A traveler had flown his entire family via private jet from Brunei to the Thai island after learning upon landing in Brunei that it is a “dry country” — that is, that alcohol sales are banned.

That’s a man who prioritizes having a drink or two on holiday.

He’s not alone, of course. Many people consume alcohol to relax and relieve stress, which are some of the top reasons people travel, too. Plus, it’s seemingly everywhere in many resorts, from the swim-up bar in the pool to the Champagne brunch that serves unlimited bubbles for breakfast.

But drinking on vacation isn’t all about sipping frozen cocktails on the beach; it can help people cope with problems that occur while traveling, to calm fears of flying to social anxiety, according to the Texas-based New Dimensions Day Treatment Centers.

Airports, too, can be a trigger, with people celebrating the start of a vacation — or lamenting the end of one — mixing with those killing time at bars and lounges that pour drinks at all hours of the day.    

Can you travel without a tipple?

While many people have no interest in trying, a growing number of people are exploring a “sober curious” lifestyle for reasons related to physical health, mental wellness and work/life productivity.

A former heavy drinker based in Asia, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his identity at work, told CNBC Travel that a sober lifestyle is like having a “superpower,” citing business trips where colleagues would struggle to get out of bed, long after he had exercised and returned emails to clients.

The “sober curious” trend has also led to a proliferation of non-alcoholic spirits, beer and cocktails popping up on bar and restaurant menus around the world. Some bars have even gone completely alcohol-free.

Conversations on social media about topics like “dry tripping,” “sober travel” and “alcohol-free vacations” are also on the rise, increasing 205% on X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Reddit and Tumblr in the past six months, compared with the previous six-month period, according to the social media listening company Sprout Social.

The number of unique authors posting about the sober travel trend is up 186% with engagements — or the number of time messages are publicly interacted with via likes, comments or shares — nearly doubling during this period, according to the company.

The data also shows conversations peaked in June of 2024, at the outset of the summer travel season, primarily from social media users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and Australia.

Sober-curious travel has its fair share of detractors too though. Sentiment in the past year shows that among social media interactions 32% is positive, 38% is neutral and 30% is negative.

Where to take a sober trip

For those looking to cut back — or cut alcohol completely — on vacation, some destinations may make this effort easier than others, according to a new ranking by the insurance agency InsureMyTrip.

The ranking, however, isn’t a list of countries where alcohol sales are banned —  places like Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Rather, the U.S.-based company evaluated countries by nine metrics — from the cost of domestic beer to average alcohol consumption by residents. The research also examined what other activities travelers can use to build their itinerary, especially those that relate to relaxation, like national parks and quality wellness retreats.

Destinations were scored on a 10-point scale, with the company naming the “best destinations to travel sober” as:

1. Nepal: 7.02
2. Morocco: 7.00
3. Costa Rica: 6.73
4. Turkey: 6:57
5. Greece: 6.41
6. Indonesia: 6.31
7. Jordan: 6.00
8. Italy: 5.93
9. Singapore: 5.92
10. India: 5.67

Six of 10 countries are in Asia, with Nepal taking the top spot because hiking is abundant and wellness retreats are cheap, averaging $584 per retreat, the cheapest in the study, according to InsureMyTrip.

Morocco ranked No. 2, buoyed by the scant drinking culture of its Sunni Muslim population. “It also has high ratings for its national parks (4.42/5), with many wildlife areas and gorgeous treks to enjoy,” the report stated.

Costa Rica came in third — the only country in North America to make the top 10 list. Its focus on outdoor tourism, from its beaches and rainforests to eco-wellness, are draws for people looking for vacations that improve their physical and mental health.

Greece, ranked No. 5, topped the list for “best things to do” and “best for relaxation.” Travelers can stay busy visiting its 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the world-famous Acropolis, while spending downtime in its highly-rated, yet affordable spas, according to the ranking.

Residents of Greece drink, on average, more than seven liters of alcohol a year, which is far more than those from Jordan – No. 7 on the list — who drink less than the equivalent of one bottle of beer per year, according to the data.

The remaining countries made the list for different reasons: for some, alcohol is scarce because of religious or society beliefs (Indonesia, parts of India), in another it’s widely available but expensive (Singapore) or drowned out with so many other fantastic things to do while visiting (Italy — its wine regions aside).

‘Waking up early and feeling great’

For those who are keen on abstaining, careful planning and a proactive mindset are key, according to New Dimensions Day Treatment Centers’ website.

It advises travelers to:

• Plan a mix of physical and relaxing activities to relieve stress.
• Tell everyone in your group that you plan not to drink, to promote accountability.
• Keep a travel journal to stay present and mindful.

American Jessica Watson said that, after she stopped drinking four years ago, it changed how she felt about some travel destinations, including a popular tourism town in central Texas.

“I did go to Fredricksburg early when I stopped drinking, and I realized all people do there is walk around with wine and shop, so that was no longer an interesting place to go for me,” she said. “Once you take drinking out of the equation, you realize how much people revolve around it.”

Watson said she went skiing in Colorado after she quit and found that she had more fun.

“Taking alcohol out of vacations makes the focus far more about the actual destination, being a lot more active on the trip, waking up early and feeling great.”

The Hall of Fame running back and former Denver Broncos star took to social media on Tuesday and posted the letter, again blasting United for an incident he has previously said was racially motivated.

United said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday that the letter was automatically generated, was quickly rescinded, and a flight attendant involved in the incident no longer works for the airline.

Davis posted on Instagram: “Adding insult to injury, @united not only had me removed from their flight in handcuffs, but placed me on their No Fly List after it was determined I did nothing wrong and was released,” he said. “While my family and I continue to have difficult conversations with our children, I will continue to fight for what is right for all passengers of @united.”

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United said in a statement: “Mr. Davis received this letter the day after the incident. It was generated due to the report of the flight attendant — who is no longer employed by United. The day after the letter was sent, we discussed with Mr. Davis’ team that it had been rescinded,” the statement said. “We have apologized to Mr. Davis for his experience and continue to review our handling of incidents like this to protect our highest priority — the safety of our customers and crew.”

On July 13, Davis was met by FBI agents and deputies after the flight from Denver he was on with his three children landed at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.

Davis told NBC News this month race played a role in the incident.

“I believe if I were not a Black man, I wouldn’t have been in handcuffs until they found out exactly what happened.”

Davis was on the United flight when his son asked for a cup of ice and a passing flight attendant didn’t respond, he said.

Davis said that he then “lightly tapped” on the flight attendant’s arm to get his attention and that the flight attendant shouted, “Don’t hit me.”

The flight went on — but once it landed, a half-dozen FBI agents and sheriff’s deputies boarded and took Davis away in handcuffs, he said.

United Airlines acknowledged the incident earlier this month.

“This is clearly not the kind of travel experience we strive to provide, and we have reached out to Mr. Davis’s team to apologize,” the airline said.

The FBI has confirmed that agents responded to “an allegation of a violent assault aboard” the United flight.

“One individual was detained for questioning, was cooperative with law enforcement and was released to continue his travels,” the FBI said in a statement.

Davis played seven seasons in the NFL, all for the Broncos.

He led the league in rushing touchdowns in 1997 and 1998, and was the MVP of the 1998 Super Bowl.

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In a release, the magazine’s editors said this year’s destinations “reflect the id of humanity: what the collective we desires most when unburdened from daily stressors and responsibilities.”

The statement goes on to say that while last year’s list featured generally cities, this year, the magazine editors chose to include 100 and focus on more specific establishments.

Read on for highlights from the list provided to TODAY.com or see the full list here.

Maui Cultural Lands — Lahaina, Hawaii

After the Aug. 8 fire in Lahaina, Hawaii — which killed 100 people and displaced many more — the island reopened to tourism in November. This time, however, local leaders are leaning “more heavily into a new type of travel that encourages visitors to support the islands: regenerative tourism,” TIME writes.

“Maui Cultural Lands, one of the longest running indigenous-owned nonprofits in the Lahaina area, provides visitors hands-on ways to give back on their vacations.”

Kamba African Rainforest Experiences — Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo 

The Congo Basin is an ecologically rich and fascinating nature-based vacation.

Borne out of a gorilla research camp at Ngaga, Kamba African Rainforest Experiences has turned into an international destination with an eye toward ecotourism — tourism that provides visitors with ethical and sustainable access to nature but while operating in a low-impact and locally-oriented way.

According to the company’s website, Kamba runs three lodges in the Republic of Congo’s national parks — and the company is the only private concessions allowed. Each trip is limited to 12 people maximum, with the shortest bookable trip starting at seven days.

“The famously diverse area is home to more than 600 types of trees and 10,000 species of animals, including the endangered western lowland gorilla,” the TIME list notes. “It’s an area little visited by travelers…However, Kamba, a company that focuses on low-impact ecotourism adventures and is the only private operator in the park, is working to change that, as well as advance our understanding of one of our closest cousins on the evolutionary tree.”

White Desert, Antarctica

For those with a bigger budget, TIME recommends a trip to Antarctica with White Desert. The company brings polar explorers (and scientists) to the interior of the most remote continent on earth during the sunny season.

“Now, White Desert welcomes fewer than 300 guests per eternal-daylight season at two luxury camps made up of convivial bubble huts in Queen Maud Land, surrounded by majestic nunataks, or rocky outcrops,” TIME’s editors write. “Once-in-a-­lifetime activities include visiting the South Pole and the ­emperor penguin colony at Atka Bay, and exploring ice waves threaded with turquoise rivers.”

Single day experiences start at $15,950, according to the White Desert website. 

Modern Elder Academy — Santa Fe, New Mexico

Modern Elder Academy aims to help people in mid-life “get unstuck,” the website reads. The academy offers workshops “designed to help you be expansive and connect to your higher purpose” throughout the year at both the Santa Fe, New Mexico, location and at a second location in Baja California, Mexico, according to the company website.

TIME’s editors celebrate the founder, entrepreneur and author Chip Conley, who is “on a mission to radically reframe the popular view on middle age, giving it the glowing appellation ‘midlife chrysalis.'”

The five day workshops run $6,000 for a private room and includes three meals a day, according to the company website (though those willing to bunk with someone can save $1,500.) Financial aid is also available.

Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui — Koh Samui, Thailand

TIME reports that the next season of “White Lotus” will be filmed at the Four Seasons Resort in Koh Samui, Thailand, so fans of the show (and gorgeous locations) better book their trips now.

“Since filming that first season on location at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii, and making San Domenico Palace, Taormina, a Four Seasons Hotel in Sicily the backdrop for last year’s star-making crime drama, the third season takes aim at the white sand beaches of Koh Samui, Thailand’s second largest island—the upcoming season is filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, HBO confirmed exclusively to TIME,” the magazine reports. “Given the popularity of past locations, travelers will want to plan their own unscripted holiday at the five-star resort before the new season hits the small screen in early 2025.”

Mine + Farm Inn — Guerneville, California

Located in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California, the Mine + Farm Inn is a bed and breakfast with an eye for sustainability.

The boutique inn is located in the small town of Guerneville, which is just outside the 805-acre Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. In addition to proximity to the greenery of the state park, Mine + Farm also grows its own marijuana on-site — or as TIME puts it, “a different green is part of a unique guest experience.”

It’s also worth noting the inn is only for adults ages 21+.  

Le Grand Mazarin — Paris, France

Located in the eclectic 4th arrondissement of Paris, Le Grand Mazarin is a luxurious and interesting hotel with what Conde Nast Traveler once called “a Wes Anderson meets Alice in Wonderland literary-salon vibe.”

TIME reports that the hotel stands out for its “luxury and aesthetic.”

“While you might miss the discreet entrance in Le Marais, inside guests are instantly transported to architect and designer Martin Brudnizki’s fanciful reception where a seafoam green pleated silk ceiling and tasseled wall sconces create an atmosphere of salon-like sophistication,” TIME reports.

WA EV Network — Western Australia

For those looking to take a road trip in an electric vehicle, TIME recommends the WA EV network of charging stations in Western Australia.

Once completed, EV drivers will be able to charge their vehicles at 98 EV charging stations across 49 locations, from Mundrabilla at the South Australian border to Kununurra in the far north of Western Australia.

TIME notes that while travelers “tend to default to the popular east coast routes,” the Western Australia route could be just the ticket.

 Silvestre Nosara — Nosara, Costa Rica

Silvestre Nosara is a family-friendly surf resort steps away from what the hotel bills as one of the best and most reliable surf breaks in the area.

The hotel, which features nine luxury residences, also has a rooftop terrace, infinity pool and lounge as well as a gym and wellness programming, according to the company’s website. Visitors also have access to surfboards and professional surf instruction.

“Now Silvestre, which means ‘wild’ in Spanish, is transforming the hotel landscape in the area, offering everything family or group travelers need for an active and luxurious trip to Nosara,” TIME reports. 

teamLab Borderless Digital Art Museum — Tokyo, Japan 

“Immersive art experiences are a dime a dozen these days, but when they’re done well, they’re exceptional,” TIME reports. “teamLab Borderless ​​Digital Art Museum puts an atmospheric twist on a genre that’s become a social media cliche.”

The museum recently reopened in a new, larger location in a multi-use complex called Azabudai Hills. The previous location of teamLab Borderless held the Guinness World Record for the most-visited museum dedicated to a single art group, with nearly 2.2 admissions in one year.

Each instillation of the museum is designed to flow seamlessly to the next one, the museum website says.

The international art collective “seeks to navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, and the natural world,” according to the teamLab website. The interdisciplinary artists aim “to explore the relationship between the self and the world, and new forms of perception.”

One Za’abeel — Dubai, UAE

“Even in a city with no shortage of gravity- (and logic-) defying skyscrapers, the new One Za’abeel development by Japanese firm Nikken Sekkei is a head turner,” TIME reports. “The complex’s dual towers rise from either side of a busy highway, and are bridged improbably by a horizontal structure hovering 300 feet in the air that’s nearly as long as the buildings are high.”

There are two hotels in the development, according to the official website, as well as plenty of dining and shopping options.

Olivia Foundation — Mexico City, Mexico

Nestled inside a renovated townhouse in Mexico City’s hip Roma Norte neighborhood, the Olivia Foundation is a by-appointment-only art hub.

“Set in a neoclassical townhouse from the early 1900s, the Olivia Foundation draws on the private collection of a Mexico City-native couple who, for the sake of discretion, named the project after one of their eight dogs, a long-haired dachshund,” TIME reports. “The family began collecting seriously around 2022, following the move from Mexico City to California, focusing their attention on post-war female artists like Helen Frankenthaler and Ruth Asawa as well as a new generation of creators including British artist Jadé Fadojutimi and the Brazilian painter Sophia Loeb.”

Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, Istanbul, Turkey

For the more historically inclined, visitors to Istanbul can enjoy a bath at the early-Ottoman-era spa, Zeyrek Cinili Hamam.

The bathhouse recently reopened after a 13-year restoration following centuries of disuse.

“When visitors recline on the polished marble platform inside the Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, ready to be scrubbed clean under its soaring dome studded with star-shaped skylights, they’re not just bathing in luxury — they’re bathing in history…It was originally built in the early 1500s atop one of Istanbul’s massive Byzantine-era cisterns by Mimar Sinan, the Ottoman Empire’s greatest architect,” TIME reports.

Visitors can do the traditional hourlong bath with an exfoliation scrub and a massage for about $114, according to the website. 

International African American Museum — Charleston, South Carolina

After 20 years of planning and construction, the International African American Museum opened last summer in Charleston, South Carolina, at a former shipping wharf where approximately 40% of the nation’s enslaved persons disembarked. 

In a release, IAAM staff wrote that the museum’s mission is to tell “different stories from the place so many American lives began in pain but now thrive in excellence.”

The museum features wide-ranging exhibitions “that tell the story of how Africans and African Americans — through their labor, resistance, and ingenuity — have shaped every aspect of our world,” according to the IAAM website. The museum also maintains a publicly available African Ancestors Memorial Garden.

“Proposed publicly by former Charleston mayor Joe Riley more than 20 years ago, and championed by Congressman Jim Clyburn, the nation’s second largest African American museum finally opened last summer,” TIME writes. “Connecting past and future on a more personal level, the IAAM’s Center for Family History also offers genealogy services and records oral histories.”

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The protesters — angry about the city’s long-standing problems with overtourism — used thick police-style tape to block hotel entrances and sidewalk cafes in the small neighborhood of Barceloneta in a symbolic effort to close the establishments.

The crowd, which numbered some 3,000 people, according to local media, also marched holding a large banner demanding that city officials “decrease tourists now.”

Videos and photographs show people attempting to avoid the crowds — some walking away from their tables mid-meal — while others, including restaurant staff, verbally sparred with anti-tourism activists.

The demonstration coincides with Barcelona’s peak summer travel months. In 2023, hotel occupancy rates neared 80% in July and August, as the city of 1.6 million people swelled to accommodate more than 4 million visitors, according to the Barcelona City Council.

Record-breaking arrivals

Last year, Spain bounced back from the pandemic with a record-breaking 85 million foreign visitor arrivals, according to The Associated Press. Only France, with 100 million arrivals, welcomed more.

But the delicate dance between locals and visitors had spiraled long before that.

Hotels in the city quadrupled from 1990 to 2023 to accommodate a rush of travelers, which surged from 1.7 million to 7.8 million during the same period, according to the Barcelona City Council. That doesn’t include the millions who travel to the city’s outskirts, too, it notes.  

