Health Tips Line

You collapse onto the hotel bed after a long flight. The sheets look crisp. The room smells clean. Everything seems fine—until a few days later, when mysterious itchy welts appear and you realize you may have brought home more than souvenirs. Bedbugs are every traveler’s nightmare . They’re tiny, stealthy and notoriously hard to detect. And once they hitch a ride home in your suitcase, they can turn into an expensive, stressful problem. Food and travel writer Aly Walansky has been traveling a few times a month for decades, and bedbugs are one of her greatest fears. “I don’t care if I’m at a fancy hotel opening or a top-tier hotel that has been around for generations—I have a routine of checking a room every single time I check in,” she says. “I’ve luckily never encountered bedbugs, but it really is hard not to be triggered when you hear the horror stories from other travelers who haven’t been so lucky.” Until recently, avoiding the critters meant crossing your fingers and doing a q...

What were you doing the night on May 31, 2000? I hung out at my friend’s apartment, and we turned on a brand-new TV show —a summer rarity back then!—with major buzz thanks to its intriguing concept. It was called Survivor. For two hours, we watched 16 Americans on a remote island try to make shelter and friends. Then, at the end of the episode, those same people voted for a nice elderly woman to leave the game. I liked it! Little did I realize I’d go on to visit the show’s various productions all over the world 17 times, most recently in Fiji for Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans. Can you believe it? One of the best reality shows of all time is almost 26 years old and celebrating its golden anniversary season. Of course, all you superfans like me who have diligently watched every episode and can recall every major moment—Jonny Fairplay’s “dead” grandma, Rob and Amber’s live engagement and the Applebee’s challenge fiasco, to name just three—know this already. But did you know 714...

I’m sure this has happened to you. You walk into the kitchen, catch a glimpse of the fruit bowl on the counter and feel betrayed by the bananas you just bought. A few days ago, they were firm, sunny and full of promise. So why are they already covered in those ominous brown spots?! You do the mental math: There’s no way you’ll be able to eat all the bananas in that bunch before they cross the invisible line from snack item to recipe ingredient. And though banana bread is delightful, there are limits to how many loaves one household can reasonably consume (or so I hear). If it feels like bananas go from “perfect for cereal” to “future smoothie component” overnight, you’re not imagining it. Bananas are an unusually sensitive fruit, and their ripening process is surprisingly dramatic. Curious about what’s really happening inside those peels—and whether there’s any way to slow things down—I turned to the experts: food science consultant Ed McCormick and certified culinary scientist Jes...

After a jam-packed workweek that leaves you stressed out and exhausted, it can feel like luck to make it to Friday. The word comes with a built-in exclamation point ( Friday! ), not a mounting sense of dread (ahem, Sunday scaries). But this year, you might find yourself approaching the last day of the week with a little more caution: There are multiple Friday the 13ths in 2026. Cue the horror music. In many Western cultures, including in the U.S., the date represents bad luck . (It doesn’t help that the Friday the 13th franchise has been popular for decades.) And whether you’ve seen one too many slasher flicks or take your superstitions seriously, it can feel like a bad omen. For some of us (OK, a lot of us), Friday the 13th induces a big case of goosebumps. Frankly, after a tough 2025, we deserve a little luck. (The Year of the Horse even promises a bold and uplifting year!) But this year’s eerie Friday lineup already seems stacked against us. Should we quickly knock on wood or ...

A few months ago, I had a serious bout of post-vacation blues after a trip to Italy . I mean, who wouldn’t? I’d been surrounded by food, beauty and history at every turn for a week and a half—so much so that it either made me gasp out loud or (more than once) made me cry. There’s a word for what I was feeling seeing the Pietà and the Sistine Chapel, exploring the ruins of Pompeii and winding through mazes of white-washed buildings in Puglia: awe. As it turns out, that awe was actually good for me. Studies show that awe improves our mental and physical health by reducing inflammation, increasing the feel-good neurotransmitter oxytocin, improving mood and fostering a sense of connection. And you don’t have to travel to Italy to experience awe and reap the benefits (though I highly recommend doing so). A 2025 study from researchers at King’s College London has identified a simple activity that can help us feel awe and lower our stress at the same time—in 20 minutes or less. And no, it ...

With hybrid work schedules and fully remote positions now the norm in many industries, gone are the days of having to reside where you work. Yup, now lots of us can pick and choose where we want to be , which means livability factors are more critical than ever before. And to help with this weighty decision, the team at the apartment-search website RentCafe has just released its 2026 report of the top 10 most livable metro areas in the United States. When you’re looking for the best place to live, work and raise a family, affordability is often top of mind. That’s true whether you’re renting or buying your own home (that’s right, the RentCafe report is not just for renters!). But determining livability goes beyond dollars and cents: It also includes finding a strong sense of community and a high quality of life. Whether you’re pondering a new job or just looking for a change of scene , we’ve got all the details from the report coming up. Keep reading to learn which city earned the t...