The Gentrification of Nature—and What to Do About It
Posted on 04/19/2021, 3:00 PM
America’s wide-open spaces should be open to all. But more and more, the great outdoors are becoming a playground for the rich. Mind you, nature has long had a luxury market hawking exorbitant arctic cruises, palatial glamping tents, and mountain bikes priced like they’re midsize sedans. But with access to overseas adventures still limited due to the pandemic, wealthy Americans have set their s...
Hawaii Set to Make Entry Easy for Vaccinated Visitors This Summer
Posted on 04/12/2021, 12:00 PM
As tortured and as controversial as Covid-19 safety measures have been across some parts of the United States, the rules for Hawaii have been even more intense—by necessity. From the very start of the pandemic, the stakes for Hawaii were higher than for other parts of the U.S. With no ability to transport patients easily across state lines to other hospitals, officials in Hawaii knew that in orde...
Yosemite, Glacier, and Rocky Mountain National Parks to Require Reservations This Summer
Posted on 04/09/2021, 2:00 PM
Even in the great outdoors, social distancing can be a challenge—especially in peak vacation season. To keep national park visitors safer, rangers at Yosemite National Park (pictured) in California, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and Glacier National Park in Montana have all announced that they'll be requiring advance reservations for summer visitors. Each park, though, will handle cro...
Airlines Bring Back Fees, But Not for Every Passenger
Posted on 04/07/2021, 1:00 PM
Strange as it may feel to find anything about 2020 that could possibly qualify as the Good Old Days, the global crisis did yield a few positives. When demand for commercial flights plummeted and customers needed to reschedule their plans, all the major carriers obliged—in some cases, after public coercion—by eliminating their change fees so travelers could cancel or delay their flights without pen...
Norwegian's Fully Vaccinated Return to Cruising Sets Up Tough Choices for Families
Posted on 04/06/2021, 2:00 PM
This summer, the cruise line that vacationers pick will say a lot about their vaccination status. We've already heard announcements of impending summer returns by Royal Caribbean (to Israel, Bermuda, and the United Kingdom), Crystal (to the Bahamas and Greece), and Celebrity (to St. Maarten in the Caribbean). In all of those cases, everyone over the age of 18 will be required to show proof of vac...
Venice Bans Cruise Ships from City Center, but the Detour Plan Has Flaws
Posted on 04/02/2021, 1:00 PM
Italy took a step this week that environmental activists, cultural preservationists, and many fed-up Venice residents have been pushing for years. The government blocked cruise ships from entering Venice's fragile lagoon. In a decree issued by the Italian cabinet, large cruise ships as well as freighters have been forbidden from passing close to the historic city center and must dock somewhere els...
Vaccinated People May Travel, Says the CDC
Posted on 04/02/2021, 6:00 AM
It's the news Americans have been waiting to hear for more than a year. Fully vaccinated people are cleared to travel domestically, according to updated guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC's official definition of "fully vaccinated" is two weeks after the second dose in a two-dose vaccine series such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna, or two weeks after a ...
Why Amtrak Deserves the $80 Billion President Biden Wants to Give It
Posted on 04/01/2021, 1:00 PM
Apologies to South Dakota and its 884,659 residents. It is the only one of the contiguous states to be left out of Amtrak’s ambitious plans to improve rail service by 2035. But for the rest of the country’s 328.2 million residents, Amtrak’s proposal could be life-changing—if enough lawmakers sign on, that is. By which I mean if enough of them sign on to President Biden’s just-proposed infrastruct...
When It Comes to Getting You Across Borders, Not All Vaccines Are Equal
Posted on 03/31/2021, 8:00 AM
The world's pharmaceutical companies answered the call for a Covid-19 vaccine, and their efforts are now paying dividends. According to biotech news outlet BioPharma Dive, there are now a half dozen formulations hailing from various nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Russia. The success has been so remarkable that by mid-April, some 90% of Americans are e...
The Airlines Are Blindsiding Customers by Switching Itineraries—But You Don't Have to Take It
Posted on 03/25/2021, 12:00 PM
Americans may not realize it, but the pandemic has made airline schedules far less stable than they were. Travelers now have a much higher chance of getting stuck with an itinerary they don't want, either because they can’t find a convenient one or because the flight they booked falls off the schedule. Why? Although travel is on the upswing, volume is still terrible. In their recent fourth-quarte...
