Just recently, I came back from a two-week trip from Alaska with my family and friends. It started off with a cruise in Vancouver and then it continued into a land tour through the Yukon Territory and Alaska. We traveled to so many cities, used many modes of transportation, such as trains and buses, and learned so much rich history that I never learned in school. It was an amazing experience to go through.

It was a nice to get away from life and all the stress I have because of school and college. It was also a nice change of scenery because everywhere I looked there were mountains, water and wildlife. It beautiful to see things that I wouldn't see in my day-to-day life, especially the wildlife. Here in Georgia, I will often see deer or dogs, but in Alaska, I got to see bears and caribou. A wolf walked right by our bus and it was so unexpected but amazing. When was I ever going to get a chance to see a loyal animal? I felt like a child again because I was seeing and experiencing things that couldn't be experienced in my normal life, and it was amazing to be able to feel like that again. It's not often that we can act like a child seeing something for the first time.

Madhavi Shingala

Here's a fun fact: Alaska has big mosquitoes. We went hiking twice, and on these trails were the only times we saw mosquitoes. There weren't any mosquitoes anywhere else and that annoyed me a bit. We also saw a lot of sites, like a green lake, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, glaciers on top of a mountain, etc.

When we went to Denali National Park, a bus tour was included on our tour which takes us through the mountains to get a view of Mount Denali. Due to its height, it is very difficult to see the entire mountain because of the clouds that form on the top, and the mountain itself can only be seen at specific times and when the weather is nice. So it's rare for people to see the entire mountain clearly. It was very windy and the chances of seeing the mountain were low, but I got a perfectly clear view of the mountain. Behind a mountain range that was semi-covered with glaciers was one that was completely covered with whiteness and it was the tallest. That was Mount Denali. As I looked at it, I thought to myself, "Where else am I going to see something like this?"

Madhavi Shingala

Something to know about me is that I'm born in Toronto, Canada. Despite that, I've never explored other provinces of Canada, and this tour helped a lot in that area. Before we got on the cruise to Alaska, I got to explore a part of British Columbia and after the cruise, I got to explore a part of the Yukon Territory. In British Columbia, my family and friends spent three days in Vancouver, and oh my goodness! It is so different from Atlanta that it was refreshing to me when I walked through the streets. There are a lot of public transportation options there allowing the city to have less traffic. It was a nice change for me and my parents also because we all drive through traffic. This is where the beginning part of our trip, the cruise, took off from and we landed in Skagway, Alaska. The Yukon is where all the history started. There was another gold rush, which to me was a lot more brutal than others because of the weather and the land the people had to get through. This was how Alaska was discovered and urbanized. I thought the history is fascinating and how this Gold Rush was the beginning of Alaska.

One thing that I absolutely loved and will cherish is the number of new people I met. On this tour, there were only four kids: my brother, two friends and me. It took a while for us to warm up, but we met so many new people and got to know their stories and why they came on this trip. They gave us, the kids, advice on so many things, and in return, we gave them company and stories about ourselves. It seems hard to connect with others who are older than me, but it's not. I met a woman who plays the flute for an orchestra and thought it was a coincidence since I also play the flute; then, I found out her husband plays the violin for the same orchestra, and I was mind blown because my best friend, who was also on the trip, also plays the violin. The tour guide was a teacher, which made it easy for me to ask questions since education is the field I want to go into. By the end of the trip, everyone in the tour group was close, so when we parted, it hurt.

Madhavi Shingala

I will be honest, I did almost cry at the end of the trip. It hurt to part with the amazing people I met and got to share experiences with, but it makes me happy when I think back to all the memories I made. Not only new people, but I also got to see wildlife that can't be seen in Georgia. I got to explore a place where I might never get to go again. I enjoyed every part of this trip: the wildlife, the people, the weather, the sites, the excursions, everything. For me, this trip was worth all the money spent.