My story begins 2,800 miles away from California on the East Coast in small place called Long Island, New York. One of the many islands in the state, my two older siblings and I were both born and lived here surrounded by family in a cramped basement. One of my earliest memories is my outdoor birthday party mid-winter when I turned 3 years old. Though my family and I moved 6 months later, we still occasionally visit. The last time I visited Long Island, was in 2018. My hope is to visit again this summer. 

After living in Long Island for all but the first 3 years of my life, we uprooted our lives on the East Coast and moved to a place with a much more stable climate, South Central LA. Here I lived with my cousins for 4 years until my parents bought a home a block away from where we used to live. One of my favorite memories living with my cousins was watching my brother and cousin break the porch lamp.  After living in LA for 15 years, I've formed friendships and memories that last a lifetime. LA is my home. As much as I despised it, I can't imagine my life anywhere else. 

Traveling 270 miles from LA and we're in Las Vegas, Nevada. A short but ongoing chapter in my story, this has been one of my family's go to vacation spots for the last 9 years. In particular the Circus Circus Casino & Hotel has been my parent's favorite and only hotel to stay at. I'm assuming it's because my mom always gets free nights for being a member. Just this past Thanksgiving my family and I took a mini vacation here. I got to explore the luxurious shops in The Venetian from afar and the Hilton's newly opened Resort World hotel.  

During a quick 2-week detour, in the same trip to New York in 2018, I also got to visit Pennsylvania for the first time. Only 235 miles away from New York, on this trip my family and I visited my uncle for his wedding and went to Hersheypark, the amusement park inspired after the chocolate brand Hershey. I got to see the Hershey factory where the candy is made from afar and even bought a mug from the gift shop. The best and objectively worst part of the experience was having to wait in line to go on the large rollercoasters alone. 

Just north of California, 870 miles away, my story continues in a place I like to call the West Coast version of the East Coast. Almost as cold as the East Coast and receiving snow for winter, I had the amazing chance to visit Oregon the beginning of my freshman year of high school. A 3-day out of state college trip, I toured the University of Oregon, Lewis & Clark College and Willamette University. I got to see the color of the leaves change in the fall and experienced extremely cold weather. The best part of this trip was finding out Oregon didn't have a sales tax and getting to see an out of state college. 

A new landmark in my story, is the city of Irvine. Just a mere 31 miles from home or in short, a 45 min drive, this city is my home for the next 4 years. What I like to call "the land of suburbia" at least thus far I haven't explored Irvine as much as I've wanted. Besides the mere 10-mile radius from UCI, there isn't much else to say about Irvine besides a love for boba and independent coffee shops. But hopefully, in the years to come when I get a car, I'll get to explore Irvine and the city I currently hate I will inevitably grow to love. 

Traveling 2,847 miles or a short 5-hour plane ride a large part of my story takes place in El Salvador, my parent's home country. From the early age of 2, I've been visiting this beautiful country ever since. Just this past June, my family and I revisited my parent's hometown, San Juan Opico, the famous black sand beaches as well as some historic sites like the pyramids of San Andres once inhabited by the Mayans. In previous vacations I've had the pleasure of experiencing the typical holiday festivities in my parent's hometown such as the jaripeo [a bull riding event] and el baile ["the dance"] del 26 de deciembre ["December"]. 

294 miles from El Salvador and 2,643 miles from my home is Guatemala, El Salvador's sister. A country I not too long ago visited over the summer, here the currency used is called the Quetzal. During my trip to El Salvador over the summer, my family and I came to visit the famous church, The Basilica of Esquipulas, after our driver was lost for 2 hours. Famously known across Central America for its statue of The Black Christ, it's reportedly known for performing miracles. When asking The Black Christ for a miracle, people light up a candle and dedicate a prayer to him. 

Just 156 miles South of the LA border is Rosarito, Mexico or Baja California. Though only having recently been introduced to my story, Rosarito has become a popular vacation spot for my family and I. The few times I've been, I stayed at Rosarito Beach Hotel where my family I raced each other on dirt bikes, walked around the town and ate pan dulce. I personally spent my time in the hot tub. Though Rosarito is such a beautiful town and beach, arguable the worst part of being there was the heavily meat-based cuisine which was difficult to enjoy as a vegetarian.