Interest in America’s national parks shows no signs of slowing down. In 2025, the National Park Service recorded 323 million visits, with 26 parks setting all-time visitation records. The popularity of these incredible natural wonders has led some parks to impose restrictions during peak times to keep crowds manageable and preserve these delicate ecosystems. Interestingly, however, the National Park Service announced that one perennially popular park will no longer require reservations in 2026. Here are all the details. 

Reservations No Longer Required at Yosemite

Established in 1890, Yosemite National Park in California is the country’s third-oldest national park. The park welcomed 4.76 million visitors in 2025, which ranks fifth among all the parks in the system. (Great Smoky Mountains is No. 1, followed by Zion, Yellowstone, and Grand Canyon national parks.)

Over the years, Yosemite has faced growing concerns with crowding, traffic congestion, and limited parking. In 2022, park officials added a number of closures due to infrastructure upgrades and introduced a timed-entry reservation system during peak season. Each day from late May through September, visitors were required to make a reservation to enter or drive through the park from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The reservation system was abandoned in 2023, but the traffic jams and parking problems returned, so officials once again implemented timed-entry reservations during the peak summer period in 2024 and 2025, along with select weekends and holidays in spring and fall.  

However, in February of this year, the National Park Service announced that it will not require vehicle reservations in 2026, noting that “the decision follows a comprehensive evaluation of traffic patterns, parking availability, and visitor use during the 2025 season.”

The statement continued, “Park analysis found that most weekdays maintained available parking, stable traffic flow and visitation levels within the park’s operational capacity. These findings indicate that a season-wide reservation requirement is not the most effective approach for 2026.” 

To help manage crowds, the park will provide real-time traffic monitoring on its website and employ more staff at key intersections and during peak traffic periods to manage parking lots. The park service is also encouraging travelers to visit on weekdays when congestion is less of a concern, and to explore surrounding attractions just outside of Yosemite Valley, such as Tuolumne Meadows and the glacier-carved Hetch Hetchy Valley.

Yosemite National Park Highlights

There’s a reason Yosemite is so popular: The 1,200-square-mile preserve is filled with stunning waterfalls, sprawling meadows, ancient giant sequoias, and world-famous rock formations like Half Dome. (If you’re adventurous enough to tackle the cables to climb the final 400 feet to the summit of Half Dome, you’ll need to enter a lottery to do so — only 225 people per day are granted access.) 

A popular way to see the park is by driving Tioga Road, one of our favorite national park road trips. Open during the summer months, the 46-mile drive winds from the Crane Flat campground to Tioga Pass, the 9,943-foot highway pass through the Sierra Nevada mountains — the highest pass in California. 

Many visitors come for the waterfalls in particular, including Bridalveil, Vernal, Sentinel Falls, and the park’s namesake Yosemite Falls. The latter drops 2,425 feet as one of the tallest waterfalls in the country; during peak snowmelt in spring, up to 2,400 gallons of water gush over the upper edge of the falls every second. 

Another Yosemite highlight is the Mariposa Grove, home to over 500 mature giant sequoias, including the famous Grizzly Giant. Estimated to be about 3,000 years old, it’s the park’s second-oldest tree, and it towers over 200 feet tall, with branches that reach a diameter of 6 feet. 

Other National Parks Still Requiring Reservations 

Along with Yosemite, two other popular parks will not be requiring park-wide vehicle reservations in 2026: Arches National Park in Utah and Glacier National Park in Montana.

However, Rocky Mountain National Park will continue its timed-entry reservation requirement for peak season, running from late May through mid-October.

There are also a number of specific attractions within national parks that travelers will continue to be required to book in advance. For instance, you’ll need to obtain a permit if you wish to tackle Zion National Park’s famed Angels Landing hiking trail, and reservations are required to drive Acadia National Park’s Cadillac Summit Road, the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. 

When settling into your hotel room, you might put certain valuables in the safe for added security. But tucking your passport and laptop out of sight comes with its own set of risks — namely, that you could forget about them when packing up at the end of your trip. Even worse, you may not realize it until hours later, when you’re already at the airport. Fortunately, this dreaded scenario is easily avoidable if you take one simple precaution. Here’s a foolproof solution to avoid ever leaving your valuables behind in the hotel safe.

