Summer Bucket List Ideas 2026

Putting together a CT summer bucket list and since I always get great feedback from this sub, thought I’d post a draft and see what’s missing/what needs to be changed. Working on a post that links to thousands of activities statewide, and trying super hard to get a balance of free and paid activities so everyone can participate. submitted by /u/KidtivitiesinCT to r/Connecticut [link] [comments]

4) What inspired you to become a clown? Honestly, I was always a clown. The makeup just allows me to be myself. To elaborate on that, let me add that the red nose runs in the family. My mom’s a clown as well. Her name’s “Ting.” Point of fact, she was a clown long before me. She was a volunteer coordinator for Suncoast Hospice and a proud leading member of the “Smile Team.” (She started clowning in 2000 and started teaching it in 2008.) The Smile Team were the caring clowns that Hospice sent out all over for all sorts of functions. They did rounds at assisted living facilities (ALFs), memory centers, Hospice Houses, and private home visits. They also went to conferences, seminars, and special events (such as the St. Pete AIDS Walk and the MDA Summer Camp), and whatever else they could think of where a clown might be needed. (Sadly, I never went to a job interview in clown. That’s still on my bucket list.) Twang and I started clown college in January of 2010 after moving back to Florida the year prior. We were staying with Twang’s parents back then, and they helped talk us into doing this. (Twang’s mom even helped pick out the material for her outfit. Ting sewed it all together.) Sadly, Twang’s mom suddenly passed while we were in clown college. Twang and I decided it would be best to continue with our classes to honor her mom’s memory. She would have loved our graduation show! We pulled her dad up to be a “volunteer” in our magic act as one of the three I took from the audience. (I started it out like a game show with that bit, giving all the “contestants” goofy names like “Bobby Sox” and “Harry Bottoms” rather than asking them who they were. Her mom loved the goofy names I came up with for my novel, “The Strange Case of Lester Mohr - or - Six and a Half Ways to Spend a Wooden Nickel,” so I did that for her.) After we graduated, Twang and I became quite active with volunteering. In fact, we both came in as guest speakers a few times for the clown college and shared our experiences, and helped the students with makeup and outfit ideas. I even became a mentor, or a “Pal Joey,” for the wonderful and loving clown, “Y Knot." 5) Are you still clowning? Funny I should ask. I just got back into it. See? 13 years ago, Twang and I moved back to Colorado. (We’re originally from Florida. Confused yet?) We were hoping to join an Alley up here, but that just wasn’t in our cards. Although there are some small Alleys here for hospital clowns, there wasn’t anything Hospice-related. I did ask around about clowning for retirement centers, ALFs, and wherever else I thought might need a clown. They were more than willing to have us come in and even offered us money for doing it if we could get vetted (they’re federally funded). That was something I always kept in mind while we were trying to move out of a motel and into anything that wasn’t one. Sadly, that took about 5 years… and, by that time, Twang had a great job with the USPS and I was working the overnight shift at a convenient store, which left us no time to do it. Then, 2019 came – the worst year of my life. After work (Halloween morning), I slipped on a patch of ice and broke a shoulder blade. At the hospital, they did a CT scan on it and found a large mass in my lung. That turned out to be a tumor, and after a biopsy and a 2 month wait, I learned that I had Stage 4 non-small cell metastatic lung cancer. What a lucky break, right? Had I not slipped on that ice, I would've never known I was that close to dying. Sure, what followed afterward was a few years of pure hell. Chemo is no fun! Especially when you get it every 3 weeks! Thankfully, I was only going through that for 5 months before my oncologist took me off of it. But, those 5 months took about 3 or 4 years to recover from. (I’m still on immunotherapy, which I started the same time I started the chemo. I’ll be on that for the rest of my days.) I became remission responsive about 11 months after starting treatment – to just about everyone’s amazement, including my oncologist. (My primary doctor later told me that she had truly believed that I would pass before May 2020.) But, I was determined not to die. I told everyone that I’d kick cancer’s ass or die trying. And, here it is… 2026. And, now, it’s time to put all this time I have on my hands to some good use. I have already lined up a private visit. I have found that I’m a bit rusty, so I’ve dragged out the makeup and started practicing my face again – working on a new look, even. I’ve also started working on a new act. And, thankfully, I still have treatment to go to (every 6 weeks now), indefinitely. That’s a great place to practice my illusions and help others who are going through this battle as well. 6) Do you have any interests outside of clowning? Well, I have written two novels so far (with several more in the works).Aside from that, my background’s in graphic arts, and I’m also a photographer. In fact, the grand majority of the photos I’ve posted, I took. Some of those photos have even been published in a couple of clown magazines. These days, however, I spend most of my creative time painting rocks and “hiding” them just about everywhere for people to find. (This is something I have linked to Facebook. Check out the group “Lil_Stoners” for more information if you’re on there.) (Photo: Y Knot and Mojo) submitted by /u/MihkaelFournier to r/artofclowning [link] [comments]

