Denmark

My grandfather was a first generation Danish American who grew up in a Danish speaking household. But he never taught my father to speak Danish. He wanted to be all American. My mother named me after my Danish great grandmother, Karolina, who died in a tornado. I traveled to Copenhagen and I was struck by all the blonde children in Tivoli Gardens. I stuck out with my dark hair. My mother’s father said we descended from an American Indian scout but it was a myth.

Uruguay

I went to the beach in Punta del Este before I worked as a journalist in Buenos Aires. I took the ferry to Colonia—where Uruguayans sold colorful wool sweaters—to renew my tourist visa every few months. My work papers came through just before I left Argentina.

Mexico

The Israeli soldier I met on the way to Macchu Picchu became my boyfriend. He followed me to New York and we traveled to Mexico City together. We climbed the stone steps of Teotihuacan, pre-Columbia pyramids where men were sacrificed to the gods.

Cayman Islands

We went to the Caribbean for our honeymoon a year after we married. We snorkeled and the fish looked gray in the dark ocean. We read books on the beach and went to bed early like old retirees—worn out by Scud missile attacks during the Gulf War—and we soon separated.

Hong Kong
I had a layover in the Hong Kong airport for twelve hours on my way back from Australia to New York City. I didn’t think I had enough time to tour Hong Kong so I stayed in the airport. I wandered through the posh shops and read a long novel at a café. As a girl, I dug a hole in the backyard with my brother and told my mother, I’m digging to China! My grandfather flew cargo missions over the Hump—the Himalayas—from India to China during World War II. I always wanted big adventure like my grandfather.

Karol Nielsen is the author of the memoirs Black Elephants (Bison Books, 2011) and Walking A&P (Mascot Books, 2018) and the chapbooks This Woman I Thought I’d Be (Finishing Line Press, 2012) and Vietnam Made Me Who I Am (Finishing Line Press, 2020). Her first memoir was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing in nonfiction in 2012. Excerpts were honored as notable essays in The Best American Essays in 2010 and 2005. Her full poetry collection was longlisted for the Terry J. Cox Poetry Award in 2021 and was a finalist for the Colorado Prize for Poetry in 2007. One poem was a finalist for the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize in 2021. Her work has appeared in Epiphany, Guernica, Lumina, North Dakota Quarterly, Permafrost, RiverSedge, and elsewhere. She teaches creative nonfiction and memoir writing with New York Writers Workshop.