The city also buckles under the weight of the Barcelona Cruise Port as day-trippers descend on the city by the thousands. The port processed some 2.2 million passengers in 2023, up from 560,000 in 2000, according to its website.

The result is a city in which many locals can no longer afford to live, activists say — most notably because of the housing market, where rents have increased 68% in the past decade, according to Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni.

Collboni announced in June that Airbnb-style short-term house rentals would be banned in the city by 2028. The move would add some 10,000 apartments back into the long-term rental market.

A report published by Barcelona’s City Council in 2023, titled “Perception of Tourism in Barcelona” shows more residents feel tourism is beneficial, rather than detrimental, to the city. However, the gap between these numbers has closed through the years, it showed.

Half of the 1,860 respondents surveyed said they modify where they go in the city because of tourists. “They avoid a widespread area around the city centre (Plaça Catalunya, La Rambla, Gothic Quarter, Raval, Old Town, Waterfront), as well as the Sagrada Família area. In terms of specific spaces, Park Güell tops the list of those deliberately avoided.”

Even those who recognize the economic contribution of tourism are becoming disillusioned by the sheer number of travelers in the city, according to the report.

“More and more people believe that Barcelona has reached its tourism capacity limit,” it states.

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AAA is estimating more than 70 million people are traveling 50 miles or more for the long holiday weekend, with the vast majority of them driving home on Sunday. 

The busiest travel day of the season may be compounded by yesterday’s AMTRAK shutdown and the ongoing Sumner Tunnel closure.

A power outage forced Amtrak to halt service between Penn Station in New York and South Station for most of the day yesterday. Normal service resumed around 9:45 last night, but this really threw a wrench into people’s travel plans.

“I’m like devastated. Kinda. But I know these things happen and its out of our control but I want to go home. But I gotta go back to where I came from now.” said Marlane Jones

AAA also says the worst time to drive today is between 2 and 8 p.m. The best is before 11 and tomorrow you will want to avoid the roads between 1 and 5 p.m. Better to head out after 7 p.m.

Gas prices are about 3 cents cheaper than this time last year at around $3.50 on average – almost thirty cents less than the gas prices in Newton, MA.

An estimated 3.7 million people are also expected to fly on Sunday and Monday, followed by around 3.5 million flying home on Tuesday, according to Hopper.

Meanwhile, the Sumner Tunnel is closed for the second summer in a row. It shutdown at midnight Friday and will stay that way until August fifth for a $160 million dollar renovation project.

About 39,000 drivers use the tunnel every day, especially people north of the city who need to get to and from Logan Airport. The state’s department of transportation is encouraging people to take public transit instead.

During the shutdown, the T, commuter rail bus and ferry are either discounted or free.

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Summer is the season of road trips.

A record 70.9 million Americans are expected to travel by car during the July Fourth holiday week alone, according to AAA.

For some car owners, it might be more financially savvy to rent a vehicle for a road trip than use their own, experts said.

“It’s going to be pretty dependent on a variety of factors,” said Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of automotive engineering research.

Those factors include your current vehicle’s gas mileage, the distance you’ll be driving, how long you’ll be gone, whether you lease or own and how big your vehicle is, among other things, according to Toyota.

Here are some key considerations.

The car’s specs

Vehicle capacity is a “no-brainer” when it comes to choosing whether to rent or not, said Brian Moody, executive editor of Autotrader, a car shopping site.

It’s easiest to say, “I have a five-passenger car and I have eight going on the trip,” Moody said.

Drivers may also need to compare specifications, such as the necessity of a two-wheel-drive versus a four-wheel-drive car, as well as storage space for luggage and gear.

Operating costs

This is where the math gets a bit trickier. There are many financial costs, some obvious and others less so.

Drivers would need to compare total rental costs — the daily rental rate and potential add-ons like insurance — versus those of operating their own car.

“Most people will be shocked at what it actually costs to own and operate their car,” Brannon said.

Fueling costs, such as gasoline or electric charging, are a financial consideration for both renters and car owners.

It may be possible to rent a more fuel-efficient vehicle and save money. For instance, renting a car that gets 40 miles per gallon versus a currently owned one that gets 20 mpg would, all else equal, cut fuel costs in half.

“If you have an old car that’s fuel inefficient, it might make sense to rent something,” Moody said.

Rental costs

The average rental cost $42 a day in the second quarter of 2024, with most travelers looking for four-day rentals, according to travel site Hopper.

The daily rate can be higher or lower based on factors like rental company, car type, and pickup and drop-off location.

The cost of rental car insurance might add $30 to $61 to the daily rate, depending on insurance type, according to Allianz Travel, citing MarketWatch data.

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Renters who want car insurance may not need to buy additional coverage through the rental company.

Car owners may already get full coverage on a rental via their own car insurance policies, or may have some coverage through credit-card benefits, Brannon said.

“Call your insurance agent and double-check your coverage,” he said. “You can save yourself a bunch of money by not double-insuring the vehicle if you don’t need to.”

Depreciation and mileage caps on leases

Additionally, car owners who lease a vehicle should weigh factors like mileage caps before taking a long road trip. For example, the typical lease imposes financial penalties on drivers who put more than 12,000 miles a year on their vehicle, according to Kelley Blue Book.

The cost for exceeding that cap is usually about 20 to 30 cents per mile, KBB said. (At 30 cents, a driver would pay $300 for every 1,000 miles over the mileage limit.)

There are also depreciation costs to consider.

Depreciation causes a car to lose value over time. Cars famously lose about 10% to 15% of their value once they drive it off the lot, Brannon said.

Depreciation is “the biggest expense of owning a vehicle,” Brannon said. And that’s why it matters for road trips, he says.

“The more miles you put on a vehicle the more it depreciates,” Brannon said.

Every mile puts wear and tear on the engine, tires and other moving parts, according to Allianz.

Depreciation affects all cars differently. The average car depreciates at about 20 cents a mile, according to Toyota.

For shorter road trips — say, 1,000 to 1,500 miles in a given year — depreciation might not be a big deal relative to rental prices, said Autotrader’s Moody.

Depreciation generally only matters for people who plan to sell or trade in their vehicle in the future.

State of the vehicle

Unforeseen repairs can be costly: The average repair order on the road is “well in excess of $500,” excluding towing costs, Brannon said, citing AAA data.

The odds of a breakdown are lower with rental cars, which are generally newer models, Moody said. The average used car on the road is about 12 years old, he explained.

While a mechanical issue would be inconvenient for anyone taking a road trip, renters wouldn’t be financially liable (assuming they’re not at fault), Moody said.

Brannon points out some questions drivers should ask: Have I done a good job maintaining my car? Is it up for long days on the road? Are the tires in good shape? Is it mechanically sound? How old is it? What safety technologies does the vehicle have?

Sometimes the relationships revert to their original forms once the vacation ends. Oftentimes, though, resentment lingers.

Travel reporter Victoria M. Walker says there is usually one culprit responsible for group trip conflict: the budget.

“Not having a candid conversation about budgeting is why these types of trips can go wrong,” she says.

‘People never seem to factor in food’

When it comes to hotels or lodging, it’s important to communicate what you’re willing to spend per night. And try to be accommodating to others’ financial limitations.

“Don’t set unreasonable expectations,” Walker says. “If you know somebody is on a budget you can’t say, ‘Oh we want to stay at a $3,000-a-night hotel.’ If budget constraints have been communicated beforehand, I think there is room for some middle ground.”

Because living accommodations are often the biggest expense, it’s easy to see why budgets need to be discussed prior. But, its just as important to talk about the smaller costs.

“For whatever reason people never seem to factor in food,” she says. “You’ll get to a dinner and someone will say, ‘Oh this is way too expensive.'”

Having a conversation about how many fancy dinners you want to have, what it will cost, and what you would ideally want to spend, in total, on breakfasts and lunches is crucial.

Generally, Walker says, it’s best to be over-communicative about your budget. This will minimize the possibility of someone being caught off-guard by a bill and hopefully help you circumvent that awkward, everyone-is-mad meal.

Want to be a successful, confident communicator? Take CNBC’s new online course Become an Effective Communicator: Master Public Speaking. We’ll teach you how to speak clearly and confidently, calm your nerves, what to say and not say, and body language techniques to make a great first impression. Sign up today and use code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off through July 10, 2024.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

Watson, a father of two who was charged with bringing ammunition to the islands, avoided jail time at his sentencing Friday morning.

Watson was fined $2,000 and the judge ruled that there are exceptional circumstances in his case that kept her from imposing a 12-year prison sentence.

“Feeling great, “ said Watson as he emerged from the courthouse with his wife Valerie.  “So happy that the judge took a holistic approach.  It was nerve-racking still, you know, knowing the prosecution was still pursuing a 12-year sentence and they didn’t just think that there was exceptional circumstances, but I’m still extremely blessed that the judge took a holistic approach.  And you know, I’m gonna pay this fine and go home and see those kids.”

The judge said she took into account 14 character references she received on Watson’s behalf, including letters from Oklahoma’s governor and senators.

“The biggest feeling of relief,” said Valerie Watson. “That moment I’ve been waiting for for a really long time, it felt really really good.”

Watson was arrested in April after a trip to Turks and Caicos to celebrate his 40^th birthday with friends.  Four rounds of deer hunting ammunition were found in his luggage.

Americans Bryan Hagerich and Tyler Wenrich were also charged with possession of ammunition and avoided jail time.  Two others, Sharitta Grier of Florida and Michael Evans of Texas have court dates next week.

All of the tourists say they mistakenly brought the ammunition in their luggage.

The Turks and Caicos legislature just amended its strict firearms ordinance last week, removing the mandatory minimum 12-year sentence for those guilty of firearm offenses.

Under the amendment, courts now have the discretion in exceptional circumstances to impose either a custodial sentence, a fine or both, rather than mandating both imprisonment and a fine for all firearms offenses regardless of the circumstances.

“We’ve seen progress along the way with the amendment with the other cases that have gone before us,” said Ryan Watson.  “And you know, these cases are very nuanced, but they’re all very similar, right?  This is all just terrible accidents, inadvertence and no harm, no intent, and no victim. So we just pray that you know, there just continues to be progress and resolution.”

More coverage of the Turks and Caicos ammunition law

Travel May 28

American avoids prison in Turks and Caicos ammo case

Travel May 20

‘Turned my whole life upside down': Fla. woman speaks after arrest in Turks and Caicos

The State Department has opened a trial run allowing a limited number of people to apply for their updated travel documents with a few clicks. You can’t just start anytime — windows will open at midday Eastern time each day and then close once the system has reached its daily limit.

The department says it’s taking it slow so it can monitor how the system is working. There are also a series of requirements to meet to be able to apply online, including:

• You’re 25 or older.
• You’re renewing a passport issued between 2009 and 2015.
• You aren’t changing any personal information.
• You won’t travel overseas for at least eight weeks after you apply.

There are plenty of other criteria on the State Department’s travel website, where you have to create an account to renew online. Expedited service still has to be done by mail.

It comes after travelers faced massive wait times to renew their documents amid a backlog blamed on lingering pandemic effects like staffing shortages and a pause in online processing last year that flooded the agency with applications.

Current processing time for a routine passport renewal is six to eight weeks.

The passenger “encountered a medical condition” roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes before Flight FJ870’s arrival at San Francisco International Airport, the airline said.

The cabin crew and a doctor on board tried to save the man, but he did not survive, the airline said.

“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased during this difficult time,” the airline said in a statement. “We commend our cabin crew and the assisting doctor for their swift and professional response to this emergency.”

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“When you take worldwide data on happiness, and you control for everything else, you find that people who live next to water are…happier than people who [don’t],” Buettner says.

In fact, all five Blue Zones — Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, Calif., U.S.; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica — are on the water.

While there are various theories about why this is the case, the end result is clear.

“It may be the tranquilizing effect of water or it may be that the climate is moderated because of the water,” Buettner says. “But it seems to make us happier.”

And happiness isn’t the only positive side-effect of living by the water. A 2017 systematic review published in BMJ Open found that spending time near coasts, lakes or rivers can “promote health and well-being and prevent disease.”

Buettner himself lives in Miami Beach, and says geography plays a big factor in his well-being. But it’s “not so much about the water, per se,” he says. Instead, he credits the appealing location and weather with helping him live a healthy lifestyle.

“I’m looking at the ocean right now, where I swim every day, and the beach on which I walk every day,” he tells Make It. “I’ve intentionally chosen a place where it’s very easy and enticing to get physical activity all year long without really trying.”

He aims for daily movement doing activities he enjoys, including stand-up paddle surfing, or lower-intensity exercises like walking.

“The key is not intense physical activity — ‘no pain, no gain.’ The opposite is true,” Buettner says. “When there’s no pain, there’s gain. Because when there’s no pain, you’re more likely to do it every day.”

Want to be a successful, confident communicator? Take CNBC’s new online course Become an Effective Communicator: Master Public Speaking. We’ll teach you how to speak clearly and confidently, calm your nerves, what to say and not say, and body language techniques to make a great first impression. Sign up today and use code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off through July 10, 2024.

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Finding a good deal can seem like a daunting task. But with a few smart strategies, you can save big on your next flight.

“We’re seeing that airfare has renormalized,” said Katy Nastro, a travel expert at Going.com. “The average price of airfare year over year is down about 6%, and it’s down about 15% from where we saw that absolute, very hot, sky-high prices in this summer of 2022.”

Nastro tells us there are a couple things travelers should keep in mind while planning their next summer getaway.

“We always say let the deal decide the destination. You can fly again into places like Cancun for $261 round trip from Boston,” Nastro said.

On Going.com, travelers can explore possibilities. By hitting the “let us choose” button – users will be able to pull up airfare deals, show you when they’re available and give you a price history of the flight. Be flexible with travel dates. Airfares are cheaper mid-week and consider flying into or out of nearby airports.

“Being flexible on the airports or cities that you’re flying into can afford you some affordability when it comes to overall flight price,” Nastro said.

Consider using fare comparison websites like Google Flights or Skyscanner, which allows users to compare prices across multiple airlines and set up price alerts to monitor fare changes. On Skyscanner, users can choose “explore everywhere” as the destination and flexible dates to find the best deals.

More on travel

Travel May 29

Gen Zs are spending big to travel this summer — even if it means going into debt

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“Often you can fly into a destination and then take a budget flight to get to your intended destination overall,” explained Nastro. “We call this the Greek islands trick, and it is especially beneficial for looking at those pricey flights over to Europe.”

Nastro also recommends mixing and matching airlines: “Don’t just hyper focus on searching for round trips. Also, do your search two one ways and often flying in on one carrier and then out on another can help you save.”

And don’t forget about airline loyalty programs.

“If you do have a stash of points and miles, this is a really great time period to consider [using] even for one leg of your flight or one part of your itinerary. When cash prices are really high, you often get the best return on value in terms of using your points and miles,” said Nastro.

Here’s a lesser-known travel hack: clear a browser’s cookies when searching for flights. Airlines can sometimes track searches and can increase prices based on browsing history.

Gen Zs are set to make the biggest splash this summer, with surveys showing they are upping their vacation plans and spending more than older travelers.

No longer satisfied with road trips to their parents’ homes, Gens Z are planning international trips at higher rates than other generations, according to a report released by Bank of America on May 20.

The survey of more than 2,000 Americans showed Gen Zs are planning to travel for longer periods and to take more expensive vacations at higher rates too.

Ready to spend

Gen Zs, together with millennials, are at the helm of a surge in travel spending this year, according to an April report published by the market services firm PMG.

That report, which surveyed 1,800 adults in the Unites States, United Kingdom, India, Germany and China, shows 65% of Gen Zs and 72% of millennials said they plan on spending more on leisure travel this year, well ahead of the 54% of Gen Xers and 40% of baby boomers who said the same.

But how Gen Zs — often defined as those born between 1997 and 2012 — plan to fund their travels differs from other age groups too.

The number of Gen Zs who said they’re traveling because they have the savings to do so has fallen since August 2023, according to a new report from the research company Morning Consult.

But that’s not stopping them, said Lindsey Roeschke, Morning Consult’s travel and hospitality analyst and the author of the report.

“Gen Zers have come of age during an incredibly turbulent time,” Roeschke said. “This is deeply impacting their travel behaviors.”

“Why would they put off going where they really want to go for the sake of saving, when there may be another pandemic, financial crisis, war or other major event that may keep them from ever getting there?” she told CNBC.

Roeschke also noted that Gen Zs will spend time finding ways to trim travel costs, rather than canceling or postponing their trips.

“They’re looking for ways to trade off and save money. That could involve traveling in the shoulder season, using apps and other tech to price-compare, cashing in credit card points, trading off in other spending areas, or picking up a side hustle to fund their travels,” she told CNBC.

Using debt to finance summer trips

Still, 42% of Gen Zs and 47% of millennials say they plan to use debt to finance their summer trips, according to a survey by the financial services company Bankrate.

The report showed that the most popular methods of financing summer holiday trips include:

• credit cards paid over multiple months – 26%
• “buy now, pay later” services – 8%
• borrowing from family and friends – 6%
• personal loans – 5%

This debt-be-damned mentality worries older generations, who tended to travel less ambitiously in their 20s, if at all, and raises eyebrows among financial specialists, like Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate.