So, the actual Draft order was recently set, and people are getting more interested in mocking which player is going where. About half of all mocks I've seen have had Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg going to the Thunder in some way. I think this is partly due to him having some classic OKC-pick ingredients: he's positionally versatile, he's a DPS guy, and he's got a jumbo wingspan. I'm gonna try to present a case for big Yax less based on current fit, talent or projection, instead just on looking at what players our FO has drafted or looked at before. On the other hand, Sam and Mark always say we draft “people not players” and Yaxel has some intel about him where he's not always been super mature or been the most hard worker. Due to this, it's not the jigsaw-fit that you might expect to draft the guy. In addition, Presti really hasn't got a history of drafting older players in the lottery, and Yaxel turns 24 before the start of the next NBA season. So I'm gonna try to show that someone like Yaxel (or his archetype) is clearly someone that OKC wants. My theory is that recently Presti has been looking for strong rebounding wings with both offensive AND defensive playmaking The DJ-BB Case Dillon Jones and Brooks Barnhizer were both essentially the offensive engines of their teams, ball handlers, made a lot of passes, while scoring. Both also were, in spite of height and usage, high level college rebounders. DJ’s last season: 9.8 Reb, 5Ast/3Tov, 2Stl BB’s last season: 8.8 Reb, 4.2Ast/2.8Tov, 2.3Stl Also worth noting that these seasons weren't outliers for these dudes; they had similar results in earlier years. Off the top of my head, the guys I guess match this kind of player type are Lendeborg, Joshua Jefferson from Iowa St., and the obvious Cam Boozer. My Audition for Spreadsheet FC https://preview.redd.it/kuvjqbfrla1h1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4043784c8888c6ace1b8657fd71569a930210233 I'd never really used it before, but I put together a Bart Torvik (advanced college ball stats site) query based upon usage, Ast/Tov, OREB% & DREB% Block% Steal%. To make sure it didn't just spit out a lot of ball dominant min major big men, I had it filter out under 30%3pt and 70%FT guys. Plus, tried to eliminate unathletic/small guys by having a Dunks requirement. Here you can go into the results yourself Discounting Cam Boozer, since he's out of our price range. Discounting any players not declared for the draft (though Folgueiras and Rivera-Torres are guys to watch ‘27). Immediately discounting the bottom two guys for having negative DBPM and playing in the SWAC, a very weak conference. This leaves 6 guys I took a more detailed look at. Obviously I fiddled around with the query before picking the final version, so I have Honorable Mentions (just missed out by a little in 1 area). 1. Isaac Celiscar, strong undersized F out of Yale going to Baylor next year. 2. Mike Sharavjamts, skilled South Carolina SF with some size and athleticism. Players of Interest 1st round group: Lendeborg, Jefferson, Graves, Allen Other guys: Natt, Borovicanin Yaxel Lendeborg - Best in the group for: BPM, block rate, wingspan, height, AST/TO, scoring efficiency, FT%. To defend his relatively low rebounding numbers, Yaxel was part of a front court that had 2 other dudes (Morez Johnson and Aday Mara) that will be drafted 1st round this year. There's only so many rebounds to go around. Last season's DREB% and total rebounds would be best in group. Because of his way higher usage at UAB, his box score stat line PRA+Steals looked a whole lot like Brooks + Dillon in their 4th years. Played most similarly to Brooks at Northwestern (though obv at a higher level) where he's the secondary ball handler on the team, often looking like a PG, making passes from the perimeter, drives and post ups. All while being willing to crash the boards, pick up a guy full court and swat shots at the rim. The feel indicators are huge for this guy: he's in the 100th %ile for AST/TO, while averaging 3.1 APG. Was a 52/37/82 scorer. Joshua Jefferson - Highest volume assister of the group and best DREB%. Made constant impacts on play, highest Usage, but didn't need to dribble the air out of the ball to be effective. 100th percentile in college for getting teammates assists at the rim. He can screen, DHO, run PnR on both sides and make fast connective reads. Got to the rim a lot, highest FT rate of group. Still ok efficiency as a scorer, but worst TS% of group, his EFG, TS% and 2pt scoring all got worse since his Junior year, where he was super effective scoring at the rim. He's a very streaky shooter, first half of season near 40% from 3 but dropped off to 34.5% overall. Defensively he's very interesting. Specialist post and off ball defender. He's unathletic with slow feet, but he gets to the right position a lot, and is very effective when 1-on-1 defending the other team’s best forward. Lots of steals throughout whole college career. Clear physical questions, he's very strong but not bursty and only average wingspan to make up for it. Still he's 6’9” with 6’11” WS, he's PF-sized. Allen Graves - Graves gets a rep for being a nerd’s favorite draft prospect and it’s not hard to see why. He doesn’t turn the ball over, he’s a super efficient scorer. He stacks both steals and blocks plus he's a great rebounder. Best OREB% of the group. Positives first: his BBIQ is clearly very high, he's able to get himself constantly in the right position to get a rebound, to intercept passing lanes, to show and interrupt a drive. Good stuff. Also he's got excellent hands, never fumbles, constantly gets out of position blocks and steals. Best in group for both Stock rates. All this said, there's something in the tape that makes you hesitate. Firstly in that he's a subpar athlete, genuinely a weakness in PoA defense and often he falls behind a faster attacker, resulting in a bucket or a foul. The shooting numbers could also be questioned. The competition he was shooting against is mid-major 2nd units, and he doesn't take shots off the dribble. He's