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If you still haven’t seen your friends or family since the coronavirus brought traveling to a halt last year, Vrbo is ready to make your reunion dreams come true. For the next 30 days, Vrbo is giving away one vacation rental to one lucky family or friend group every single day. All you have to do is follow a Vrbo account on Twitter or Instagram and post a picture of yourself with the person you’ve missed most during the pandemic....

If you can’t go on a nature walk right now, there is a way to experience the great outdoors while staying home. Rowe Sanctuary, an organization that focuses on the conservation of bird species on the Platte River in Nebraska, has a livestream of the sanctuary’s Sandhill Cranes as they migrate to the area in spring. So, if you’re under stay-at-home orders or self-quarantine, this is an easy way to enjoy nature without the risk....

Whether it’s a slight tear of the sheets or the results of a gathering that got a bit out of hand, accidents in hotel rooms happen. So what should you do in the event that you or another guest’s actions inflict damage to your hotel room? The answer is always the same: Tell the hotel what happened. Hotels understand that things are going to break from time to time, and generally are accepting of these situations if guests are up front....

Oahu’s Kualoa Ranch has appeared on screen almost as many times as the numerous leading actors who’ve set foot on its green pastures, and like any good movie star, it’s played a wide range of roles. It’s where dinosaurs chased Alan Grant and the kids in “Jurassic Park” and where Hurley built the golf course in “Lost.” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson climbed the sides of a moving helicopter through its lush valleys in “Jumanji,” and Adam Sandler tried to win over his forgetful love interest here at the Hukilau Cafe in “50 First Dates....

Year after year, visitors flock to America’s national parks to bask in the country’s incredible natural beauty. In 2020, the National Park Service recorded over 237 million visits across sites like the Blue Ridge Parkway — the most popular with over 14 million visits last year — and national parks. From sea to shining sea, the U.S. contains a stunning array of diverse landscapes, from dramatic canyons and vast deserts to snowy mountain peaks and verdant valleys....

Wine, wildlife, and natural wonders — the state of South Australia has it all, and in abundance. The Wine State, as it’s often called, boasts no fewer than 18 wine regions, including the world-renowned Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Dramatic landscapes in the state’s Flinders Ranges outback and on Kangaroo Island (a short flight or ferry ride from the mainland) are vast safari lands with geology and native animals that reach back hundreds of millions of years in time....

Towering mountain ranges, cascading waterfalls, hanging glaciers, and a system of trails weaving through steep moraines are just a few of the wonders you can expect to find while exploring Torres del Paine National Park. Set in Chilean Patagonia, the area offers adventures like horseback riding with gauchos and hikes to discover some of the country’s oldest artifacts from Chile’s first inhabitants. Michaela Trimble Planning a trip to Patagonia can seem like quite the challenging feat, as you’re going to the bottom of South America where weather conditions tend to change on a whim....

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday extended its Conditional Sail Order for cruise ships until next year, adding the agency plans to move to a voluntary program after that. The CDC extended the order through Jan. 15, 2022, citing the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, according to agency reps. “The procedures put in place to resume passenger operations have successfully averted overwhelming onboard medical facilities and burdening shoreside hospital resources,” the CDC wrote in a statement....

Get your cameras ready. Panjin, located in China’s Liaoning province approximately a six-hour drive from Beijing, is home to the stunning Red Beach. But contrary to the name, you won’t find any sand here. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the region is situated in one of the biggest wetlands in the world, which magically turns a beautiful red color every autumn. OK, it isn’t magic. It turns red due to the seepweed species that grows there and can absorb high levels of saline....

Since his Sex and the City days, Chris Noth has returned to the small screen in hit series including Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Good Wife. He has two films in pre-production and has graced the broadway and off-broadway stage — the latter is his next stop, for “The Mother,” opening at New York City’s Atlantic Theatre in early 2019. But there’s no avoiding the fact that women of a certain age (mine) associate the actor with his iconic role as Mr....

This year’s World’s Best Awards survey was open for voting January 11 through May 10, 2021, as destinations around the world were lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Survey rules have always allowed readers to reflect on their travel experiences over a three year period. We hope that this year’s honorees will inspire your own travels as you get back out into the world. In the world’s most compelling destination cities, it’s often tempting to go through vacation in a frenzy, tearing through all the top sights and best restaurants and collapsing exhausted at the end of each day....

