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Over the last 16 months, we’ve added a lot of strange new phrases to our vernacular: social distancing, mask mandate, and PCR tests, to name a few. As we hit fully vaccinated status, a new phrase has emerged: re-entry anxiety. Put simply, re-entry anxiety is feeling stressed or hesitant about getting back to normal life. And it’s absolutely natural to feel concern over returning to girls’ night out, travel, or even the office, after 16 months of reduced connection and social overhaul....

When I tell my therapist about my latest issue, I’ll call it an identity crisis. He’s 9,000 miles away, but I can picture him perfectly. He’ll shift forward in his chair, scribble something in his black Moleskin, and ask me to elaborate. I’ll tell him to sit back. This is going to take a while. When I landed in Cape Town I was a pilgrim, just passing through after a business trip in Botswana....

Joanna Gaines is ready to share more of her favorite recipes with you around her own dining room table. In April, Magnolia Network announced that it is picking up two more seasons of Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines. According to the network, its flagship cooking show will be available weekly for six weeks and already kicked off episode one on Friday, April 9. Don’t worry, you can still catch that episode on Discovery+ as part of the Magnolia Network Preview....

An island resort getaway to Kauai may soon be possible — as long as you’re willing to wear a tracking bracelet and stay within designated zones during Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day quarantine period. The County of Kauai became the first county in the state to get approval on implementing the Resort Bubble program, also called Enhanced Movement Quarantine, when Hawaii Governor David Ige signed Kauai County Mayor Derek Kawakami’s Emergency Rule 16, announced in a press release on Tuesday....

Christina Koch, who just broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, is starting 2020 off with some stellar views from space. Koch, who initially made history this fall when she participated in the first all-female spacewalk before setting her own spaceflight record at 289 days on Dec. 28th, posted a beautiful photo days after her accomplishment to celebrate the start of a new decade — and America’s plans to return to the moon....

Although Paris and the rest of France entered a stricter lockdown over the weekend, there was one small glimmer in the capital as the Rodin Museum reopened its sculpture gardens on Sunday — which have been closed since November. Although museums in France remain closed at this time, the Rodin Museum is able to welcome visitors into its open-air gardens, The Associated Press reported this week. The museum had been shuttered since France re-entered lockdown in November but reopened its outdoor component over the weekend, allowing visitors to walk through the gardens and admire the art....

There were six of them: two adults and four kids, cycling up an unpaved mountain road on three tandem bicycles. As my girlfriend, Charlie, and I careered past, we looked at the family and wondered momentarily whether our choice of transport was the wimp’s way to get around. In our sturdy, air-conditioned 4 x 4 we felt insulated from the rigors of the road, from the extreme geography and the sun reflecting off the glaciers above us....

As the COVID-19 vaccines roll out around the globe, every region has shown their varying takes on which groups should receive the valuable doses first. In New Jersey, for example, smokers have been prioritized, while there have been calls in the U.K. to put high-risk ethnic groups at the top of the list. And in Singapore, airline crew members are stepping to the front of the line, according to CNN....

Spirit Airlines is celebrating Valentine’s Day with a “sweet” sale valid now through Tuesday evening that offers travelers a whopping 60% off a future flight. The sale, which must be booked on spirit.com by 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 15, is valid on new, non-refundable flights for travel from Feb. 22 through April 13. The sale is only eligible on flights departing on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. To book, travelers must use the promo code “60PCT,” according to the airline....

The Maldives will be reopening in July, so you might be able to book that vacation to paradise after all. According to a statement from Visit Maldives, the tiny island nation will begin reopening to tourists on July 15. On this date, all resorts and hotels on uninhabited islands will be open again, however hotels and resorts on inhabited islands will have to wait until Aug. 1. Mohamed Abdulla Shafeeg/Getty Images...

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has begun testing a self-service facial recognition system to verify traveler IDs as travel begins to return amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, passengers will insert their IDs, driver’s licenses, or passports into scanners instead of handing them to TSA officers, the agency announced this week. The devices verify passengers’ flight information and identities by their photo and comparing that image with their ID....

For sugar lovers, there’s no better time of year than the holiday season. It gives us all the excuse we need to eat every cookie, piece of chocolate, or slice of pie we want. But, this year, rather than eat the same old sweets, why not make it your year to finally visit the world’s first marshmallow cafe instead? Courtesy of XO Marshmellow Cafe In 2017, Chicago welcomed the world’s first marshmallow-focused cafe, XO Marshmallow....

Niyama Private Islands in the Maldives wants you to not only come hang ten on its private wave, but the resort also wants to capture every moment of your adventure, too. In March, the resort announced that it’s welcoming renowned professional surf photographer Erick Proost for a three-month residency. That means Proost will be on hand to capture action shots of any guests who head out to ride the waves during their stay....

Some places are so stunning and surreal that they transport you to another world. White Sands National Park is one such place. Here, the sand is so white it resembles mounds of snow and the dunes are so big and rolling that they look like giant white waves. The otherworldly effect is only enhanced by the New Mexico blue sky, which makes the white of the dunes pop. Getty Images...

Americans are gearing up to celebrate the country’s independence on the Fourth of July, which according to a new study will likely be the most popular holiday weekend for travel this summer. Nearly half of people surveyed said they plan to go somewhere for the July 4 holiday weekend, according to a poll of more than 1,000 people from vacation rental management platform Vacasa. That was followed by Memorial Day when 31% of people said they plan to travel and Labor Day when 25% of people polled said they plan to travel, according to a new study shared with Travel + Leisure....

United Airlines is bringing the force to 36,000 feet in their newest partnership with Star Wars. In conjunction with the franchise’s upcoming film, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” the airline is adding an out-of-this-galaxy airplane to its fleet for fans who only dream of being aboard a Millennium Falcon. The plane, a Boeing 737-800 that will be unveiled in November, is complete with a themed exterior paint design — the tail has a lightsaber on it — and a safety video featuring film favorites including Yoda and Chewbacca....

You never know what you’ll find on the beaches of Tasmania. As I picked my way along the crashing surf line, weaving among giant boulders tinted orange from a lichen called xanthoria, I stumbled across strange natural treasures: the intact exoskeleton of a seahorse, as fine and translucent as a sliver of Greek marble; enormous heads of seaweed decorated with delicate sea eggs; strands of white sponge that sailors dubbed “dead men’s fingers....

Shortly after Betty White’s beach house in Carmel, California, sold for $10.775 million (a whopping $2.825 million above asking price), the late actress’s primary residence in Los Angeles has come on the market, too. Barcelo Photography for Sotheby’s International Realty The house, located in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood, sits on idyllic three-quarters of an acre and offers views of the Getty Museum and the mountains. White, who passed away in December 2021, purchased the home with her husband in the 1960s....

Corona is taking beach days to a whole new level. The beer company is planning to open its very own island off the coast of Colombia next year, hoping to help its customers disconnect from their devices and reconnect with nature. “As a brand that’s so deeply connected with nature, we wanted to pay respect to and celebrate the natural environment that supplies our 100% natural ingredients,” the company’s Global Vice President Felipe Ambra said in a statement....

Amid the spread of coronavirus, which has infected over 60,000 people globally, passengers on cruise ships following the outbreak quickly had their itineraries changed. Holland America’s Westerdam cruise ship — that was denied entry in five countries even though there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus on board — has finally been allowed to dock in Cambodia. Early Thursday local time, the ship docked at the Sihanoukville port where it will remain for a few days....