I was 14 years old when my family and I took a trip to Japan--my first time out of the country. The highlight of those two weeks wasn't my daily ice-cold bottle of fizzy C.C. Lemon. It was our hike up ...

The snarling, fierce gazes of mighty beasts illuminated by my headlamp light send a momentary jolt of adrenaline through my sleep-deprived body. Upon further inspection, the fearsome pair is revealed ...