If the Shoe Fits…

The surest way to avoid forgetting items in the hotel safe is as simple as using a pair of shoes. Unless you have a specific reason for traveling with just a single shoe, odds are you’ll have a set of two either on your feet or in your luggage. By placing one shoe inside the safe, you’re creating a visual reminder to find the other shoe when it’s time to pack up at the end of your stay. You can’t leave without packing (or wearing) both shoes, so you’ll be looking for the other shoe inside the safe — alongside all of your precious valuables that you wouldn’t want to leave behind.

If you’d rather not use shoes, or you only brought one pair on your trip, this trick works well with anything that comes in pairs — such as earbud-style headphones, socks, gloves, or earrings. The missing part of the pair should be the reminder you need to check inside the safe before leaving. Another option is to stuff something essential inside the safe that you’d never leave the room without. For instance, you could use prescription eyeglasses or a puffy jacket if you’re visiting a cold-weather destination. 

How To Recover Forgotten Items

If you end up forgetting something inside the hotel safe and are too far away to turn around, don’t assume the items are gone forever. The first thing you should do is call the hotel and speak with someone as soon as possible. (A phone call is better than an email, as emails may not get read as promptly.) Provide as many details as you can, such as the dates of your stay, your room number, and a description of any lost objects. It’s likely the staff will then contact the security and housekeeping teams in an effort to track down your lost items.

If they find your forgotten items, the next question is: How do you get those items back? If it’s something like a passport, you may have no choice but to turn around and go back to the hotel before catching a later flight. But if it’s your laptop, jewelry, or other objects that are less essential to boarding a plane back home, there are a few convenient solutions.

If you’re willing to pay for shipping, some hotels may agree to ship the items back to you through the mail. But if the hotel is unwilling to ship the item back for some reason, try contacting a third-party service such as Deliverback or ileftmystuff. These companies will send someone to the hotel to retrieve your belongings before shipping them back to you for a fee. If you choose to go this route, make sure you coordinate with the hotel beforehand, and let them know that someone is coming by to grab your forgotten items.

Other Helpful Tips

In addition to hotel safes, it’s a good idea to be extra cautious about leaving items in closets, drawers, hanging on the back of the bathroom, or tucked beside the hotel bed. Put visual reminders around the hotel room so you remember your valuables before checking out. For instance, if you’re storing clothes in the closet, either leave the door ajar so that you can see inside, or tie something like a tie or belt around the knob so you remember to check.

Phone and computer chargers are also often left behind, especially if the outlet is tucked out of sight behind the bed or dresser. A good way to avoid this problem is by writing a reminder on the notepad provided in most hotel rooms. Then, place the note either on your bedside table or above where the outlet is located. That way, you’ll see the note while packing up, and you’ll be reminded to snag your charger before departing.

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More than 2 million people pass through TSA checkpoints every day. While most travelers are content to bring basic items like toiletries, headphones, and a neck pillow with them, others are compelled to bend the rules for reasons that make sense only to them. Here are some of the strangest things the Transportation Security Administration has had to confiscate at the airport.

A Live Turtle

Turtles do well in water, but on airplanes? Not so much. That made last year’s discovery of a live red-eared slider at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey especially notable, not least because the pet was stuffed in its owner’s pants. The turtle was fine, but as you’d probably guess, the man didn’t make his flight.

“We have seen travelers try to conceal knives and other weapons on their person, in their shoes, and in their luggage,” Thomas Carter, the federal security director for the TSA in New Jersey, said in a press release. “However, I believe this is the first time we have come across someone who was concealing a live animal down the front of his pants. As best as we could tell, the turtle was not harmed by the man’s actions.” All’s well that ends well.

A Freddy Krueger Glove

One, two, Freddy’s coming for you — but even he can’t make it past security with his bladed glove. “It’s safe to sleep on Elm Street again. Freddy lost his glove at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport,” TSA wrote on Instagram of the 2018 incident. Perhaps the passenger who attempted to carry the device was angry that there hasn’t been a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie in so long and wanted to make one of their own.

