The tide enchants me with its consistency. The creatures fill my heart, and the unknown drives me. With each beat of the ocean’s heart, it sends waves rising up, crashing on the shore, or slowly stretching up to gently kiss the sand.

The crisp morning air surrounds me, and the sun slowly begins to kiss the earth in a beautiful haze.
    
My journey through our small town of Ozark, Missouri, begins at the abandoned Old Ozark Mill.

By throwing grenades and shooting harpoons, whaling boats hope to hit whales enough to make a traumatic blow. Unfortunately when you’re on a swaying boat trying to hit a moving target, more often than not your aim won’t be exact, leaving the whales to die a slow agonizing death. Every year, nearly 2,000 whales are brutally murdered for commercial whaling.

“Land Ho,” a crew member yelled. I looked over the edge of the ship Satisfaction and squinted to see the tiny glimpse of land in the distance. Tomorrow we would set off on our journey to raid Panama, said to be the richest city in the western hemisphere. I closed my eyes that evening, knowing it would be my last good night’s rest for a while.

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like for your parents to move you to a foreign country at the age of sixteen? Shelby Lewis knows exactly what it’s like. At the age of sixteen, her mom decided to move out of their home town in Missouri and go on a journey, living abroad in Panama.

I give the okay signal and roll back off the boat; the water engulfs me. Submerging below the ocean surface, I become one with the sea. With slow steady strokes from my fins pushing me forward, and the loud reassuring sound of the dive regulator filling my lungs with oxygen, I am able to take in all of the reef’s ecosystem.

Thinking about going on vacation this summer, but don’t know where to go? Look no further: Sanibel Island, Florida is the perfect vacation getaway!

Taking a deep breath, I feel the warm onshore breeze gently whisking through my hair. For a second, I almost forget I’m not alone. I am shaken back to reality by the joyful laughter. Who knew people from different corners of the world could have so much in common, yet be so different all at the same time?