Please describe any travel or experiences that have prepared you for the Global Engineering RAP. This can include international travel and study abroad or any travel or experiences within the US that have showed you new perspectives, cultures or languages. If you have not had the chance yet to travel, please share where you would like to travel and why. I have been fortunate to travel many places with my family. My main memories from India are playing soccer in the small courtyards, walking the packed streets and buying stuff from tiny stores, and, of course, the food. All of my travels to visit my Indian relatives in Canada and Houston revolve around meals, first hanging out in the kitchen and then around the dining table talking. I learned a lot about my family history and journeys of family members, by listening to relatives tell family stories, fine tune one another’s food preparation, and analyze memories of growing up in India then moving to the US and Canada as immigrants. Other travels that affected my perspective on American life include trips to Panama, Thailand, and New Zealand. Through these experiences, I can appreciate beautiful ways of life that are less consumer-driven than in the US and places where there seems to be a national consensus about the importance of nature conservation. My childhood also includes visiting my Native relatives for gatherings and ceremonies. These experiences deepened my understanding of my Indigenous culture and taught me the importance of community and tradition. I realize that all these opportunities helped shape our family way of celebrating people’s stories. Also, our travels influenced our habits where we follow (although imperfectly) principles of environmental sustainability (following recycling rules, growing food, and planting for pollinators).