decent at working his way into the paint, especially against smaller defenders, and getting floaters or layups up, but he's truly standstill as a shooter (even midrange). While he never turns the ball over, that's helped by the fact he's not really passing it that much either. Amari Allen - I really like Amari Allen, but I think he should probably return to school. To me he looks very Jack-of-Trades. He was a great shooter and passer through conference play, but really fell off overall during postseason tournaments. Highest volume shooter of the group. Was a high-level role player at a young age, but the upside stuff only came in flashes: playmaking in the midrange, fast connective decisionmaking and some stellar rebounding. In addition, he was very foul prone. Worst block rate and steal rate of group. I thought he'd definitely measure under the 6’8” Bama had him listed as, but the Combine had him at 6’5” barefoot, which is such an egregious lie it's almost impressive. All that said, there’s real potential here for a future playoff-rotation player. If he goes back to school keep an eye on him, if he stays in, maybe a low risk swing by doing some trade magic that gets us future picks too. All of the above are players that, if Presti wanted them, would take one of our 2 picks. I personally think you could safely trade back to the mid-20s for anyone other than Lendeborg, but still, a 1st rounder and a guaranteed contract. These next 2 guys are weirder fits, but trusting the query I watched their games. To note: I'm quite into the draft and I had no idea these guys existed. Could be a good or a bad thing. Either way, I'm sure both dudes would happily accept a Two-Way deal without needing even a 2nd rounder. Kashie Natt - Natt doesn't massively fill the purpose of the query, since he's a point guard. Even so, I like him a lot. He's strong, bulky and fast. He's got Barnhizer at Northwestern levels of hustle. He drives offense and his TOV% is lowest out of the real ball handlers in the group. Somehow he averaged 8.2 rebounds per game as a 6’3” PG. He's also a real deal shooter, shoots off the catch and off the bounce. All of that is secondary to the fact that he's a fantastic PoA defender. I mean, probably one of the most skilled in the whole draft. Bad news is, he's almost certainly returning to school. Good (?) news is that he's almost certainly playing in Oklahoma next year, he's signed with OSU. (I only found out about him committing after writing this whole piece and damn it I'm not erasing the whole section now). Filip Borovicanin - Borovicanin falls a little short of my expectations here, in that he's not a particularly good defender. If he had more of a history shooting it I'd still be in on him, but he's a career 32% shooter, despite that being his main potential role in an NBA offense. Got a good looking shot and clear shooting touch, but it just doesn't go in that much. He fills the stat sheet with rebounds and assists, but it's not enough for me without better D unfortunately. He's probably going home to Serbia where he might keep working on his shot. Sidenote: I'd really like his teammate Tre Carroll for the Summer League roster. submitted by /u/BlackBeanSoup23 to r/Thunder [link] [comments]

🌴 Palm Springs FAQ/PSA: Start Here Before Posting 🌴 Welcome to r/PalmSprings! This post is meant to help visitors, locals, future residents, and repeat question-askers find the most useful information before making a new post. Palm Springs and the greater Coachella Valley have a lot to offer: pools, mid-century modern architecture, hiking, spas, restaurants, LGBTQIA+ nightlife, events, festivals, golf, art, shopping, and nearby desert day trips. A lot of common questions have already been answered in the wiki and in past subreddit threads, so please start here first. Search by flair: Eat & Drink - Unearth conversations about delectable dining and refreshing libations. Things to Do - Immerse yourself in discussions on activities, shopping, must-see spots, and captivating events. Visiting - Explore a treasure trove of tips, from hotel recommendations and weather insights to dining suggestions and city exploration. Latest Update: May 13, 2026 This FAQ has been refreshed with newer wiki pages, updated visitor resources, short-term rental guidance, moving advice, restaurant/bar/hotel guides, and popular Reddit recommendation threads from the last few years. Before You Post Please check the wiki, this FAQ, and the subreddit search before posting common questions like: “Where should I stay?” “What should I do this weekend?” “Best restaurants?” “Best bars?” “Moving to Palm Springs — what should I know?” “Is summer really that hot?” “Do I need a car?” “Best hotel pool?” “Where should I go for a bachelorette/bachelor trip?” “What city should I stay in?” “Is Palm Springs good for kids?” “Can I bring my dog hiking?” “What are the short-term rental rules?” If you still post, you will get much better answers if you include details. If you are visiting, include: Dates of your visit Where you are staying or considering staying Whether you will have a car Budget Group size Ages in your group Interests Food preferences or restrictions Whether you are traveling with kids or pets Whether you want quiet, nightlife, LGBTQIA+ bars, family-friendly activities, hiking, luxury, budget, pools, spas, shopping, architecture, etc. What you already found in the wiki or search If you are moving, include: Budget Renting or buying Whether you need local work or work remotely Whether you have kids Whether schools matter Whether you have pets Whether you want quiet or social Whether walkability matters Whether LGBTQIA+ community/nightlife matters Whether you have visited in summer Which cities/neighborhoods you are considering Your heat tolerance What you already researched Low-detail posts may be removed or redirected to this FAQ, the wiki, or a monthly Q&A thread. The r/PalmSprings Wiki The wiki is the best place to