“I don’t want to tell people they can’t have any fun, but I do worry about taking on debt for discretionary purchases such as vacations, especially with credit card balances and rates at record highs,” Rossman said in the report.

Roeschke noted that travel-happy Gen Zs don’t necessarily feel optimistic about their finances. Nearly a quarter (24%) said they felt pressured by friends to take trips they can’t afford, according to a study published in May by the financial services company Empower.

Compared with other adults, Gen Zs are more likely to say that their own finances, the broader economy and climate change negatively affect their willingness to travel, according to Morning Consult.

“However .. they’re still doing it!” Roeschke said.

Tyler Wenrich of Virginia was one of five Americans recently charged with possession of ammunition. All of them say they mistakenly brought the ammo along on vacation in their luggage.

It was a story first reported by NBC10 Boston’s consumer investigative reporter Leslie Gaydos, and she has followed every update.

Wenrich, 31, had his wife Jeriann, his father Michael and a coworker by his side as he headed to court Tuesday on Grand Turk for a sentencing hearing.

The Virginia dad and EMT was arrested on April 20  and charged with possession of ammunition after two 9mm rounds were found in his bag as he tried to reboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise after a beach excursion.

The judge sentenced him to time served and a $9,000 fine.

“I feel very just relieved away to have been lifted off my shoulders and my wife. And I’m glad that I get to go home and be with my son again,” Wenrich said.

Turks and Caicos Islands strict gun and ammunition law has a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years. A judge was allowed to account for exceptional circumstances in Wenrich’s case, like character references and his work, to allow for a lesser sentence.

“It’s very emotional,” Wenrich said. “This is up and down as you go through everything. You don’t know if it’s going one way or the other as he’s reading through everything…I’m just relieved at the outcome.”

Wenrich spent almost two weeks in prison after his arrest before he was able to post bail.

“Prison was. It was terrible. I mean, I don’t have anything to compare it to, but, you know, I’ve said it before. In other interviews, the conditions were rough. Again, I don’t know how other prisons are, but it was it was emotional.   Not knowing where this was going to go, you know, just trying to get through each day and adapt.”

Wenrich has a flight booked to Richmond, Virginia on Thursday.

Wenrich’s case is one of several involving Americans arrested for having ammunition in baggage that have received national attention — they prompted new travel warnings from federal officials and a bipartisan congressional delegation met with officials in Turks and Caicos Islands last week to discuss the situation.

Ryan Watson of Oklahoma learned Tuesday that he will have to wait another three weeks before his case is heard on June 17. His sentencing is scheduled for June 21. Last week he spoke with NBC News about being detained on the island.

“It’s the weirdest thing to be in this beautiful backdrop where you see beaches and sand and palm trees and it’s now become my prison you know, hearing other families laughing and having fun.  It’s heartbreaking,” Watson said.

Florida resident Sharitta Grier, who was arrested after Mother’s Day weekend, will be back in court in July.

A fifth American, Michael Evans of Texas, is in the U.S. on bail. He has a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 18.

Last Friday, Bryan Hagerich of Pennsylvania received a suspended sentence in his case and paid a $6,700 fine before leaving Turks and Caicos. Hagerich was met by his kids at Pittsburgh Airport on Friday night.

The premier of Turks and Caicos Islands, C. Washington Misick, said the Hagerich’s sentencing represents justice being served.

“As we have said, The Firearms Act includes consideration for exceptional circumstances and today’s decision reflects our commitment to judicial independence along with upholding the law. Residents and visitors can be confident that the Turks and Caicos Islands are dedicated to safety and compassion as we protect the safety and rights of all,” he said in a statement.

He also said that islanders appreciate visitors: “I assure all travelers that the Turks and Caicos Islands prioritize hospitality, cultural exchange, and mutual respect. You will find our doors open and our hearts eager to share the warmth and beauty of our homeland. We highly value the trust and confidence travelers worldwide place in us when they choose the Turks and Caicos Islands as their destination.”

Misick has previously stated that exceptional circumstances in previous cases not involving Americans resulted in sentences under the 12-year minimum. The governor, Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, said Americans are not targeted by the Turks and Caicos justice system.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said on X that Wenrich’s release was another step in the right direction. The Republican said he encourages officials in TCI to address the unintended consequences of their law to prevent this from happening again.

More on the Turks and Caicos ammunition cases

May 21

US delegation efforts negotiation with Turks & Caicos officials over ammo law arrests

Travel May 20

‘Turned my whole life upside down': Fla. woman speaks after arrest in Turks and Caicos

Bryan Hagerich received a 52-week sentence that was suspended for 12 months, which essentially erases the sentence. He was also ordered to pay a $6,700 fine and will be free to leave for the U.S. upon paying it.

Hagerich’s case is one of several involving Americans arrested for having ammunition in baggage that have received national attention — they prompted new travel warnings from federal officials and a bipartisan congressional delegation met with officials in Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Monday to discuss the situation.

Hagerich hugged his wife and parents in court, and his lawyer said he could pay the fine. The hearing was dismissed with a warning from the judge that Hagerich should be more careful. It was followed by tears hugs and goodbyes outside.

“Overwhelming, just joy,” Hagerich said outside of court.  “This is what we’ve been waiting for for the last 101 days and to experience this here and eight short hours to be home and hug my kids, it’s the best day.”

“God is so good,” said his wife, Ashley Hagerich.  

“All of our prayers have been answered,” Hagerich added.

But there’s still more work to be done. Severa other Americans remain detained as they await the outcome of their cases.

“Well, obviously, you know we’ve set some precedent today.  My work, our work is not done until all of them get home,” said Hagerich.

 “ They’re our family, we love them and we can’t wait till they’re reunited with their families,” added Ashley.

Ryan Watson, who was arrested in April, and Sharitta Grier, who was charged earlier this month were in court and happy to see Hagerich’s outcome.

“Thankful, thankful, so happy,” said Grier.

“It gives me hope, you know. All Glory to God, you know, that’s for sure,” Watson said. “He was looking after Bryan today,” said Watson. 

“I think that you know, it’s gonna be hard seeing my brother go home, but I also have so much comfort knowing that he’s getting to hug his kids tonight. And that’s, man, I want that for him almost as bad as I want it for me. So I’m just so grateful that he gets to.”

The premier of Turks and Caicos Islands, C. Washington Misick, said the sentencing represents justice being served.

“As we have said, The Firearms Act includes consideration for exceptional circumstances and today’s decision reflects our commitment to judicial independence along with upholding the law. Residents and visitors can be confident that the Turks and Caicos Islands are dedicated to safety and compassion as we protect the safety and rights of all,” he said in a statement.

He also said that islanders appreciate visitors: “I assure all travelers that the Turks and Caicos Islands prioritize hospitality, cultural exchange, and mutual respect. You will find our doors open and our hearts eager to share the warmth and beauty of our homeland. We highly value the trust and confidence travelers worldwide place in us when they choose the Turks and Caicos Islands as their destination.”

Misick has previously stated that exceptional circumstances in previous cases not involving Americans resulted in sentences under the 12-year minimum. The governor, Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, said Americans are not targeted by the Turks and Caicos justice system.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Friday in a statement that Hagerich’s suspended sentence “is great news.”

“When we met with TCI officials a few days ago, they made clear that they wanted this situation resolved. They recognized that Bryan and the other detained Americans are not gunrunners – they are just people who made a mistake. I’m grateful that the judge recognized that the right thing to do was to send Bryan home. I’m also grateful to the U.S. State Department which has been a critical partner in bringing Bryan home,” he said in a statement, adding that he hoped the other Americans’ cases would be expedited soon.

Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) also released a statement:

“While I am overjoyed to see Bryan Hagerich will be returning to Pennsylvania and reuniting with his wife and two children, this terrifying situation should have never happened to him, or the four other Americans still awaiting sentencing. As the Turks and Caicos government works to handle future cases, the British territory must ensure the safety and wellbeing of U.S. tourists. I won’t rest until Americans can once again set foot on their islands without putting their livelihoods at risk.“

Hagerich, who played baseball professionally and was once drafted by the Florida Marlins, lives in Somerset, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two young kids. He spent eight days in prison before posting bail and later pleaded guilty, as have three other Americans: Tyler Wenrich, Ryan Watson, Michael Lee Evans.

Grier hadn’t entered a plea as of Thursday.

More on the Turks and Caicos ammunition cases

May 21

US delegation efforts negotiation with Turks & Caicos officials over ammo law arrests

Travel May 20

‘Turned my whole life upside down': Fla. woman speaks after arrest in Turks and Caicos

“Chairman, I appreciate Mr. Secretary. Thanks for being here. Mr. Secretary. It’s my estimation that your department is just weak, it’s feckless. And at best, your department is incompetent,” said Reschenthaler, R-Pa.

Blinken was testifying before the committee Wednesday when Reschenthaler confronted him.  Reschenthaler was part of the bipartisan congressional delegation that met with officials in Turks and Caicos Monday in an effort to free the four Americans who are detained there on ammunition charges. All of them say they mistakenly brought ammunition in their luggage while on vacation.

The charge comes with a potential 12-year minimum prison sentence.

“They’ve been treated atrociously by a government that represents 60,000 people in a geography that has a landmass that’s roughly 2.5 size, the size of DC. This is not even a sovereign nation. It’s a protector to the British Empire or the UK and you can’t tell me that you can’t put a do not travel today on Turks and Caicos and bring the four Americans that still remain in Turks and Caicos home. It would take one order to bring four Americans home,” said Reschenthaler.

Reschenthaler said State Department officials did not contact his constituted Bryan Hagerich until two months into his detention. Hagerich is from Somerset, Pennsylvania, and was arrested in February.

Reschenthaler said State Department officials also didn’t visit Sharitta Grier, the latest American who was arrested after a Mother’s Day trip with her daughter. He told Blinken Grier was chained to a desk for three days and it was the other American detainees who brought her food, water and blankets.

“I’m just really baffled by again, the weakness and incompetence of your department. You can prove me wrong. Issue that do not travel to Turks and Caicos today. Bring the Americans home. I yield back,” said Reschenthaler.

“I welcome working with you on this and please bring the information forward to me,” Blinken responded. “We have a State Department and extraordinary men and women who every single day are working to get arbitrarily detained Americans back home with their families and loved ones.”

“We’ve had more success in this administration and doing that than in any previous administration….. we brought Americans home from all over the world. And it’s our number one priority,” said Blinken “I will apologize to no one for the efforts that our people make every day to help Americans who are in jeopardy anywhere around the world.”

The State Department has previously apologized to the family of Michael Grim, an American man who was sentenced to eight months in prison on Turks and Caicos Islands last year for possession of ammunition, for the handling of his case.

In an interview Tuesday, Reschenthaler said the Turks and Caicos government is targeting Americans. He added that a 12-year mandatory minimum is unheard of for a case where there was no intent to break the law.

American Tyler Wenrich, who was charged last month pleaded guilty Tuesday and the judge indicated a decision will be delivered within seven days.

Hagerich will be sentenced on Friday. The judge could hand down a sentence of anything from time served to 12 years minimum in prison.

Turks and Caicos Islands Premier C. Washington Misick has stated that exceptional circumstances in previous cases not involving Americans resulted in sentences under the 12-year minimum. The governor, Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, said Americans are not targeted by the Turks and Caicos justice system.

The Turks and Caicos attorney general and the director of public prosecutions issued a statement last month saying the islands’ firearm ordinance “requires the Supreme Court to impose a mandatory minimum sentence and fine for certain firearm offenses, except in circumstances where the court finds that there are exceptional circumstances….”

The statement went on to add that there have been five separate cases within a two-year period where the Supreme Court on the islands has found exceptional circumstances. Four of the offenders were fined and one was given a custodial sentence below the mandatory minimum.

May 21

US delegation efforts negotiation with Turks & Caicos officials over ammo law arrests

Travel May 20

‘Turned my whole life upside down': Fla. woman speaks after arrest in Turks and Caicos

An airport official said the 73-year-old man may have had a heart attack, though that hasn’t been confirmed. His name wasn’t immediately released.

The Boeing 777 flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore, with 211 passengers and 18 crew members aboard, was diverted and landed in stormy weather in Bangkok.

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British passenger Andrew Davies told Sky News that the seatbelt sign was illuminated but crew members didn’t have time to take their seats.

“Every single cabin crew person I saw was injured in some way or another, maybe with a gash on their head,” Davies said. “One had a bad back, who was in obvious pain.”

Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on the flight, told ABC News: “Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it. They hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.”

Kittipong Kittikachorn, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, told a news conference that the sudden descent occurred as passengers were being served food.

He said seven passengers were severely injured, and 23 passengers and nine crew members had moderate injuries. Sixteen with less serious injuries received hospital treatment and 14 were treated at the airport. He said the British man appeared to have had a heart attack but medical authorities would need to confirm that.

A later statement from Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said 71 people had been treated there, including six who were severely injured. No explanation of the discrepancy was available.

Tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 and analyzed by The Associated Press show the Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300 meters).

At one point, the Boeing 777-300ER suddenly and sharply descended to 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) over about three minutes, according to the data. The aircraft then stayed at 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) for under 10 minutes before diverting and landing in Bangkok less than a half-hour later.

The sharp descent occurred as the flight was over the Andaman Sea, near Myanmar. The aircraft sent a “squawk code” of 7700 at that time, an international emergency signal.

Details of the weather weren’t immediately available.

Most people associate turbulence with heavy storms, but the most dangerous type is so-called clear air turbulence. Wind shear can occur in wispy cirrus clouds or even in clear air near thunderstorms, as differences in temperature and pressure create powerful currents of fast-moving air.

The problem of turbulence was highlighted in December, when a total of 41 people on two separate flights hit by turbulence in the United States were hurt or received medical treatment on two consecutive days.

According to a 2021 report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, turbulence accounted for 37.6% of all accidents on larger commercial airlines between 2009 and 2018. The Federal Aviation Administration, another U.S. government agency, said after the December incidents that there were 146 serious injuries from turbulence from 2009 to 2021.

Boeing extended condolences to the family of the dead man and said it was in contact with Singapore Airlines “and stand ready to support them.” The wide-body Boeing 777 is a workhorse of the aviation industry, used mainly for long-haul flights by airlines around the world. The 777-300ER variant of the twin-engine, two-aisle plane is larger and can carry more passengers than earlier models.

Singapore Airlines, the city-state’s flag carrier, operates 22 of the aircraft as part of its fleet of more than 140 planes. The airline’s parent company is majority owned by Singapore’s Temasek government investment conglomerate and also operates the budget airline Scoot.

Thailand’s transport minister, Suriya Jungrungruangkit, said Singapore was dispatching another plane to transport those who could travel. It arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday night.

Singapore Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat in a Facebook post said his ministry and Singapore’s Foreign Ministry, as well as the country’s Civil Aviation Authority and Changi Airport officials along with airline staff, “are providing support to the affected passengers and their families.”

The ministry’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau said it was in touch with its Thai counterpart and would deploy investigators to Bangkok.

Singapore Airlines said the nationalities of the passengers were 56 Australians, two Canadians, one German, three Indians, two Indonesians, one from Iceland, four from Ireland, one Israeli, 16 Malaysians, two from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, five Filipinos, 41 from Singapore, one South Korean, two Spaniards, 47 from the United Kingdom and four from the United States.

___

Associated Press writers Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

“This is a nightmare I never would imagine in a million. Trillion years. Me? Not me,” Sharitta Shinese Grier told NBC10 Boston.

“I would have never imagined this to happen to me, you know. I’m missing my grandkids, my children. I got a whole life, a loving family back home,” she added.

Grier said she was enjoying her first trip to Turks and Caicos for Mother’s Day weekend with her daughters but it ended badly.

“The day turned my whole life upside down. Just that quick.”

Grier was arrested at the airport on May 13 after security at the Howard Hamilton Airport in Providenciales found two bullets in her luggage.

“It was an honest mistake it fell up under the bottom of the flap in my carry on,” said Grier. “There was no way possible that I could see it because it’s a flap in the bottom. They took the bottom of the flap out the bag. That’s where the two rounds was in the bottom of that flap. So, it’s no way that I would of knew or seen them in there.”

Grier said she works as a store manager and has a gun for protection that she has kept in that bag in the past. She said TSA in Orlando searched her carry-on before she left and confiscated her lotion and body spray but did not catch the ammunition.

“They dropped the ball they failed me because if they would have been it would have never went this far.  It would have never went this far,” said Grier.

We reached out to TSA about the missed ammunition.  A TSA Spokesperson tells us:

“TSA takes its security mission very seriously. Ammunition is prohibited in carry-on bags and passengers are responsible for the contents of their luggage. TSA acknowledged that four rounds of ammunition were missed at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. TSA is aware of the situation and is gathering information to look into the matter further; however, there is not enough information available to us about the screening date, time and location at Orlando International Airport to make a determination.

TSA is here to protect our transportation security systems, and we encourage passengers to start packing with an empty bag to ensure against unintentionally traveling to a checkpoint with prohibited items. Additionally, when traveling internationally, travelers need to be aware of local laws. 

We also strongly recommend that individuals do not bring their firing range bags to the airport when they travel.

For additional information, please contact the State Department and law enforcement officials in Turks.”

Grier is charged with one count of possession of ammunition.  She said the most trouble she’s ever been in with the law is a speeding ticket, and said the other Americans facing charges in TCI and their families have been a godsend. They have even visited her in jail.

