By Nicole Reich ’17

Junior Elena Gajewski-Nemes has been to 20 different countries around the entire world, making GoPro videos of her incredible adventures along the way.

To capture the amazing moments and her overall experiences, Gajewski-Nemes uses a Hero 3 Silver Edition GoPro, a camera for extreme action videography. She takes videos and pictures from the beginning to end of her trips, editing them together into montages with iMovie software. The videos average three minutes and include fun and upbeat music that differs for every trip.

Gajewski-Nemes started making GoPro videos in April 2015. While around the world, she records most of the activities and aesthetic sights. The second Puerto Rico video is her favorite she has made so far. “I enjoy making these videos to share what I do, and I’m excited for in the future to be able to look back at them and see all my trips,” said Gajewski-Nemes.

Once is often not enough for Gajewski-Nemes and her family, as she has visited the Dominican Republic and Bahamas three times, Mexico and Germany four times, as well as France and Switzerland twice. Her single trips include Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Panama, Spain, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, England, Netherlands, Italy and Jamaica. “I want to go everywhere in the world. I like seeing new places, and being able to do new things,” Gajewski-Nemes said.

She loved every single one of her nine visits to Puerto Rico, which is where her mom grew up. She is very familiar with the country, and it’s her home away from home. She also has been to 13 of the 50 U.S. States, with her favorites being California, Florida and New York.

Gajewski-Nemes’ adventures vary from scuba diving, kayaking, hiking, exploring cities on a whim and tons more. Some of her best experiences were when she visited a night bay in Vieques Island, Puerto Rico where the fish glowed and sharks swam brightly in the black waters. Gajewski-Nemes drove a Jamaican bobsled in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. In Montego Bay, Jamaica, she ate at an interactive Margaritaville, where after dinner she slid down a slide ending in the ocean and completed a trampoline obstacle course. Gajewski-Nemes got the chance to water raft on the Martha Brae River in Jamaica, zip line and jet ski in Cabo, Mexico, and swim under remote waterfalls in Vieques Island, Puerto Rico

Gajewski-Nemes is looking forward to traveling more in her life, especially to New Zealand, the perfect spot for bungee jumping. “I’m just happiest when I’m traveling, and I think it’s important to experience other places and see things in a new way,” Gajewski-Nemes commented. “Plus, it’s great to make memories and try new things you never think you’d do.”