A Firearm Inside a Raw Chicken

In a pun-filled Instagram post, the TSA announced it had found a firearm concealed in the unlikeliest of places: a raw chicken. “We hate to beak it to you here, but stuffing a firearm in your holiday bird for travel is just a baste of time,” the agency wrote ahead of Thanksgiving 2022. “This idea wasn’t even half-baked; it was raw, greasy, and obviously unsupervised.” Suffice to say that neither the fowl nor the firearm made it past security at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

A Chainsaw

One fateful day in 2014, a traveler failed to heed the advice of the popular local blog Keep Albany Boring when they attempted to bring a chainsaw through security at Albany International Airport. Making the move especially ill-advised was the fact that the tool would have been allowed in a checked bag as long as there had been no trace of fuel or fumes, but the traveler apparently didn’t want to go that route.

Ninja Stars

You may think ninja stars are cool, but most of us have enough common sense not to pack shuriken (the traditional Japanese hand-hidden blade) in our carry-ons. The exception that proves the rule took place in Newark. TSA officer Gabrielle Connor-Findley described the incident to the New York Post as “just not something that you see. You’re going to take a double, triple look. You’re like, ‘Is this what I think it is?’”

Rocket Grenades

If you simply must purchase 14 inert rocket grenades, please don’t bring them to the airport. Those words of wisdom went unheeded by a would-be flyer who brought his RPGs to Spokane International Airport in August 2025, at which point they were swiftly confiscated. There was no real danger, as they weren’t live rounds, but it’s still difficult to imagine how anyone thought this was a sensible carry-on item.

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As passengers continue to take to the skies in record numbers, airlines and airports around the world are racing to serve them. Today it’s possible to fly from the U.S. to Greenland, which recently debuted a brand-new international airport, or from New York all the way to Singapore nonstop (a 19-hour journey and the world’s longest flight). Indeed, the busiest global travel hubs are more connected than ever before, spoiling travelers with choice when it comes to nonstop flights. If you’re curious about which airports offer the most options, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 best-connected airports, according to the latest available 2024 data from aviation analytics company Cirium. Check out the results below. 

10. Rome Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) – Italy

Number of nonstop destinations: 234

Rome is one of the most popular European destinations for U.S. travelers, who have no shortage of options to reach the Eternal City nonstop. American flies there from its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia. Delta offers flights from Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, and Seattle. United serves Rome from Chicago, Denver, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The airline with the most flights from Rome, however, is hometown carrier ITA Airways, with low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizzair not far behind. 

9. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) – Georgia

Number of nonstop destinations: 237

Atlanta is home to the world’s busiest airport, the only one globally to serve over 100 million passengers per year. Of the airport’s 200-plus nonstop routes, Delta serves the majority of them, as Atlanta is the airline’s primary hub and headquarters. In 2026, the carrier announced new service (starting in October) to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, complementing other recently introduced routes like Marrakesch, Morocco, and Naples, Italy. 

8. Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) – China

Number of nonstop destinations: 243

Shanghai Pudong is China’s most connected airport, and it’s a hub for all of the country’s “big three” carriers: Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern. The airport ranks as the 10th-busiest worldwide. In 2025, China Eastern launched the world’s longest direct (as opposed to nonstop) flight from Shanghai to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a refueling stop in Auckland, New Zealand. The total journey takes a whopping 29 hours. 

7. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) 

Number of nonstop destinations: 261

Dallas may rank second to Atlanta when it comes to the busiest airports in the U.S., but the Texas megahub has the edge in total number of nonstop destinations. As the biggest hub for American Airlines, Dallas offers more than 260 nonstop routes, including new flights to Athens, Greece, and Zurich, Switzerland, in summer 2026. 

6. Dubai International Airport (DXB) – UAE

Number of nonstop destinations: 269

Demand from Dubai shows no signs of slowing down. Serving as the home base for Emirates, Dubai International Airport is currently the world’s second-busiest airport, but by the 2030s it will be replaced by the brand-new Al Maktoum Airport. Built at a cost of $35 billion, Al Maktoum Airport will be able to handle 260 million annual passengers and will rank among the largest in the world.

4. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) – Illinois (tie)

Number of nonstop destinations: 270

O’Hare is America’s most connected hub, offering Chicagoans and the millions of passengers who connect there service to 270 destinations. The list of destinations is diverse: One can fly from O’Hare on short hops to dozens of small Midwestern cities (like Erie, Pennsylvania, and Evansville, Indiana), or on 12-plus-hour journeys to places like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Delhi, India; Istanbul, Turkey; and Hong Kong. O’Hare is a hub for both American and United Airlines, who are competing fiercely for market share with expanded flight options in 2026. 

4. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) – The Netherlands (tie)

Number of nonstop destinations: 270

Amsterdam Schiphol made our list of the best airports for planespotting, thanks to the astounding variety of aircraft you can find there — many of them operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the airport’s hometown carrier. The airport is especially appealing for U.S. travelers looking to visit lesser-known European cities, as it provides connecting flights to places including Oviedo and Santiago de Compostela in Spain (both new routes in 2026). 

3. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) – France

Number of nonstop destinations: 282

At No. 3 on the list of airports you can fly to the most places nonstop is Paris Charles de Gaulle. It offers flights to all six inhabited continents, including a nonstop option to Perth, Australia, on Qantas — one of the world’s longest flights. The airport is the primary hub for Air France, which announced a new route to Las Vegas in 2026, one of 19 U.S. cities the airline serves nonstop from Paris. 

2. Frankfurt Airport (FRA) – Germany

Number of nonstop destinations: 296

Passengers can fly to nearly 300 cities nonstop from Frankfurt Airport, the biggest hub for German flag carrier Lufthansa, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2026. In 2026, the airline is launching flights to Malaysia for the first time, with service to Kuala Lumpur commencing in October. Like Air France, Lufthansa serves 19 cities in the U.S., including several with limited transatlantic flight options, such as Raleigh/Durham and St. Louis. 

1. Istanbul Airport (IST) – Türkiye

Number of nonstop destinations: 309

The world’s most connected airport is Istanbul Airport, even more impressive when you consider that it opened just eight years ago in 2018, replacing the capacity-constrained Atatürk Airport. Istanbul Airport is home base for Turkish Airlines, which is also the airline that serves the most destinations worldwide. This major hub is located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, offering convenient connections to more than 120 countries. 

Studies have shown that more than half of all communication is nonverbal, but even with body language, it’s easy for things to get lost in translation. In particular, eye contact etiquette varies across the world, with different cultures thinking of it in completely opposite ways as a result of centuries of tradition. Discover some of the countries where it’s rude to make eye contact, as well as other body-language faux pas to avoid when traveling abroad.

Japan, China, and South Korea

Japanese etiquette is considerably different from its Western counterparts, and that includes eye contact. Anything beyond two to three seconds is likely to make people uncomfortable, as it comes across as being overly direct — and, depending on your conversation partner, even aggressive. Japanese people more often look slightly past one another or glance away after making initial eye contact.

In a study published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, a group of Japanese, Canadian, and Trinidadian participants’ “eye gaze displays” were recorded as they answered a series of questions — some of which they knew the answers to and some of which they didn’t. Trinidadians maintained the most eye contact while answering, whereas Japanese participants made the least eye contact. When contemplating their answers, Canadians and Trinidadians tended to look up, while Japanese participants looked down.

Eye contact is thought of similarly in China and South Korea for largely the same reasons. Chinese people “do not ‘open their face’ to everyone, and they control their emotions,” according to the 2007 guide 101 Stories for Foreigners To Understand Chinese People by Yi S. Ellis and Bryan D. Ellis. “Thus, lack of eye contact does not say anything about their honesty or focus.” Indirect eye contact is likewise preferred in South Korea, though the younger generations tend to be more comfortable with it than their elders.

Saudi Arabia and Iran

In Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, eye contact is context- and gender-specific. It’s usually discouraged between men and women in public spaces due to cultural and religious norms. Eye contact implies familiarity, even intimacy, and is thus considered inappropriate between members of the opposite sex who aren’t already acquainted with one another.

Nigeria

More than half of Nigeria’s population of 237 million is Muslim, and they treat eye contact similarly to other countries with a strong Islamic heritage. It’s common between members of the same sex and social status, but Muslim women usually won’t make direct eye contact with men. It’s also considered rude to do so with one’s superiors, whether in the workplace or elsewhere, and a special level of deference is reserved for one’s elders.

Russia, Indonesia, and Turkey

Eye contact isn’t the only form of nonverbal communication, of course — body language plays a significant role as well. The next time you find yourself trying to amuse a small child in Russia, Indonesia, or Turkey, don’t pretend to take their nose. The “fig” gesture — making a fist with your thumb wedged between your index and middle fingers — is considered obscene in these countries, and in Turkey it could even mean you want to fight.