start. Wiki Index Frequently Asked Questions Complete Guide to Visiting Palm Springs Getting Around Town Famous Sights and Major Attractions Things to Do Events and Festivals Where to Stay Hotels and Resorts Where to Eat Bars, Cocktails, Clubs, and Nightlife Guide to Moving to Palm Springs Living in Palm Springs New / Expanded Wiki Pages Architecture Guide Hiking and Outdoor Safety Family-Friendly Palm Springs LGBTQIA+ Palm Springs Day Trips from Palm Springs Official Visitor Resources These are good places to check for current information, events, hours, and planning help. Visit Palm Springs Visit Greater Palm Springs Palm Springs Events Calendar Greater Palm Springs Events Calendar Palm Springs Life Calendar of Events Palm Springs Post list of events Palm Springs International Airport SunLine Transit CV Link Quick Answers to Common Questions Do I need a car? Maybe. If you are staying downtown and mostly want restaurants, bars, shopping, museums, and pool time, you may be fine walking and using rideshare. You probably want a car if you plan to visit Joshua Tree, Indian Canyons, Tahquitz Canyon, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio, Desert Hot Springs, The Living Desert, golf courses, or multiple valley cities. See: Getting Around Town When is the best time to visit? Generally, October through April is the most comfortable season. Spring is popular for events and outdoor activities. Summer is much hotter and requires planning around heat. Summer can still be fun for pools, spas, restaurants, museums, hotel deals, and nightlife, but hiking and outdoor activities should be done very early or skipped. See: Complete Guide to Visiting Palm Springs Is summer really that hot? Yes. Do not underestimate it. Summer highs are often over 100°F, and midday outdoor activities can be dangerous. Plan around pools, shade, air conditioning, museums, spas, and evening activities. Do not hike in extreme heat unless you are experienced, prepared, and starting very early. See: Hiking and Outdoor Safety What city should I stay in? It depends on your trip. Palm Springs: best for first-time visitors, nightlife, restaurants, LGBTQIA+ bars, boutique hotels, architecture, walkability. Desert Hot Springs: mineral spas, quieter retreats, usually more driving. Cathedral City: central location, sometimes more affordable, mostly car-dependent. Rancho Mirage: upscale resorts, golf, quiet luxury. Palm Desert: shopping, family-friendly resorts, The Living Desert, El Paseo, golf. La Quinta: golf, resorts, mountain views, Old Town La Quinta. Indio: Coachella/Stagecoach, festivals, larger rentals, east valley. Coachella: east valley, cultural events, not the same as the festival grounds. Thousand Palms: quieter/residential, near Coachella Valley Preserve. See: Where to Stay Popular Reddit Threads: Visiting / General Trip Advice Just visited for the first time and used the subreddit recommendations Tourist notes Vacation recommendations: food, things to do, and hikes Weekend trip suggestions What’s fun to do? Palm Springs honeymoon / local suggestions Hidden gems: restaurants, stores, etc. Where to Eat Start here: Where to Eat Wiki Palm Springs Michelin Guide Visit Palm Springs Dining Guide Visit Greater Palm Springs Restaurants Popular restaurant threads Palm Springs gets Michelin Guide Best Restaurant? Hidden gem restaurant recommendations Foodie friend visiting for the first time Dog-friendly places to eat Restaurants for solo travelers Best takeout Date night restaurants nice but not too expensive Best Mexican food in Palm Springs Restaurant recommendations and bars Restaurants that won’t break the bank Restaurants that aren’t breaking the bank Mexican food and ceviche recommendations Best coffee spot for coffee snobs Iconic restaurants — worth it? Brunch with Mom Happy hour menus around PS Where to Drink / Nightlife Start here: Where to Drink Wiki Visit Palm Springs Nightlife Visit Palm Springs Arenas District Guide Visit Greater Palm Springs Restaurants & Nightlife Popular categories: Cocktail lounges Tiki bars LGBTQIA+ bars Sports bars Breweries Wine bars Hotel bars Dive bars Speakeasy-style bars Live music Drag shows Casinos Popular past nightlife threads: Nightlife during the summer Palm Desert at night Fun gay bars in Palm Springs Top gay happy hours in Palm Springs Karaoke bars for bachelorette party Tequila tasting location Where to Stay Start here: Where to Stay Wiki Hotels and Resorts Wiki Visit Palm Springs Places to Stay Visit Greater Palm Springs Places to Stay Popular hotel / lodging threads Nice fun hip boutique hotel for singles Clothing optional weekend question Hotels with the best or largest pools Birthday girls trip hotel recommendations Hotel recommendation / resort-style pool scene Hotel/resort recommendations on the inexpensive side Nice hotel to stay at in Palm Springs Hotels, tacos, etc. Hotel suggestions that aren’t 21+ Best hotels Hotels with private patios Hotels in walkable areas Hot springs and hot spring hotels Hotels with pool bar Quiet / no-kids hotel recommendations Palm Springs hotel / babymoon-style recommendations Things to Do Start here: Things to Do Wiki Famous Sights Events and Festivals Architecture Guide Hiking and Outdoor Safety Family-Friendly Palm Springs Day Trips from Palm Springs Popular things-to-do threads Summer with family and children Weird and random things to do Ultimate Palm Springs area bucket list Wheelchair-friendly things to do General list of things to do Waterparks and pools Things to do with a 14-year-old Palm Springs with teens Things to do downtown Hikes with younger kids Rainy/chilly visit activities Places to take Mom Beautiful walk at The Prescott Preserve Bachelor / Bachelorette / Group Trips Please search before posting. These come up often. Bachelorette things to do More bachelorette activity help Bachelor party ideas More bachelor recommendations Group trip tips: Make dinner reservations early. Call restaurants for large