The country where I was born and whose passport I hold. Three cheers for the USA!

My first trip abroad was when I was less than a year old, and it's so close that my local recreational soccer team played afternoon games there and then went home for dinner.

I first went with my family in 1993 to visit our relatives who lived there on an army base. I also passed through several times on trains in 2003 when I was studying in Europe.

My first visit was a side trip to Paris in 1993. I then returned for three months in spring 2003 to study in Strasbourg, which is a city in the Alsace region, very close to Germany. I hope to have a Europe album up soon so you can see a bit of where I lived for three months, as well as some of the nearby countries I visited.

My first trip was in 1999, and since then, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time in Japan and done some amazing things here, including at least part of 2004, '05, '07, '08, '09, and '10. (It also happens to be where I am as I write this!) I can break my Japanese experiences into three categories. Find out more about them in the album below!

Jessie's Japanese Adventures

I went on a study tour August 2-23, 2002. We went all over the place, from Beijing to the Gobi Desert. Some wealthy, generous person gave a grant to my college and told them to take 12 students to China, and I was one of them. Lucky me! I then went back, this time to Shanghai, for the World Expo in June 2010. You can see pictures and read my trip log at these links:

Photos · Logs: 1 · 2.1 · 2.2 · 3 · 4

When I was studying in France in 2003, we passed through Switzerland on our way to Italy. Hey, we had to change trains there—we were in the station in Basel for 3 hours, so we actually did use Swiss francs and walk on Swiss ground. That counts!

While studying in France, I went to Italy for 10 days in April 2003, during Easter break. We went to Rome, Florence, and Venice. I was really thrilled to see the ancient Roman ruins, and Venice is spectacular!

Hey, it's recognized as a country by the UN, so I get to count it on my list.

We went for a weekend trip to Vienna in May 2003. There are lots of cool palaces there, and some scary catacombs.

This was another weekend trip in May 2003. It's a little country that most people forget about, but if you ever get the chance, go to Luxembourg City. With big valleys and bridges and lots of trees, I found it really striking.

I stayed overnight in Copenhagen twice in June 2003, because the train didn't go all the way from Strasbourg to Uppsala, Sweden in one day. I wish I could have stayed longer, though; it seemed like a cool city.

A friend of mine was studying in Uppsala while I was in Strasbourg, so I went to visit her. Even though I'd read about the Midnight Sun before, I was nevertheless amazed to see with my own eyes how late the sun sets in June!

I have always wanted to visit the Land Down Under, and on April 26, 2008, I finally made it. It was one of the most exciting weeks of my life! I've got a massive album and trip logs here:

Australia 2008: Stories and Pictures

I was in South Korea from September 20-23, 2008, during a long weekend while teaching in Japan. The people were really kind to us there, and it was distinctly different from Japan. Nevertheless, because my visit was so short, I didn't make a separate album about it but instead included it in my JET Program album; you can see the pictures in here, or read a bit about my trip here.

From March 20-29, 2009, I went to Gummallapadu Village in Andhra Pradesh, India, as a volunteer through Longitude to help a village of Dalit people build cement brick homes for widows and others in need of better housing. Volunteering abroad was a fantastic experience; I really recommend trying it. If you'd like to see more about my trip, I have (of course) an album and an entry that I originally wrote for the project's blog.

India 2009: Photographs · Blog Excerpt

I took a trip to Southeast Asia during the 2009 Golden Week holiday (May 4-9) with many of the same people from the India trip. Check out the album from that trip here:

Photographs · Travelogues: Day 1 · 2 · 3 · 4-6

We went to Singapore during the 2009 Golden Week vacation, too, since it's right there. Pictures and travelogue (day 3) are included above.