Summer 2020 is all about the great American road trip. And sure, you could just pack up your car and go, but why not take your chances with entering to win an epic Dunkin’ fueled getaway instead? In August, Dunkin’ Donuts announced its Refreshers RV giveaway, a week-long RV rental experience with enough caffeine to keep you buzzing for days on end. As the company explained in a statement, the giveaway is inspired not only by America’s love of travel, but also by its new iced beverages, Dunkin’ Refreshers....

Riviera Maya is the ultimate vacation spot. Travelers flock to the idyllic destination for white-sand beaches, warm Caribbean waters, and a laid-back vibe. And while the area is famous for its many all-inclusive resorts and boutique hotels, nothing beats enjoying this heavenly corner of the world from your private villa. Courtesy of Fairmont Mayakoba Courtesy of Fairmont Mayakoba Fairmont Residences Mayakoba just unveiled a collection of new residences already being snapped up by buyers looking for resort-style second homes....

For decades, the Berkshires in western Massachusetts has drawn authors, artists, and other aspiring creatives, thanks to its rich cultural offerings and natural beauty in the form of rugged mountains, clear-blue lakes and rivers, and lush forests. The Berkshires comprises 31 towns and two (very small) cities, and it’s arguably one of the best and most famous New England vacation destinations. Although it’s been some time since Herman Melville penned “Moby Dick” (in Pittsfield), the Boston Symphony Orchestra first set up their summer retreat (in Lenox), and Norman Rockwell debuted his now-iconic “Home for Christmas” painting (in Stockbridge), the area has remained a hot spot for culture-driven travelers....

The first thing you notice about Rafael Hernandez is his smile. Bright, youthful, and beaming, it’s a toothy grin you’d think belonged to a child. But now in his late 40s, Hernandez is anything but a babe in the woods. Stacey Leasca As the head park ranger at the Cinquera Forest, located in the Northeast corner of El Salvador, Hernandez takes his job seriously. And really, you can’t blame him. He spent the better part of a decade protecting the rugged landscape and the people hiding in it from total destruction during the country’s gruesome civil war....

It’s about to get even harder to book a room at the Chateau Marmont. The famed Los Angeles hotel has long been a favored destination for Hollywood A-listers and the global elite. It’s a place known for both its opulence and its discretion, and now, it’s about to get even more exclusive. In July, the hotel’s owner, André Balazs, announced plans to transform Chateau Marmont into a members-only hotel. And it’s all thanks to COVID-19....

Great lakes yield the greatest beaches. There’s a Lake Erie beach for every beachgoer. Touching the Canadian province of Ontario in the north and the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York in the west, south, and east, Lake Erie is the shallowest, and warmest — and so most swimmable — of all five great lakes. The cities of Buffalo, New York; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio, all enjoy lakeside proximity to Erie....

The Land of Fire and Ice, Iceland proudly peddles its Game of Thrones-esque nickname to prospective travelers as its glaciers glitter and volcanos roar. And the island country’s newest hotel, The Reykjavik Edition, is the perfect elemental amalgamation of both: a sleek glass expression — like an iceberg floating in the fjord — with toasty design flourishes inside. Nikolas Koenig/Courtesy of The Reykjavik EDITION But the 253-room property is very much a city stay, as the name suggests; the latest link in the chain of properties imagined by noted hotelier Ian Schrager....

The emergency worker in Hawaii who set off a false alert for an incoming missile earlier this month actually thought an attack was imminent, a preliminary federal investigation found. The investigation, conducted by the Federal Communications Commission and first reported Tuesday by the Washington Post, found that the worker misheard a recorded message as part of an unscheduled drill, prompting him to send the alert message that led to mass confusion and panic for nearly 40 minutes....

Curanderismo is a healing practice that arose in Mexico involving the use of herbs, massages, and a mix of religious and Indigenous rituals to cure physical and spiritual ailments. For hundreds of years, curanderismo was only found in Mexican and Mexican-American homes or in the work spaces of practitioners called curanderos, shamans, yerberos (herbal healers), and parteras (midwives). And until recently, it had no place in luxurious resorts. I know this because I’m half Mexican-American and studied the history and practice of curanderismo in the U....