post taken by Hyuni)

Han, Biya, a Travel Writer & Relief Worker

Via http://www.ybm.co.kr/sisa/photo.aspx?seq=58&Page=1

Han, Biya is a famous travel writer and emergency relief worker from South Korea.

Book I of 'Daughter of the Wind: Three and a Half Rounds Around the World on Foot' Via http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/product/detailViewKor.laf?barcode=9788971847473#N

She first became famous for her bestselling travel essays including the book titled 'Daughter of the Wind: Three and a Half Rounds Around the World on Foot'. The book is about her traveling alone all around the world for 7 years from Africa, Middle East, Asia, Central-South America to Alaska. She avoided travelling in 'tourist-attractive' places, but rather willingly traveled somewhere remote, getting immersed in the lives of the locals. She rarely took flights to get around. She mostly traveled 'on foot'!1)

Via http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=wkwmdrnfu&logNo=70066936239

It was her long-kept dream for a world travel since her childhood that motivated her to change her career. In a TV interview program, she said since she was little, she has dreamed about traveling around the whole world. Not only has she realized that dream of world traveling, but she also found the job that makes her feel alive: emergency relief work giving humanitarian aid to relieve hunger, poverty, and human rights violation.

Via http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=wkwmdrnfu&logNo=70066936239

Via http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=wkwmdrnfu&logNo=70066936239

Since 2001, she has been working as the director of emergency relief work department at World Vision, an international NGO. Currently she is studying at Fletcher School at Tufts University to study about her field further. 2) In the TV interview program mentioned above, she called attention to Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting processes that are still prevalent in some parts of Africa and the Middle East. She explained how such pressures have been traditionally putting little girls into lifelong pain.3)

I admire Han Biya for challenging herself both physically and mentally and courageously taking actions for what she believes is right. She is a petite woman, but she proves the whole world that women shouldn't limit themselves just because they're women!

-Hyuni

-sources-
1) http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/product/detailViewKor.laf?barcode=9788971847473#N
2) http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/product/detailViewKor.laf?barcode=9788971847473#N
3) http://blog.daum.net/show72/18000342

Social Media for Good!

Hey ladies!

I love interacting with my friends on social media.  Now that my friends are all over the country at different colleges, it's an especially great way to stay in touch while hundreds or thousands of miles away! Recently, however, I've taken social media one step further by following news outlets, politicians, and more on Twitter!

Women in politics like Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and Nancy Pelosi tweet fairly frequently considering how busy they are!  Not only do you get empowering messages, you can also see all of the fun places they travel to and the awesome things they do when they get there.

via Twitter @HillaryClinton

via Twitter @CondoleezzaRice

via Twitter @NancyPelosi

So start following some powerful women on Twitter and get inspired - then comment below on who your favorite is!

Real-Life Magic

Any Harry Potter fans out there?

While studying abroad, I took a trip to Hogwarts! Right now, you're probably all thinking, "this girl is crazy! Hogwarts doesn't really exist!" (And for those who aren't thinking this- don't read on if you don't want the magic revealed.)

And you're totally right- Hogwarts (unfortunately) isn't real, but the movies were filmed somewhere! And this somewhere is at the Warner Brother Studios, outside of London.

The photo above is a model of the castle, used for filming. It's actually the size of a large room! The studios also contain costumes, props, designs, sets and all kinds of cool info about Harry Potter.

If you're ever in London, I'd definitely recommend taking a tour of the studio! I promise, it doesn't ruin the magic at all!

My Main Girl, Condoleezza Rice

Not going to lie, I love homework lol well at least when it means that I got to watch another movie for class titled "Miss Representation." Through stories by teenage girls and powerful women, the film suggests media negatively depicts women, which leads to a lack of positive female role models and women's under-representation in influential positions.

 

At one point, Condoleezza Rice said it would be great to have more women to look up to, but you have to look for role models where you can get them and who inspire you for whatever reason ie they don't need to be the same sex as you. She added that you shouldn't wait aroudn for others to inspire you, but that you should just go after your dreams. Her message was extremely empowering and I started wikipediaing her, a sign of a blossoming girl crush.

 

As the former U.S. Secretary of State, Rice initiated many diplomatic measures and traveled a ton, holding the record for most miles logged in that position. She's been to the Middle East, China, India, Venezuela and more! Now she is a political science prof at Stanford. So, when you're thinking about future careers and internships that involve living a life of power and travel, think Condoleezza Rice. 

