Ayhaft Canyon on Socotra Island off Yemen.
Photo: Girl Solo in Arabia

By Tara Kyle

I'm writing today to encourage you to show some support for Carolyn McIntyre, whose Girl Solo in Arabia travelogue is currently up for a Webby Award in the Blog--Culture/Personal category. Please click here to quickly register and vote in the competition, which honors the "best of the net."  You may remember Girl Solo in Arabia for its prior nod in the 2007 Travvies.  Trust me, all the accolades are well deserved.

Many Americans today would balk at traveling to places like Damascus or Sana'a Yemen (where Carolyn recently visited, in the company of mounted machine guns and a rocket propelled grenade).  But on her journey through North Africa, the Levant, Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, Carolyn has remained committed to a mission of exploring the rich culture of each locale, while emphasizing "the commonality we share as humans regardless of race, color or religion."

The relationship between Islam and the West is also a topic close to my heart. A few Columbia classmates and I recently finished work on a multimedia journalism project, Defining Middle Ground, which explores some of the challenges facing young Muslims in New York.  Check out the video interviews in our "crossing cultures" section, where kids from an Islamic private school in Brooklyn and a Staten Island public school discuss their anxieties and stereotypes before meeting each other.