Here’s how you can get the most out of your holiday time in Australia this year. 　　Use National Holidays to Your Advantage　　To enjoy the longest possible stretches of free time, try adding your personal time off to nationally-celebrated holidays to create longer weekend breaks. 　　 　　The Best Days to Take Off　　1、January 2: Add to New Year’s Day (January 1) to create a 2-day break before the weekend. 　　2、January 24 or 28: Add to Australia Day on January 27 for a 4-day weekend. 　　3、April 17 or 22: Add to Good Friday on April 18 and Easter Monday on April 21 to create a 5-day break. (Note: April 19 is not a public holiday in Tasmania and Western Australia; April 20 is not a public holiday in Tasmania.) 　　4、April 24 or 28: Add to ANZAC Day (April 25) for a 4-day weekend. You can also take off April 22, 23, and 24, to combine the Easter and ANZAC Day holiday periods and create a 10-day break. 　　5、December 24 or 29: Add to Christmas Day (December 25) and Boxing Day (December 26) to create a 5-day break. 　　In addition, regional holidays provide good opportunities for extended time off in areas where those holidays...

　　You can feel confident that enjoying these hearty soups won’t derail your 2025 health goals, and the delicious flavours mean you won’t have any trouble finishing your bowl. 　　Warm, hearty soups are essential during the winter months, and after the indulgence of the holiday season, starting the year with healthy recipes is a good way to get on track for your 2025 goals. 　　If you’re worried that healthy means bland or unfulfilling, think again! These four winter soup recipes will leave you feeling full and energized thanks to their healthy ingredients and bold flavours. 　　 　　Skinny Loaded Potato Soup　　Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up your favourite winter flavours. A creamy and delicious baked potato soup is perfect for lunch or dinner on a winter day, and this one has just enough healthy substitutions to retain all of the flavour without loading up on calories. Plus, it’s easy to make in your slow cooker, so you’ll have a delicious dinner ready at the end of the day. 　　Cook your potatoes with spices, low sodium chicken stock, and other yummy vegetables (this recipe calls for carrots and onions, but throw in whatever you want!) for 2-3 hours. When they’re...

　　Here’s how you can get the most out of your holiday time in Canada this year. 　　Use National Holidays to Your Advantage　　To enjoy the longest possible stretches of free time, try adding your personal time off to nationally-celebrated holidays to create longer weekend breaks. 　　The Best Days to Take Off　　1、January 2: Add to New Year’s Day (January 1) to create a 2-day break before the weekend. 　　2、April 17 or 21: Add to Good Friday (April 18) for a 4-day weekend. 　　3、In some provinces and territories, Easter Monday on April 21 is a statutory or de-facto holiday, so you can take off April 17 or April 22 for a 5-day weekend. 　　4、June 30: Add to Canada Day (July 1) to create a 4-day weekend. 　　5、August 29 or September 2: Add to Labour Day (September 1) for a 4-day weekend. 　　6、December 26: Add to Christmas Day (December 25) to create a 4-day break. In some provinces and territories, Boxing Day on December 26 is a statutory or de-facto holiday, so you can take off December 24 or December 29 to create a 5-day weekend. 　　In addition, regional holidays such as Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and Remembrance Day provide good opportunities for extended time...

　　Mark these dates on your 2025 calendar and start the year out right. 　　 　　Between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve, the months of November and December are jam-packed. But January has arrived! Since it’s officially 2025, you might be breathing a sigh of relief now that there’s finally a break in the holiday action. 　　While the big holidays are firmly in the rearview mirror, there's still plenty to celebrate in the month of January, starting with some much-needed downtime. After that, there are host of holidays and observances to mark down on your calendar right through January 31. 　　There's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which commemorates the leader's birthday on Monday, Jan. 20. It's a federal holiday, which means many schools and government agencies, like the USPS, will be closed on observance of the day. It also happens to be Inauguration Day in which the new president will be sworn in at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. 　　Aside from Jan. 20 (which also marks Blue Monday), you'll also find a variety of other days, weeks and observances throughout the month, including the Lunar New Year, which takes place on Jan. 29, as well as the Chinese New...

