Kintsugi is an art that celebrates an object's history, fractures, and imperfections by restoring them and highlighting its flaws as the primary source of their beauty. On my second day in Tokyo, my family and I joined a kintsugi workshop. As we entered the dimly lit room, I was struck by the beauty of Japanese and Western glassware, tableware, and lacquerware, its intricate and imperfect lure…

The chaos and ghoulish excitement of Halloween has spread virally to Sleepy Hollow, filling the quaint streets with hundreds of visitors just as wild as the monsters they dress as. After a recent spike in popularity on social media this upstate town—just an hour's train ride north of Grand Central, best known for the legend of the Headless Horseman—has become an October bucket list destination…

On the cobblestone pavement are stranded cats with their paws slowly dragging, ready to find a small corner to rest. The cats might’ve had a long day of pondering through the streets of Istanbul, but not the people. Flashes of warm orange and sunny yellow lights throughout the streets hide that it's almost midnight…

You know you’re truly in a foreign place when the country smells different to you —when it swelters with layers unidentifiable to your virgin nose. It takes time to pick these layers apart. You must sit in them, let them seep into the fibers of your clothes, and explore the corners from which they’re drifting.…

I’ve heard from many that Shanghai was just like New York City – crowded, irreverent attitudes, pretentious, decadent, and, above all, alive. For me, having lived here my entire life, what defines NYC is its art, music, and overall creative culture. So, naturally, what I wondered most about Shanghai was – what was the art/music…

As national parks go, Pinnacles is not terribly big. This central California park spans just under 25,000 acres in the Gabilan Mountains. Despite its small stature, there is plenty to do. Visitors enjoy hiking, rock climbing, spelunking, and viewing local flora and fauna such as condors and wildflowers.…

I remember looking like a sloppy tourist that day. My hair was loose and tangled between the straps of my cross-body bag and camera. My Italian flag shirt was hanging off one shoulder. At any given moment, my eyes were covered either by my sunglasses or my lens. My mom and I stood in the…

San Francisco is home to one of the United States’ most tantalizing destinations for history buffs, thrill seekers and nature enthusiasts alike: Alcatraz Island. Located 1.5 miles offshore in the San Francisco Bay, this speck of land has served as a fortress, a Native American protest site, a…

Spending a semester studying abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, every day was a new adventure. A chance to meet someone, try out various foods, experience a holiday or custom, and learn something about the culture of Israel. Luckily for me, there was one place in Jerusalem where I felt I could…

A slight chill hovers in the air over Montreal, even in early August. The stone streets are still damp in the mornings and have a kind of luster that doesn’t exist on city sidewalks. When it rains at night, the stones accentuate every trace of light from…

I remember my first cigarette in Prague. Hell, I remember my first 50 cigarettes. It was a warm night earlier this year and I’d just recently arrived to the city. After stumbling around as newcomers do, we ventured in to the Prague Beer Museum, just off Old Town Square. It was…

Roaming white goats and curving streams etched lines into the green mountain valleys like lines on the palms of our hands. I inhaled the crisp, clean mountain air, absorbing a rush of energy from the altitude and feeling as if I could float. It is said that everyone should visit the…

Fifteen miles outside of San Francisco, under the rusted red doorway of the Golden Gate and through the rainbow arch of the Waldo Tunnel, lies a little town of modest renown. It is a town that is a world unto itself: a Northern Californian micro-universe with an…

I get exhausted quickly when I weave my way through the center of Addis Ababa. My legs get sore, my tummy aches, and my eyes droop. Navigating the crowded streets, I am overwhelmed by the smell of feces. On my way from the bus stop, I pass a man balancing a head full of CDs…

A little after 2 p.m. on a Monday, I find myself floating drowsily toward an out-of-sight informational film and thinking, “God, I’m in love.” I’m in the visitor center of Austin, Texas – a place that’s all wood and bolts, most of which have been fastened into the shape of the…

You’re visiting Seattle soon. You’ve heard great things, so you’re heading west, just like the settlers did. Most tourists visit during Seattle’s 80-degree summers, which start in mid-July and last until the end of September. You missed that. You’ll probably still have fun though, because Seattle is very trendy now—just give…

“Hey, want to take picture?” shouted the blind hunchbacked native. He motioned us over to the rock on which he was sitting, overlooking vast rice terraces in the distance. Despite his affinity for photography, the man — a member of the ancient Ifugao tribe — was preserved in a time capsule. For…

Far away, in one of the pink towers that stands tall among the simple stucco houses, a faltering voice recites incantations over a loudspeaker. But here, keeping pace in the step of the souk, no one seems to notice. Berbouch vendors continue stirring their snail soup, motorized bicycles release…

Plaza de Colon, Plaza of Columbus. A plaza in Madrid’s heart glorifying a dark imperial past, which has long since become a mecca for the hooligans of Iberia. During the European skateboarding boom of the late 80’s and early 90’s, Plaza de Colon was the place to be due to its accidentally…

Vendi, Vidi, Edi — I came, I saw, I ate. A cheeky distortion of a popular phrase by Julius Caesar, Dictator of Rome and namesake of the Caesar Salad. Yet it was not Caesar who I met on my blisteringly hot first day in Rome but a street band blasting ‘We No…