WANDERLUST

Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war. IShowSpeed, a 20-year-old American YouTuber and internet star, recently livestreamed hourslong tours of Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, showcasing the locations to some of his nearly 40 million viewers. During the March events, IShowSpeed, whose real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr., marveled at friendly locals, spotless streets and the high-speed Wi-Fi available on the subway; Chinese fans mobbed him for selfies on the Great Wall. Beijing’s state media lapped up the attention, with one Chinese blogger proclaiming that the American influencer had “eliminated all Western propaganda about China” in the eyes of a new generation. IShowSpeed’s YouTube page attests to this assessment. “China ...

Where To Travel Based On Your Zodiac Sign. The furthest distance most of us are traveling is from our bed to our couch. But between Netflix marathons and sourdough baking attempts, we can daydream about where we’ll travel next! Once safe, non-essential international travel resumes, narrowing down a perfect destination may feel a little overwhelming. So why not let the stars play your travel agent and choose your next travel destination based on your Zodiac sign!? Aries Chances are you’re adventurous, thrill-seeking, and spontaneous. As the first sign of the zodiac, you love to be physically active and are usually up for a challenge. A relaxing beach vacation may be too boring for you, especially after the year we’ve spent cooped up inside! Try Chile, which boasts the driest place on ear...

Going on a road trip this summer? 4 reasons why you might end up speeding, according to psychology. Your bags are packed. You’ve sorted entertainment and snacks for your passengers and have squeezed all your holiday luggage in the car. You’re now ready to head off for your road trip – one hour after you meant to leave. There will be more traffic now, but maybe, if you put your foot down you can make up some time. It might be tempting to speed. People do so for a number of reasons, not just because they’re running late. Here’s why, what this does to your risk of being injured, and how to plan your road trip to minimise that risk. 1. You think you’ll get there faster Perhaps one of the biggest myths about speeding is it saves you a lot of time. In fact drivers overestimate how much time th...

Female Airbnb hosts in the United States earn on average about 25% less per year than their male counterparts for their rentals, according to our new study. That’s slightly higher than the annual gender wage gap reported by the U.S. Census Bureau and adds up to more than US$4,000 in lower earnings per year. Our analysis revealed that the average nightly rate of a female host’s listing was $30 cheaper than those of male hosts. You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here. For this research, we analyzed data taken from the public profiles of 8,000 hosts across several U.S. cities. We focused on listings with only one host and just one active listing. The name each host posted on their public profile was coded as female or male, and gender-ambiguous na...

Serviced Apartments are basically the fully furnished apartments that are made available to the public for short term and long term stays. It includes various amenities like housekeeping and various different services for the guest and the taxes are included in the rental price itself. These types of apartments offer the guest much like the services and amenities of a traditional hotel, but with some added convenience, space and privacy like at home. One can enjoy the feeling like living at home while traveling somewhere. What can one expect from a serviced apartment? • A kitchen that is fully equipped with things like a dishwasher, dryer • One or more individual bedrooms designated as sleeping area • Living space • Bathroom with all the amenities • Television • WiFi • All the latest in r...

Have you ever been to a yacht party? If you had, you'd have remembered it. At least that's what the latest polling data is showing for corporate event planners. Consider if you will, having a cocktail on a party yacht with people you know, like and work with - watching the Sun slowly set, looking out and seeing the islands and looking to the other side of the party yacht and seeing the shoreline in the distance. Just imagine that imprinting on your memory. This is something you will never forget, nor will anyone else on this short voyage either. Are sunsets really better when you are viewing them from a yacht? Yes, and a good captain knows how to maneuver his yacht just right, so you are watching the sunset over the islands and then sailing just past them as it sets. The pictures your gue...