2 . Ciudad Perdida, Colombia’s “Lost City” is older than Machu Picchu. There are no trains or buses allowing of _________ travels to reach its ruins. The remote place is only _________ on foot: a tiring multi-day hike.

Despite this, I couldn’t _________ the opportunity to visit Ciudad Perdida. 12 other hikers and I went there in _________ with a licensed guide. The dirt path, which _________ through towering palms and dangling vines (藤蔓), proved _________ right from the start. Along the way we also met the _________. They have been left _________ for centuries and there’s a deep bond between them and the land.

The next morning, we were off early to _________ the heat, but high temperatures and muscle pain had already set in by the time we reached the final stage—1,200 stone steps to __________. After finally lifting my painful body up the long flight of stairs, my eyes __________ the scene that had __________ the backbreaking journey: Ciudad Perdida.

I looked down and wondered at the beautiful site below. While the return trip included __________ the mental hurdle (障碍) of having already accomplished our goal, the experience is the one I would do __________. It is the difficulty that makes the journey a more __________ one. Earned views are always better.

3 . Along with a dozen boys, I made a trip to Lowa in order to see a college that I was thinking of _________ last month. Although the trip had been fun for the most part, I felt _________ from time to time. I was missing my family and _________ that I wouldn’t be seeing them very much if I studied here. I was also missing the _________ of my home. I loved how they turned into a thousand shades of green in the spring and then became a sea of gold, red and orange in the fall. I loved the smell of the wild flowers.

Here in Iowa everything was _________. What I could see was a wild prairie(大草原) with no trees. All that I could _________ was a mixture of corn, mud, and pigs. One day after a long walk, I rested with my eyes closed and _________ being back home again. _________, when I opened them, I saw something that _________ my soul. It was a prairie sunset. It seemed to fill the sky from horizon to horizon. Gold, red and purple clouds all __________ together in a picture painted by nature’s own hand. It was so __________ that it took my breath away. It made the sunsets of my hometown seem tiny in comparison. At that moment I knew how __________ and judgmental I had been. This place also had its own __________. This place was also a part of nature’s creation.

Over the years to come I learned something else. Each of us has a(n) __________ beauty as well. Each of us has our own unique __________ and abilities.

5 . I had a great dream when I was in my twenties. I wanted to travel around Africa with my _________. So I left my hometown with great confidence and _________ Cape Town, not really _________ what to do next. Luckily, before my trip actually started, I met a kind, old Nigerian man. He gave me the best travel _________ I had ever received. “Be like a(n) _________ on your way around the world.”

It sounded _________, but it really changed my idea about travelling. He helped me realize that travel is about learning and _________ local cultures. “It’s far too easy to go into a(n) _________ country and believe your ways are better. But if you study, ask questions and try to learn from the locals, you’ll have far richer _________ ,” he promised me.

On other vacations, when I was on my tour way to Cancun. I was just a __________. I only stayed there for a week to see the __________ and places of interest and then left. The culture didn’t __________ me. I left the cities and towns without really knowing anyone or anything that existed in those places to which I had paid a visit.

This time, I promised to myself that I would be a __________ traveler. After seven months of __________ backpacking in Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, I realized that having a student-like mindset (观念模式) helped extend my trip and helped me learn a lot, which __________ me more than any other trips ever did to me.

9 . I’m standing on Rio’s beach, one of the most famous ________ of sand. In this lively, multicultural country, the beach is not just a place, it’s a state of mind — a way of thinking and living.

Every Brazilian has his or her own ideas of the perfect beach, ________ to tell you where to find it. I’m happy to take their advice but my ultimate goal is to find my own dream beach. First, I go to Prainha’s beach ________ by a row of perfect palm trees, moving softly in the ocean breeze. Its beauty is magnificent-its perfect graceful lines are like something in a ________ But for me, it’s somewhat too perfect. I am searching for something a bit ________.

I continue my search heading north to a legendary beach: Jeri. As an international destination, it attracts visitors from Tokyo to Toronto. Luckily, Jeri hasn’t been ________ by tourists mostly because of its isolated (偏远的) location—at least five hours from any airport. I take a beach buggy (沙地车), driving for three hours. The boats lie on their sides while nets ________ to dry on lines between fishermen’s houses. Peaceful and beautiful! How can it possibly get any better? I ________.

My final stop is the islands of Fernando, ________ a few hundred kilometers out in the Atlantic. They once were used as a prison and later by the army. Today, they are a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, ________ with birds and sea life. The beach there is a perfect ________ of sand, sea, and sky. The water is pale blue and warm, alive with colorful fish, ________, and other marine life, the sand is the color of ________. In the rocks and strong winds that ________ come in from the Atlantic, there is the wilderness I was seeking. Finally. I’ve found the beach of my dreams. I ________ my toes in the sand deeply and imagine I can hold on to this place forever.

10 . Passion, like life, is about the journey, not the destination. Kimberly and I have been planning a trip to Europe for a year. This was a/an ______ of ours. We took our friends Frantoise and Stein Eriksen with us.

The most   ______ part of the journey started with a train ride that had some curveballs (不顺利). When we were trying to get on a   ______ from Zurich to Croatia, we had gotten the departure time wrong and had to ______ around the station to make it in time. We had a tough time finding a taxi to ______ it to the ship. We finally found a taxi and arrived an hour late. ______ , they waited for us.

Once we got onto the ship we ______ it was not like a large hotel with great service. It was tight quarters. The bathroom was very ______ . The shower was a spout (喷头) connected to the bathroom sink. You ______ it on and sprayed yourself, along with the rest of the room.

The week-long ship ride was full of ______ . There were people from different nationalities speaking different languages. We stopped on islands of all sizes. We bicycled 30-40 kilometers. Then there were high winds-so high that the buses couldn’t ______ because they might blow over. So we took an expensive taxi, and ______ back to make our flight home.

While we loved the more predictable parts of the trip, our real passion was in the ______ —the missed rides, the ______ ship, the mixture of cultures, and even the ______ .

Sometimes people are so ______ it scares them to do something different. ______ when they do get out of their comfort zone, the different experiences they once thought were ______ are what stand out. Mixing things up, trying new things, seeing something through another person’s eyes, being ______ to adventure—this is how you create ______ .