How to Maximize Your Vacation Days in 2025: Turn 15 PTO Days into 48

Hilton and American Express have announced that they are donating 20,000 free hotel nights to residents displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires in partnership with local non-profit organization 211 LA. Ranked among the most destructive fires in California's history, the Eaton and Palisades fires have destroyed entire communities and forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.

Jan 15, 2025 • 8 min read

Words can barely do justice to the devastation that has unfolded across Los Angeles this week amid the raging wildfires that have erupted everywhere from Pacific Palisades to Pasadena.Entire neighborhoods have been wiped off the map and residents have lost a lifetime of treasures.At last count, the death toll from the unprecedented four-day fire event stood at 10 and more than 9,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged.The Biden Administration has swiftly responded to the climate change-driven crisis. The president visited California on Wednesday and later vowed that the federal government will cover 100 percent of the disaster assistance costs for California for the next 180 days.“I told the governor and local officials, spare no expense to contain these fires,” Biden said. “We’re doing literally everything we can at the federal level.”The president has sent 400 additional federal firefighters to the state and more than 30 firefighting helicopters and planes. Canada is also providing firefighting aircraft.While all of these measures and promises have brought comfort to California, Biden only has 11 more days in office. And President-elect Donald Trump has taken the opposite tact, roundly criticizing California officials for the fires and  spreading misinformation and falsehoods that have since been debunked.In addition to the Biden Administration, the travel industry has provided an outpouring of assistance and support for Los Angeles and its impacted residents.Local organizations such as the Hotel Association of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board are pitching in, as are international, national, and regional tourism industry operators including Airbnb, Delta Airlines, Internova, and Signature. Here’s a closer look at what’s unfolding.

If a trip to Europe for Valentine’s Day weekend or spring break sounds like a good idea, American Airlines has just brought back some of its lowest fares to dozens of destinations for a limited time. 

Jan 11, 2025 • 6 min read

If you want to know just how loathed Vail Resorts is, just look at the lyrics of Grammy-nominated artist Noah Kahan's "Paul Revere."

For those with the New Year’s resolution to travel more, Frontier Airlines recently launched the “New Year, New Adventures!” promotion which will give away free flights for a year.

Jan 8, 2025 • 8 min read

Overwhelmed with work deadlines and shuttling my son to and from school and birthday parties and art class, I knew I needed a record-scratching halt to our rat-race routine. I was tempted to lock us in our home for a weekend of nothing, but another source of inspiration struck that was inspired by the cool and collected mom Allison Torres in the Netflix film Yes Day.

If you’re sitting close to a colleague, you might want to dim your screen when reading this because if you’re smart with planning your PTO next year, you could triple the consecutive days off by timing it with federal holidays and long weekends. Although I feel like I’m whispering this while writing, there’s nothing sneaky going on here, and it’s your right to plan your vacation time. Just do it wisely, and you could start with 16 days off and finish with 55.

The state of Colorado is taking big strides to be more accessible, enjoyable, and inclusive of travelers with differing physical abilities. The Colorado Tourism Office, in partnership with Wheel the World, launched a pilot program this year to improve accessibility for travelers with disabilities. Three destinations — Beaver Creek Resort Company, Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce, and Pueblo Chamber of Commerce — were selected to receive on-site accessibility assessments, staff training, and marketing support in the final round of announcements made in November.

Just over a year ago, my family moved from South Carolina to Madrid . There are so many cultural differences between the two countries, but what has surprised us most is what our kids notice when we return to visit the US.