Travelers Ideas, Tips & Guides

Header image: Window View of Astronaut Holding DoubleTree Cookie. Image credit: Hilton

Header image: ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet playing with an arrival of French delicacy macaroons on the International Space Station during his six-month Proxima mission in 2017. Image credit: ESA/NASA

If you have the good fortune to travel to other countries and see how other parts of the world garden, you know that it can be inspiring. I usually return from travel wanting to incorporate what I have seen into my own garden. Often, foreign travel takes us to climates vastly different than what we experience in the Southeastern United States. Our unique combination of hot humid summers and wet winters makes this a singular place to garden. One of the best parts of gardening is experimentation. I have both succeeded and failed in many garden endeavors. This often happens when I try and replicate something I have seen during foreign travel that cannot be done in my climate successfully. Here I’ve compiled a few memorable lessons and ideas I’ve gained after visiting more than 20 countries on a quest to see the best gardens on the globe.

The quest for a perfectly organized home can feel never-ending. Could there ever be enough bins, shelves, and organizers of all kinds to contain your everyday items? The answer: yes. You don’t need to waste money on boring storage products though. We’ve scoured our favorite retailers for storage solutions that marry functionality with flair, as well as organization with personality. They’re all under $50 too.  Scroll on for our 12 favorite sneakily-chic storage solutions. 

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Cottagecore took hold of the internet for its dreamy, farm-life aesthetic. Romanticized images of frolicking through gardens, growing veggies at home, and baking pies from freshly foraged berries proliferated social media feeds. However, there are some people who go beyond the aesthetic and actually live the lore. Enter: urban homesteading.

Purchasing a bed, dresser, and some nightstands will definitely get the ball rolling when it comes to designing a sleep space, but you're not fully done with this room until you incorporate some accent pieces, too.

Happy Friday, GPODers!

Happy Friday, GPODers!

Hey GPODers!

Hi GPODers!

Instead of filling your medicine cabinet to the brim, think about the types of bathroom items that you can house under the sink instead to save some space. While not everything belongs under the sink, there are many products that you can safely store there, experts say.

When tackling a major organization project like a bedroom clean out, it can be tempting to immediately part ways with anything that you don't anticipate you'll use again. You may feel compelled to do so to free up space as you continue to sort and feel as though you're making some tangible progress in the space.

I've lived in my rental apartment for three years, and a few months ago, I finally received my landlord's permission to decorate.

“Connecting with nature.” “Trying something different.” “An appreciation of history.” Ask a new generation of gardeners just why they want to embark on a course in horticulture at a country house estate and those are the kinds of answers they will give you.

Here’s a list of some gorgeous feminine flowers that symbolize the beauty of a woman, making them a perfect gift for them!

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

1. The Promoter is Immediate Media Company London Limited (company number 06189487), Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT (“Immediate”). The competition is sponsored by Weetabix Limited (company number 00267687) (t/a “Alpen”).

Gardens of the Year 2024, sponsored by Alpen, is now open for entries and we want to see beautiful readers’ gardens of all styles and sizes. If you’d love to see your garden featured in BBC Gardeners’ World magazine and be in with a chance of winning a fantastic holiday prize, enter our exciting competition now. We’re looking for gardens from all over the UK – no plot is too big or too small. Previous finalists have included flower-filled allotments, tiny urban balconies and sprawling country gardens.

Ziploc bags are household necessity, serving kitchens for years to help with food storage. And it makes sense why they're so beloved—they’re easy to store, you can reuse them, you can buy a ton of them at once, and you can use them for everything, from storing soups in the freezer to packing carrots into a kids’ lunch box and creating a DIY piping bag.

Join David Hurrion on a 12-night cruise from Portugal to France, discovering enchanting gardens along the way, like the forest garden of Fonte Baxa and the gardens of Pays d’Auge.

Nicholas Sampogna

In the depths of winter the focus on what happens under our feet is generally centered around staying safe and minimizing slips, trips, and falls on steps or walkways covered in snow or ice. But while safety is a worthwhile concern, gardeners must also consider the detrimental long-term effects on soil health that can be caused by products commonly used to remediate dangerous winter conditions.

I had a little holiday recently. I was hoping to keep you posted on where we were during my week away, but the wifi on the canal boat was a little hit and miss….well more miss than hit. Sometimes it’s great that way because you can really get away from it all.

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Trader Joe's

Taking time back is not just challenging but almost impossible. However, you might have notices time pieces going in the opposite direction! Here’s – What does it mean when a clock goes backward!

Edible gardener Mark Diacono: These animals are impossibly cute so to get rid of moles is even more of an unsavoury undertaking than it might be. In any event, trying to get rid of moles may prove a futile, as well as an unpleasant exercise because they travel about using a network of semi-permanent tunnels deep underground. They dig shallower channels nearer to the surface when they search for food.

Bathroom storage is a problem that many people encounter at one time or another. Whether you are dealing with a small space, an awkward layout, or an old house that doesn’t have built-in closets and storage solutions, finding the space to store all your bathroom essentials in a functional and stylish way is an ongoing challenge. We asked two interior designers to share their top tips for storing bathroom essentials, and they had some valuable insight to share. 

Planting an olive tree goes beyond the act of nurturing a green companion in your garden. For many, it holds profound spiritual significance that travels beyond cultures and traditions. In this article, you’ll explore the spiritual meaning of an olive tree.

If you've ever wondered how professional interior designers tackle rental homes—whether designing their own space or working on a client project—we're here to provide you with the inside scoop.

Whether you’re preparing a charcuterie board soon or just like to have a few blocks around for snacking, chances are you’ve got cheese in your fridge. And if you’re a seasoned cheese lover like we are, you’ve probably run into some mold—it’s nearly inevitable when it comes to dairy.

Hog peanut and poison ivy are two common plants across the United States, each with distinctly different characteristics and impacts on the local ecosystem.

Alice Gorman, Flinders University

Pembrokeshire has more than 180 miles of vast, unspoiled coastline, where beaches embrace rugged cliffs, largely untouched by modern life. This region beckons families and solo travellers alike, offering a tranquil getaway.

It won’t be a surprise if I say the many garden visits were the highlight of my trip last April to the Côte d’Azur. All were enjoyable and fascinating, but one stood out for me. In Le Jardin Serre de la Madone, Menton, I discovered a terraced garden carved into old farming land by Lawrence Johnston in the 1920s. Already the heir to Hidcote Manor in the Cotswolds, shortly before commencing his masterpiece Johnston had been so seriously injured in WW1 he’d been left for dead.