“I started praying, you know, I said, God, I know you real. I said, what you got to show me, you got to show me a sign that I’m gonna be all right,” said Grier.

“And before I could wipe my eyes, I hear her. Miss Susan, at the front. I heard her say, oh, I’m here to check on Sharitta. And I’m saying to myself. Who is that? Because I don’t know nobody here and don’t nobody know me. Who is it? You know, she came back there when she came back and she had tears in her eyes. And I started crying and she hugged me,” Grier told Gaydos. “I’m going to be OK. We’re going to get through this together.”

Grier is now staying with Bryan Hagerich of Pennsylvania, Ryan Watson of Oklahoma and Watson’s mother Susan and stepfather. Hagerich, Watson and Tyler Wenrich of Virginia are all detained on the island facing ammunition charges and a possible minimum 12-year prison sentence under TCI’s strict gun and ammunition laws.

“I would have never imagined this to happen to me, you know. I’m missing my grandkids, my children. I got a whole life, a loving family back home,” said Grier. “I just want all of us, everybody that’s all being involved in this situation,  I just want all of us to make it home, back home safely. Let us go home to our families.”

Grier is out on bail, her next court hearing is July 5. She has not entered a plea in her case. Wenrich will be in court tomorrow for a plea hearing and oral arguments in his case and will be sentenced by May 28. Hagerich and Watson have pleaded guilty. Hagerich is scheduled to be sentenced May 24. Watson will be back in court next month.

The Turks and Caicos government has not responded to NBC 10 Boston’s request for comment on the most recent cases.

The governors of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Virginia sent a letter to the governor of Turks and Caicos last week asking her to reconsider the charges against Hagerich, Wenrich and Watson.

The letter reads, in part,  “We understand and appreciate the critical importance of upholding the laws and regulations of your territory for the protection of your citizens.  We humbly ask that your government – in its wisdom – temper justice with mercy and recognize that these men made mistakes but had no apparent malicious intent.”

The Turks and Caicos Sun paper reported last week, “The Governor’s office said Governor Daniel-Selvaratnam confirmed to Governor Stitt that she cannot comment on or get involved in an ongoing legal case and it is for legal counsel to ensure all relevant information regarding Watson’s case is presented to the court for appropriate consideration.” 

The Turks and Caicos attorney general and the director of public prosecutions issued a statement last month saying the islands’ firearm ordinance “requires the Supreme Court to impose a mandatory minimum sentence and fine for certain firearm offenses, except in circumstances where the court finds that there are exceptional circumstances….”

The statement went on to add that there have been five separate cases within a two-year period where the Supreme Court on the islands found exceptional circumstances. Four of the offenders were fined and one was given a custodial sentence below the mandatory minimum.

More coverage of Americans charged under the Turks and Caicos ammunition law

Florida May 17

Florida woman becomes 5th US tourist arrested in Turks and Caicos over ammo in luggage

May 8

US tourist describes ‘nightmare' after arrest in Turks and Caicos

May 2

US State Department apologizes to mother of American imprisoned in Turks and Caicos

If you plan to spend money on travel as the days get longer, sunnier and warmer, be careful: It could leave you with high-interest debt you will still be paying off through the fall and winter.

Forty-five percent of Americans plan to take a summer trip requiring a flight or hotel stay, and they expect to spend an average $3,594, according to NerdWallet’s 2024 summer travel report. 

The majority of travelers, 83%, will pay for part of their vacation costs with a credit card. But 20% won’t pay off the balance in full within the first billing statement, NerdWallet found. The report polled 2,092 U.S. adults from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, 2024.

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“Travel expenditure is not slowing down,” said Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper.

The summer wedding season may contribute to travel debt. About 31% of recent wedding guests took on debt, according to a new study by LendingTree. Of those who paid with credit, the cost of travel (32%) and accommodations (27%) racked up the highest bills, LendingTree found.

‘More bang for their buck’

Three quarters of Hopper users said they plan to spend the same or even more on their travels this summer, the 2024 Travel Outlook by Hopper found.

“But they are trying to get more bang for their buck,” she said, by getting more trips out of the bigger or same-size budget.

About 86.6% of Hopper users expect to travel this summer, but 72.5% have not booked their trips yet, according to the outlook.

“It never surprises me how many people wait until the last minute to book their vacation,” Berg said.

Fortunately for travelers, airfares are down 5.8% from a year ago, according to the consumer price index.

Domestic airfare for the months of June, July and August cost around $305 on average, down 6% from this time last year, according to Hopper. Prices are expected to peak at $315 per ticket at the end of May and early June, per Hopper data.

"That is a vast improvement over the prices increases that we have been seeing every year," Berg said.

But other costs associated with air travel have gone up. For instance, many major airlines like United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways increased their checked baggage fees this year.

"Most airlines raised their fees by five dollars," said Sally French, travel rewards expert at NerdWallet."That typically means something like 35 dollars now becomes 40 dollars ... That's an additional 40 dollars there for a round trip."

Some cardholders may believe that carrying a balance while they pay off a vacation or other big-ticket purchase is good because it helps to show they're using the card, said French.

That's a common misconception. In 2022, about 46% of Americans believed that leaving a balance on their credit card is better for their score than paying it off entirely, according to NerdWallet data.

"There are many myths about credit cards," French said. "Leaving a balance in your credit card is not necessarily good for your credit score."

The reality is, carrying a balance can increase your credit utilization ratio, which has the potential to ding your score. Plus you're adding to the expense of that purchase, with average credit card interest rates topping 20%.

Cardholders already owe $1.12 trillion in credit card debt, with an average balance of $6,218 per consumer, according to a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

'If you have not booked, book now'

Smart planning and budgeting can help you cut travel costs and make it easier to avoid carrying a balance. Here are three strategies to try:

1. Book summer travel plans soon: The sooner you book your travel plans, the lower the upfront cost will tend to be. Prices for domestic flights in the U.S. tend to spike the weekend before 4th of July week, Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend, per Hopper data.

"If you have not booked, book now," Berg said.

"The sweet spot" for international trips is three to five months in advance; if you plan on taking a trip in August, now is the time. For domestic flights, about two to three months in advance is best for summertime trips. You might still have time to book late summer, early fall trips, she explained.

2. Be as flexible as you can: If you are able, avoid departing on Thursday or Friday nights; try booking flights on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Flying in the middle of the week can save about $50 per ticket on domestic airfare, and "a whole lot more" on international, Berg said.

If you're flexible on your trip dates, booking vacations for September and even early October can save you 30% off hotel and airfare prices. And "the weather is typically just as good, fewer crowds in many destinations," Berg said. "Easy way to save money and also have a little bit less of a tourist experience."

2. Save on food costs: When budgeting for a vacation, travelers focus on hotel and flight costs because they typically book and pay for those in advance, said French. Restaurant prices are often a surprise when travelers review their spending and "are shocked by how high it is," she said.

Look for options to save on food costs by going to counter-service options over table service. Or go to a local farmers market or supermarket and cook something on your own for a meal or two.

"Dining out is a huge part of a lot of people's trips, so you might not want to skip that entirely," French said.

3. Leverage credit card rewards: Some credit cards offer benefits and rewards on dining and travel expenses such as checked bag fees. They might also extend those perks to other people you're traveling with, French said.

But this isn't a last-minute move: It takes time to apply and then receive your new card. "Many people get tripped up because you do have to apply for this credit card ahead of time," she said.

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Sharitta Shinise Grier, 45, was in court today for the first time since her arrest on Monday. She is facing a possible 12-year prison sentence under TCI’s guns and ammunition law, but judges can consider exceptional circumstances.

Grier was arrested as she tried to board her flight home after a routine search at the Howard Hamilton Airport in Providenciales.

Michael Lee Evans of Texas, Bryan Hagerich of Pennsylvania, Ryan Watson of Oklahoma and Tyler Wenrich of Virginia have all been charged with possession of ammunition offenses under TCI’s strict firearms ordinances.

“The fact that this continues to happen is. It’s nothing short of heartbreaking,” Watson told NBC10 Boston on Thursday.

Watson and Hagerich said they are doing what they can to help Grier navigate the charges and secure bond. Hagerich attended her court hearing on Thursday.

“Just to be a support system. You know, obviously there’s nothing I can say or do that will make sure her family feel any better right now,” Hagerich said.

“But just having gone through this, you know, the more support, from the outside and the inside. And just to know that we’re all in this together. You know, our goal is, you know, to join hands and walk off here together,” he added.

They said Grier was not aware of the other arrests of Americans on the islands before she vacationed there.

“My mother has been the one that’s gone back to see her in jail. My mother has been the one that has delivered, all the food and the clothing and blankets and pillows and, been there to pray with her. So we feel like, you know, given that she’s a female, just having another female there, would be comforting to her,” said Watson.

U.S. Senator Rick Scott of Florida posted on X asking why any American would travel to Turks and Caicos. Scott also called on the U.S. State Department to update its travel advisory and demand the release of Americans. The Turks and Caicos government has not responded to NBC10 Boston’s request for comment on the most recent cases.

The Turks and Caicos Sun paper reported on Monday, “The Governor’s office said Governor Daniel-Selvaratnam confirmed to Governor Stitt that she cannot comment on or get involved in an ongoing legal case and it is for legal counsel to ensure all relevant information regarding Watson’s case is presented to the court for appropriate consideration.” 

Wenrich and Grier have not entered please in their cases yet. Wenrich will be in court next Tuesday for a plea hearing and oral arguments in his case. Sentencing for Wenrich is expected by May 28. Hagerich is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29. Watson and Evans have court dates in June.

The Turks and Caicos attorney general and the director of public prosecutions issued a statement last month saying the islands’ firearm ordinance “requires the Supreme Court to impose a mandatory minimum sentence and fine for certain firearm offenses, except in circumstances where the court finds that there are exceptional circumstances….”

The statement went on to add that there have been five separate cases within a two-year period where the Supreme Court on the islands found exceptional circumstances; four of the offenders were fined and one was given a custodial sentence below the mandatory minimum.

More coverage of firearms laws in Turks and Caicos

Travel May 14

Another visitor has been arrested in Turks and Caicos for ammunition possession

May 8

US tourist describes ‘nightmare' after arrest in Turks and Caicos

May 3

American dad awaits sentencing in Turks and Caicos ammo case

The island’s police force confirmed the most recent arrest. Two island media outlets are reporting it was an American woman, though police did not confirm that detail.  This would be the fifth American detained there on possession of ammunition charges in the past six months and it comes as Tyler Wenrich – one of the Americans currently detained on the island on the same charges — was in court.

Wenrich was in court Monday. His father tells NBC10 Boston the judge said he had received a practice and direction order from the chief justice with an expedited timeline for the case.

Written arguments in the case will be submitted within seven days and oral arguments and a plea hearing are now scheduled for next Tuesday.   Sentencing for Wenrich could happen next week or by May 28 at the latest.

Wenrich was arrested on April 20.  He was a passenger on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and had been on a day excursion on Grand Turk.  Royal Caribbean security found two bullets in his bag as he reboarded the ship and turned him over to TCI authorities.

In comparison, the cases of Americans Michael Lee Evans of Texas, who was arrested in December, Bryan Hagerich of Pennsylvania who was charged in February and Ryan Watson of Oklahoma who was arrested in early April are still ongoing. NBC10 Boston was the first to break the story of Watson and Hagerich’s detainment.

The Wenrichs were not given an explanation for why the case is being expedited.

Hagerich is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29 and Watson’s next court date is June 7.

Evans is facing a sentencing hearing currently scheduled for June 18.

All of the men face a possible 12-year prison sentence under TCI’s guns and ammunition law, but judges can consider exceptional circumstances.

The four men have all admitted to being in possession of bullets but say it was an innocent mistake.

May 8

US tourist describes ‘nightmare' after arrest in Turks and Caicos

May 3

American dad awaits sentencing in Turks and Caicos ammo case

May 2

US State Department apologizes to mother of American imprisoned in Turks and Caicos

When you go on vacation you want to relax and enjoy everything around you, this hotel has made that a reality by creating a ‘Glam Stay Package’ they are offering to guests.

The Experience:

Minimum of 3-night stay in Ocean Villa, Pool Villa or Banyan Bungalow.

Limited-edition tote bag featuring Winky Lux exclusive products.

Himalayan Salt Stone massage at the Well & Being Spa + Signature Pedicure at Nail & Blow Studio Bar.

Signature dinner for 2 at Caña restaurant and a cocktail class.

VIP table at The Lobby for 2 at The Lobby featuring live entertainment.

In the wake of the pandemic, demand for all-inclusive resorts skyrocketed, according to a report by JLL Research Hotels & Hospitality. Travelers — suddenly and en masse — wanted vacations that were stress-free and easy to plan, ideally with a wellness component, according to the report.  

It was then that travelers discovered that the all-inclusive resorts of the past — known for bottom-shelf booze and quantity-over-quality dining — had changed.

Much of the sector had gone luxe.

As of 2022, the percentage of “upper upscale” and luxury resorts in the Dominican Republic was 47% of total all-inclusive resort supply — up from 31% in 1990, according to JLL. The numbers are even higher in Mexico, where upper upscale and luxury all-inclusive resorts accounted for more than half (55%) of its all-inclusive resorts in 2022.

Rates at all-inclusive resorts— once known as a relatively inexpensive form of travel — are up too, rapidly surpassing 2019 levels, according to JLL.

Marriott and Hilton have also expanded into the sector, under brands travelers may not normally associate with all-inclusive resorts— from DoubleTree to Westin and The Luxury Collection.

Private beaches and butler services

Resort operators have upgraded the all-inclusive experience with everything from grander suites to special resort privileges.

Guests at the beachfront Lopesan Costa Bávaro Resort Spa & Casino in the Dominican Republic can opt for a “Unique” room at the resort, which comes with an upgraded room, personal butler and access to a private beach. 

“We are seeing more and more guests traveling for a slow, unplugged experience with an upscale twist,” said Karina Arguello, the resort’s commercial director. “In addition to elements that you receive by booking an all-inclusive resort, private and additional amenities help to elevate that experience.”

Club Med introduced “Exclusive Collection Spaces” in select resorts that grant additional guest benefits, such as private transfers, in-suite continental breakfast, Champagne in the evenings and, as the name implies, access to exclusive spaces in resorts. One of these, Club Med Tignes, is a ski resort near the Italian border that opened in 2022.

The brand also has six resorts — in the Maldives, Mauritius, Italy and France — that make up its “Exclusive Collection.” Rates at its Valmorel Chalet-Apartments, a ski destination in France, start at $2,475 per person in June, and climb to $4,250 per person in December, according to its website.

Sandals, an all-inclusive adults-only resort operator in the Caribbean, provides butler service for its highest levels of suites. Butlers will unpack guests’ belongings, make dinner and spa reservations, serve drinks at the beach and expedite room service orders, according to its website.

Travelers with bigger budgets are opting for those services, said Kelly Connor, a New Jersey-based travel advisor with the AAA Club Alliance. But they’re not alone.

“Honeymooners … like the higher levels of luxury” too, she said.

Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which opened in March 2024, introduced a new room category for the brand — the 1,248-square-foot Vincy overwater two-story villa. A seven-night stay at the end of June for two adults with butler service is $22,505 —and that’s after a 55% rack rate discount.

To combat the critique that all-inclusive vacationers don’t see much beyond the resort, the Sandals Royal Curacao and Sandals Royal Bahamian is providing guests who stay a week in a butler-serviced suite with a $250 voucher to dine at restaurants around the island. They’re also provided with a convertible Mini Cooper to get there.

Another option: luxury lodges

Half- and full-board dining options have long been popular in places like the Maldives, whose one-resort-per-island model makes it difficult to eat elsewhere.

But luxury resorts, many located in remote locations, are opting for all-inclusive models as well.

Rosewood Cape Kidnappers, a luxury lodge on New Zealand’s North Island, provides a half-board option for guests, which includes breakfast, dinner and aperitifs, but excludes other alcoholic drinks.

Rates at British Columbia’s Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge include all meal and snacks, plus wine, beer and spirts. A stay in one of the lodge’s 25 tents also comes with guided activities, such as swimming in glacial waters and a half-day wildlife-spotting trip, according to the website.

Rates start at $2,900 per night.

— CNBC’s Monica Pitrelli contributed to this report.

During a special event in Los Angeles on May 1, the company revealed their new “Icons” slate, a category of extraordinary experiences that includes pop culture moments brought to life. Among the experiences are nights hosted by celebrities like Kevin Hart and Doja Cat, and a stay in a re-creation of the Disney and Pixar’s “Up” house that will be suspended in the sky after guests depart.

Located in Abiquiu, New Mexico, guests will feel like they are stepping inside the movie. Airbnb built the house from scratch and painted the home to match the exact Pantone colors used in the film.

Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder and CEO, elaborated at the event that every room was custom created to feel like guests were inside with Carl and Ellie.

Guests will find Carl’s chairlift, the green helium tank, his and his late wife’s chairs, as well as a dog bed for Dug — or other fur guests.

They also re-created the “Adventure Book” that Ellie made in the movie.

“No detail in this house went unnoticed,” Chesky said.

The best part, he told people, “just like in the movie, this house goes up.”

It is a “40,000 pound house with 8,000 balloons attached to it and it’s suspended 50 feet above the ground and starting today, you can book it on Airbnb,” he said.

When potential guests select dates in the Airbnb app, they’ll be asked to submit a written entry as to why they want to book it.

