Sixteen-year-old Celeste Blackwood has spent her high school years at an academy that teaches self defense techniques instead of P.E. class and how to crack computer codes instead of using the pythagorean theorem. She was taught how to shoot a gun when she was eight years old, and she knew how to take down a full grown man by the time she was ten. That's what you learn when you attend Briar Preparatory Academy, a school for young men and women training to work closely with the United States government. Things go south whenever a man by the name of Jasper Vegas seeks out vengeance on the school because of a dark past he has with the headmaster of the Academy. It is up to Celeste and her friends to find out why this man wants to see the destruction of Briar Prep. It is also their duty to defend it at all costs, whether it means life or death. Because when you are training to be a spy, courage is mandatory.

"I just need a ticket to the next flight that's taking off. I'll take anything," The Heathrow Airport employee is taken back as I rush up to the check-in station, practically demanding a plane ticket. "Please?" "Are you sure, sir?" The employee asks while trying to hide the fact that she's becoming flustered. I nod my head. "Okay, so the next flight seems to be..." She clicks a few keys on her keyboard then a few times on her mouse before coming to a stop. With every second that goes by the more anxious I become. My heart pounds against my chest like a hammer in anticipation of where I'm going to be starting my new life. "Well? Anything? I told you that it could literally be anywhere in the world." "Hold on, sir," She tries to pull a professional smile, but I can easily see that I'm beginning to aggravate her. "The next flight is to South Carolina in the United States, and it's going to begin boarding in about fifteen minutes. If that is where you choose to-" "Sounds perfect. How much is it?" I interrupt her. "And make sure it's a one way ticket. I have zero plans of ever coming back."

After quitting our jobs, my partner and I hopped on a one-way flight to Asia to spend six months exploring. Come along for the ride! Journey through historic and busy China, beachy and rural Thailand, temple-tastic Myanmar, delicious and sleek Malaysia, the stunning and surprising Philippines, jaw-dropping, adventure-filled Nepal, classy Singapore, and Indonesia's underwater wonderland. Combining my love of travel, writing and photography, Travel Drabbles is an ongoing collection of bite-sized, visual chapters. The strange love child from when travelogue met poetry. Brace yourself for the good the bad and the ugly, plus the funny bits in between.