Tiffany exploring Central Park.
It’s that wonderful time of year again…summer!!! (At least, in the northern hemisphere it is.)
For me, summer is the season of freedom. Each summer when I was young, our family took a road trip: it was time to explore the world a little bit, to have fun, and to make memories that have lasted my whole life.
My first road trip introduced me to the place I would one day call my second home: the mountains of western North Carolina. It was a trip of firsts: trout fishing, visiting a Native American reservation, seeing Biltmore, and exploring the trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Subsequent summers saw a variety of destinations, from Washington D.C. and Chicago to Cancun, the Caribbean, and driving through cornfields in Illinois. Even when we returned to destinations a second or third time, we always did new things, tried new foods, and met new people.
This summer, I’ve continued that tradition on my own. My first trip was this past month: my first visit New York City. I stood in Times Square, rode a train, visited the American Museum of Natural History to see fossils of which I’d never even heard, and, best of all, I tried what feels like a million new foods, from Jewish babka to Chinese fusion to prosciutto on white pizza.
Tiffany in Grand Central Station, on her way home!
It was the trip of a lifetime, shared with my best friend of 25 years. It was one, like all the other summer road trips, that I will never forget. But most of all, it was a reminder that no matter what life throws at us, or how old we get, we should never stop exploring, trying new things, and most importantly, having fun.
So this summer, I dare you: Go somewhere new. Try something different. Find adventure. It’s out there, waiting for you.
-Tiffany Rhoades
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.