“We expect to get a lot of requests. We’re going to choose guests based on what they write,” said Chesky. “We’ll contact everyone who’s selected a few days before the booking window.”

The lucky guests who are selected will also receive a digital golden ticket, and more than 4,000 tickets will be available in 2024. The booking windows and costs vary per Icon experience, but most are free or priced under $100 per guest.

New experiences will drop around the world throughout the year.

Check out additional experiences below.

‘Inside Out 2’ experience

An overnight stay at Headquarters, the control center of Riley’s emotions, based on Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” Each room is based on an emotion.

‘X-Men’ school

Step into “X-Men ‘97“ in a 2D animated re-creation of Marvel Animation’s X-Mansion in Westchester, New York. Once inside, the place is made to look like you’re in an actual cartoon.

Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ House

Guests can stay in the late Prince’s “Purple Rain“ house from the movie. The home has never been made available to the public until now. It has been fully restored to look like the bedroom in the film. The team worked with Prince’s estate to also include actual wardrobe and instruments.

Additionally, guests will “get to listen to unreleased tracks from Prince’s collection that have never been heard before,” per Chesky.

VIP with Kevin Hart

Guests will have a VIP experience with comedian Kevin Hart inside of members-only Coramino Live Lounge.

According to Chesky, 30 guests will stay at a speakeasy comedy club that Airbnb created. Hart will host a tequila tasting and perform a set with his friends and other comedians to close out the night.

Wake up in the Musée d’Orsay 

Guests will be able to stay in the Musée d’Orsay‘s clock room and watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games along the River Seine in Paris.

Guests will also have the Paris art museum to themselves and get a private tour.

Private Doja Cat performance

People can also book a living room session with Doja Cat, who will give a special performance and hang out with guests.

Go on tour with Feid

Join reggaetonero Feid on his “FERXXOCALIPSIS World Tour” for an entire week. Guests will travel in their own tour bus and ride along, joining the crew for rehearsals and get backstage access for every show.

Ferrari Museum stay

Fans of the Italian luxury car company can stay in the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy. Guests will sleep on a bed crafted from the same leather as Ferrari seats, take a lap with Scuderia Ferrari ambassador driver Marc Gené, and head to Emilia-Romagna’s premier race as a VIP. 

Live like Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor 

Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor opens up her never-before-seen family home in Chennai, India. The star will personally hosts guests and share her beauty secrets to her favorite foods.

Game with Khaby Lame 

People can book an Italian stay and adventure with TikTok sensation Khaby Lame in a Fortnite Battle Royale. In his hometown of Milan, guests will stay in a one-of-a-kind gaming loft designed by Lame, where people will #learnfromkhaby and face off with him in a Fortnite Battle Royale.

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The situation is a good reminder to be aware of local laws anytime you’re leaving the United States.

If you’re planning a trip abroad, your first stop should be the U.S. State Department website, where you can get important safety and security information about your destination.

“Oftentimes people do a bit more digging to unknown destinations that they’ve never been to or destinations that might have an increased caution warning on the State Department website,” says Katy Nastro, a travel expert at flight-finding site Going. “We tend to not think about doing those same sort of steps before we travel to leisure destinations like a Caribbean island, or anywhere that we might have been to before.”

But it’s a good idea to check the State Department website before each trip so you can make informed decisions.  The State Department issues travel advisory levels for each country of the world based on conditions, from the minimum Level 1 to a Level 4, which is a do not travel advisory.

“It also advises against different regulations or things that have popped up recently,” says Nastro. “If you go on the State Department website right now and look under Turks and Caicos, there is an advisory to check your bags for things like ammunition that you cannot travel to and have on you when you’re traveling to Turks and Caicos.”

Nastro says it’s also a good idea to familiarize yourself with local laws to avoid any run-ins with local authorities.

“One perfect example of sort of being aware of local laws and regulations is chewing gum in Singapore. This is something that has been talked about in the past, because a lot of times tourists would come to the country and not be aware that, you know, spitting chewing gum and chewing gum in and of itself is banned,” she says. “Also being aware of what you’re saying. In some countries, you’re not allowed to speak ill of the government or, you know, have slanderous language specific type of words. Again, being aware, top line, of some of the differences in local laws and regulations before you travel to a country can really equip yourself to be a better and smarter traveler.”

The State Department website also provides information on local customs and norms. In some countries, tight-fitting clothing and sleeveless shirts and shorts are not acceptable.

“A lot of information can be found through various Facebook groups,” says Nastro. “Going has an incredible travel community that you can join where people actually swap tips and insights into what a specific destination is like after just having traveled there… as well as following local news outlets to get a better sense of what’s happening on the ground.”

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You may also want to consider signing up for the state department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. It’s a free service that sends you emails with updates on weather, safety and security from the local U.S. embassy or consulate.  

If there’s an emergency, it also helps them contact you with instructions on what to do. You can sign up here: step.state.gov.

More on the Turks and Caicos Islands ammunition arrests

Travel Apr 23

US tourists face 12 years in prison for accidentally bringing ammo to Caribbean island

Apr 25

TSA reviews airport security after Turks and Caicos ammo arrests

Travel Apr 24

Mother's warning after son's 8-month Turks and Caicos prison sentence: ‘It's not behind us'

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There are currently three U.S tourists being held on bail for firearms and ammunition prosecutions, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Turks and Caicos Islands Attorney General’s Chambers and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Consumer investigative reporter Leslie Gaydos spoke with Teresea Pfau, the mother of an Indiana man who was released in February after receiving an eight-month prison sentence on the Island. She is speaking out after learning there are more U.S. citizens potentially facing a similar fate as her son.

“It has been one of the most traumatic times of my life,” Pfau shared.

She says she is closely following the story of Americans Ryan Watson and Bryan Hagerich, who are currently detained in Turks and Caicos Islands on charges of possession of ammunition.

Pfau’s son Michael Grimm was sentenced last year for the same offense.

“It’s very heartbreaking because I know the pain that they’re going through,” Pfau said.

Her family was vacationing in the British Overseas Territory last August when her son mistakenly brought ammunition in a bag he used during a previous trip, according to Pfau.

“He did not have a gun. And, you know, there was no violence involved. And so we really did hold out hope that he would possibly get a very hefty fine,” said Pfau. “Maybe he would get, you know, barred from ever returning. But once everything was set into motion, you know, it was a devastating experience.”

She said the family spent more than $100,000 on an extended stay, bail money and attorney fees and were constantly worried about Grimm’s safety.

“It was the hardest time in my life and for our immediate family, and feeling helpless that there was nothing that we could do,” Pfau said.

“Just the trying to arrange to see him or speak with him was the biggest, I think, barrier,” Pfau shared about the experience of having her son in prison on the Island, adding, “knowing the conditions — the prison had been sanctioned by the U.N. for unsanitary conditions.”

She told Gaydos she often worried about whether or not her son was safe or healthy.

Grimm spent more than five months in prison in Grand Turk before being released in February. Pfau said she and her son are still processing their traumatic experience.

“We both have sought professional services to help us deal with this trauma and this PTSD, so it’s not behind us. So we’re just trying to figure out how we can be helpful to others who may be in this situation and how we can make a change, whether it’s through the embassy, the travel alerts or in any way that we can. We don’t want anyone else to ever have to experience this,” Pfau said.

At a State Department news conference, a representative addressed the detainment of Watson and Hagerich: “We’re aware of the arrest of U.S. citizens in Turks and Caicos. When a U.S. citizen is arrested, we stand by ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance, but in a foreign country, U.S. citizens are subject to the country’s laws, even if they may differ from what is law in the United States.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas re-issued an alert urging all travelers going to Turks & Caicos Islands to carefully check their luggage for stray ammunition or forgotten weapons before departing from the United States.

And the Turks and Caicos Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions issued a statement Wednesday saying the islands’ firearm ordinance “requires the Supreme Court to impose a mandatory minimum sentence and fine for certain firearm offenses, except in circumstances where the court finds that there are exceptional circumstances.”

The statement went on to add that there have been five separate cases within a two-year period where the Supreme Court of the islands found exceptional circumstances: only four of the offenders were fined and one was given a custodial sentence below the mandatory minimum.

Grimm’s eight-month sentence was below the mandatory minimum of 12 years in prison.

The director of public prosecutions said in their statement, “8 firearms and ammunitions prosecutions in total were done involving tourists from the United States, 3 of which are currently before the court with each of the defendants on bail.”

Ryan Watson is one of those three. He was let out on bail today pending his next hearing.

More on this story

Travel Apr 23

US tourists face 12 years in prison for accidentally bringing ammo to Caribbean island

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The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled two new rules that will directly affect millions of Americans who fly commercially every year. The first rule requires airlines to be more transparent about extra fees, and the second to issue cash refunds automatically, rather than in response to customer requests.

The various provisions of the new rules, issued by the Department of Transportation, will be implemented on different timelines ranging from six months to two years.

“Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them — without headaches or haggling,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release on the new refund rule.

The rule mandates that airlines automatically give passengers their full money back in several cases: when flights are canceled or significantly changed, when baggage return is delayed significantly, or when customers do not receive in-flight amenities they paid for like Wi-Fi.

Speaking at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday, Buttigieg said the DOT’s consumer protection team has imposed “multimillion-dollar penalties” on airlines in the past when passengers do not receive refunds they are owed.

The other rule aims to eliminate so-called “surprise junk fees.”

“Airlines should compete with one another to secure passengers’ business — not to see who can charge the most in surprise fees,” Buttigieg said in another release announcing the second rule.

It will require that airlines list and explain all extra fees “clearly, conspicuously, and accurately” on their web platforms or when they provide fare prices offline.

This junk fee transparency rule also includes a provision to eliminate “discount bait-and-switch tactics,” which the Biden administration in the release defined as the practice of offering discounts that may appear to apply to the whole flight price but in reality apply only to a portion of the ticket cost.

The Wednesday announcements from the White House come after several airline incidents involving Boeing plane malfunctions that have spurred regulatory probes and forced major carriers like Southwest, Alaska Airlines and United to reevaluate their business expectations.

“To be clear, we want the airline sector to thrive,” Buttigieg said at the Reagan airport. “It’s why we’re being so rigorous on passenger protection. This will build confidence in air travel at a time when airlines need to do more to secure passengers’ trust.”

Buttigieg on April 16 said that the White House would partner with state attorneys general to accelerate the response to customer complaints against airline and ticket agencies. Technically, only the federal government has the power to enforce passenger protections even though state attorneys receive many reports of customer grievances.

Along with the two new rules announced Wednesday, the White House is proposing rules banning extra seating fees for parents trying to sit next to their children. The White House is also seeking to make certain amenities mandatory and to expand accommodations for passengers who use wheelchairs.

The new airline rules are the latest action in President Joe Biden’s broader battle against what the White House calls “corporate rip-offs.”

“There are tens of billions of dollars in other junk fees across the economy, and I’ve directed my administration to reduce or eliminate them,” Biden said in October 2022.

That directive has turned into a multifront crackdown on hidden fees from different government agencies targeting various sectors including banking, cable and financial products like retirement savings accounts.

Ryan and Valerie Watson, who live in Oklahoma, left for Turks and Caicos Islands on April 7 to celebrate the 40th birthdays of Ryan and two friends. When they went through security for their return flight, their carry-on was flagged and searched and officials found a Ziploc bag of bullets.

“They were hunting ammunition rounds that I use for whitetail deer,” said Ryan, “and I recognized them and I thought, oh man, what a bonehead mistake that I had no idea that those were in there.”

The two shared their story virtually with NBC10 Boston last week before their first court hearing. They were stuck on the island, their passports confiscated, separated from their young son and daughter.

“When I heard that, I immediately was terrified because I was like, we can’t both be in prison for 12 years. We have kids at home. And this is such an innocent mistake that we didn’t even know we weren’t– we didn’t even know it was there. So yeah, my immediate thought was our kids and them being, you know, parentless for, for that long,” Valerie said.

The Watsons were questioned and charged with possession of ammunition. In 2022, Turks and Caicos passed an amendment with stiffer penalties for possession of weapons or ammunition, increasing the mandatory minimum prison sentence to 12 years.

Last September, the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas issued a travel alert warning Americans after a tourist from Indiana got an eight-month prison sentence for possession of ammunition.

The alert says: “We wish to remind all travelers that declaring a weapon in your luggage with an airline carrier does not grant permission to bring the weapon into TCI [Turks and Caicos Islands] and will result in your arrest.

“We strongly encourage you to carefully check your luggage for stray ammunition or forgotten weapons before departing for TCI. If you bring a firearm or ammunition into TCI, we will not be able to secure your release from custody. You are subject to TCI laws and must follow local law enforcement procedures,” the alert continued.

Bryan Hagerich was detained by Turks and Caicos authorities after a family vacation in February when hunting ammunition was found in his luggage before he boarded a flight home. He said the ammunition was found in a bag he frequently used for weekend hunting trips.

“I’ve been here for almost 70 days now after posting bail. I’ve been out, right now just waiting to go to the hearing. That’s where my case would be heard, then following that would be sentencing,” Hagerich said.

Hagerich, who played baseball professionally and was once drafted by the Florida Marlins, lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two young kids. He spent eight days in prison before posting bail and is awaiting a May 3 court hearing.

“It’s incredibly scary. You know, you just don’t know what the next day may bring. You know, what path this may take. You know, you’re in a completely different culture, a different country by yourself. You know, it’s certainly a lot different than packing your bags and going away with your family for a few days. It’s been the worst 70 days of my life,” Hagerich said.

He and the Watsons are also dealing with the financial strain of paying for an extended stay and being away from their jobs.

“We’ve already talked, and we’re like, what if, you know, what if we lose our house? Which, when we moved to Oklahoma, we built a home that we thought was our forever home. And to think that this is going to ruin us…” said an emotional Valerie.

“This is something that we may never recover from,” Ryan said.

“I’m just very anxious, eager to get home to my family,” said Hagerich. “This has been too long. You know, it’s just had so much irreparable harm to my family, that, you know, I just can’t continue to see them struggle anymore. I just want to hug my family and start this healing process together.”

After their hearing yesterday, Ryan was sent to jail and is awaiting a bail hearing Wednesday. Charges were dropped for Valerie on Monday and she is now back in Oklahoma with her two children.

The judges in Turks and Caicos Islands are able to make exceptions to the mandatory minimum sentence if they determine there are “exceptional circumstances” in a case.

NBC10 Boston reached out to the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands’ tourism bureau about the Watsons’ situation and have not heard back. We contacted the State Department and a spokesperson told NBC10 Boston they are aware of the arrest of U.S. citizens in Turks and Caicos and that, “The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.”

The spokesperson added, “When a U.S. citizen is arrested overseas, we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. In a foreign country, U.S. citizens are subject to that country’s laws, even if they differ from those in the United States… As our security alert from September 22, 2023 states, in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), firearms, ammunition, and other weapons are not permitted. TCI authorities strictly enforce all firearms related laws. The penalty for traveling to TCI with a firearm, ammunition, or other weapon is a minimum custodial sentence of twelve (12) years. If a traveler brings a firearm or ammunition into TCI, the U.S. Department of State will not be able to secure their release from custody. Travelers are subject to TCI laws and must follow local law enforcement procedures.”

The State Department said they are unable to provide the number of U.S. citizens charged with weapon/ammunition possession since the department is unable to track local arrests.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that the states, which include California, New York and Illinois, will help ensure that government enforcement activities keep up with a current boom in air travel.

Under an agreement announced by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, state attorney general offices will be able to investigate complaints about airline service. If they believe an airline violated the law or is refusing to cooperate with investigators, the states could refer cases to the Transportation Department for enforcement.

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In return, the Transportation Department, or DOT, will give the states access to its consumer-complaint system and train state employees about federal consumer laws covering airlines.

“This is a partnership that will greatly improve DOT’s capacity to hold airlines accountable and to protect passengers,” Buttigieg told reporters.

Buttigieg pointed to travelers whose flights are canceled and then must wait days for another flight or pay more to fly home on another airline. “Things like that are a violation of passenger rights, and we are seeing far too many cases of that,” he said.

The states and territories whose officials signed the “memorandum of understanding” with the Transportation Department are:

• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Maine
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Wisconsin
• District of Columbia
• Northern Mariana Islands
• U.S. Virgin Islands

Buttigieg, a Democrat, repeatedly cast the agreement as bipartisan, but only two of the state officials who signed on are Republicans. Buttigieg indicated his department hopes to recruit more states.

Under U.S. law, the federal government alone regulates consumer-protection laws covering airlines. The carriers are not legally required to respond to state investigations.

Consumer advocates have pushed to expand enforcement power to the states. However, both the full House and a key Senate committee declined to include that proposal in pending legislation that covers the Federal Aviation Administration, part of the Transportation Department.

“During the pandemic, we actually got more complaints about airline traffic than any other topic, and it was frustrating” because the state had no authority to investigate the complaints, Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser said.

Weiser argued that Congress should give states power to enforce airline consumer-protection laws, “but I have to say, we didn’t wait for Congress to act.”

Consumer groups praised the agreement while saying they would rather see Congress write into law the power of states to regulate consumer-protection rules.

“This is the next best thing,” said William McGee, an aviation expert at the American Economic Liberties Project, which opposes industry consolidation. “We don’t look at this as a threat to DOT’s authority. We look at it as the states assisting DOT, which doesn’t have the staffing to handle all the complaints they get.”

