How important are arts and music festivals? Georgia Southern University Masters candidate Kimberly F. Rudolph wrote her honors thesis on the topic. Art festivals, she discovered, are more than excuses to shop. They’re unifying, too! According to Rudolph’s research, art and music festivals are community-building events that bring like-minded people together, so even if our politics and opinions are diverse, when we share entertainment experiences,…
According to an article published in The Harvard Crimson, Americans rush around too much, said University of Berlin Professor Adolph Goldschmidt. “They never bother to rest and reflect,” he added. “They want to see how many miles they can make in a day.” His words were delivered at a 1930 lecture, yet little changed about American travel habits over time – until Carlo Petrini, protesting…
If you’re like most North Americans, your focus on shopping—in anticipation of year-end holidays—is likely occupying a big chunk of your time these days. Buying gifts can be a challenge, say professionals studying gift-giving behaviors, and if you’re looking to impress, you’ll want to know about an emerging trend: Giving the gift of travel. Check your 2024 calendar. If you’ve already marked loved ones’ birthdays,…
Are you happy to announce to anyone who will listen that you are a dedicated foodie? The lofty designation describes anyone who finds themselves claiming the title because they exhibit these characteristics: There isn’t a food you won’t try The next meal is always on your mind You judge the quality of any gathering by the food Photographing your dishes before you eat has become…
Ever wonder why news reports of immigration surges from Central America always exclude Belize? The U.S. Center for Immigration Studies recently called this English-speaking nation the land “that creates few problems for the U.S.,” and it also speaks to a population that has no desire to live anywhere else in the hemisphere. Further, while Belize and neighboring nations enjoy similar, if not identical climates, that…
If the urge to take a pass on dashing through the snow to spend Christmas at home is too strong to resist this year, you can always shop and wrap gifts early and then tell everyone that you’re heading south to get a much-needed break in the sun before the pressures of 2024 begin. Where to go? Belize, of course. It’s affordable and close, plus…
There are plenty of reasons to rely upon regular routines, including staying more efficient, cutting stress, and enhancing happiness. Further, routine keepers tend to avoid procrastinating since routines are known to buffer life’s endless demands and provide much-needed structure. But the downside of routines is that they don’t work for everyone, could trigger boredom and monotony, and can stop us from growing in new and…
Can time spent on a beach make a major difference in the way you approach life and survive the downturns? It can, say doctors who authored and vetted the article about improved mental health for WebMD. Will it replace therapy, drugs, and meditation? Perhaps, they say. And since it costs you nothing to sit on a beach, it makes sense to bury your toes in…
Analysts at Expedia Group Media Solutions surveyed the world’s youngest generation to see how this demographic influences family travel. They found that a new niche has been added to the list of Baby Boomers, Gen Xs, Millennials, and Gen Zs: Gen Alpha, covering anyone born between 1995 and 2010. By 2025, Two billion kids will comprise the Alpha generation and every one of them is…
The University of Exeter, the British Trust for Ornithology, and the University of Queensland teamed up to conduct a study that got attention from the international mental health community: People living in neighborhoods with a preponderance of birds “are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and stress.” It didn’t matter where study participants lived—urban or suburban neighborhoods. As long as birds show up regularly,…