Throwback Thursday: Bolivia 2013

I feel like I'm always musing about the future, but today let's rewind to this past winter break. I went to Bolivia with da fam, which was really cool because I got to reconnect with my cousins, some of whom I hadn't seen in five years!

I also got to do and see so many new things! In La Paz, I drove an ATV and went rappelling down a building, both for the first time. In Uyuni, I visited the world's largest salt flat and stayed in one of the world's only salt hotels. And of course everywhere from Cochabama to Santa Cruz to even the airport, my little bro and I gorged ourselves with delicious food. So, if you're ever planning a trip to South America, make a stop in Bolivia; it's totally worth it!

Midnight in Paris

Hey Ladies!

While hanging out with my friends the other day I saw the movie Midnight in Paris.  I've been to Paris on vacation before, but I had never seen it like this!  While on vacation with his fiance, the main character Gil, played by Owen Wilson, is transported into 1920s Paris every night when the clock strikes 12.  The coolest thing?  The movie is actually pretty historically accurate!  Read more about the movie here and watch the trailer below!  Doesn't it make you just want to hop on a plane to Paris right now? (or maybe into a time machine...)



Until the next adventure,
Sarah

"The Selfie Shootout" World Travel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFqSlvbKAM

In this commercial of an airline company, Messi and Kobe make a competition to take selfies around the world and send them to each other! 

Imagine you got fund to do a special project to take selfies around the world. 

What places would you like to go to? 

-Hyuni

Top 10 Things To Do In Scotland

 

Tomorrow I have my English Study Abroad Program interview eeeek!! If everything goes well, I'll be spending Fall 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. Aside from taking classes, I'll be roaming those U.K. streets hopefully doing some of these "Top 10 Things To Do In Scotland." Who knows maybe I'll see you there, but anyways wish me luck!

Remember it Forever!

No matter where you travel, those memories will stay with you forever. But how can you share those memories with your family and friends? Here are some tips:

• Make a photo album! Every time you open it, you'll be reminded of your amazing adventures
• Change your profile pic or upload your pictures to Facebook so all of your friends can see them!
• Send Snapchats to your friends while abroad--they'll be so jealous!
• Post a throwback pic on Instagram each Thursday #tbt

Or, if you're really adventurous, make a video of your travels like this guy did in China! He wasn't afraid to dance like no one was watching...when everyone was watching! I know I wish I could have moves like that!

Via youtube.com

American Authors

Hey all!

Sometimes I think that the best type of travel is when other people come to you, rather than you having to go to them.

The band American Authors visited my campus last weekend and they're my new favorite music group!  You might have heard their famous song "Best Day of My Life" but they have a lot more great ones as well and I can't wait for their album to come out in March!

Check out this link to when they performed on Ellen in L.A.

http://www.ellentv.com/episodes/steve-harvey-american-authors/american-authors/

This is a video of one of my favorite songs that they played.  It's called "Believer."  It helps me keep my head up if I'm going through a hard time at school, with a boy, friends, or any other random problem.

I hope you all have the "best day of your life" and remember... "things are gonna get better." :)


Who knows, you might be traveling around the country one day with your band!  Or you can just sing along from the crowd with me!


-Lindsay

Patbingsoo - Korean Ice Flake Treats!

Via http://blog.daum.net/mohara/16142919

One of the most popular desserts in Korea is Patbingsoo, a Korean ice flake treat.

Traditionally, the ice flakes were made of pure water, and we put red beans and soft rice cakes on top, but there are NUMEROUS variations these days! "Pat" from "Patbingsoo" is 'red bean' in the Korean language. "Bingsoo" is 'ice flakes' in Korean.

The trend is, to keep the traditional form and make the ice flakes out of milk, as you can see from the left one in the above picture. The right one in the above picture is Green-tea-Bingsoo of which the ice flakes are made out of green tea and milk. 

Via http://blog.naver.com/presso1004?Redirect=Log&logNo=10173953703

▲ Citron (Yuzu) Bingsoo

Via http://blog.naver.com/teaoreum?Redirect=Log&logNo=10141786870

▲ Melon Bingsoo

Via http://ssonyo.egloos.com/78527
▲ Milk Tea Bingsoo

Via http://www.todayhumor.co.kr/board/view.php?table=humorbest&no=698328

Writing this post made me miss Patbingsoo!!! Fun fact: It is more fun to eat Bingsoo in the winter! 

-Hyuni

What State Do You Actually Belong In?

