Taxis in Germany were always better than those back home, and the ride from the airport to the hotel passed faster than expected. Before I could replay the previous night in my head, the cab pulled to the curb outside my temporary home. The driver unloaded my suitcase, and I tipped him twenty euros, earning a surprised look as he drove off. Inside, the lobby opened cleanly in both directions—the bar to the left, the ameni...

I was sitting by the pool waiting for my sister Emily to come back. “What could be taking her so long?” I thought to myself. I really didn’t care that much about my sister’s company at the moment – I had a drink, a seat in the sun, and several attractive men to watch around the pool – but I was about to need to get in the pool to cool off, and I was hoping Emily would bring a hair clip back for me too. I was about to say...

Every year, my family takes a summer trip when all of my siblings and I are out of school. It has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. Usually, we would choose somewhere warm and sunny like Florida or Hilton Head, South Carolina, but on special occasions like major birthdays, graduations or things like that, my parents would splurge and choose somewhere more exotic like Hawaii, Aruba, Jamaica. I had just...