Airlines for America, a trade group representing the largest U.S. carriers, said it works with state and national groups “to constantly improve the customer experience for all passengers. We appreciate the role of state attorneys general and their work on behalf of consumers, and we look forward to continue working with them.”

Italy’s government defines digital nomads as a citizen of non-EU states who carry out “a highly qualified work activity with the use of technological tools capable of allowing them to work remotely,” Euronews states.

The worker should either be self-employed, in collaboration with, or as an employee of a company.

To take advantage of Italy’s new digital nomad visa, remote workers must have an annual income of at least three times the minimum level required for exemption from participating in healthcare costs. That amounts to just under €28,000 annually or $30,051 USD.

Italy also requires applicants to have health insurance for the duration of their stay, suitable accommodations, and proof that they have been digital nomads or remote workers in another place for at least six months.

The visa is good for one year and can be renewed. Family members can be added to the application, but final approval is at the government’s discretion.

Applicants must visit a valid Italian consulate in their country of residence and submit a declaration signed by their employer as part of the process.

Euronews also reports that applicants convicted of a crime within the last five years will automatically be rejected.

Once the visa is approved, digital nomads or remote workers will have eight days from their arrival in Italy to apply for a resident permit.

This digital nomad visa is just one of the many ways Italy is attracting people to its coasts. Since the late 2010s, towns in the country have been going viral for selling homes for 1 euro, or roughly $1.07, as a way to get foreign investments and bring population numbers back up.

Conversions to USD were done on April 12, 2024, using OANDA conversion rates of 1 euro to 1.07 USD. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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The airlines and unions said Thursday that China closed its market to U.S. carriers at the outbreak of the pandemic and imposed rules that still affect American operations and airline crews.

“These actions demonstrated the clear need for the U.S. government to establish a policy that protects U.S. aviation workers, industry and air travelers,” they said in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

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The letter was signed by the CEO of the Airlines for America trade group and the presidents of the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association, which represents crews at American Airlines, and the Association of Flight Attendants.

The number of flights between China and the U.S. has been rising, although it remains far below pre-pandemic levels. The Biden administration increased the number of round trips that Chinese airlines can make from 35 to 50 per week, starting March 31, after China’s aviation authority promised to seek an increase in flights by U.S. carriers.

The U.S. airlines said Chinese airlines get an advantage by flying shorter routes through Russian airspace, which has been off-limits to U.S. carriers since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. They said Chinese airlines also get “certain protections” from China’s government because they are state-owned.

The U.S. industry groups said in their letter that without equal access to China’s aviation market, American carriers will lose flights to Chinese airlines.

Luxury train enthusiasts may want to lock in the current rate now — before it climbs any higher.

Starting rates for a one-night journey on the luxury train increased from 2,000 euros ($2,168) per person in December 2022 to 2,500 euros per person in November 2023. Both rates were set during a pre-sales reservation period, which required a refundable deposit.

But starting rates have now jumped to 3,500 euros per person per night, according to a press release published in March.

That’s an eye-watering 75% price increase in a 16-month period.  

The train is set to start running in the spring of 2025, according to Accor, the French multinational hospitality company that operates the train.

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What is happening?

Accor did not directly answer CNBC’s question as to the reason behind the steep price hike.

A representative said, “Pricing evolves according to occupancy, season, route, and cabin type.”

However, again, the train isn’t operating yet.

Ticket prices are still lower than another train using the “Orient Express” moniker in Europe — the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Nightly rates for that train, which is operated by the LVMH-owned Belmond company, start from £7,060 British ($8,925) per passenger, according to a review of its website.

Dave Goodger, managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company, said rising prices are caused by consumers’ continued willingness to pay higher rates for luxury experiences. But, he said, that’s likely not the only reason.

“Luxury travel demand is reflected in some continued price increases,” he said. “However, the price increases are not profiteering and are broadly in line with rising costs, including higher staff costs as well as increased debt service requirements.”

Goodger called the La Dolce Vita train’s price increase “something of an outlier,” but also noted it’s reflective of the unique service it provides.

The ‘La Dolce Vita’ trains

Accor’s La Dolce Vita Orient Express is set to run nine routes through Italy, including a coastal journey from Palermo to Rome and another from Rome to the Tuscan commune of Montalcino.

The “La Dolce Vita” train — which translates to “the sweet life” — channels the era of Italian glamour captured by Federico Fellini’s famed 1960 movie of the same name. The film is perhaps best remembered for the scene in which actor Anita Ekberg frolics in the Trevi Fountain, an act that tourists can be fined heftily for replicating.

Reservations for the train open via telephone on April 2, and via the train’s website from April 24.

Accor has plans to launch another train — named “The Orient Express” — using restored 19th-century carriages that were once part of the historic “Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express.”

The train will run various routes through Europe, including the iconic Paris-Istanbul route.

Originally scheduled to launch this year, the train is now set to begin services in 2026.

That’s one reason why many Americans choose to leave the States and retire abroad. Nearly 450,000 people received their Social Security checks outside the U.S. at the end of 2021, up from 307,000 in 2008, according to a 2023 report from the Wall Street Journal.

But not all international retirement destinations are created equal, especially if you’re on a budget. Last month, International Living released its list of the 13 destinations where a couple can retire for as little as $1,500 a month.

International Living used the following seven categories to determine the best locations out of over 200 countries in the world:

1. Housing
2. Visas and benefits
3. Cost of living
4. Affinity rating
5. Health care
6. Development and governance
7. Climate

In addition to taking those factors into consideration, International Living also looked at the availability of high-speed internet, networking opportunities and English-speaking locals or service providers in each country.

While the cities and towns are spread across the globe, some countries are especially affordable for retirees. Mexico had the most cities on the list, and five destinations were in Southeast Asia.

Top affordable retirement destinations in the Americas

• Querétaro, Mexico
• Isla Mujeres, Mexico
• Cozumel, Mexico
• Armenia, Colombia
• Arenal, Costa Rica

Querétaro, Mexico, was one of the three South American cities included on International Living’s list.

It is located in north-central Mexico, just over two hours from Mexico City. The local airport also offers direct flights to several hubs in the U.S., including Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston and Chicago.

Querétaro offers a mild climate and various warehouse store shopping options, such as Costco and Sam’s Club.

The estimated monthly costs for a single person in Querétaro are $744.50 before rent, according to Numbeo.

In Querétaro, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is 10,571.43 MXN or about $633. The average rent for the same apartment size in retirement hotspot Florida is $1,236, according to Zillow.

Top affordable retirement destinations in Asia

• Penang, Malaysia
• Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Kuching, Malaysia
• Hoi An, Vietnam

Chiang Mai, Thailand, is one of the five Southeast Asian cities listed in the International Living survey.

It is the largest city in northern Thailand, home to hundreds of Buddhist temples. It is an hour’s flight from Bangkok, the country’s capital.

Not including rent, a single person’s estimated monthly costs are $515.50, according to Numbeo. Additionally, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city center is 14,100.00฿ or about $395 per month.

Chiang Mai is home to Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand. It is known as one of the best places for birdwatching, and the park on the peak is home to over 300 species, according to Hotels.com.

Top affordable retirement destinations in Europe

• Alicante, Spain
• Granada, Spain
• Bergerac, France

Granada, Spain, is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Andalusia and is a city full of Spanish and Moorish history.

The city is also home to the University of Granada, which has an estimated 47,000 undergraduate students spread over several campuses around the city.

It offers retirees the opportunity to embrace the more relaxed Spanish lifestyle while still being connected to the more youthful culture of living in a “college town.”

A single person’s estimated monthly costs are $771.30 before rent in Granada, Numbeo states.

Renting a one-bedroom apartment in the city center costs an average of 583.33€ a month, or around $637. That’s still about $677 less than the average rent price for an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, one of the best places to retire in the U.S., according to U.S. News and World Report.

Conversions from euros to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to 1.09 USD on March 15, 2024. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Conversions from Thai Baht to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 Thai Baht to 0.02 USD on March 15, 2024. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Conversions from Mexican Peso to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 Mexican Peso to 0.05 USD on March 15, 2024. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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When my then-husband and I decided to move here, to his hometown, our first child was just 10 months old. We wanted a change from the hustle and bustle of New York and London, where we’d worked long hours as investment bankers.

Raising a family here has been a tremendous blessing. Now my ex and I co-parent two teenagers. His house is just a five-minute walk from mine. Geneva is different from anywhere else I’ve lived, and I’ve found something that truly works for me.

A look inside our Geneva apartment

One of the first things I noticed about this apartment was its traditional charm and ornately decorated ceilings.

I have a spacious entryway, and two bathrooms located near the foyer. One bathroom has a bathtub, while the other is equipped with a shower and a washer-dryer.

To the right of the entrance is the kitchen, where we spend most of our time. My daughter is a passionate baker and my son is an eager taste-tester. The walls are adorned with their childhood artwork.

Homes in Europe typically don’t have as much storage space as ones in the U.S. We don’t have any built-in wardrobes, so we’ve improvised with closets in the entrance and drawers in the kids’ rooms.

We have three bedrooms. Mine also functions as my home office. My company AVoyage helps women advocate for themselves financially: I launched it in 2022 after consulting for a number of years. 

There are some great views from the apartment, including St. Pierre Cathedral and the region’s oldest public high school, where my son currently goes. You can get a glimpse of Jet d’Eau, the grand water fountain in Lake Geneva.

The cost of living in Geneva

Our lease is open-ended, and any rent increases are linked to an index based on inflation. We haven’t experienced a rent hike in the past 15 years, primarily because there hasn’t been significant inflation here.

When we first signed the lease, the security deposit was set at three months’ worth of rent. My monthly expenses include $6,970 for rent, $384 for parking, $1,452 for health insurance, $578 for heat and $266 for internet and phone.

While the public school system here is great, kids don’t have class on Wednesday afternoons, so childcare can be an expensive scramble. 

Though life in general can be pricey, it feels worth it to me. The high cost of living is balanced by Geneva’s commitment to a high quality of life for its citizens. The city has strict regulations for environmental protection, food safety, and healthcare standards. The minimum wage is $27 per hour.

Switzerland consistently ranks one of the safest countries in the world.

I’ve personally found Geneva’s healthcare system to be exceptional. When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, I was able to undergo surgery within nine days. I received excellent personalized attention from a team of highly skilled and attentive doctors during a very frightening time. Thanks in part to this rapid and effective response, I am still in remission six years later.  

I feel completely at ease with my neighbors, some of whom have lived here for 50 years. Being a part of this community gives me so much joy.

I love the neighborhood

Geneva is very accessible. When I need to get chores and errands done in the city, everything I would need — from the supermarket to the post office — is all so centralized.

In London, one chore would take me half a day. In Geneva, I can get six to seven done in that time.

We’re surrounded by charming bakeries, delightful ice cream shops, a yoga studio, stylish boutiques, cozy cafes and inviting restaurants. Serene Lake Geneva is less than a mile from our place and I often go there to jog, walk or even wakeboard.

Geneva is a hub for organizations like the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Economic Forum and the Red Cross. The city attracts diplomats and expats from around the globe. Walking down the streets here, you’ll hear people speaking a variety of languages.

My children grew up speaking French, English, German and Japanese. (Even with the strong international presence here, in order to integrate fully into the community, you have to be willing to pick up some French.)

I love that we can travel to so many places, as the international airport is less than half hour away from the city center. One downside is a lack of direct flights to some areas of the U.S. Those stopovers can sometimes make my family in Japan seem even farther away.

The upside of our location is that a 30-minute drive in any direction from Geneva puts you into a stunning alpine landscape that is perfect for hiking and skiing. By car, we can visit France, Italy, Germany and Austria with ease.

Once my children are grown, I hope to spend more time in the U.S. and Japan — but home will always be in Geneva.

Shizuka McNeill is a finance specialist based in Geneva and the founder of AVoyage Financial Literacy. Shizuka is a seasoned speaker, investor and devoted mother of two teens. Her goal is to financially empower women all over the world.

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Amid the waves of mass layoffs, people are choosing to repurpose their unemployment into soul-searching, and many are extending their time away from the cubicle to travel the world.

Peter Lancaster, 31, was laid off from his technology job in California in May last year. Although he was sad to leave a job he loved, it was finally an opportunity for him to take a real break and enjoy life a little.

By the end of June, he sold most of his belongings, put the rest in storage, handed his cat to a friend and left for his first destination — Mexico City.

For the next eight months, Lancaster traveled to eight different countries: Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Guatemala, Japan, Ecuador and Brazil. He said he spent about $20,000 during that time.

His plane tickets and transportation ended up being his highest expenses.

While Colombia and Guatemala were the most affordable destinations, Argentina and the Galapagos Islands were the most expensive, he added.

Here are six things he learned during his adventure abroad.

Be flexible

The biggest principle Lancaster stuck to while traveling overseas was staying flexible and knowing that plans can change along the way.

About six months into his travels, Peter met and fell in love with his girlfriend Alejandra, or as he likes to call, his “pp” (short for “Peruvian Princess”).

His initial plan was to stay in Peru for four days, but after meeting Alejandra, he extended it to six weeks.

“I met her in Peru — in Cusco. I was doing laundry and she saw that I was struggling, so she helped me out and then we decided to get drinks,” he told CNBC Make It.

“You think you would want to make an itinerary, but truthfully, your plan changes so much with who you meet,” he said. “Be open minded to change your motive from seeing as much as possible to maybe just spending time with somebody for a bit.”

“It’s a lot easier to be flexible when you have a ‘to be determined’ timeline,” he added.

Pack lightly

“I never had more than a week’s worth of clothes,” he said. “Downside is that I had to find a laundry place, but upside is that you can move around so easily.”

For the first three weeks, he only traveled with a small backpack. Along the way, he was able to purchase items he needed.

Carrying less allowed him to be more agile when plans inevitably changed.

Be friendly

After first landing in Mexico City, Lancaster began to be homesick. “I wanted to go home because I was like: ‘oh, it’s going to be a long journey,'” he said. “But then then I started making friends and got comfortable real quick.”

For most of the trip, he chose to stay in hostels as a way to save money, as well as to meet fellow travelers.

“Just start talking to people,” he said. “Everyone’s really approachable and thinking the same thing.”

Travel smart

When traveling around foreign countries, it is important to maintain a level of caution.

“I think it’s always good to just have a mentality that a lot of people might be trying to rip you off,” Lancaster said. When making purchases or decisions, he suggests: “Take your time.”

“Especially in a foreign country, use the buddy system,” he said.

Locals can usually tell if you are a foreigner, which can put you in a compromised position. So it’s important to be always aware of your surroundings and the situation.

Enjoy local cuisine

“I don’t understand people that like go travel and eat burgers and pizza,” he said. “Going to McDonald’s is more expensive than some of these local places.”

During his time abroad, Lancaster made it a point to enjoy the local cuisine, which added to his travel experience.

More to life than work

On Feb. 29, Lancaster returned to the United States feeling happy with everything he had experienced.

“If I had an unlimited budget, I’d probably keep going, but I felt like I just saw everything and I was ready to work,” he said.

“I feel content… it’s just nice to have time off and have like a different routine than going to work,” he said.

When asked why he went on the adventure, Lancaster said: “I guess it was more of a sense that if you were to die tomorrow, having on your tombstone the only thing you did was to work … at least I can check one thing off.”

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But passport strength is more complex than this, according to the tax and immigration consulting firm Nomad Capitalist.

That’s why it produces a weighted annual index that analyzes five criteria:

1. Visa-free travel — 50%
2. Taxation — 20%
3. Global perception —10%
4. Ability to hold dual citizenship — 10%
5. Personal freedom (freedom of the press, mandatory military service, etc.) — 10%

The 2024 Nomad Passport Index states: “Citizens of different countries deal with very different requirements to pay tax, live freely, comply with regulations, and avoid scrutiny when traveling. In that regard, the number of countries a passport holder may visit does not tell the whole story.”

Best passports in the world

Switzerland topped this year’s ranking, followed by Ireland and Portugal.

Here’s the top 50 list:

A slight corporate tax adjustment in Ireland was more than offset by its top scores for travel and global perception, according to Nomad Capitalist's research team.

"Portugal tied with Ireland in all but personal freedom, emphasizing its steady appeal, while Finland —known for its vast visa-free travel options — now ranks fourth, highlighting the importance of global accessibility," it said.

But the "standout development" is the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE was No. 1 in 2023, but slipped to a sixth place tie this year with countries like the Netherlands, Germany and New Zealand, according to the research team. The drop was caused by a change in UAE tax policy that affected domestic and overseas company owners, including residents with foreign company ownership, it said.

Bulgaria is one to watch, according to the team. Its passport rose from 42nd in the index to 32nd in two years, largely because of its entrance into Europe's Schengen zone scheduled to happen in late March, it said.

Hong Kong slipped from 44th place in 2022 to 50th place this year, while Macao ranks 69th and China sits much further down the list in 120th place.

The complete list can be viewed at Nomad Capitalist's website.

Many people are curious to know how their passports compare to their global peers, but that's not why Nomad Capitalist produces the annual ranking, it said.

The company helps people obtain second, or even third citizenships — otherwise known as a "passport portfolio," said company CEO Andrew Henderson, adding that many do so to reduce their tax burdens or to have a back-up residency plan.