I​t's time once again for our occasional look at weather around the world. We start in western Germany, where freezing temperatures gave rise to a crisp wintertime scene that looked like something out of a fairytale in Oberreifenberg near Frankfort this weekend. The photograph above shows a small chapel surrounded by frozen trees, creating a surreal landscape that looks like it might as well be from centuries ago. There was plenty of fresh powder for skiers and snowboarders on Mammoth Mountain as moisture from an atmospheric river resulted in over 2 feet of snow being dumped in less than 72 hours. The photo above shows skiers going up a life during a snow storm on the mountain on Saturday. In a reminder that it’s not all cold and snow all over the world, down in South Africa, where summer is just beginning, constant rain and lightning led to play being abandoned during an important cricket match between Pakistan and South Africa. The photo above shows Pakistan's captain Mohammad Rizwan, left, and a teammate greeting supporters after play was canceled. ...

If you plan to stay at a specific hotel for an extended duration, negotiate the best rate possible with the hotel sales staff. You can usually get better rates than regular "corporate" rates. If you will be working in your hotel room, ask for a room away from the hotel pool area; otherwise, you will end up dealing with all the pool noise. If you have a confirmed reservation but the hotel has overbooked, you should ask for a free...

High West Distillery & Saloon From dirty martinis to dive bars, Park City is a place where both the refined and the rowdy can converge to party and do a little skiing. Here are some libations and locations that are not to be missed in a town that rages—despite being located in Utah. If there were only two reasons to check out Park City in winter, they would be snow and whiskey, but not necessarily in that order. The country’s...

Ski to Eat (The Canyons) The Canyons Resort has been pumping up its dining options and the results are worth checking out. It’s easy to talk numbers with regards to Utah’s Canyons Resort. After all, it’s the state’s largest ski resort, and one of the biggest in the country—4,000 acres sprawling across nine peaks. You’d better fuel up. Talisker, Canyon’s parent company, has invested millions into the resort since buying it in 2008, a good amount dedicated to sprucing up...

Heavenly #1 (Heavenly Mountain Resort) The ten most breathtaking resorts, from Heavenly's panoramic lake views to Telluride's scenic steeps. Heavenly ranked No. 1 for Scenery, and it's easy to understand why: You'll find remarkable 180-degree views of Lake Tahoe from nearly any run on the hill. Telluride #2 (Telluride) It truly stands alone, "unmatched in North America" for its "breathtaking scenery." Aspen Highlands #3 The 360 degree views of the iconic Maroon Bells and Elk Mountains from the summit are...

We've all heard the horror stories, but the overall odds of being affected by a tropical system on any given day when and where you're considering traveling is small. However, there are certain times of year when those odds do rise, though still remain small relatively speaking. Whether you're planning your destination wedding or honeymoon, you don't need to summarily discount a potential region purely because it's tropical cyclone season. Bottom line: Be informed. Be prepared.CARIBBEANWhile hurricane season officially lasts...

The most deadly animal known to man isn't a poisonous snake, a vicious reptile or a big game cat; it's the lowly mosquito. This killer is most prevalent and dangerous in tropical regions, but lives on every continent on the planet and in almost every country in the world. Alarmingly enough, this animal is most likely to attack you while you sleep. How can you protect yourself? An array of creatures feed on humans and in doing so pass on...

Inexperienced travelers often suffer from altitude sickness while making rapid ascents to higher altitudes. Altitude sickness is usually a reaction of the body to the lower levels of oxygen available as the altitude increases. Symptoms The symptoms of altitude sickness can include headache, fatigue, sleeping difficulties, nausea, a high pulse rate (over 110), rapid breathing at rest, loss of appetite and unusual fatigue while walking. More serious symptoms include difficulty in breathing due to high altitude pulmonary edema (excess fluid...

Here are a few simple tips to insure you don't get stuck far from home without a penny, peso or pfennig to your name: Make sure you have enough money to cover emergencies. Always include extra money in your budget for unforeseen circumstances. Always take traveler's checks. It's safer to have traveler's checks than large amounts of cash. Be sure not to countersign the checks until the time of use. Keep a separate record of the numbers of your traveler's...