Skye Curren, Editor
@esccourant
Yao Yao Mize is a pretty typical New Canaan student in a lot of ways; she takes calculus, has a dog, and is in the Friends of the Earth Club. But one thing that you might not know is that she’s been to over 30 countries, including Italy, Malaysia, and Belize. She’s been travelling since she was adopted at 18 months. The following is an interview with Yao Yao where we talk about her many voyages and learn her favorite travel tips.
Skye Curren: What’s your favorite country you’ve travelled to?
Yao Yao Mize: That’s a hard one- I think I’d have to say Malaysia. They have really good food there, and the culture’s really cool. I was a lot younger then, but I remember loving the hotel there as well.
SC: How old were you when you started travelling?
YM: I’m adopted, so my parents came to get me when I was eighteen months. We just started travelling right away.
SC: Why have you travelled so much?
YM: It’s mostly because of my parents. My mom- she just wants to go everywhere. I do too now.
SC: Do you have any travel tips for students?
YM: Travel light. Pack a smaller bag inside of another bag, because then if you want to go somewhere else and carry less, you have that smaller bag.
SC: What are your go-to travel necessities
YM: Headphones, definitely. I like to take a couple of books- those can be heavy, so I now have them on my phone.
SC: Do you think your perspective on the world is different because of your travel?
YM: Yes, definitely. I’ve definitely seen different cultures- I think we all know this is a very white town, so I think it’s important to see a lot of different cultures. But also poverty- in third world countries like India- and that has also changed my perspective.
SC: What do you do on a long plane ride?
YM: Sleep helps a lot because I have air sickness. I try to sleep or watch movies.
SC: Have you’ve ever returned to a place you’ve already been to? And, if so, why?
YM: Yes. Actually recently we went to Ile De Re- that’s an island off of France. It’s kind of like a beachy, little town, where you ride bikes everywhere. It’s very small community. I just love it so much because it’s so laid back, but it’s also perfect for picnics or riding your bike to another small town.
SC: You’ve probably climbed a lot of stairs. What is your favorite flight of stairs you’ve ever climbed while travelling?
YM:There’s this place in Sri Lanka called the Sigiriya Rock; when we went it was raining, so it was dangerous, but I thought it was so cool.
SC: What is the coolest place you’ve ever stayed in?
YM: The coolest place I’ve stayed at- it was in India, and we stayed in tents to see tigers. It was glamping, like I don’t think that could really be called camping. It was really nice. But yeah, that would be the coolest- staying in tents to see tigers.
SC: What is the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you while you were travelling?YM: Actually, recently, we couldn’t get into the Forbidden City in China, but there was this really shady guy standing outside who was like, ‘I can get you inside.’ And it was our only possible day to go, so we agreed we’d see what he does. It was really shady- I think we pretended to be in a tour even though we weren’t. I mean, the price of the tickets was much more than it would have been, but it was our only chance. I think it was worth it.
SC: What’s your favorite souvenir?
YM: I have a snow globe collection. I used to have it because my mom travelled, and she’d get me snow globes from wherever she went. And now I get snow globes from wherever I go. I have a big collection of snow globes from all over the world now.
