Life

By Leah Dolan, CNN (CNN) — Are you part of a matching pyjama family? The twee tradition of Christmas morning coordination has recently become a kind of visual shorthand, allowing the internet to infer all kinds of notions about the inner workings of a stranger’s clan. “If you come from a matching pjs family I

By Scarlett Conlon, CNN (CNN) — Few could have predicted that one of the most derided sartorial mainstays of the 1980s — a decade that has never quite enjoyed the style resurgence of the eras that bookended it — would be a multibillion-dollar industry in its own right by the end of the 2020s. Yet

By John Walton, CNN (CNN) — Passengers will fly in 2024 with airlines that are putting their post-lockdown plans into place. And that includes shiny new airplanes containing new seat designs arriving at a rapid pace. A scattering of new airports and terminals will change the game in a few key regions, although some routes

Amanda Kludt, Special to CNN (CNN) — New Year’s Day is meant for fresh starts. But maybe even more, it’s meant for food. As the new year arrives around the world, special desserts abound, as do long noodles (representing long life), field peas (representing coins), herring (representing abundance) and pigs (representing good luck). The particulars

By Pete Muntean and Gregory Wallace, CNN (CNN) — What a difference one year can make – as many people who traveled by air during the now-notorious last week of 2022 could tell you. But at the tail end of 2023, you’d mostly hear tales of improvement. As the days between Christmas and New Year’s

By Marianna Cerini, CNN Milan, Italy (CNN) — When Italian designer Giacomo Moor was tasked with creating furniture for a school in a slum of Nairobi, Kenya last fall, he knew instantly what he wanted to make: Pieces that were functional, straightforward and easy to assemble. “‘Simplification’ was the word that immediately came to mind,”

Julia Buckley, CNN (CNN) — For most of us, traveling home for the holidays involves bringing clothes, presents and possibly some food to add to the feast awaiting us. But three US travelers attempted to bring something else cross-country for the season of peace: loaded guns. The three were caught during the busy holiday travel

By Leah Dolan, CNN (CNN) — Which fashion item is as beloved by members of the royal family as it is by JLo? Or as relevant on the runways of 2023 as in the knitting catalogs of 1960? The answer is surprisingly festive. The Fair Isle knit, a two-stranded knitting tradition originating off the coast

By Chris Dong, CNN (CNN) — The streets of Midtown Manhattan are a frenzied maze of hot dog vendors and taxi cabs; high-end boutiques and chintzy gift shops; out-of-towners and locals. Amid the hubbub is a three-story living wall of English ivy, a small slice of urban zen growing on the facade of a building.

By Veronica Lin, CNN (CNN) — A new selfie hotspot called “Kiss Bridge,” where couples can share a romantic moment against the Vietnamese sunset, was unveiled last week. The result of a collaboration of Italian architect Marco Casamonti and luxury tourism developer Sun Group, the bridge is located in Vietnam’s southern Phu Quoc Island, famous

By Suyin Haynes, CNN (CNN) — After spending several days with the Haenyeo, a group of women on South Korea’s Jeju Island renowned for harvesting seafood from the ocean floor without scuba gear, photographer Peter Ash Lee said one conversation — with one of the youngest of the island’s “freedivers” — stood out from the

By Thomas Page, CNN (CNN) — Sometimes a film location deserves to receive equal billing to its stars. With “Ferrari,” the latest movie by US director Michael Mann, Modena, Italy, makes a strong case for itself. Starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, Mann’s biopic takes on the turbulent life of Enzo Ferrari, founder of the

Reuters (CNN) — Visitors to Kenya from across the world will no longer require a visa from January, President William Ruto said on December 12. Ruto said his government had developed a digital platform to ensure all visitors would receive an electronic travel authorisation in advance, instead of needing to apply for a visa. “It shall no longer be necessary

By Lilit Marcus, CNN (CNN) — This year was all about making up for lost time. Following the pandemic, visitors flooded Europe’s biggest cities and America’s national parks as a form of “revenge travel,” going to – or returning to – some of the destinations that had been inaccessible during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the

