Where Will the Quest for Wellness Take You This Year?

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Wellness travel is being redefined for a new, more aware generation of travelers, and the destinations wellness travelers are seeking combine ancient practices, new approaches and focus on different outcomes. It’s not about counting calories or just getting a massage. Today, it’s about rediscovering your best self — through movement, nourishment, sleep, connection to people and nature, and mindfulness. All within the context of exhilarating travel experiences. If these goals are piquing your travel inspiration, here are some of the best destinations worldwide to tap into a living culture of wellness. Nurtured by NatureIn Sweden, wellness is an everyday rhythm rather than an event. Concepts like lagom (just enough) and friluftsliv (living outdoors) invite you into forests, lakes, and quiet islands. Fika... more

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Jamaica Asking Visitors to Return as Island Reopens Following Hurricane Melissa

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Visitors are crucial to local communities as they recover following October’s Hurricane Melissa, the strongest ever recorded storm to hit the country, with devastating results. The focus now is rebuilding Jamaica’s tourism-based economy and getting people back to work. That’s where we come in. Jamaica is back open for business this winter. So you can plan a tropical, Caribbean escape to the island just when you need it most - and Jamaica needs us most.  Maybe even give the gift of travel this holiday season, with double the happiness quotient: for your loved ones, and for the people of Jamaica.In early December 2025, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism provided an update on the country’s recovery: Jamaica’s 3 international airports have returned to over 85% of... more

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This Year’s European Christmas Capital is…

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Rekindle your love of Christmas traveling to the official – yes, official! - European Christmas capital. Each year, the Christmas Cities Network, with support from the European Parliament, designates a different European Christmas capital, recognizing how that destination brings the local essence of the celebration to life for residents and visitors. In 2025, the European Christmas Capital is Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, one of the Baltic countries in north-eastern Europe. You may think of some of the more famous Christmas destinations – often associated with their Christmas markets, like Nuremberg, Germany, with its mother of all Christmas markets, Strasbourg, France, the largest and oldest in that country, or grand, imperial Vienna, which are all visited by Danube and Rhine River cruises... more

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Is the Slow Travel Trend For You?

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It’s official: ‘FOMO’ is out. And ‘JOMO’ is in. After years of racing through “bucket lists,” something quieter is reshaping travel. We’re no longer chasing the Fear of Missing Out on travel experiences. Instead, we’re discovering the Joy of Missing Out — and we’re not alone. According to a recent survey for Norwegian Cruise Line, over 70% of travelers are moving away from fast-paced sightseeing and toward more restorative, meaningful escapes. Nearly half confessed they’ve come home from past trips feeling more exhausted than refreshed — and now, 77% say they intentionally plan slower vacations.That’s the spirit of slow travel: choosing presence over pressure, savoring moments instead of stacking them. And being a little easier on the planet at the same... more

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VIDEO: A New Kind of Expedition Cruising by Atlas Ocean Voyages: Epicurean Expeditions

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Expedition cruises are a fast-growing, life-changing way to see the world in a different way. Atlas Ocean Voyages, with its fleet of small, yacht-like ships that also have polar capabilities, has expanded the definition of expedition cruising in new directions with ‘Epicurean Expeditions.’The ‘classic’ expedition cruise is polar: Antarctica or increasingly, the Arctic. Other remote maritime destinations that have natural or even cultural treasures to discover are also being added to the list of global expedition cruise itineraries for ships equipped with zodiacs for landings off the beaten track of cruising infrastructure.Epicurean Expeditions combine that spirit of adventure with culinary curiosity. We sailed aboard an Atlas Ocean Voyages Epicurean Expedition cruise from Lisbon, Portugal, to the north coasts of Spain and... more

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Swap Stress for Serenity this Season with Locally-Inspired Wellness Escapes in Latin America

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Marriott hotels and resorts are inviting you to escape and unwind in the Caribbean and Latin America through personalized treatments, healing rituals, therapies using natural ingredients, immersive sensory experiences, and holistic lifestyle activities that help you balance body, mind, and spirit. Reset, rejuvenate, and relax in coveted destinations, relying on modern wellness experts who also tap into local, regional and sometimes ancient practices you can’t experience anywhere else.  COSTA RICA At W Costa Rica in Guanacaste, nature-lovers can practice shinrin-yoku, the Japanese art of "forest bathing." This mindful walk through a natural setting invites participants to breathe deeply and connect with the surrounding landscape. According to ancient traditions, embracing trees—believed to hold vibrational energy- can help balance emotions and revitalize the body, thanks... more

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Celebrating World Cocktail Day with a Travel-Inspired Cocktail... or Two

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What’s not to love about May 13th? World Cocktail day has two of my favorite words: world, and cocktail.For those of us who love to travel… and love to get into the ‘spirit’ of the moment with a locally-sourced beverage, cocktail recipes can be some of our most cherished travel souvenirs.And drinks at a smart bar can be among our most cherished travel memories. Here are just a couple of mine:The Original Daiquiri at the House of Bacardi, Puerto Rico Rum, lime and sugar are timeless ingredients in the Caribbean. The origins of this classic cocktail go back to an engineer in early 20th-century Cuba who developed its refreshing taste, and the Bacardi family's business sense in creating the world’s most... more

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Spring Gardens, Tropical-Style in Costa Rica

