Jane O'Shea articles

A family vacation rental turns awkward when one sibling gets the best bedroom. Here’s how to split vacation house costs fairly when rooms, bathrooms, privacy, and comfort differ.

Walk through snack aisles around the world and familiar categories suddenly become very different. Global food companies routinely adapt flavors to local tastes, while other treats remain closely connected to the countries where they became famous. That makes traveling a perfect excuse to skip the familiar package and try the version a country does especially well.

Americans have 50 states to choose from without ever leaving the country, but their trips are far from evenly distributed. Warm beaches, famous cities, theme parks, mountains, family visits, and easy road trips repeatedly pull travelers toward a relatively small group of states. Recent domestic travel data shows that California, Florida, Texas, and New York remain particularly powerful magnets. A few less obvious states also attract enormous numbers of trips every year.

A first visit to the United States can make ordinary routines suddenly seem unfamiliar. Habits involving restaurants, shopping, transportation, homes, and even eggs reflect systems that developed differently from those in many other countries. None of these customs applies to every American, but several are widespread enough to catch international visitors by surprise.

Canada's enormous size and long history have produced mysteries ranging from unexplained disappearances to archaeological puzzles that have lasted for generations. Some cases have attracted treasure hunters, while others remain active police investigations or subjects of historical research. From Nova Scotia to the Arctic, these six mysteries show how difficult it can be to separate what is known from what people desperately want to know.

Smartphones have replaced an impressive amount of traditional travel gear, from maps and cameras to alarm clocks and translation tools. Yet plenty of travelers still prefer packing physical backups rather than trusting one battery-powered device with everything. Some of these supposedly outdated products are surprisingly practical, while others mostly survive because familiar travel routines are difficult to abandon.

For plenty of Americans, living overseas is more than a vacation fantasy. A 2025 Harris Poll survey found that 52% of Americans believed they could enjoy a higher quality of life abroad, while 49% of those who had considered moving cited lower costs as a reason. When respondents considering a move were asked where they might go, ten countries stood above the rest.

Before travel apps and online reviews, choosing a roadside motel often came down to recognizing a familiar sign from the highway. By the 1980s, American lodging included enormous national brands alongside smaller chains that dominated particular regions and travel corridors. Some of those once-familiar names have since vanished completely, even though their old buildings can still turn up beside American highways.

Cities rarely stay frozen in time. Industries collapse, transportation changes, neighborhoods decline, and sometimes an economic crisis forces leaders to rethink what a city is supposed to be. From former factory towns to polluted ports, these cities found very different ways to build a new identity.