CNN By Sarah Dewberry, CNN (CNN) — An unaccompanied 6-year-old child flying on Spirit Airlines to visit his grandmother in Fort Myers, Florida, was instead put on a flight to Orlando. In an emailed statement to CNN, Spirit Airlines apologized to the family, saying on December 21, the child was supposed to fly from Philadelphia

By Tim Curran, CNN (CNN) — When I sent DNA samples to genetic testing services searching for my birth family, I had no idea it would launch me on an adventure across three continents. In 1961, I was adopted at birth in California. Over the years, I’ve searched for my birth family on and off

By Alaa Elassar and Dave Alsup, CNN (CNN) — Blizzard warnings have been issued across the Central Plains, threatening Christmas Day travelers with delays and dangerous road conditions. More than 1.1 million people in parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming were under blizzard warnings on Monday afternoon. “Significant winter storm will ‘let

By Francesca Street, CNN (CNN) — Ruth Underwood woke up with a start, and realized – to her horror – that she’d fallen asleep on a stranger’s shoulder. It was the evening of Christmas Day, 1962. Ruth was traveling via Greyhound bus from her parents’ house in Olympia, Washington to her home in Seattle, Washington.

By Silvia Marchetti, CNN (CNN) — Imagine, if you will, the most glorious festive feast, with an oversize turkey, stuffing two ways, holiday ham, the requisite fixings and at least half a dozen pies and cakes. That may all sound grand — that is, until you consider the extravagant displays of the ancient Roman banquet.

By Sarah Dewberry, CNN (CNN) — An unaccompanied 6-year-old child flying on Spirit Airlines to visit his grandmother in Fort Myers, Florida, was instead put on a flight to Orlando. In an emailed statement to CNN, Spirit Airlines apologized to the family, saying on December 21, the child was supposed to fly from Philadelphia International

WINK, FAMILY PHOTOS, CELL PHONE VIDEO, CNN By Sarah Dewberry, CNN (CNN) — An unaccompanied 6-year-old child flying on Spirit Airlines to visit his grandmother in Fort Myers, Florida, was instead put on a flight to Orlando. In an emailed statement to CNN, Spirit Airlines apologized to the family, saying on December 21, the child

By Claudia Colliva, CNN Paris (CNN) — The spire of Notre Dame, crowned by a brand new golden rooster, regained its place in the Paris skyline last week. As tourists and Parisians gathered outside the UNESCO-listed cathedral to admire the return of one of its most emblematic features — for now, still encased in scaffolding

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — In travel news this week: Holiday journeys get underway despite extreme weather and strike action; a Croatian man has turned his home into a winter theme park; plus what it’s like to live on Christmas Island. Destination inspiration It’s Christmas every day on Christmas Island, the 52-square-mile jungle paradise

By Heather Chen and Yoonjung Seo, CNN Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — A barren tank with concrete walls and artificial rocks, housed on the lower floors of a South Korean mega mall, has been home to a female beluga whale for close to a decade. The whale was believed to be around two years old

By AJ Willingham, CNN (CNN) — Amazon’s “recommended” algorithm is a powerful and mysterious force. One moment, it’s showing you Korean face moisturizers and affordable home office decor, and the next, it coughs up a handsome gay merman Christmas tree ornament with a “Black Lives Matter” sign, and your life is changed forever. A single

By Forrest Brown, CNN (CNN) — It’s enough to give anyone already on edge about how to handle possible flight delays and cancellations yet another reason to pop an antacid or two: the prospect of delayed, lost or damaged baggage. The concern is valid, especially during rough winter weather and situations such as the grounding

By Amy Cassidy and Marnie Hunter, CNN (CNN) — A Norwegian cruise ship in the North Sea was disabled Thursday after it lost power. Denmark’s maritime authorities told CNN on Friday that the ship, MS Maud, lost its ability to navigate after strong winds smashed glass windows, allowing water to get in and causing a

By Marnie Hunter, CNN (CNN) — After a rainy cruise to the Bahamas, some Carnival Sunshine passengers returned to port in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday to a very unpleasant surprise: flooded cars. “It was left up to us to find out that our cars wouldn’t start and were totally destroyed,” said passenger Stephanie Royal,