So I just took another buzzfeed quiz, as per usual, that told me "What state do you actually belong in" and I got Minnesota! At first I was all like no, I'm an east coast girl. But then, I remembered Marshall, from How I Met Your Mother, is from Minnesota and was all like "Heck yeah, Minnesota rocks! Amirite or amirite!?!

Then I retook the quiz and got Pennsylvania, even though I'm pretty sure I put the same answers. I could be living life like Michael Scott of The Office or Will Smith circa those Fresh Prince days, so either state is more than fine with me! Also, I promise I don't just live on the internet guyz, I do real work sometimes, or I should right after I run downstairs and get a nice green tea and cinnamon roll.

Norway: A Pretty Magical Place

I always love exploring other countries, so when I came across this BuzzFeed article, I immediately wanted to visit Norway. Here are some fun facts:

• Norway knighted a penguin!
• They love trolls so much, that some Norwegian towns are named after them
• Norwegians don't have to pay college tuition--I'm so jealous I might move to Norway!
• The kingdom of Arendelle in Frozen was based on Norway

For more information about Norway, click here.

Via visitnorway.com

That Dream of Becoming a Princess

via http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337697/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn

In the movie, 'The Prince and Me(2004)', Denmark's prince, Edvard, sneaks out of Denmark and tries to enjoy a college life as other students do, hiding his identity. He meets Paige at school, and falls in love with her.

He proposes to Paige and Paige says yes, and goes to Denmark with him and lives in the palace and experiences what it is like to be in a royal family. Suddenly she realizes that living there means giving up on her medical career, and decides to leave Denmark and go back to her original plan to go to medical school. After she gets admitted to medical school, Edvard comes to her and tells her that he will wait until she finishes the program and fulfills her dreams.

via http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/

The Princess Diaries (2001) is about a girl, Mia, who figures out that she is actually a princess of Genovia, a fictional country in Europe, and that she is going to be the ruler.

Indeed, many girls would dream about falling in love with a prince, becoming a princess or a queen of a country, dreaming about all the pretty dresses, crowns with beautiful jewelries, and fancy balls. If you were in Paige's shoes, or Mia's shoes, what would you do? If you became a member of a royal family, what kind of princess or queen would you like to be, and what kind of model or public figure would you like to be? What kind of contributions would you be able to bring to the country and to the whole world? I would love to hear!

* plot fact check: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337697/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn   & http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/

-Hyuni

Spotlight on New York

When people talk about New York, they usually picture this:

http://www.theworkingworld.org/index.php?action=NewYork

But there's a whole lot more to this state than New York City! I grew up about an hour north of NYC and it looked a lot more like this:

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

The picture above is from Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, a farm that I worked on for 2 summers. Few people realize, but New York state is actually 25% farmland!

Who cares? you might ask.

Local farms are important because they are better for the environment, support the local economy, and provide healthier and fresher food!

However, New York farmers are struggling because of high prices of fuel, feed and labor. 

Luckily, Senator Gillibrand has been working hard to improve agriculture in New York, helping both the farmers and those interested in purchasing the produce. You can read all about her efforts here.

http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/issues/agriculture

Generally, farming is considered "men's work" but Kirsten Gillibrand is showing the world that farming is not just for men and that protecting it is something everyone should care about! As a female interested in farming, this message definitely hit home for me!

They Say the West Coast is the Best Coast

Hey y'all! Guess who finally started planning her Spring Break!?! This year the fam is deciding between Florida and California. Personally, I'm leaning towards Cali because I've never been to the west coast and have always wanted to try In n' Out! Either way though, I know good times will be had by all! Oh and sorry for all the exclamation points, but if you can't tell I'm obvi really excited that I've moved on from planning imaginary vacations to actual ones.

 

If you've been to or live in one of those states, leave me a comment below to tell me where I should go while I'm vacation my school life stresses away. Yayay warmer weather here I come! Also, Happy Galentine's Day!! <345

Have Fun on Long Plane Rides!

I just bought a plane ticket to travel to Paris in March and I couldn't be more excited!

Here are some airplane travel tips:

• Bring a book or magazine! Airplane rides are the perfect time to catch up on reading, current events or the latest in pop culture and fashion
• Pack some healthy snacks! You don't want to be stuck eating airplane food
• Try to get some sleep! Ask a flight attendant for a pillow or sleep mask so you can get some shut-eye

Via blog.gohop.ie

No matter whether your plane ride is 2 hours or 20 hours, you'll always want to get to your destination ready to start your adventure!

Sochi Opening Ceremonies

Hey ladies!