groups. Use rideshare if drinking. Do not plan loud parties at vacation rentals. Check short-term rental rules before booking a house. Respect residential neighborhoods. LGBTQIA+ Palm Springs Start here: LGBTQIA+ Palm Springs Wiki Where to Drink Wiki Visit Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Guide Visit Palm Springs Arenas District Guide Greater Palm Springs Pride Popular LGBTQIA+ threads: Weekend trip suggestions Classy/high-end restaurant recommendations Gay couple visiting Palm Springs Where are the gay girls? Visiting Palm Springs for the first time Fun gay bars Top gay happy hours Cross-dressing at resort with wife Moving to Palm Springs Start here: Guide to Moving to Palm Springs Living in Palm Springs Where to Stay / City and Area Guide Popular moving threads Palm Springs: what’s the catch? Considering moving to Palm Springs / Coachella Valley Moving with young family Moving to PS community recommendations Palm Springs vs Palm Desert Where to find social events after moving Moving next year: jobs and rentals Moving from Denver / colder environment Apartment hunting Good and bad areas Moving here as a single person Thinking about moving to Palm Springs: advice from locals and long-time residents Possibly moving Looking to move to PS full time: housing market Palm Springs vs Palm Desert vs Cathedral City 33F officially moving to Palm Springs next month Search: people who left Palm Springs / Coachella Valley Hiking and Outdoor Safety Start here: Hiking and Outdoor Safety Wiki Indian Canyons Tahquitz Canyon Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Joshua Tree National Park Coachella Valley Preserve Quick safety reminders: Bring more water than you think you need. Do not hike in extreme heat. Start early. Wear sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. Do not rely on cell service. Many trails do not allow dogs. Stay on marked trails. Respect cultural and protected areas. Events Start here: Events Wiki Palm Springs Events Calendar Greater Palm Springs Events Calendar Palm Springs Life Calendar Major annual / recurring events include: Modernism Week Palm Springs International Film Festival BNP Paribas Open Coachella Stagecoach Splash House Greater Palm Springs Pride VillageFest Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade Final Reminder Palm Springs is a great place to visit and live, but the best recommendations depend on your dates, budget, transportation, interests, and group. Please use the wiki and search first, then include details if you make a post. If you notice broken links, closed restaurants, outdated hotel information, changed short-term rental rules, missing resources, or anything that should be added, please message the mods. Thanks for helping keep r/PalmSprings useful, welcoming, and easy to search! submitted by /u/Aphor1st to r/palmsprings [link] [comments]

Caught the Washington Post article about where to go in 2026 without crowds and honestly this is how I approach all my planning these days. Overtourism has genuinely changed the vibe of so many beloved places. My experience with crowded vs. uncrowded: Visited Dubrovnik in summer 2023 and could barely walk through the old town. Walls of bodies, constant jostling, paid $35 just to wait in line for city walls. Miserable. Contrast this with Tajikistan last September. Hardly any tourists, incredible hospitality, $15 for a guesthouse with breakfast included. The Pamir Highway was life-changing and I saw maybe five other travelers in a week. The shift I am noticing: More travelers are choosing secondary destinations over famous ones. Not just for cost savings but for actual enjoyment. You can explore at your own pace, connect with locals, and take photos without selfie sticks everywhere. Underrated alternatives I have loved: Plovdiv, Bulgaria instead of Prague Kotor, Montenegro instead of Dubrovnik Lviv, Ukraine before the conflict was magical The WP list seems to reflect this growing movement toward intentional travel over bucket-list checking. Which crowd-free destinations have surprised you guys? Always looking for new ideas. submitted by /u/IulianHI to r/Travel_World_Now [link] [comments]

Frequently Asked Questions Start here before you post a question: Banff Must See and Do Park Pass Admission Fee FAQ (Free admission Jun 19-Sep 7, 2026) Wildfire, smoke status and FAQ Moraine Lake and Lake Louise Shuttle & Parking FAQ Banff vs Canmore vs Calgary vs Golden vs Lake Louise Parking and getting around Banff BEST OPTION: free all-day parking by the train station with over 500 stalls only a 5 minute walk to downtown (more info) Very limited paid parking downtown, lots of congestion Avoid driving downtown as two blocks of Banff Ave are closed to cars Avoid driving across the bridge, or risk getting stuck in traffic for 20-45 min Roam Transit provides affordable public transit to major sites and destinations within the town of Banff and throughout Banff National Park. Banff Gondola offers a free shuttle. Roam Transit connects Banff and Canmore with the route 3 bus, costs $6 or less The town is very walkable and only 2km x 2km in size. Come here with walking in mind. General Parking Info The best way to void parking issues is to use public transit or walk. In the summer many parking lots fill up in the morning, at Lake Louise expect them to be full by 7am (we don't know how early it will be full, often it's by sunrise). Moraine Lake and Lake Louise Shuttle & Parking FAQ Hiking AllTrail is the best resource for trails, routes and recent hiker feedback, the app is great and free. Parks Canada maintains a list of trails and trail conditions 9 Bucket List Hikes in Banff National Park 7 Short Hikes in Banff 10 Kid Friendly Trails Town of Banff: Hiking Rainy day hikes: Johnston Canyon, Bow River Falls, Grotto Canyon, Cave & Basin, Sundance Canyon. Accessible trails: Bow River in Banff, Johnston Canyon, Lake Louise lakeside, first half of Sundance Canyon Wildlife Feeding