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You already knew that getting outside to breathe a bit of fresh air and take in the sunshine is good for your soul, but as one researcher recently found, getting outside to listen to Mother Nature can actually help heal your body too. Rachel Buxton, a research associate in the department of biology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, along with a few of her colleagues, recently studied the effects of natural sounds, including the birds chirping and rivers running, on both the human mind and its effects on human pain....

Ahead of what’s expected to be another very different Mardi Gras celebration in the Big Easy this year, New Orleans has brought back its indoor face mask mandate. “As we go about our daily lives and anticipate welcoming large crowds to the city in the coming weeks, we must implement all of these measures to remain safe and healthy,” New Orleans Health Department Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno said in a statement regarding the announcement that went into effect Wednesday....

More than 34 million people played golf last year, including 24.3 million who played on a course and another 9.9 million who participated in off-course activities like simulators, Topgolf, or driving ranges. Women represented about 23 percent of on-course golfers, according to data from the National Golf Foundation. Professionals like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have become well known sports celebrities who’ve attracted new players to the game. Golf and travel go together, with a scenic or storied course often providing the impetus for a trip to a faraway destination....

Over the last year, the professional world has come to learn that working from anywhere is indeed possible. And that now apparently includes working from the high seas, too. In April, Princess Cruises announced its plans to deliver “super-charged internet connectivity” to all its passengers by leveraging a new constellation of satellites that will launch later this year, offering all those on board the chance to call the world’s oceans their office....

Time to see how the other half lives — and on this trip you can bring your entire family. Airbnb is full of amazing, luxurious stays all over the world, so it comes as no surprise that this villa in Portugal is popular with travelers everywhere. Located in Penafiel, Porto, Portugal, the Douro Villa is a rustic but luxurious property with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and enough room for nine guests....

Leaders across the travel industry are becoming more vocal about the development and potential impact of vaccine passports. In an interview with CNBC this week, Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, said that he believed that vaccination — and then proof of vaccination — would allow businesses to reopen and the travel industry to begin its post-COVID recovery. “Vaccination is everything,” Branson said. “Once vulnerable people, in particular, have been vaccinated, I think all kinds of businesses can start opening up again: restaurants, travel companies, cruise companies....

Prepare to brave demogorgons and travel in the Upside Down, because the otherworldly nightmares of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” are returning to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood this fall. Halloween Horror Nights first tapped the spooky series for its wildly immersive themed houses at its California and Florida events last year, but 2019’s experience will double down on the terror. Instead of focusing on one storyline, it’ll dive into Stranger Things seasons two and three, likely leading brave guests to escape the Hawkins Lab, possibly encounter the Mind Flayer — and witness plenty of 1980’s happenings sci-fi fans aren’t even prepared for....

A virtual museum tour can only get you so far. What do you do when you want to see some of the best street art in the world when you’re stuck inside? Since many places around the world have put quarantine measures in place to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), people everywhere are finding themselves confined to their homes, at least until the pandemic deescalates. Matt Cardy/Getty Images Lots of organizations have stepped up to provide art and cultural experiences you can have online, but, if you’re a big Banksy fan, you probably can’t take a trip to Bristol to view some the street artists’ best works....

Parkdean Resorts is on a mission to make sure everyone knows about one of Mother Nature’s greatest gifts — hot springs. “Hot springs boast some of the most stunning scenes on the planet,” the UK family travel company shared on its blog. “From the bubbling warm waters of Japanese onsens to the soothing splashes of Europe’s thermal baths, these natural pools come in all shapes and sizes.” It added, though many of us are unable to jump on a plane and visit some of these gorgeous global hot springs, we can at least stare at them on our phones and computer screens for now, and maybe it will spark a little wanderlust for later....

The Washington coast is ancient and wild. It’s a place where elk saunter across sandy beaches, waves crash over rocks, and hiking trails wind through forests so thick you can barely see the sky. It is, in short, breathtaking. You might expect a place this beautiful to be overrun with visitors, but despite its undeniable allure, tourism has never taken off here the way it has on the rest of the Pacific Coast....

