I woke up in the middle of the night to a dark room, I could not recognize. Half asleep, I couldn't figure out where I was. All this traveling was beginning to play tricks on my mind. Once I looked over at Valentina asleep on the bed next to mine, the panic slipped away, and I closed my eyes. I woke up the next morning to Valentina tracing her eyes with dark eyeliner while she explained we had thirty minutes until we had to leave. I quickly slipped on my...

I opened my eyes and glanced around the unfamiliar empty bedroom. My roommates had decided last night to take the overnight bus to Siem Reap for the weekend. They packed up at eleven last night and I had the whole room to myself the first night. I popped out of bed, turned on my iPhone and blasted my favorite music as I packed for my weekend trip. Sython said to only bring a small bag, so I unhooked my mini backpack from my main pack. I opened the armoire a...

As the plane flew into Cambodia, I admired all the bright colored roof tops lining the city of Phnom Penh. Teal, orange, purple, red, blue roofs scattered below intertwined with a massive winding river. I had never seen such a vibrant assortment of colors covering hundreds of buildings. The two girls next to me on the flight still had their eyes closed asleep but I was fully rested and excited to start my volunteer program abroad. After three connections, twe...