wildlife is illegal and can lead to a $25,000 fine Obey all closures Bring bear spray (see next section) Dogs on leashes at all times Best spots to see wildlife: Minnewanka loop, Vermillion Ponds, Norquay access road, 1A, the drive up the Icefields parkway, Banff Park Museum. Bear Spray Highly recommended, even for popular trails Can be purchased at any hardware store or rental shop Can be rented for about $10 a day if you only need it for a day or two Drop off unused cans at Parks Canada visitor centres or hotel receptions You can't fly with bear spray, bear bells don't work, guns aren't allowed r/Banff isn't a bear spray buy and sell Dogs Must be on a leash at all times, NO EXCEPTIONS! Allowed on most trails (do not toss dog poop bags on trails!) There is an off-leash dog park at the Sundance recgrounds Dogs aren't allowed in any restaurants but many patios are dog friendly Can't go on public transit/shuttles unless in a dog carrier that fits on your lap Pet friendly hotels: Fairmont Banff Springs, any Banff Lodging Co hotel Rain and Rainy Day Activities Don't cancel your trip over forecasted rain. Rain is never a sure thing, creates opportunity: less crowds, more dramatic views. Dress for the forecast. If you can't do that, then do this: Banff Upper Hotsprings Museums: Cave & Basin, Whyte Museum, Banff Park Museum (stuffed animals galore!) Bowling at High Rollers (5 pin) or Banff Springs (10 pin Canadian style) Lux Cinema, or escape room just below it Fancy drink at the Rundle Lounge in the Banff Springs Hotel Banff Gondola if you can still see the peaks of mountains (don't bother if it's socked in). Elevation Place in Canmore for climbing wall, pool and splash pad. Canmore Climbing Gym for bouldering. If it isn't raining hard, go for a hike. Check out hiking section for rain friendly hikes. Accessibility https://www.banfflakelouise.com/accessibility Cheap! Cheap! Hotels: hahahahahahaha, expect to pay $500 a night for a room, $200 a night in a hostel. Camping is the only affordable option. Eats: Arashi Ramen (And Arashi Express, Arashi To Go), Hankki (Korean Street food), Zyka (Indian), Tommy's (pub), Aardvark Pizza Activities: hike Sulphur Mountain and save $80, park at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier and walk 10 minutes to touch a glacier. Visit Bow Falls, Peyto Lake Lookout, Emerald Lake or Athabasca Falls all for free! Getting here from Calgary Airport shuttle services: Banff Airporter, Brewster Express both cost about $80 one way Vivo Green is about $30 cheaper each way Flixibus runs for about $20 one way, also does Lake Louise and now Moraine Lake Lots of tour options directly from Calgary, Google is your friend. Canmore / Kananaski Canmore is great, see Banff vs Canmore vs Calgary vs Golden vs Lake Louise Roam Transit connects Banff and Canmore with the route 3 bus, costs $6 or less The Legacy Trail is a great connector bike ride between Banff and Canmore Ask r/Canmore for Canmore and K Country questions Must see/do/eat Google is your friend, but a short list: Banff Must See and Do with many free options Sights: Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake Lookout, Bow Falls, Johnston Canyon, Lake Minnewanka, Columbia Icefields, Emerald Lake, Norquay Lookout, Takkakaw Falls Activities: Banff Gondola, Banff Upper Hotsprings , drive the Icefield Parkway, paddle the Bow River, Sunshine Meadows, Horseback riding, sightseeing tours, Via Ferrata, rent an ebike Hikes: Tunnel Mountain, Lake Agnes, Plains of Six Glaciers, Sulphur Mountain, Larch Valley/Citadel Pass, Stanley Glacier, Boom Lake Eats: this is an excellent start, but some favorites are Arashi Ramen, Shoku, Bluebird or Chucks for steaks, Zyka, Hankki, Eden, Grizzly House. Check out Banff & Lake Louise Tourism or 20 Iconic Bow Valley Places for more ideas. Additional Info Check out our wiki, here are some common topics: Free Things to do in Banff National Park Cheap Things to do in Banff National Park Where to stay in Banff/Lake Louise Getting Around without a Vehicle Jobs in Banff And finally... Posts that are answered by the FAQ will be removed. Feel free to ask your questions or suggest other FAQ topics/answers below. submitted by /u/furtive to r/Banff [link] [comments]

I'm planning a hypothetical trip for 2026/27 summer, still deciding budget but on the low end, and also depending on the state of the world (yikes). Right now, my bucket list is to see the DisneySea park there (big on theme parks) because it's one of the biggest parks out there with unique attractions. I know of Universal there and they have the last Jaws ride, so might go there. I'm curious about Dragon Quest Island & Ghibli Park (and museum). But I want to do more wholistic things too, I love hiking and nature and quiet spaces just as much as a Disneyland day, and want to balance out my trip so I don't kill my energy with each day being a high-energy theme park. What are some cool places that we don't have back in America worth seeing, that are little/no cost? submitted by /u/RedHairings to r/JapanTravelTips [link] [comments]

I'm a run of the mill first year, started last September. Currently annualizing right above the bonus target for 2026. My bucket list trip is a 10 day guided hike/trek overseas this summer. It would end up being 8 PTO days. Half the nights are camping off grid and half the nights are in guesthouses with intermittent cell service. I would not have my computer. I don't have family obligations, no weddings to go to this year, not in a relationship, don't mind working holidays and don't plan on taking other time off this year. I feel like this won't be the case forever so I'm getting the itch to see the world solo-ish now. On one hand, I'm so junior that I'm completely replaceable. Literally any other person could do what I do. On the other hand, is being off grid for over a week stupid? Feel free to tell me if it is and I'll close the REI tab immediately lol. Our PTO is accrued, not unlimited. We don't have to get vacation time approved, but I know people will always form opinions. I might try to catch a trusted senior in the hallway to ask them off-record if this would get me sideeyed, but maybe this trip is such a bad idea that I shouldn't even do that... submitted by /u/m_laria to r/biglaw [link] [comments]