While backpacks can be a great way to travel light with all the essentials, wearing them for extended periods can take a toll on your back. That’s where Eume, a travel backpack with a built-in massager, comes in. Eume’s three different TSA compatible backpacks come with a built-in massager that includes two points to massage the shoulders and back, with adjustable straps to let users move the massage points to where feels best....

More than 1 million passengers passed through U.S. airports on two consecutive days ahead of Presidents’ Day and Valentine’s Day, the first time the Transportation Security Administration recorded such numbers since right after New Year’s. The agency screened 1,034,514 passengers on Feb. 11 and 1,151,420 passengers on Feb. 12 (the Thursday and Friday before the holiday weekend), according to TSA data. While that is far fewer people than those same days last year — each day saw more than 2 million passengers in 2020 — the bump exceeds passenger throughput on most other dates this year....

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported its highest number of travelers during the pandemic this July 4th weekend. During the holiday period from July 1 through July 5, the TSA recorded more than 10.1 million visits through airport checkpoints. And not only did the holiday weekend set a pandemic record, but travel numbers also rose well above even pre-pandemic levels. “@TSA screened 2,147,090 people at airport security checkpoints nationwide yesterday, Thursday, July 1,” TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein announced on Twitter on Friday....

Virgin Atlantic is reinstating its pre-pandemic service across the United States, including adding flights as well as expanding popular routes across the country. Starting this week, the airline will add flights to Seattle and Washington D.C. from London, as well as increase service to New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta. Then in April, Virgin will increase flights to Los Angeles with a third daily service. Additionally, the airline will operate flights to Orlando from four airports in the United Kingdom: Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Belfast....

A good gym is a start. But the most forward-thinking hotels are going beyond the weight room to offer health-focused amenities that pack a serious punch. Couples Resorts’ Tower Isle (spa villas from $959), in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, takes “all-inclusive” to a new level, providing unlimited spa treatments for two to those who book into one of the eight Oasis Spa Villas. Consult with a dedicated concierge to map out an itinerary of treatments, including massages, facials, and body wraps during your stay....

It’s no easy feat to build tourism infrastructure in Antarctica. But the transportation and staffing logistics, and the strict environmental regulations, haven’t stopped polar explorers Robyn and Patrick Woodhead, who have been tackling the challenge for more than 15 years with their tour company, White Desert. In 2017, the wife-and-husband team created the continent’s first private jet runway (they remake it every season on the millennia-old blue ice). Soon after that, they opened Whichaway — Antarctica’s first luxury camp, 90 miles away, which looks out over the lakes at Schirmacher Oasis....

Editor’s Note: Those who choose to travel are strongly encouraged to check local government restrictions, rules, and safety measures related to COVID-19 and take personal comfort levels and health conditions into consideration before departure. There are few things more relaxing than the quintessentially American lake vacation. This is a country chock-full of picturesque lakes, from the northeastern shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire and Rangeley Lake in Maine, all the way to the southern California shores of Big Bear Lake....

A river runs through the course of my life, an arterial connection between my mad childhood and my lunatic middle age. But I hadn’t thought that way about the Zambezi — Africa’s fourth-longest river, and arguably its wildest — until I thought I’d never see it again. Then I couldn’t think of it any other way. For a start — or an end, more accurately — my parents had settled down in the late 1990s on a small farm near the border town of Chirundu, on the river’s Zambian side....

Colleen and Marvin Hewson waited years to see Pompeii, but when they showed up over two months ago, they were told it was closed due to the coronavirus. Earlier this week, they were first in line to get in. “We have been patiently waiting since then for the ruins to open,” Colleen Hewson told The Associated Press, while at the site. The Hewsons, from Michigan, landed in Italy in early March, just as COVID-19 was sweeping across the world, and throughout the European country....

Two of the largest tech companies in the world are creating a platform to track the spread of coronavirus using cellphones around the world. Earlier this month, Apple and Google announced they’ll be working together on a software to trace COVID-19 and will release a new building block of their project on Tuesday, according to The BBC. This technology will be released to app-developers to track cases around the world....