Wellness tips

For a window into the soul of a city, take a stroll along the waterfront: Think of the Seine walkways in Paris, the Copacabana promenade in Rio or the Charles River Esplanade in Boston. Or the nearly 14-mile palm-fringed ribbon called La Rambla, in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

When you hear about a company retreat, you might imagine traveling to an urban destination with massive hotel complexes just to sit for hours in windowless conference rooms and spend evenings schmoozing over room-temperature drinks. You probably don't imagine jetting off to a charming, nature-filled town along the Pacific Ocean.

The prick to my finger was fast and sharp, but my blood wasn't being drawn by a nurse. Instead, the outstretched arm of a cholla cactus was the culprit. I had come to California's Coachella Valley for Sensei Porcupine Creek's inaugural longevity-focused hiking retreat, and I'd been stabbed by the plant's barbed spine while furiously pumping my arms to keep pace with my group's extremely fit guide, Anthony Purnel, a tribal council member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

Even if you've only dabbled in wellness travel, you probably know how hard it can be to bring the wellness home with you. You get a killer massage that releases weeks of stress and anxiety, then board a long, difficult flight and return to your life feeling like you could really use a good massage.

Like a lot of us, I often find myself fried from days spent staring at my computer screen and nights circling back to emails I haven't answered. So when I heard that the Sanctuary Beach Resort in Monterey Bay, California, offered a package known as the Burnout Recovery Journey, I had to try it. When I arrived, I was happy to find the kinds of treatments on the spa menu I've been seeing more and more of lately: science-based offerings like infrared light therapy, IV drips, and electromagnetic pulse therapy. My outstanding massage took place on something called a Pulsed Electromagnetic Field mat. I was grateful that the hotel offered signal-blocking phone bags for the ultimate unplugging experience. Then I realized the irony: I was treating my burnout with…more tech. One has to wonder: How did we get here?

Feeling overworked, undervalued, and generally a bit frazzled? Then, it's time to start planning a wellness-focused getaway that will totally re-align you. And Book Retreats has just got the place to go. In December, Book Retreats released its Holiday Relaxation Report, which ranked the best relaxation destinations around the world, including a special focus on the top spots for wellness. To determine its rankings, the team created a seed list of 76 places, which it selected based on their «safety, solitude, serenity, nature, and wellness.» The team at Book Retreats then ranked those selections using nine data points, including the percentage of protected area, forest coverage, crowd density, noise and light pollution, peacefulness, and total wellness experiences. Finally, it gave each destination a score of 1 to 100 to reveal the top spots. 

There's good news for some Delta Air Lines customers: Many of the 2025 perks for having Delta elite status or holding various credit cards are now hitting customers' accounts. Among the things that should now be in your accounts? Delta Choice Benefits, Medallion Qualification Dollar status boosts, Delta Sky Club guest passes and a new club visit tracker.

Nothing can rekindle romance quite like travel. No matter your love language, quality time together — especially in a new destination — simply makes people feel closer. While flutes of Champagne and candlelit dinners are all well and good, embarking on an escape built around a shared passion is even better and can create a deeper connection whether you've been together for four months or 40 years.

Feb 2, 2025 • 8 min read

Chances are you’ve heard about the Real ID — maybe you already have one. The gist is that starting May 7, 2025, every U.S. citizen who is 18 years and older will need a Real ID or approved alternative to fly domestically. If you don't have one, you’ll be denied entry at TSA checkpoints.

Big changes are now in effect at Delta Air Lines' network of Sky Clubs. As of Feb. 1, SkyMiles members who get Delta lounge access via a cobranded credit card have a set number of annual club visits they can make.

This month’s stargazing agenda brims with planet sightings. We have planet pairings, moon-planet hangouts, and a special treat to end the month: several evenings with all seven of our space neighbors up in the sky at once.

The best time to visit Barbados is a worthy topic: From long sunny afternoons on idyllic beaches to aimless strolls around the UNESCO Heritage Site capital, Bridgetown, there are umpteen reasons to visit this dazzling Caribbean island of Barbados. However, timing is everything, and the best time to visit Barbados depends on what you seek from a tropical island escape. Whenever you visit Barbados, there are plenty of things to do in Barbados, as well as to experience: toes-in-the-sand bliss; cooling off in the crystal-clear Caribbean Sea; popping on a snorkel and mask to see a technicolor world in the ocean. While choosing the right places to stay is key, there’s plenty to do besides downtime in the best hotels in Barbados, from sampling authentic Barbadian food and meeting locals in beach shacks to exploring Mount Gay, the world's longest-running rum distillery. Excited? This is the best time to visit Barbados.

Heathrow Airport's plan to build a third runway at London's main hub has been given a boost by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

This is part of Why I Moved, a recurring series about Americans building a life abroad.

Over the last few years, Hyatt has been on a quest to revolutionize all-inclusive resorts — starting with bolstering its own all-inclusive portfolio by acquiring Apple Leisure Group in 2021 to add over 100 properties to the mix. Since that $2.7 billion takeover, Hyatt has finalized another deal with an all-inclusive resort company and launched new all-inclusive brands, such as the luxury Impression by Secrets brand and the lifestyle-forward Hyatt Vivid brand.

It was an idyllic August day when my husband, two children, and I arrived at our Airbnb in southern France .

Frontier Airlines is again pursuing a merger with Spirit Airlines, the parent company for the Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier said Wednesday.

In the days before I left for Nômade Tulum, I was so sick with flu-like nerves that I almost didn’t board the plane. I later realized this was a subconscious coping mechanism; when you're bracing for something intense, your reptilian brain (the part that houses your fight or flight instincts) can take over, attempting to shield your body from something it isn’t ready to confront. For weeks, I’d been emotionally preparing to participate in a temazcal ceremony, the Mayan sweat lodge tradition that's more ancient purification ritual than casual sauna treatment. A spiritual cleanse is always personal and private, lending a natural layer of mystery: Like childbirth or ayahuasca, nothing can fully prepare you for a temazcal—although that didn't stop me from trying.

It was a good try, but all things must end.The Transportation Security Administration is closing the ‘Known Crew Member’ program to expeditiously process crew members through security.It was a well thought out program designed to more quickly move all travelers through security, but the agency probably didn’t count on some unscrupulous characters. For example, the TSA had several crew members who took advantage of the program and ran drug money to the Caribbean. This has been one of the problems encountered since the program was developed in 2011.KCM, as it is known, is scheduled to end by the end of the year.A TSA spokesperson said the move “represents a broad security enhancement that has been in development for years.” There are nearly 200 dedicated KCM access points at 112 airports in the U.S.The TSA will switch to a new system called the Crewmember Access Point Program (CMAP).The TSA spokesperson added: “TSA plans to implement the Crewmember Access Point program (CMAP), which is a security improvement and successor to the current Known Crewmember Program. The new CMAP, when implemented, will provide opted-in, eligible crew members with expedited access to the sterile areas at participating airports.”

Jan 28, 2025 • 8 min read