My wife and I have a bucket list goal of visiting all 63 NPs (38 down so far with 2 more scheduled for later this summer!). When I turned 40 she surprised me with a trip to Hawaii to visit the two out there and so I was planning to surprise her for her 40th next year and head up to Alaska. In celebration of the fact that we're both getting old, but not yet too old I was thinking we might be at that sweet spot age to knock out two of the hardest ones and hit up Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic. We enjoy hiking though we don't normally do backcountry and tend to stick to trails that are 2mi or less. We've only each ever done tent camping a few times in our lives. We're reasonably healthy/fit for our age, not particularly out of shape but not avid workout people either. That said, it feels like doing a flyover or just an hour in these parks is really not doing these amazing places justice. So I'm looking at camping, but I'm also thinking it's wise to do it with a tour group/experienced guide since I'm fairly confident as inexperienced campers if we go it alone rather than me coming back and sharing cool pics on this sub there will be a post for "Husband and Wife Presumed Dead in Alaskan Wilderness in 40th Birthday Present Gone Wrong" so I'm curious if anyone has any recommendations on groups they've used or guides they know of. I don't honestly know how many people on this sub have visited these two but I'm guessing there's at least more than a couple on here who might have a tour they did and would recommend. Related question - has anyone used one of the satellite phone rental services? We both have parents that are getting older and I've never been off the grid for more than a day or two before. Doesn't seem like a dumb idea in the event of an emergency anyway. I spotted https://arcticwild.com/trip/base-camp/national-parks-kobuk-gates-parks-2026/ but I don't know $8900 per person seemed like a lot for only 4 days? I found https://alaskaalpineadventures.com/tour/noatak-river-great-kobuk-sand-dunes-combination-gates-of-the-arctic-and-kobuk-valley-national-parks/ which was $9395/pp but was for double the time but unfortunately the dates they have available aren't ideal for me. And honestly, I'd rather pick tour group someone here recommends than something I randomly find on google. My general plan is something like a 12-13 days in Alaska around early July 2027. If we have time to squeeze in any other NPs in Alaska that would be a bonus too. We've already been to Denali and Kenai Fjords (just a boat tour) but no where else. I fully expect I have to make at least one more trip up to AK to get through the list, but being in PA getting to AK is expensive so the more I can do each time the better! Appreciate any suggestions! Apologies too, I hope those two links don't violate the rule about not linking to things that sell NP services? Since there's really no way to get to these parks other than via a plane I'm hoping it's ok to discuss companies that get you there! If not I'll gladly remove them. submitted by /u/After-Dot-3903 to r/NationalPark [link] [comments]

Hello everyone... it's that time of year again, every summer this gets posted to help people beat the heat. The city opens up "cool zones" for the elderly and family so they can cool off and get away from excessive heat. and theres More info hereThere's also a "fan program" to help circulate the air. Transportation is available for those that need it - call 211 Fact: We live in a near desert (that's getting worse due to climate change) in sunny San Diego. That means that water is quite scarce (that goes along with it being hot in the summer but more on that later) Everyone should still do what they can to conserve water. That means recycling water when and where you can, taking shorter showers and rerouting that water into a collector to use (grey water) for your plants. Try soaking your feet as that is better than taking a long shower. Rattlesnake Season is upon us (starting in March - May). Our little rodent eating friends are out and looking around for a meal. That means you have to watch your step while hiking or walking around close to the canyons. Don't get yourself bit and a HUGE hospital bill via a rattlesnake bite. This is what our local "brown version" of the southern coastal rattlesnake looks like... (especially when young). The mature grey phase are like this. Don't confuse them with the local Southern Californian kingnsakes we have These are the "friendly good snakes" that actually hunt down both rodents and rattlesnakes to eat them. Leave these ones alone... let them do their thing. :) Get yourself a portable AC for the home for a "cool room". Portable AC's always sell out around here by mid July and you really do not want to be stuck sweating all night. Many of the older places that people rent aren't insulated and temps can rise really quickly. So make preps for at least a 10,000 BTU AC for a single "cool room" to have in the home for you and your pets. Use these before SDGE's famous Peak Hours to get enough heat out of the room to hold you over. Additionally you can get a box fan (above link) and place a wet towel or bucket of ice near it to help generate cooler air to direct at you. it’s always best to prevent the heat getting into the home to start with. Costco usually has these shade sails for $24 bucks. You can drape large tarps over 2.4 grids and weigh them down with sandbags to keep the roof from heating up (without damage). I suggest you use them to keep the heat off of areas of the house or even on the roof if you can manage that (flat ceilings are the