For a class assignment on international experiences, I decided to interview my mom, Susan Whitehead, who is a world traveler.  She has been to many places around the world, including Costa Rica, Mexico, Romania, Panama, Nicaragua, Canada, and all over her home country, the United States. I asked some questions about why she likes to travel, and what makes it hard and fun.

Q:  What was your greatest experience you had while traveling?

A:  The Greatest travel experience I've had while traveling was the Desfile de Faroles in Turrialba, Costa Rica because our family got to take part in a tradition that my mom did when she was a little girl.  I never had the chance to do something like that before.  It was a really special night.

San Jose, Costa Rica Airport

Q:  What made you want to travel?

A:  The main reason I wanted to travel was to show my children the world and to experience it with them, but I also wanted to travel for myself while I am still young because there is so much to see in the world, and I didn't want to come to the end of my life and wish I had traveled more.

Q:  What is the worst thing about living outside of the U.S.A.?

A:  The worst thing about living outside of the U.S.A. aside from not being able to see my family, is how expensive the electronics are, and the fact that I haven't seen a single Baskin Robbins.

Church in Granada, Nicaragua

Q:  How has traveling outside of the U.S.A. changed your life?

A:  Traveling outside of the U.S.A. has made me less afraid of other people, and it's also made me want to travel more!

Q:  If you could change anything about the way you travel what would it be?

A:  There are times when we travel when I wish we had a car of our own, so we could explore more, and I also wish I had a lighter laptop!

Hawaii

Q:  Why do you like traveling?

A:  I like to travel because I like seeing new places and meeting people from different places around the world.

Merida, Mexico bike ride

And my thoughts on an International Career:

Being a Giant Panda veterinarian would interest me the most because it involves three things I really like: Veterinary Medicine, Traveling, and Giant Pandas.

An International experience would help me to be more comfortable with flying to different place in the world where I would need to go to check up on how the different pandas are doing.

It would also help me to be more comfortable with talking to the different people involved with the pandas, and I'd be more used to the different types of food they have in that country.

I think I would really enjoy this job.

Joy Whitehead is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program.

All photos courtesy and copyright Joy Whitehead