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But in 2018, after Hurricane Harvey destroyed her Houston home, a trip to Costa Rica with her husband Nicholas Hopper and then 9-year-old daughter Aaralyn became a permanent move. 

“The housing market was just insane in Houston because of so many people losing their homes to the storm,” Ward-Hopper tells CNBC Make It. “At the time, we were living in a small garage apartment above a neighbor’s home, with no relief in sight.”

Hopper suggested they house hunt elsewhere. “I thought he meant we should move to a different city in Texas or a different state, but he looked at me and said, ‘No Kema, let’s leave the country,'” Ward-Hopper, 41, recalls. 

From Hopper’s perspective, moving to Costa Rica was a no-brainer. 

The couple got married there in 2016 and had been itching to return, but life — whether it be bills, jobs or family obligations — kept delaying their plans. 

“When we came back to Houston [after the wedding], we both had this calmness about us, and I felt like we were missing out on something by staying in the states,” Hopper, 43, says.

In July 2018, after spending six weeks scoping out different neighborhoods along Costa Rica’s northern coastline and debating if they were ready to become expats, the Ward-Hoppers signed a one-year lease on a house (or “casita” in Spanish) in the middle of the jungle on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. 

The two-bedroom, one-bathroom house sat on seven acres of land in the middle of the jungle near Playa San Miguel and came with an outdoor kitchen as well as panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean — plus, rent was only $500 a month. 

“Ten years ago, I would not have believed you if you told me that this is where we would be,” Ward-Hopper says. “But it feels like luck or fate led us here.”

Fast-forward six years later, and the Ward-Hoppers are now permanent residents of Costa Rica, with no plans to move back to Texas. “We’re a lot happier living here than in the U.S.,” Ward-Hopper says.

Finding a healthier lifestyle for body and soul in Costa Rica

Another pivotal moment in the couple’s decision to leave the United States was Ward-Hopper’s cancer recovery.

In April 2016, mere months before her wedding, Ward-Hopper discovered she had stage 2B breast cancer. 

“Undergoing chemotherapy was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” she says. “I only completed half of the prescribed infusions because I felt like if I did any more, it would kill me.” 

Ward-Hopper paused treatment right before her wedding. She expected to feel ill during her ceremony and honeymoon but, much to her surprise, Ward-Hopper says she felt better than she had in months while vacationing in Costa Rica.

“Suddenly I had enough energy to get up in the morning and do yoga and go on hikes, I was eating more,” she says. “I really felt like I was healing while we were there, in no small part because of the fresh fruit, clean air and water.”

The Nicoya Peninsula is one of the five original Blue Zones, home to the longest-lived people and highest life expectancies, according to longevity researcher Dan Buettner.

Some of the factors that make Nicoya a Blue Zone, Buettner discovered, are the Nicoyans’ diet, which includes fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains as well as their focus on family and community.

Both Ward-Hopper and her husband say that they saw immediate benefits from living in a Blue Zone for their health including getting sick less, losing weight, feeling more energized and less stressed. 

An added bonus was the birth of their son Nico in 2020, even after doctors said chemotherapy had rendered Ward-Hopper unable to conceive. “I got pregnant within 13 months of living here, which I thought was impossible,” she says. “It was a small miracle.”

Nico’s arrival also introduced another element of stability to their lives by making the entire family eligible for citizenship in Costa Rica. Previously, the Ward-Hoppers stayed in Costa Rica on tourist visas, which meant they had to leave the country every 90 days, time they used as opportunities to explore neighboring countries like Nicaragua or visit family in the U.S.

Ward-Hopper’s doctors in the U.S. said they no longer detected cancer calls in her body in 2017, and in 2021, her doctor re-affirmed that she was cancer-free, an outcome she attributes in part to her decision to live in Costa Rica. For many breast cancer survivors, the risk of recurrence five years post-diagnosis significantly decreases, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Health-wise, I did a complete 180 after moving here,” Ward-Hopper says. “I healed both physically and emotionally.”

Ward-Hopper also credits Costa Rica’s health-care system for her improved well-being. 

As citizens, the Ward-Hoppers receive their health care through the CAJA system, a government-run program that grants 100% coverage for all medical procedures, appointments, hospital visits and prescription drugs. The Ward-Hoppers spend about $83 per month on their family’s health-care plan. 

Even when they were uninsured, Ward-Hopper says their medical expenses were negligible at best. “I remember one visit I had to the emergency room for chest pains and anticipating a bill that would cost thousands of dollars, as it would in the U.S., and it was less than $200,” she adds.

Living comfortably on $30,000 a year

Right before they moved to Costa Rica, the Ward-Hoppers quit their corporate jobs as a research analyst and mortgage broker, respectively, to pursue new careers as entrepreneurs abroad. 

Navigating their new careers — and lives — in Costa Rica didn’t involve much of a language barrier, Ward-Hopper says, as most Costa Ricans speak English, and she and her daughter are proficient in Spanish. Hopper, meanwhile, is enrolled in a beginner Spanish course.

Ward-Hopper now balances four part-time jobs: She’s a health and fitness coach, a Spanish teacher, a host for wellness retreats and, most recently, an author. She self-published her first book, “For my Beloveds: An End-of-life Journal for Guidance & Wisdom,” in September 2023.

Last year, her different income streams earned her about $10,500, according to financial documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. 

Hopper, meanwhile, runs his own remote logistics business, which earned him about $19,500 in 2023.

“Living here has allowed me to explore my passions so that my methods of earning income don’t feel like a job, it just feels like I’m getting to do the things that I love to do, which is to be of service to others,” Ward-Hopper says. “We make less money, but we’re still living pretty comfortably … our money definitely goes further here than in the U.S.” 

In May 2023, the Ward-Hoppers moved to a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house in Nicoya to be closer to Aaralyn’s school, which is public and tuition-free.

Here’s a monthly breakdown of the Ward-Hoppers’ spending (as of November 2023):

Food: $1,200

Rent and utilities: $628

Discretionary: $330

Nico’s school tuition: $284

Phone (U.S. phone plan): $223

Insurance (health, life, car): $99

Subscriptions and memberships: $78

Gas: $67

Total: $2,909

Daily average: $97

Finding their forever home abroad

For the Ward-Hoppers, the biggest challenge of relocating to Costa Rica has been being far from their family and friends in the U.S., and also losing access to certain American resources and products, like Reese’s peanut butter cups, a family favorite they haven’t found in local supermarkets.

But by most measures, the Ward-Hoppers have found the qualify of life to be “much better” in Costa Rica than in the U.S. 

“I’ve had great experiences in the U.S., but we can’t deny the way that people of color are treated there, and we have not had that experience here at all,” Ward-Hopper says. “In Costa Rica, I feel that people are treated as humans first, people are incredibly respectful and kind here.”

In banks and grocery stores, for example, Ward-Hopper has noticed that people will encourage pregnant people and elderly customers to skip to the front of the line. “While it’s not impossible to get that in the States, the baseline isn’t this theme of love, acceptance and community the same way it is here,” she adds. 

The Ward-Hoppers say they plan to stay in Costa Rica for the rest of their lives, even if they plan extended trips to Africa, Europe and other countries in South America. 

“This is where we always want to return to,” Hopper says. “Ultimately, our goal is to build up our savings and build a nice finca [the Spanish word for “estate”] for our family here.”

Hopper says the lower cost of living and community in Costa Rica has far outweighed any feelings of homesickness he’s felt since the move.

He adds: “I’m definitely happier living in Costa Rica than I used to be in the U.S. I’ve gained my family back being here, I’ve gained the opportunity to spend more time with them and not only create more freedom in myself but also more freedom within our family to explore our dreams.”

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To rank the experiences, Kuoni looked for events that occur no more than twice a year and had the most Google searches.

In the top 10 must-see travel experiences based on Google searches, only two are in the U.S., with two more U.S. experiences being a part of the top 20.

No.1 must-see travel experience: Manhattanhenge

New York City’s Manhattanhenge is the most searched-for travel experience — the NYC event had over 1.3 million annual Google searches.

The rare event occurs when the Sun appears between the city’s grid as it’s low in the sky and setting, according to the American Museum of Natural History. The “Manhattanhenge Effect” will occur between May 29 and July 13 this year.

According to the museum, some of the best places to view the Manhattanhenge are from Manhattan’s east/west thoroughfares and to get the best view, it recommends finding a spot as far east as possible.

The best streets to see the Manhattanhenge include 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street, and 57th Street.

Top 10 must-see travel experiences in the world

1. Manhattanhenge, New York City
2. Venice Carnival, Italy
3. Rio Carnival, Brazil
4. Day of the Dead, Mexico
5. Chelsea Flower Show, U.K.
6. Golden Week, Japan
7. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, USA
8. Northern Lights in Lapland, Finland
9. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
10. Obon Festival, Japan

The No. 2 must-see travel experience in the world is the Venice Carnival in Italy, with over 1.2 million annual searches.

The Venice Carnival takes place every year just before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday — this year the the carnival took place from January 27-February 13.

The annual event is known worldwide for its captivating masquerade masks and costumes.

The carnival began in the 1100s and lasted for several centuries before it was outlawed in the 1700s. Eventually, in 1979, the Italian government brought back the festivities, according to Venice Events.

In 2025, the carnival is set to take place from February 22 to March 4.

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Unlike with most people, traveling is how she earns — rather than spends — money.

The trips are paid for by Spencer’s employers — they’re wealthy Europeans and Americans who hire her to travel with their families for weeks and, occasionally, months at a time.

Spencer is a former primary school teacher with experience teaching students with learning difficulties. She embarked on her first traveling teaching role seven years ago.

Since then, she’s spent about two years abroad, including an eight-month trip to Europe, the United States and the Middle East, she said.

The cost to hire a teacher like U.K.-based Spencer is comparable with private school fees for multiple children — about £8,000 ($10,050) a month to work with three children. Families also pay the cost of her flights, accommodations and meals. 

Rates can rise to £10,000 if families require teachers with specialist skills, such as playing a musical instrument or foreign language instruction.

However, teaching assistants, who help with a basic curriculum, can be hired for around £2,500 a month.

Different from traditional school

The children Spencer teaches attend sessions with her for about four hours a day because one hour of private tutoring is akin to three hours of regular school, she said.

She consults with teachers at their schools, she said, to create lessons that cover what they would be learning back at home. She can also prepare them for exams they have on their return.

Spencer also incorporates information about local culture, cuisine and customs into her sessions. For example, Spencer said, when she was in Oman she was working with a family who hadn’t experienced an Arabic country before.

“It’s not about me imparting knowledge,” she told CNBC Travel. “It’s about me being there as more like a facilitator to make them curious and ask questions about things that they’re experiencing — spotting differences, spotting similarities.

“It’s demanding on your teaching skills because you’ve got to really understand the family and their cultural beliefs, and how you can make those little humans that you’re working with into better versions, even than their parents.”

An educator, not a tutor

Spencer’s progressive outlook is not for all families, she said. 

She tends to work with startup founders who want to expose their children to alternative ways of learning and thinking, she said.

She prefers to be known as a “facilitator” or “educator” rather than a teacher or a tutor, she said.

“There will certainly be educators who travel with a family, and it looks just like school,” she said. “But to me, that’s not the world schooling that I specialize in — that’s simply doing international tutoring.”

The change in title also means she must manage families’ expectations about her role, Spencer said. She needs to ensure families won’t confuse her for a nanny who provides extensive child care, or an au pair, who may be expected to do light chores.

“My remit is definitely education. I’m not with the family, staying in their house. I always stay separately, although I might join them for dinner sometimes. It’s an interesting conversation to have — defining that idea and expectation that it’s not a holiday nanny role,” she said.

That means interviewing is a two-way street, she said.

“For many families, they probably feel like they are interviewing you as the educator, but it’s as much me interviewing them, too.” 

Now, as she has her own house and two dogs, Spencer only accepts shorter work trips of up to four weeks. She can, however, match families who need a traveling teacher with one of the 30,000 teachers who are a part of her private tutoring business Education Boutique.

Making traveling teachers more accessible

Traveling teaching gigs comprise around 10% of Education Boutique’s business, while the rest matches educators with students with learning issues or who need private exam preparation. Spencer started the business in 2016 after spending nearly four years as a schoolteacher the United Kingdom and Dubai. She has a bachelor’s degree in primary teacher education.

Spencer said she wants to make traveling teachers available to more families, by creating cheaper options, such as pairing families with trained students taking a gap year.

“There are lots of very engaging young people who are paying a lot of money to travel the world as part of a gap year and will likely go on to good degrees and careers in the future,” said Spencer.

“Why couldn’t we position a gap year as, instead of someone having to pay, they could educate students as they go around the world,” she said. “And if a family knows that they’re going to, say, Thailand, rather than that family paying for the flight for an educator to join them there, we become that connector [for] someone who is already going to be there.”

Spencer said she’s committed to both sides of Education Boutique — finding jobs for traveling teachers and those who want to support special education children.

“We see our role as an important one, supporting the most privileged children globally and the most disadvantaged locally,” said Spencer.

As domestic travel rebounds from pandemic lows and prices soar, some travelers opting for trains over planes.

For many, the tradeoffs are simple: Trains are often cheaper, provide more leg room and are better for the environment than air travel. Those advantages and others are driving riders to Amtrak, the government-backed U.S. rail service, as it tries to revive pre-Covid ridership and smooth out operations.

Since emerging out of the pandemic, airline ticket prices have skyrocketed as travel demand surged. On top of that, uncertainty in the airline industry has ballooned in part due to high-profile incidents, like one that commanded headlines earlier this year when a section of an Alaska Airlines plane blew off mid-flight, leading to the discovery of loose hardware on Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in multiple airlines’ fleets.

Though train routes often take longer than flight times, the total travel time usually evens out when factoring in traffic to get to the airport, time spent in security lines and boarding wait times, according to Clint Henderson, a managing editor at travel site The Points Guy.

“We’ve done speed tests and measured the amount of time it takes to go between cities like New York and D.C. on the train versus the plane, and even though the flight is super short, it generally takes around the same amount of time,” he said.

Trains will likely never render flying obsolete, but Henderson said he’s seen an increase more broadly across the travel industry in the number of people choosing to take Amtrak trains over flights, especially in the Northeast corridor, where flying between two close-by cities doesn’t always make sense.

One of those passengers is Leonor Grave, who lives in New York City and often travels home to Washington, D.C., on Amtrak trains rather than flying. Grave said she particularly likes that train stations are typically in city centers, as opposed to airports, which are often on the outskirts of towns.

“If trains were faster and reached more destinations, I don’t think I would ever fly domestically,” Grave said. “It’s such a frictionless way to travel… and I just find it a lot more enjoyable on the train – you can get up, you can walk around, stretch your legs, you can go to the food car. You feel a lot more grounded.”

Grave said she’s even been able to bring her bike on the train and arrive at New York’s Penn Station just 20 minutes before the train’s departure, as opposed to having to arrive to an airport the typical two hours early. While she’s experienced some delays on Amtrak trains, especially post-pandemic, she said they’ve been negligible compared to flight delays and cancellations that have recently plagued the air travel industry.

“I don’t glamorize Amtrak as a corporation – there’s a lot they could do to improve its services,” Grave said. “Even though Amtrak isn’t perfect, I think it’s the best option of what we have. The more that rail becomes competitive with flying and the more people take the train, the more we can develop these train routes and connect different places across the rest of the country. It’s an exciting future for train travel.”

Reasons for rail

American trains are still nowhere near the high-speed railroad networks of Europe or Japan, for example. (Though Amtrak’s Acela trains can reach 150 miles per hour in sections of its route.)

Nonetheless, the option is increasingly attractive to some travelers as the dynamics of travel shift.

Twenty-two-year-old Chiara Dorsi booked a 19-hour Amtrak ride from Chicago to New Orleans this month rather than hopping a flight. The rail ticket saves her the hassle of dealing with bag limits and going through security. It also saved her nearly $400, and allows her to work during the ride.

“The price was just astronomically different,” she said. “And I’m working remotely and Amtrak has Wi-Fi, so the time I’m wasting on the train isn’t actually wasted because I can do my work from anywhere.”

Dorsi also said she tends to gravitate toward trains for their environmental benefits.

According to the International Air Transport Association, air travel accounts for roughly 2% of the world’s global carbon emissions. That travel impact is significantly lower when substituted with train travel, according to Aaron McCall, the federal advocacy coordinator at California Environmental Voters.

Whenever there’s communal travel, the emissions are bound to be reduced, McCall said.

“We are seeing a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions across the board, and the reason why we’re seeing that decrease is directly connected to investment in green technology and public transportation,” he said.

McCall said he’s even seen more people take Amtrak trains in California recently, where public transportation significantly lags behind the robust networks of the East Coast.

Ridership returns, with delays

Amtrak reported total ridership of over 28 million in 2023, a 24% increase from the year prior – but still down significantly from a pre-pandemic total of over 32 million passengers in 2019.

It saw particular bounce-back in its ridership and revenue along the Northeast Corridor — spanning Washington, D.C., to Boston — with a more than 22% increase year over year, according to a November report.

But the trains’ on-time performance has taken a hit since the pandemic, according to a 2022 report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In 2019, Amtrak operations had an overall on-time performance of 75%, on a weighted basis, according to the BTS. In 2020 and 2021, as ridership cratered, that on-time performance improved to 80% and 78%, respectively.

