My Christmas present this year was a trip around the world and a visit to the emergency room. With red hives all over my body and my throat swollen almost to the point of being fully closed, I wasn't too happy.

Twenty-four hours prior to this moment of "fine holiday fun" I was getting four vaccinations against typhoid fever, yellow fever, polio and hepatitis A, all of which were recommended before I embark upon my journey to 10 countries around the world.

In the ER I complained about the pain caused by an IV pumping steroids into my arm, which was supposed to stop the allergic reaction I had to one of the vaccinations.

But then it hit me -- I was being unreasonable.

Most people living in yellow fever and polio-ridden areas around the world don't even have the vaccines I had the good fortune of getting.

I had no reason to be miserable; at least I had a hospital to go to, or better yet, at least I had the vaccines in my body that would prevent the diseases. I realized I was pretty fortunate to have all of these at my disposal.

I am also fortunate to be able to spend this semester as student on Semester at Sea, a program sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh. My voyage begins in 10 days from Nassau, Bahamas and ends in San Diego on April 28.

For four months, I will be taking 15 credits aboard the ship while stopping in 10 different ports.

I will be visiting Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China and Japan. In six days, I will fly to the Bahamas and then board the MV Explorer along with 700 other students from universities in the U.S. and abroad.

As for you, the reader, I invite you to "leave port" and join me on a journey around the world. During this semester, not only will I be a study abroad student, but I will work as a journalist to document my interaction and exchange with individuals around the world in every country I visit.

In these mostly non-Western countries, my goal is to get an intimate glimpse of their cultures. I want to see first-hand how people live and experience the cultures off the so-called "beaten path" and talk to people who resemble us to see how they live every day.

As a journalism major, I know there is an intrinsic desire for people to know what is happening locally in their communities and abroad.

The parameters and scope of the non-Western news that reaches us are limited. And I want to give readers something they wouldn't otherwise read in the Collegian.

Before I return to the U.S., I have a lot of questions that need to be answered. The American media have given me impressions of how Africans and the Vietnamese live, but I want to find out how accurate these portrayals really are.

I hope that you're looking forward to the cultural diversity of this trip as much as I am.

I have spent the past few weeks making a custom itinerary for myself that will provide a memorable experience for myself and readers alike.

I want to share with all 40,000 of you what I see in Khayelitsha, a South African township, and I want to try to understand and explain the effects apartheid has had throughout the country.

I admit, I love my Penn State hoodie just as much as anyone, but I might not love it quite as much upon my return, in addition to the other clothes I have that were made in sweatshops like the ones I will be visiting in India. I will be living in a child labor village for a few days, which is a community that houses children from 4 to 14 years of age who have been sold to work in sweatshops.

While these children may be fortunate to live in a community that takes care of them, they work 12 to 14 hour shifts, are served only a cupful of rice for lunch and earn about $2 per month.

I don't know how to emotionally prepare for what I may see or feel, but I know that it will change my overall global perspective, and I hope it will change yours as well.

In addition to the weekly columns, I will maintain a blog tailored to Collegian readers.

I want to give you an even more detailed account of my experiences in each country. You can expect an update from me every two days.

I'm not sure what I'll learn on this trip, and I don't know if I will ever fully understand a foreign culture that is different from mine.

But I do know that travel is a catalyst for living a richer life. Traveling the world is a rather daunting adventure, and although designing an itinerary is somewhat risk-free, there are a lot of safety issues involved with taking such a trip.

For me, this experience is all about taking risks, and in the end, the risks will be worth it. There are a lot of things we can all learn from people who are less fortunate than we are.

I hope my column will reflect the profound gifts that I receive from people and places around the world, and the lessons I learn.