How the leader of Belize’s first all-female cooperative is keeping Maya traditions alive

Riga’s Kronvalda Park had taken on a Christmas-card look with icicles hanging from trees and the canal frozen solid. It was minus 14C so I’d lost the feeling in my hands but I ran on, crunching through the snow, avoiding black-ice patches and taking corners slowly.

For her family vacation next year, Liz Thimm has booked a 10-day trip to Bocas del Toro, Panama, in February. She requested time off from her pharmacist job a year in advance, checked out guidebooks from the library and has shared itinerary ideas with her daughter and son — who are 11 and 9 — to involve them in the planning process. One thing she has not and will not do? Schedule the trip around a school vacation.

After seven years and three lead actresses, the great saga of Elizabeth II's reign ends. Over the years, it’s won both acclaim and controversy, showered with awards and, in the case of Season 5, the subject of statements by two former Prime Ministers. It has sustained its hit status, each season as eagerly awaited as the first and, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, becoming a focus for a mourning nation.

While studying in northern France in 1998, I didn't expect to celebrate Thanksgiving, but I was shocked to encounter French ignorance of Halloween, my favorite spooky holiday. This explained the absence of costumes, decorations, and candy corn, which compounded my culture shock.By the time my French partner and I moved back to France in 2008, I was a parent. I wanted to keep our American traditions alive, but finding not much more than carving pumpkins and a meager Halloween display in the grocery store, I scoured the internet for recipes and DIY decorations.

For many, the concept of Hell exists in another dimension. But in Belize, the entrance to the underworld is right below your feet. The small Central American nation is home to hundreds of caves, many of which visitors can explore. But they are more than just a place to go cave diving. These caves are said to be the pathway to Xibalba, or the Maya underworld. 

Southwest Airlines expanded its schedule for next summer with new routes to the Caribbean, Orlando, Mexico, and more.

If you struggle to differentiate Sweden and Switzerland—you’re not alone. A recent study commissioned by Visit Sweden has found that an incredible 50 percent of respondents in the United States are not entirely sure they could decipher the differences between Swedish and Swiss culture.

Los Angeles has long been viewed as a new city, spring up and sprawling out from downtown to the Pacific Ocean to the San Fernando Velley. But the city of angels has had almost 250 years of haunted history since it was founded in 1781.

Soon after the death of Sarah Winchester in San Jose, California, in 1922, the new owners opened her mansion as an attraction for tourists drawn to tales of the bizarre. Winchester was the heir to the gun manufacturer’s fortune, and rumors swirled around her constant home building and renovation. She constructed elaborate extra rooms (more than a hundred), stairs that led nowhere, and empty corridors that turned the house into a bewildering maze.

Booking.com says its problem getting payments to European and Asian hotel partners is mostly fixed and that it is even making manual payments in some cases.

Fall foliage, in most parts of the United States, has reached peak status, with blazing auburn, gold and orange leaves on full display. If you’re eager to squeeze in one more leaf-peeping adventure in 2023, or you want to plan an epic fall foliage excursion for next year, why not switch up your perspective and take in the gorgeous colors from above?

A US airline will start boarding passengers with window seats first from next week, in a bid to reduce the time planes spend sitting on the ground.