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Growing up near historic Morristown, New Jersey, I often felt very close to the early American era. I worked for a summer at the local Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, where I handled, categorized and labeled artifacts from the daily lives of Colonial Americans . My sister worked as a docent just up the road in Jockey Hollow, now a national historic park, where George Washington and his troops spent a bitter winter in 1789 and 1790. At Jockey Hollow’s Wick House, the home of the farmer on whose land Washington camped his troops, my sister would don an old-timey outfit and tell visitors about the Wicks while performing daily activities of Colonial life. Some of her responsibilities? “We used a Dutch oven to cook in the fireplace, and I made cornbread, soup, biscuits and cookies,” she says. “I would wash the dishes by pumping water into two basins: one with soap to scrub, one to rinse them off. We made candles by dipping string into melted wax. There was a kitche...

If you’re anything like me, your summer travel wish list is always longer than the number of trips you actually have booked. Every year, I tell myself I’m done planning vacations—then I spot a cheap flight, a solo destination I’ve been meaning to visit or a long beachy escape that suddenly looks wide open on the calendar. Before I know it, I’m searching for airfare again. The good news? If you haven’t locked in your summer travel plans yet, or you’re hoping to squeeze in one more international getaway , there’s still plenty of time to save. Expedia analyzed millions of flight searches, bookings and data from the past year to identify two of the cheapest days to travel this summer—and they just so happen to be in August. Ahead, Melanie Fish, Expedia’s travel expert, gives us the scoop on the newest report so you can plan your trips strategically and keep more money in your travel budget. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s...

Ice cream is one of those rare treats that never really goes out of season. In fact, Americans love it so much that the average person eats about 4 gallons every year. While a scoop hits differently on a sweltering summer day, there’s no shame in digging into a bowl while wrapped in a blanket in the middle of winter. Personally, I’m partial to chocolate, cookies and cream, and dulce de leche, but that’s the beauty of ice cream—there’s a flavor for everyone. And people can get surprisingly passionate about their favorites. That’s what makes Innerbody’s recent study on the most popular ice cream flavor in every state so much fun. Some states stick with the classics, while others favor flavors you might never expect. Before you decide what to order at your local ice cream parlor , read on to see if your state’s favorite scoop matches your own. You might find yourself feeling validated or shocked by what your neighbors have been putting on th...

A lot has changed in the United States over the past 250 years, including in our government. But the country is still clinging to one arguably outdated relic from its Founders: the Electoral College. Every four years, during the presidential election, we stare at our screens and bite our nails as pundits predict which candidate will get enough electoral votes to win the entire state—which isn’t necessarily the same as the candidate who gets the most votes. That, of course, has put the Electoral College squarely in the crosshairs of some very angry voters, especially over the last two decades. As the argument goes, the Electoral College may have made sense in 1776, but in 2026, it may need to be tossed into the proverbial dustbin of history. Plus, let’s be honest: It’s just flat-out confusing. “The world is very different now than it was then, so I understand how people feel frustrated,” says Lindsey Cormack, PhD, an associate professor of political sc...