By Francesca Street, CNN (CNN) — When Cathy Poyser heard the announcement that her flight was delayed, her heart sank. It was Christmas Eve, 1975. LAX Airport. Cathy, who’d moved to Los Angeles earlier that year, was desperate to get back to her hometown of Yakima, Washington. Cathy had left Washington for California filled with

By Jack Guy and Christy Choi, CNN London (CNN) — Two men were arrested in London this weekend, suspected of stealing a new Banksy art installation on the very same day that it was unveiled. The work, featuring three drones overlaid on a traffic sign in Peckham, South London, had been confirmed as a new

By Victoria Woodcock, CNN London, UK (CNN) — In central London, moments away from the crush of Christmas shoppers on a busy street, a portal to a mystical forest has appeared. It takes you into Pace Gallery and upon stepping inside, visitors are greeted by the sound of birdsong, and surrounded by a series of

By Oscar Holland, CNN (CNN) — Advances in laser scanning have transformed how museums research and conserve paintings by mapping the textures, colors and dimensions of their surfaces in minute detail. Now, an innovative Austrian printmaking company is using the technology — and the rich data it produces — to offer art enthusiasts the chance

By Farida Zeynalova, CNN (CNN) — For some, home is where the heart is. In Azerbaijan, however, the saying goes, “xalçam harada, yurdum orada,” meaning “wherever my carpet is, that’s where I live.” Azerbaijan’s love affair with carpets is an inextricable one — a much-revered art form that’s been woven into its cultural DNA since

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — It’s the peak of holiday travel season. You paid $189 for a yearly Clear membership to breeze through airport security and cut to the front of the TSA line. But the flyers who paid a fraction of the price for a TSA PreCheck membership ($78 for five

By Marianna Cerini, CNN (CNN) — Move over twinkling fir trees and wreaths, eggnog, stockings and the office secret Santa — there’s a new kid in town. Over the last decade the ugly Christmas sweater has firmly embedded itself in yuletide culture. You know the one. It’s a wooly pullover, usually in different shades of

By Lilit Marcus, CNN (CNN) — Singapore’s Changi is often lauded as the world’s best airport – and it’s also one of the busiest. Travel intelligence company OAG has released its annual listing of the world’s busiest international flight routes, and three of the top 10 involve going to Singapore: connecting with Bangkok (in eighth

By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN (CNN) — Nestled between the towering Japanese Alps and the meandering coastline of the Sea of Japan lies one of the country’s best-kept secrets: Hokuriku. Consisting of four prefectures – Toyama, Niigata, Ishikawa and Fukui – this region on Japan’s main Honshu island was a major hub during the Edo

CNN By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — One of the world’s most widely used cargo planes completed an entire flight with no one on board for the first time. Lasting approximately 12 minutes in total, the flight departed from Hollister Airport, in Northern California, and was operated by Reliable Robotics, which has been working since

By Forrest Brown, CNN (CNN) — Since the summer solstice back in June, the days have grown steadily shorter and the nights have grown steadily longer in the Northern Hemisphere. But that’s about to reverse itself. Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the official first day of winter, is on Saturday, December

CNN By Radhika Marya, CNN (CNN) — It was the summer of 1966. The Beatles were in the middle of a tour that had them play five shows in just three days at Japan’s famed Nippon Budokan arena — but when they weren’t performing, they were holed up in the presidential suite of the Tokyo

CNN, WMTW By Jennifer Henderson, Caroll Alvarado and Sarah Engel, CNN (CNN) — Passengers on the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia didn’t get the balmy getaway they were expecting. The ship, scheduled to sail to the Bahamas this week, instead headed to New England and Canada “due to unseasonable and rapidly worsening weather that would have

By Jennifer Henderson, Caroll Alvarado and Sarah Engel, CNN (CNN) — Passengers on the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia didn’t get the balmy getaway they were expecting. The ship, scheduled to sail to the Bahamas this week, instead headed to New England and Canada “due to unseasonable and rapidly worsening weather that would have made it

Reuters A sleeping cat hugs a fish in a picture seen from the air, picked out in sprouting rainbow seedlings in a rice field in Thailand to illustrate a traditional proverb about abundance. Farmer Tanyapong Jaikham and a team of workers planted the seedlings at various spots in the field in the northern province of Chiang Rai to depict cartoon cats, hoping