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'Spring flowers’ takes on new meaning in the tropics.With Costa Rica’s epic biodiversity and commitment to conservation, lush, green landscapes are a given any time you visit. But some of the Central American country’s botanical gems are best discovered not in the wilderness, but in gardens crafted by human hands.Here are five gardens to add ‘color’ to your trip to Costa Rica. Botanical Orchid GardenNorth America has 200 varieties of orchids. Luscious Costa Rica? 1300.The “Guaria Morada” orchid is even the country’s national flower. Its name has a picturesque meaning: “purple country girl,” for its delicate petals with vivid hues. Unlike most greenhouse orchids we buy at home, it’s even scented. Local Tican tradition says the Guaria Morada brings good fortune. Only... more

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A Twist on 'April Showers' at This Country's New Year Celebrations

Story About Thailand

Many modern holiday celebrations put an irreverent twist on their historic – and often more solemn -traditions.Thailand’s Songkran may be one of the most extreme examples of that phenomenon.Ancient Thai culture marked the New Year in what we now call April. The word is Sanskrit, meaning ‘astrological passage’, and it coincides with the rising of Aries and the New Year of the Hindu and Buddhist calendars. Songkran is a three-day ritual, from the 13th to the 15th of April. The final day, April 15th, is considered ‘New Year’s Day’ itself. To help usher in the Thai New Year, we were invited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand to a virtual Songkran celebration via a live feed to events in the country.  You... more

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Signs of Spring - Worth Traveling For

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Spring may be the most hopeful season. There is nothing more uplifting than seeing Nature reborn every Spring. It’s like an assurance that life will get better again, no matter how tough the dark days of Winter – or life – have been.Between March’s Spring Equinox and the start of Summer on the Solstice in June, the days get progressively longer, dousing us in light, and sparking the renewal of life after a long, dull winter. So it’s no wonder that so many ancient cultures celebrate Spring’s light and new life.Or why we are still so enchanted by the signs of the new season. None are quite so colorful as spring flowers peeking through the snow or opening on trees... more

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First, Fully Digital Hotel to Open in Northern Europe

Story About London

It’s in the heart of one of the most historic neighborhoods in London. But this hotel has become a symbol of the future of travel.ibis Styles London Gloucester Road is in Kensington, within easy strolling distance of some of the English capital’s favorite landmarks, like the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, shopping at Harrod’s and of course, its highest-profile residence, Kensington Palace, where Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge and their three children live, alongside other members of the Royal Family.Surrounded by British tradition, it’s making history of its own as the first, fully digital hotel in Northern Europe.A suite of digital technologies has reinvented making guests feel welcome, by connecting them to actual, human members... more

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Cruise Ships: New, Improved, and Coming Soon

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The latest designs, innovations, and features, in a sparkling white cruise ship gliding over the waves. If that’s not enough to get you excited about taking a cruise on a new ship, there’s always ‘new ship smell’. A new cruise ship may not have a distinctive scent like a new car, but knowing you’re among the first to experience a new entry to the world’s fleet of cruise ships is a not-to-miss sensation. Not every new ship comes ‘hot off the press’. Some ships are remade during their lifetimes, and their mystique begins afresh. Lynn Elmhirst, BestTrip TV’s cruise expert, lists the ships to keep your eye out for right now, whether new, improved, or coming soon. NEW Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the SeasThe latest... more

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'Astro' Travel Will Have You 'Seeing Stars'

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International Dark Sky Week, held during the week of the new moon each April, calls for people worldwide to turn out their lights and take in the beauty of the night sky without light pollution dimming its brilliance. It’s also an annual reminder that some of the very best travel experiences aren’t under the bright lights of a city. Some of the most awe-inspiring and life-changing travel moments involve absorbing Mother Nature’s greatest spectacles above us.Astrotourism is a growing trend that helps travelers capture more of those transformational moments in the darkness.Astro travel lets us tap into primal parts of ourselves, like our earliest ancestors who created myths and learned wisdom from celestial phenomena. And it reminds us how humans -... more

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The 'Happiest Place on Earth' Becomes the 'Sweetest' with New M&M's Experiential Store

Story About Orlando

Everyone with a sweet tooth has a reason to celebrate the newest store opening at Disney Springs in the heart of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.The M&M’s store is not just a place to pick up a bag of colourful, candy-coated Mars chocolate. Parent brand Mars Wrigley says it’s a state-of-the-art immersion into the M&M experience, as it’s bringing the 80-year old brand’s famously cheeky attitude to life in the store.It’s 10-thousand square feet of Technicolor chocolate fun. As you might expect, visitors will find exclusive, co-branded Disney and M&M’s merchandise that go way beyond candy, like apparel, mugs and more.You’ll also find the signature M&M’s ‘Wall of Chocolate’ with giant clear tubes of the candies, larger-than-life M&M’s characters,... more

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4 Top Reasons to Make a Vacation Rental Your Next Holiday - Plus Booking Tips

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Vacation rentals were the fastest growing type of holiday accommodation even before the pandemic. With types of rental homes ranging from urban apartments to beach villas, farmhouses to ski chalets or even castles, the trend towards non-hotel stays is likely to keep growing as travel picks up again.  Here are the top reasons why you might be thinking about a vacation rental soon.  And we share a couple of tips to help you get the best rental experience in a travel space with increasing choices of listed properties and a newly-professional approach to villa rentals.  Privacy and Space… All Together  It used to be romance was the big motivation for privacy, but in today’s world, being secluded has health benefits, too. Physical... more

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