I'm going to stick with the Olympic theme that we have going this week and talk about something that really stuck out to me when watching the opening ceremonies this past Friday.  Although over 88 countries will be represented at these games, not all of their leaders were in attendance.  Many prominent western leaders, in particular US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel didn't appear at the opening ceremonies due to concerns about safety and disagreement with Russian politics.  Whats more is that Erna Solberg, the Chancellor of Germany, was the only woman world leader to attend the ceremonies!  I know that watching figure skating and downhill skiing is fun, but it's hard not to follow the Olympics as a political event too!

via http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/02/07/sochi-2014-opening-ceremony-hits-snag-with-olympic-ring-mishap/

Girl Power in Sports!

Hi all!

In keeping with the theme of my last Olympics post, I wanted to spend a little time highlighting one of the most influential women athletes I know about: Billie Jean King.  

You might not have heard of her since she's 70 years old now, but if you're a girl who plays tennis (or any sport, really), you have her to thank!  When she was 29, she won a famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match against her male opponent, Bobby Riggs.  This was a huge moment for women's sports because people began to realize that women could compete on equal levels as men!

Billie Jean King beating her male opponent in 1973
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/tramlines/star-threw-equal-sexes-match-pay-mafia-debts-104839567.html

Billie Jean founded the Women's Tennis Association and the Women's Sports Foundation.  In 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City (where the U.S. Open is held) was renamed the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.  I had the opportunity to visit this tennis center in New York City a few years ago and watch some of the U.S. Open!

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City
http://www.nycgo.com/venues/usta-billie-jean-king-national-tennis-center

Have fun watching the Olympics and keep on rooting for those ladies!  It's amazing to think that 2014 is the first Olympics where there is an equal percentage of male events as female events.


-Lindsay


http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016060.html
http://www.olympic.org/women-sport-commission

Women Take Vancouver at TED2014!

I've been spending a lot of time watching the Sochi Olympics lately. When describing the achievements of many of the competitors, many of the commentators refer to the previous Olympics, which were held in Vancouver, Canada in 2010. I have never been to Vancouver, so I decided to learn more.

Beyond the world-class skiing available at Whistler-Blackcomb, Vancouver also has great shopping, food and breath-taking natural scenery. Next month it will host the 2014 TED Conference. Titled "The Next Chapter", this year's TED Conference offers an opportunity for people to discuss the most important developments of the last 30 years and how they will impact our society. All kinds of people will speak, including visionary women like philanthropist Melinda Gates, former Congresswoman and gun law activist Gabby Giffords, and documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen.

Via tedwomen.com

At the TED Conference, you can hear people give talks on their passions, whether it's politics, science or human rights. In the next 30 years, maybe you'll find yourself on that stage!

Sochi Snowboarding Course

Hi all!

Have you been tuning in to the start of the Olympics?  Check out this buzzfeed link to the snowboarding course in Sochi!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/take-a-terrifying-ride-on-the-snowboarding-course-that-keeps

I'd love to visit Russia and hit the Sochi slopes some time but I think I'll let the pros handle this course!

-Lindsay

4 States Down!

Think it's possible to stand in 2 places at once? What about 4? In the western US it is!

http://ufodigest.com/sites/default/files/Four%20Corners.jpg

There's a special monument on the corner where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. There are many places where you can stand on more than one state, but this is the only place in the US where you can stand in 4 states at the same time! If you're thinking of taking a trip in the US to see more states, check out the 4 Corners and cross 4 states off your list!

Angelina Jolie: Actress and Activist

For actress Angelina Jolie, life isn't all about movie sets and red carpets. In addition to being a highly successful actress, she also works tirelessly to improve human rights all around the world. To help achieve this, she founded the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which is dedicated to getting rid of rural poverty, protecting natural resources and conserving wildlife. She has traveled to over 20 countries, including meeting with earthquake victims in Haiti.

Via unhcr.org

Angelina also gets directly involved in politics to help promote the humanitarian causes she's passionate about. She speaks regularly at World Refugee Day and meets with members of Congress to lobby for the issues she thinks are important.

Even though you're not an international movie star, you can still work to make a difference in the world. We recommend:

• Making posters about the plight of refugees in Africa
• Contacting your congressional representative
• Donating to causes like the Jolie-Pitt Foundation
• Reading about humanitarian crises all over the world

To learn more, click here.

Munich, Sophie Scholl & The White Rose

The Gold Line in Viscardigasse, Munich *1)

While we have 'freedom trail' in Boston, we have another famous trail in Germany

: The Gold Line in Viscardigasse, Munich.

