Around-the-World
I grew fond of traveling when I was a child. My parents were both civil engineers who traveled intensively for various projects. Whenever they had to leave home at the same time, one of them took me on the trip. It did not take me long to realize how much fun such trips could be --- meeting different people, eating unique and delicious local food, experiencing interesting cultures, seeing beautiful scenes, and most importantly, taking days and weeks completely free of school work. The trips were not always pleasant. Some times we had to ride on crowded trains and stay in dingy hostels. Nevertheless I enjoyed all of them. Since I became a professor I have had plenty of opportunities to travel around the world for research projects, conferences, short-term visits, or simply family vacations during summer and winter breaks.