Darcy Hughes

Unlike most tourists visiting Maui, Pete and I have no money. We were flying for free, renting a car for next to nothing (thanks to Pete’s jobs), eating food from Walmart, and sleeping in a tent. We spent less than a few hundred dollars during our five-day trip. That must be some kind of record!…

I landed in Heathrow at 10:00 PM and, after a couple of mixups on the Tube, got to my Airbnb in South Harrow around midnight. For only $25 the room was small but clean. I walked to the nearby McDonalds for a meal and ate it ravenously before falling asleep. In the morning, I filled…

One thing my grandma, Mima, and I love to do together is travel. We began planning a trip to D.C. last summer – inspired by a desire to see the Folger Shakespeare Library. Several months of planning, however, did not prepare us for a trip to our Nation’s capital during both a government shut-down and…

I took a bus from the Thessaloniki Airport to a stop that was about a mile’s walk from the American Farm School where my friend Kate is doing a fellowship as a college counselor for high schoolers. I was immediately struck by the road signs in Greek, for it was the first time I had…

Pete works for American Airlines, so both he and I benefit from the perks of free flights. After nearly a week of wandering on my own, Pete flew out to meet me for a lightning-fast three-day trip. He was exhausted from a combination of consecutive night shifts and jetlag; however, I revived him with a…

A month into my trip, I was craving a familiar landscape. I have wanted to return to Rome ever since I left two years ago, and walking from the train station to the Aventine Hill, where I lived for a semester, felt as natural as walking home. After settling into my hotel room, I went…

The difference in the scenery as I moved from Northern to Southern Europe was striking. Streets opened up into boulevards and buildings brightened from grays and whites to oranges and yellows. I was in Barcelona for three days to visit my friend Amanda who is interning as an art instructor for an elementary school. She’s…

I met my German friend Mary during her foreign exchange year in the States seven years ago, and, while we have visited each other since then, we’ve maintained our long-distance friendship has through Skype and Christmas cards. When I saw her again, it was like no time had passed. Before doing much in Germany, we…

On a bus from Paris to Brussels, I woke up to shouting. Passengers chorused “NOO!” and the woman next to me was one of the most passionate protestors. She turned and asked, first in French and then in English, “Do you know what’s going on?” With a sleeping mask still on my face, I shook…

My first thought when waking up in Bellengreville was: Pete’s coming. After a six-hour flight, he drove another two to meet me in the middle of nowhere. I had just one eye of mascara done when I heard him running up the stairs of my Airbnb, and, despite his profound exhaustion, he stood in front…