Brazil, France, and Germany

In countries including Brazil, Germany, and France (where it means “zero” or “worthless”), the “OK” sign is considered rude. It’s the equivalent of giving someone the middle finger in America. Richard Nixon learned this the hard way when he visited Brazil in the 1950s, as the then-vice president flashed the symbol after his plane landed in Rio de Janeiro and accidentally offended everyone who was there to greet him.

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Flights can eat up a sizable portion of your vacation budget, so it makes sense that travelers are always looking to save money on airfare. Enter: mistake fares. They’re tricky (but not impossible) to find, and they could save you hundreds of dollars on airfare — like flying from Chicago to Dublin for $135 round-trip. (Yep, you read that right.) Here’s a look at why mistake fares happen and where to find them, along with tips and advice from travel experts on what you need to know before booking one.

What Are Mistake Fares?

Mistake fares, also known as error fares, crop up when an airline (or third-party agency) unintentionally publishes a fare for a significantly cheaper price than is normal for the route, even compared to promotions and seasonal deals. Mistake fares may be offered as return or one-way tickets, and they usually have restricted availability as far as dates are concerned. However, if you’re lucky enough to find a great fit for your trip plans, these types of fares can save you a lot of money. 

Why Do Mistake Fares Happen?

Airlines use dynamic pricing, offering lower fares to fill seats or raising ticket prices when demand is strong. Pricing changes often, and sometimes, there’s a glitch in the process. Airline employees may make a mistake when entering data, or taxes and fees may be omitted from the advertised fare. Other times, currency conversions can go wrong — right number, wrong currency — meaning a fare is significantly lower than normal. Additionally, you might find that a certain class of fare is available more cheaply than it should be: a business-class ticket for the price of a seat in economy, for instance. 

Where Can You Find Out About Mistake Fares?

Mistake fares will be visible on airline or online travel agency websites, but you’d need to be extremely lucky to happen upon one by chance. Though in some cases a mistake fare will be obvious, it can help to know what the fare would usually be (using a tool such as Google Flights), so that you know you’ve stumbled upon a great deal. 

Dedicated frequent flyer forums (like Flyertalk) are a good place to find and share information, but it’s generally easier to let someone else do the detective work for you. The good news is that there are many such platforms, including Jack’s Flight Club, Secret Flying, Going, and Thrifty Traveler. While some of their content is available free of charge, subscribers typically get the first look at the best deals, so it can be beneficial to sign up for a subscription if you travel frequently. 

For example, Thrifty Traveler Premium costs $99 per year, while Going’s Premium package will set you back $49 annually. In 2024, Thrifty Traveler sent out the alert about the aforementioned $135 fare to Dublin, while in 2025 Going sent out a variety of mistake fare alerts, including New York to Singapore for $171 one-way and Dallas, Miami, or Philadelphia to Europe starting at $868 for a return trip in business class.

You can also choose to receive personalized alerts by text, email or WhatsApp. Such real-time notifications are helpful, as once mistake fares are identified by an airline, they’re usually promptly removed. Alerts are often short-lived, sometimes available for a few hours or even minutes before the error is spotted and the deal expires. Moral of the story: You’ll need to act decisively if you want to benefit from mistake fares.

What’s the Catch?

According to travel experts, overall, mistake fares are still quite rare. They may appear once every few weeks, and like we said, they tend to disappear quickly. The biggest catch is that mistake fares aren’t always honored by the airline. Not all tickets are canceled, though — some airlines believe that taking the financial hit for what amounts to a relatively small loss in potential revenue is worth it to avoid the negative PR. Fare experts claim that anywhere from 70% to about 90% of mistake fares are honored.

What Else To Know Before Committing

One of the top tips from the experts at the fare deal sites is to book directly with the airline and to use your credit card for the purchase protection it offers. It’s also prudent not to make nonrefundable arrangements for other aspects of your trip, such as hotels, until you’re absolutely sure your booking won’t be canceled by the airline.  

It pays to be flexible, too, not only with dates but also routes. For instance, if it’s an amazing deal, you might choose to book a separate positioning flight beyond your local area to get you to a different airport where the mistake fare originates. However, if your mistake fare is canceled, you won’t be able to get your money back for that leg, so you’d need to keep your options open and preferably book a flexible ticket.

Of course, all this might be too much of a gamble for some travelers, but if you’re lucky enough to find a mistake fare — and it’s honored — odds are you’ll be the happiest passenger on the plane.

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