Isabella Kowalcyzk (11) has experienced constant travel within her 16 years. She has experienced the different culture Poland has to offer countless times. Kowalczyk visits Poland every other summer to catch up with her family.

“My whole family lives there, so we like to go visit them every other summer,” Kowalcyzk said.

Having your whole family in a different part of the world is difficult, but Kowalcyzk’s family makes the most out of their visits. Poland is filled with beautiful sights, including Kowalcyzk’s favorite city, Wroclaw. She also visits Krakow, Wadowice and Czestochowa.

“[My favorite place is] this city called Wroclaw. I go to my grandma’s house which is 30 minutes away from the city, so I go there a lot and visit the churches there,” Kowalcyzk said.

Being away from home for a long time seems scary, but for Kowalcyzk, it’s home. As she was growing up, her family mainly spoke Polish at home, so it’s very natural for her. In fact, she speaks it fluently which makes it easier to be there for long periods of time.

“I was learning it [Polish] at the same time I was learning English. It was just like a second language. It was really easy to learn,” Kowalcyzk said.

Being far away from family and the places one loves may lead to the desire of living there in the future. Kowalcyzk has a major interest in moving to Poland as soon as she can.

“I really like the culture and the language more. I want to be near my family so I can visit them whenever I want and not have to wait for each summer to come to go visit them,” Kowalcyzk said.