As of 2022, the latest data encompassed in the report, total delays rose again and on-time performance sank to 74%, according to the report. Much of those disruptions were the result of issues with host railroads, rather than the fault of Amtrak, but the company said it remains committed to finding ways to decrease disruptions.

“Throughout the Amtrak national network, we work around-the-clock to ensure reliable service and safety during inclement weather,” Amtrak told CNBC. “We have our own team that monitors weather conditions and assessing the state of the railroad and related infrastructure in real-time.”

Amtrak has also been building out its longer routes, bolstered by fresh funding from the White House to upgrade trains and build out more infrastructure between cities. In an effort to double ridership by 2040, the company is investing over $5 million into a program aimed at enhancing train stations, tunnels and bridges.

Those upgrades will be the key “gamechanger” in revolutionizing train travel, according to Henderson of The Points Guy – even if the timeline is looking long.

“They’re reinforcing the track beds in some places, rebuilding bridges, and these trains will be able to run faster,” Henderson said. “Once those start rolling out, it’s going to be exciting … I just urge people to be patient because it’s going to take a while before these things are full reality.”

To address overtourism and the effect it can have on the climate, countries around the world have started charging fees to visit some major destinations.

In January, Tripadvisor, in partnership with the Global Destination Sustainability Movement, assessed 100 destinations with a four bubble rating or higher over 12 months (October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023). Tripadvisor also used traveler reviews containing terms referencing sustainability, like “environmentally friendly,” “eco-tourism,” and “waste reduction” to rank the world’s top most sustainable cities.

No American cities made Tripadvisor’s inaugural list, while Montreal, Canada, is the only destination in the Americas to rank.

The most sustainable travel destination in the world: Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark, is the most sustainable destination, according to Tripadvisor.

The capital city is one of Europe’s oldest and considered one of the cleanest. Denmark, as a whole, has committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2025.

More than two-thirds of the city’s hotels hold an eco-certificate and the city has vending-style machines that give money in exchange for an empty can or plastic cup, according to The Telegraph.

Copenhagen is also home to over 200 miles of bike paths and several train lines. The local airport is one of the busiest in the Nordic countries.

The 10 most sustainable travel destinations in the world

1. Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Stockholm, Sweden
3. Bordeaux, France
4. Helsinki, Finland
5. Singapore
6. Melbourne, Australia
7. Oslo, Norway
8. Brussels, Belgium
9. Galway, Ireland
10. Belfast, United Kingdom

Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, ranked as the No. 2 most sustainable destination in the world.

The city has a goal of becoming fossil-free and climate-positive by 2040, according to the World Economic Forum.

Around 60% of Sweden’s national energy supply comes from renewables and the country is ranked in the top ten of the Environmental Performance Index for its environmental performance.

Stockholm is also home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Royal Palace Drottningholm, the Skogskyrkogården, or Woodland Cemetery, and Birka, a Viking outpost, from around 750 AD, according to the city’s website.

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The Level 3 travel advisory comes after the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica reported that “violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides, are common” even at all-inclusive resorts.

According to the State Department, Jamaica’s homicide rate is among the highest in the Western Hemisphere, with 65 murders reported there last month alone.

The U.S. Embassy also said local police often do not respond effectively to incidents of serious crimes and even when arrests are made, cases are rarely prosecuted to a conclusive sentence. Families of U.S. citizens killed in accidents or homicides typically wait a year or more for final death certificates to be issued by Jamaican authorities.

The advisory added that the medical services on the island are not always dependable and some facilities may demand payment in advance before offering care. Most hospitals and doctors overseas do no accept U.S. health insurance, so Americans are urged to obtain traveler’s insurance that includes medical evacuation.

The warnings about travel to Jamaica comes days after the State Department issued an advisory for another popular tourist destination in the Caribbean.

On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas put the island on a Level 2 “Exercise increased caution” warning, urging Americans to stay vigilant, keep a low profile and not to fight back during a robbery attempt. Nassau has been rocked by 18 murders in first four weeks of the year, according to the embassy.

Jan 26

U.S. warns travelers to the Bahamas to be cautious after 18 murders in capital this year

Jan 11

US Embassy warns Americans not to use dating apps in Colombia after ‘suspicious' deaths

But many travelers are pressing forward, seeking ways to save without compromising their trips. And for some 70% of respondents of Intrepid’s survey, that means avoiding peak season trips.

Enter the era of “shoulder season” travel — or vacations booked between high and low seasons — which allows for cheaper trips, thinner crowds and better weather.

What was once “one of travel’s best-kept secrets … is [now] our busiest time of the year,” said James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Travel.

Travelers are typically adults without school-aged children, however “parents are increasingly willing to take kids out of school for travel,” he told CNBC Travel.

In some locations, the shift is so prominent that it’s changing long-established seasonal travel patterns, according to Zicasso’s 2024 Luxury Travel Report. The survey of some 200 travel specialists found:

• 41% said high seasons are lasting longer, with more traveling during “what used to be considered shoulder seasons”  
• 43% said more places are moving into year-round destinations “with no distinct low season”

“We [have] no more low season,” Thapanee Kiatphaibool, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Jan. 18. Similar patterns of year-round travel are happening in parts of the Caribbean and Mexico, too.

As the boundary between high and shoulder season disappear, the savings are vanishing too, said Thornton.

“Demand for travel is strong, even during off-season, and that brings prices up,” he told CNBC Travel.

To find out where deals still exist, CNBC Travel analyzed hotel rates in five popular destinations, comparing peak and shoulder season prices for entry-level rooms for two travelers, inclusive of most taxes. Rates are accurate as of Jan. 25, 2024.

Kyoto, Japan

Peak periods largely follow the weather, but festivities and natural phenomena, such as the northern lights and Africa’s Great Migration, drive high seasons too.

Kyoto’s Sakura season is all three, resulting in hordes of travelers descending on the city to see the blooming of its cherry blossom trees in late March to early April.

But the price hikes aren’t only in the hotels, said Chisato Nishiyori, 360 Private Travel’s general manager for Japan. “Everything” from guides to trains to museum tickets go up, she said.

Restaurant prices remain stable, though reservations at high-end establishments are very difficult to get, even for hotel concierges, she said.

The Maldives

With warm weather year-round, the Maldives has seasons that are based on rainfall rather than temperatures.

The “dry” (northeast monsoon) extends from January to March, while the “wet” (or southwest monsoon) season lasts from mid-May to November, according to the Maldives Meteorological Service.

Add in the year-end holidays, and peak season in the Maldives lasts from December to April, while November and April are considered its “shoulder” months.

CNBC’s analysis shows traveling to the Maldives right before the rainy season begins can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in hotel charges alone.

Rome, Italy

Italian summers are so popular with tourists that the country’s peak season has ballooned into May and September.

Thus, Italy’s shoulder “sweet spots” are getting shorter and trickier to pinpoint, according to the website Italy Explained.

“Spring is really the last true shoulder season in Italy, but it’s only two months long — March and April,” it states, adding that price breaks can be found in late October and November too.

Rome’s River Palace Hotel bucked the trend with a lower rate for a “Classic Room” in June than in March, thanks to a 60-day advance booking promotion. Without that discount, the nightly room rate jumped to $281.

Dubai

With scorching summer temperatures, Dubai’s international arrivals are at their lowest from June to August.

Like many places in the Northern Hemisphere, its shoulder season bookends the summer season, lasting four months: April, May, September and October.

Rates in Dubai didn’t vary much between peak and shoulder season. But summers were noticeably cheaper — and rates in May were less expensive than in April.

Accor’s Queen Elizabeth 2 ship, dubbed Dubai’s “only floating hotel,” followed a seasonal pattern though, with room rates falling in March, bottoming out during the summer, then rising again in October.

New York City

New York City has two peak seasons: the summer months of June to August, and the period between Thanksgiving and the New Year.

New York City was the only destination where shoulder season rates exceeded peak season prices in CNBC’s analysis.

But that was only true for the summer.

Year-end rates, when travelers descend on the Big Apple for ice skating at Rockefeller Center and shopping on 5th Avenue, were considerably higher than rates at other times of the year.

According to an FAA statement, the American Airlines Airbus A320 “made a hard landing” on an airport runway around 2 p.m. local time. Those hospitalized included one passenger and five flight attendants, American said in a separate statement.

Flight 271 from Los Angeles International Airport “experienced an issue upon landing,” the airline said. “The aircraft taxied to the gate under its own power and customers deplaned normally.”

The weather in Maui at the time was partly cloudy and windy with a temperature of roughly 80 degrees, according to National Weather Service data.

The aircraft carried 167 customers and seven crew members, American said. It was taken out of service and undergoing inspection, it said.

“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority,” the airline said. The FAA said it was investigating the cause of incident.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

Legrad, a town in northern Croatia, has been trying to get more people to settle in the area by offering houses for pennies. It’s an initiative they started in 2018.

The small town, with around 2,000 people, borders Hungary and has seen its population dwindle since the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918.

In January, government officials announced another batch of houses is ready for sale at just 13 cents.

To be eligible to buy one of the houses, applicants must be under 45 years old, in a marital or extramarital partnership, and have no criminal record.

Most notably, if you want to snag one of these low-cost homes, applicants can’t already own property — though officials don’t specify if that means in Croatia or anywhere else in the world.

Local Croatian media outlet HRT reported that since the program started in 2018, there are more children today than there were five years ago, and as a result, they’re even building a new daycare center.

“A total of five houses ready for occupancy have been sold. Three families have already moved in, and what delights us is that all three families welcomed a new member during their move-in. This has increased the number of children in the daycare center,” Ivan Sabolić, the mayor of Legrad, told HRT.

In 2021, Legrad put up 19 empty houses and abandoned construction sites for sale at the price of 1 kuna, Croatia’s currency at the time. Seventeen were sold, according to Reuters. The houses were in various states of disrepair, so to help out, the municipality said it would pay $25,000 kuna (about $3,558) for any necessary renovations.

For new residents who wanted to buy a privately owned home, the town offered to cover 20% of the price or up to 35,000 kuna (about $5,056). It’s unclear if the town will offer the same incentives this time around.

Croatia isn’t the first country to take this kind of approach to bringing new life to their shrinking populations. Mussomeli, a town in Sicily, went viral for selling off deteriorating homes for 1 euro.

“The Sopranos” and “Good Fellas” star Lorraine Bracco also bought into this trend when she purchased a 1 euro home in a different Italian town called Sambuca di Sicilia.

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Mexico: Hyatt Zilara Cancun

At this oceanfront resort exclusively for adults, swim-up suites lead to an Infinity pool, an authentic cantina serves up spicy cocktails, and incredible live performances create an energetic vibe. All 310 rooms are large suites with at least 653 square feet of space. Each room has a furnished balcony with a hammock and an in-room minibar, while select suites have swim-up pool access and even exclusive cabana access. The resort also features 12 restaurants, bars and lounges and an unforgettable spa to relax and unwind. Whether looking for a couple’s getaway or a relaxing baby moon, Hyatt Zilara Cancun is the perfect fit.

Jamaica: Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort & Spa

Imagine a place where you can get away from it all. A tropical island paradise where the only time you’ll lift a finger is when you’re ordering drinks. From a world-class full-service spa, two sparkling swimming pools, a state-of-the-art fitness facility, private beachside cabanas, to gorgeous Montego Bay accommodations. Lavished with an array of amenities, Jewel Grande is the ultimate all-inclusive luxury resort in Montego Bay Jamaica. Only 15 minutes from Sangster Airport you’ll feel like you’re a world away while being by Montego Bay’s most popular attractions.

Dominican Republic: Hilton La Romana

The Hilton La Romana all-inclusive family resort is designed for all ages and features amenities that will surprise and delight. A tropical playground for everyone, this modern, recently renovated, oceanfront resort on the Caribbean features a brand-new waterpark, 418 rooms, 13 restaurants and bars, and a refreshingly casual, come-as-you-are vibe.

“The Beachside Hotel was designed around the idea of an endless summer. We invite guests to leave itineraries behind and dive into a world of opportunities right here on the property. With that in mind, we designed the hotel to cultivate this connection through recreation for guests to collect spontaneous moments to slow down and savor with friends and family alike. We focused on creating outdoor spaces where discovery is limitless. This self driven experience is all part of the story. I think we can all relate to the first taste of freedom that summer offered us as children – that was the feeling that we tried to evoke at the new Beachside. We wanted to offer a space where children and their parents alike would equally enjoy the property.” Said Brad Guidi, Co-Founder and CDO of Blue Flag. 

The hotel will join a growing portfolio of hotels and inns on Nantucket (MA), Martha’s Vineyard (MA), Montauk (NY), Greenport (NY), and Jackson Hole (WY) owned and created by Blue Flag Capital. 

“We are excited to re-open our doors to guests this summer and welcome them to this beautifully reimagined property. Whether you’re spending time with your family, friends, or neighbors, Beachside is designed to delight you all; with immersive hangouts, tucked-away hideouts, and a richness of relaxation that will make every moment feel like a never-ending summer. It’s a tranquil getaway just a short jaunt to Jetties beach. Most importantly, family is at the center of everything we do here at Blue Flag, and as the father of three wonderful young children, we wanted to create a place where all can enjoy without sacrificing the highest levels of experiential design and hospitality.” said Jason Brown, Co-Founder & CEO of Blue Flag. 

Taking cues from the buildings’ mid century architecture, the hotel’s interiors were designed by Parts & Labor in partnership with Brad Guidi of Blue Flag. “The design is definitely unique to Nantucket – it is fun, retro, coastal, and upscale. We didn’t use the typical Nantucket color palette, instead, we utilized terracottas, gentle creams, dark greens, and natural woods. The centerpiece of the property is the new pool courtyard which will feature a mahogany deck, and plenty of loungers.We chose furniture, fabrics, and materials that are reminiscent of our childhood, even pulling from movies like the “Sandlot” for inspiration. There is something comforting and nostalgic when watching “Sandlot” so we asked ourselves, how do we evoke this feeling at our hotel? That was the lens by which we designed the property” said Guidi.

Four EU member states now share crown with Singapore and Japan as the number one passport in the quarterly Henley Passport Index. They are: Spain, Germany, France and Italy.

The two Asian countries have dominated the index in the past five years.

In second place are countries like South Korea, Finland and Sweden with visa-free access to 193 destinations. Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands and Austria came in third. The UK has risen two ranks to fourth. 

Australia and New Zealand took sixth place, while the U.S. retains its 7th place, according to Henley’s rankings.

The 19-year-old global passport ranking was conducted based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority, or IATA, which ranks the world’s passports based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

The general trend shown in the rankings has been toward more travel freedom, with the average number of destinations that travelers can access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024, said Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners. 

That said, he noted that the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index has become “wider than ever.”

For one, the highest ranked passports allow travel to 166 more destinations without a visa compared to Afghanistan, which has access to only 28 countries and is last in the ranking.  

The United Arab Emirates has been the “biggest climber” of the index over the last decade, leaping from 55th in 2014 to the 11th position, the report stated.

Other notable improvements in mobility include Ukraine and China, which have climbed two ranks each in the past year. China now places 62nd on the index, while Ukraine is now in 32nd place. 

Each year, the agency releases its annual list of the Top-10 “best catches.”

It started doing so in 2016, when it included a full-sized movie prop corpse, a Hello Kitty pistol and a golden hand grenade.

No. 2 on last year’s list was marijuana concealed inside an adult diaper. The discovery was made because a checkpoint scanner at LaGuardia Airport in New York was alarmed about a woman’s groin, according to TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein.

“The woman had stashed pot in her adult diaper in an effort to conceal the marijuana from TSA and from her traveling companion—her mom!” Farbstein said in a statement Tuesday. “She told officials that she didn’t want her mother to find out that she was packing the pot.”

That wasn’t the first time TSA agents discovered prohibited items in a diaper at LaGuardia. In December, Farbstein said in a post on X that 17 bullets were found in an otherwise clean disposable diaper carried by a man from Arkansas.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

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To determine the ranking, Cirium specifically looked at whether or not flights departed airports within 15 minutes of scheduled departure.

All of the top-ranking airports saw over 75% of flights depart on time last year, according to the study.

The U.S. airports in the top 10 include Salt Lake City International, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport,

No. 1 most punctual airport in the world: Minneapolis-St. Paul International

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is the No.1 global airport for on-time performance.

The airport had 84.44% of flights depart on time in 2023 and operated a total of 289,817 flights last year, according to the report.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport regularly ranks as one of the best airports in the world, partly due to its modern facilities, which were significantly renovated in 2021.

The Minnesota airport also serves as a major hub for Delta Airlines.

It is also one of the most expensive airports to fly out of, according to SmartAsset.

Top 10 most punctual airports in the world

1. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
2. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (HYD)
3. Kempegowda International Airport (BLR)
4. El Dorado International Airport (BOG)
5. Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
6. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
7. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
8. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
9. Hamad International Airport (DOH)
10. Haneda Airport (HND)

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in India is the No. 2 airport in the world for punctuality, with 84.42% on-time departures and 168,426 flights last year.

The Indian airport didn’t rank in the top 10 in 2022, but made it to No. 2 this year thanks to “pretty phenomenal” investments, Mike Malik, Cirium’s chief marketing officer, told CNBC.

In 2015, it became the first airport in India to launch paperless boarding for domestic flights and in 2020, it launched international e-boarding.

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