Travel History

While flipping through How to Be an Explorer of the World, I came across Exploration #30 which was titled 'Travel History,' and I was immediately thrilled at the prospect of gathering my tidbits from traveling to create a collection. Due to a time limit (it would take me hours to go through all my belongings to find items I've collected while traveling), I chose only a few items to share that represent more memorable trips.

Rock from the Missouri River

The rock in the photo above is something that I've only recently added to my collection. The week before school started, I headed out to Pierre to spend a few days with family. One of those afternoons was spent swimming at Okobojo, north of Pierre. The beach where we were swimming was a rock collectors paradise. My rock pile continued to grow as the afternoon wore on, and when it came time to leave, I realized I had collected an unreasonable number of rocks. This was the rock that I chose to keep and take home with me.

Lake Superior Rock

Another rock! The summer after I graduated from high school, my family took a trip to visit three of the great lakes. The last lake we visited was Lake Superior and this was one of the amazingly smooth rocks that I took home to add to my rock collection.

Black Hill Charm

It seems to me that everyone who lives in South Dakota visits the Black Hills on a regular basis. This is not true of my family. I've only been to the Black Hills twice in my life, and the last time I went was when I eleven. This is a charm that I got in the Black Hills the last time I was there. I got it when charm bracelets were really cool and it has been on my charm bracelet for years.

Mr. Monkey

The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska! The first time I went to this zoo, I was about seven years old and it was very exciting. I have four memories from that day. The first memory is of the tunnel in the aquarium, and seeing all the sharks swimming all around me. My second memory is of the shoes I was wearing. They were green and blue boys shoes that were exact copies of the shoes my cousins wore because I always wanted to be exactly like them. My third memory is of how tired I was of walking. While I have no specific memory of the moment I got this monkey, my fourth memory of that day is the fact that I walked around for most of that day with this monkey hanging around my neck. His hands have Velcro so that they stick together. Sadly, he no longer fits around my neck.

Receipts

Receipts! Last summer, I went on the photography tour with Dakota State University and I saved every single receipt that I acquired while in London, Edinburgh, and Paris. I love seeing the pound symbol on the receipts rather than the dollar sign.

Map of the Tube in London

The Tube (subway system) in London was one of the most confusing and thrilling things about my trip to the UK. When traveling with luggage during busy times, it was a race to get your body and luggage both on the Tube. More than once, our group was separated because someone wasn't quick enough.

Domino Cards

This past summer, I spent a day in Brookings, South Dakota with my mom. We spent the whole day browsing in antique stores trying to find treasures.This is one of the treasures I found. Okay, maybe it's not really a treasure. I haven't used them once, but I like how they look and every time I see them on my shelf, I remember the day I spent in antique stores with my mom.