Back in the day, science was often relegated to wealthy, self-funded explorers and “gentlemen scientists” the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, and Isaac Newton. One could argue that they were the original “citizen scientists” but back then you had to have money and time to explore the world and formulate big thoughts.

What I packed & what I shouldn’t have brought: one girl’s struggle with over packing and condensing.

When I find out I’m going on vacation, my first thought (aside from being excited that I’m going somewhere) is ‘oh shit. How am I going to pack?’

“You don’t have to be a beachcomber to like Galveston,” I told my sister recently.  We were talking about our plans for summer vacation. I had said I was visiting Galveston Island. She did not like going to the beach, she had retorted.

“The beach is way too hot for me. Even when I use a sunscreen and take an umbrella, I burn while shooing away the birds,” she said. Her reaction hit a nerve with me. Suddenly, I found myself sounding as if I represented the Galveston Chamber of Commerce.

I have several Facebook friends whom I’ve met through travel who don’t have a college degree.

Suddenly the treetops above us erupted in noise and chaos. We scrambled to grab our binoculars and craned our necks to find the source of mayhem high above our heads. Hearts beating fast, senses heightened, we quickly spotted a troop of tiny primates climbing and jumping through the canopy of the Amazon rainforest.