Hitler established a monument for the 16 Nazis who died in a battle, and made a law to force the citizens to salute in the way of Nazis in front of the monument. As an act of resistance, some citizens in Munich did not pass the way where the monument was, but chose to take a side way, namely, Viscardigasse. Munich later painted the trail in gold to commemorate the spirit, which became The Gold Line as you can see in the photo. *2)

Speaking of civic resistance against the Nazis, there was a famous student resistance movement known as 'The White Rose.' The White Rose distributed leaflets accusing the Nazis of unjust acts. The movement was first started by Hans Scholl and his friends, but Sophie Scholl wanted to join and fight together for the cause. The Scholl's brother and sister, Sophie Scholl and Hans Scholl, are well-known for their courage and strong conviction for justice. *3)

Sophie Scholl (1942) *4)

One day in 1943, Sophie Scholl and her brother, Hans Scholl, were putting some leaflets in the building of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich before going to class, but got caught, and put to death penalty by the court that the Nazis had a strong influence on. *3)

Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst *5)

Sophie Scholl courageously stood up to promote her idea of what is right despite the risk of being executed. 

*1) Photo 'The Gold Line in Viscardigasse Munich' taken by Hyuni

*2) Source (fact check) : http://www.lonelyplanet.com/germany/munich/sights/military/viscardigasse
*3) Source (fact check)
: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/sophie_scholl.htm
*4) Photo 'Sophie Scholl (1942)' retrieved from: http://www.bpb.de/geschichte/nationalsozialismus/weisse-rose/60955/sophie-scholl?type=galerie&show=image&i=60957
*5) Photo of Sophie Scholl with Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst retrieved from:
http://modernartparadise.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/White-Rose-resistance-members-Hans-Scholl-Sophie-Scholl-and-Christoph-Probst.jpg

-Hyuni

Fourteen Women

What's better than getting to watch a movie for homework?! Nothing, except maybe not having any homework at all! Well, the other day, I saw "Fourteen Women," a documentary that focuses on the female senators at the 109th United States Congress. As cheesy as it sounds, the film made me nostalgic over my time on the hill and appreciative of these amazing women and hard work they did.

 

For many of those female senators, their job didn't end when they left the office. At home, they not only brought their senatorial work with them, but also took care of their kids and families. While the dynamic life of a senator seems taxing at times, I also notice several perks. Aside from the fashionable wardrobe and the power to enact change in our country, the job also includes lots and lots of travel! Some spent 10-12 hours alone on traveling from their hometown to D.C. and suggested that you should go into politics if you love traveling.

 

I think we can all agree that I, as a writer of this blog, and you, as a reader of this blog, are travel enthusiasts. So, as we get older and start thinking about what we want to do with our lives, we should consider following in the footsteps that these trailblazing female senators set forth and do a job we love that involves yet another one of our loves of travel.

Travel Essentials!

Hey girls!

After reading this article about powerful business women's travel tips, I can't help but think of my own!  Here's what I've come up with:

1. Go-to travel bag: a large Longchamp tote, preferably like this one in a bright color so you can tell it's yours!

2. How to stay comfortable during a long plane ride: Lululemon leggings like these, although a big investment, will keep you feeling like you're lounging on your couch at home even during a long trip!

3. Favorite travel snack: 100 calorie packs of cocoa roast almonds are always the filling treat that I go for when traveling!

4. Product I couldn't travel without: LUSH Honey Trap lip balm!  Whether I'm going somewhere hot, cold, or in between, Honey Trap never fails to keep my lips in great shape.  Plus it's made from almost all natural ingredients!

We'll Never Be Royals...

Even though the US has a president instead of a king or queen, we still love the idea of royalty. I mean, who doesn't love the idea of living in a castle, wearing a crown and getting to travel the world in style? I know I've always wanted to be a princess.

That's why I've chosen the United Kingdom as my next travel destination, otherwise known as the home of Prince William, Princess Kate, and of course, the Royal Baby!

Via cnn.com

Ever since the Royal Wedding, Kate Middleton has been one of my favorite celebrities. She's part of the British royal family, but she still manages to live a normal life--she goes to the supermarket, makes dinner and spends quiet nights at home watching movies with Prince William. She handles royal functions with ease and grace, always looking put-together and fabulous. Kate also uses her royal status to support the causes she cares about like the armed forces, children and the environment. 

Don't you wish you could live like Kate Middleton? I know I do!