worst) Surprisingly planting certain trees will help provide protective cover, shade and make things cooler so that other plants don't dry out and die. A white mulberry can be a large shade giving tree that produces fruit for people and birds it'll drop leaves in the winter. (I can give you a cutting to get one started if you like). That will also help with global warming as well, there's lots that can be planted that will also provide fruit (win win win) for everybody (Jujube's are also good) Even if your renting a place, plant something, after all an avocado seed is "waste" after eating the fruit. But that can be planted and in time will grow into a fruitful tree that doesn't wilt and does very well here and shade a sun exposed wall so it doesn't heat the inside of the home. Curtains and other insulation Hang real curtains up. They block a lot more heat than the cheap blinds most homes in San Diego have. If you can't afford curtains, Home Depot has styrofoam insulation sheets (under $10) with mylar on one side that will block and reflect 97% of the heat back out so you don't have it coming in through your windows and seep in from a "hot wall" that's getting blasted by the sun. cut to fit and stick them in the sunny windows and that will help a great deal. (yes, it's ghetto but who cares?) Turn your heaters pilot light off and reduce the temp setting on your water heater trust us you're not going to need it for awhile. Have the water temp at the lowest recommended to prevent the development of disease causing bacteria. The heaters will not only add to your bills but also add unwanted heat to your home. You can always turn them back in in November when things get chilly again. SDGE will be making a killing off of people's utilities... so let them profit off you if you an avoid it.. Get yourself a water cistern / bottled water of some sort. A gallon of water inside the fridge can be a lifesaver. With the heat the water supplies can get a bit funky before they reach the treatment plants.. especially with the homeless camps that have been found close to the creeks and water sources we have here - they have no bathroom access and "human waste" is a problem. Add to that our very old water supply system here in the city that needs overhauling. It's a very good idea to get and use refiltered bottled water that's either delivered or from a post treatment filtration store for all your drinking water. These places will provide water that is a lot cleaner than what's coming out of the tap - you can thank me later on this one. IF times are tight a box fan can help a good deal to keep air moving pulling the hot air out of the home at night is always a worthwhile effort. Close all the windows to keep the hot air out in the day for as long as you can and then open them up at night. There's a good 20ºF temp drop at night and if you can take advantage of that - Do it. That'll save time and energy till the afternoon when indoor temps start ramping up to match what's outside. Remember the pets. Bring them inside, don't leave ANYTHING or anyone inside the car while shopping, peope can and will legally break your windows to save your pet from overheating and dying. Don't make the evening news with leaving anything in the car while you shop you'll likely find the police there with your windows broken by the time you get back. Also Remember the plants. The more trees we have the cooler they'll make our lives. There's no reason not to have some water conserving fruit trees and plants from drier climates around the world. Mango trees don't take lots of water and do very well here, as well as Che, Ju-Jube's and other fruiting plants (it's all doesn't; have to be apples and peaches people!) a grape vine trellis can easily take the place of a shade screen and provide tasty fruit. The CFRGSD has MANY vine varieties that it gives away for free every winter (what you won't find at a local garden center) For any sensitive plants, use a shade screen and make sure they're all well watered and provided for. Water your plants (grass lawns) at night so all the water can soak in. By hand watering with a hose you can get more water to soak into the ground and not have it run off into the gutters. Trees will benefit more from a trickle of water from a hose over an hour near the base of the tree than a quick dumping of gallons all at once. In return they'll provide shade and help keep things cool :D DO NOT GO HIKING, this applies to tourists and all the rest that seem to not understand that we are on the very edge of the desert climate here and that hikes can and will kill you if not rescued. there can be a 20ºF or more difference between the temps along the coast and a few miles inland (where most hike trails are) Temps for "San Diego" are measured right off the bay/coast where the cold ocean water keeps temps VERY MODERATE. Just 10-15 minutes inland it's a different story, with things getting much worse further inland where all the trails are. This is how people get in real trouble, they think it's going to be "cool" and don't realize the dangers of heat stroke and fainting or just being stuck out there in the middle of nowhere without cell reception. We get multiple rescues and deaths every year from this alone. (March 2026 example) Spiders at night: we have these golden orb spiders that build large webs from trees and overhangs starting in July - Nov. Walk with a flashlight or you'll get "webbed" with a very large spider crawling around on your body. This really needs repeating, the city and county have "Cool Zones" for those with special needs, the elderly, families or anyone else that don't want to bake in the heat. (SD City official list) Lastly, Watch out for and Do NOT start wildfires. We do NOT need anymore idiots (like Sergio Martinez) starting "signal fires" out in the east county becuase he went hunting and "got lost" during a Santa Ana. We are all in the extreme threat area for the state and the firebugs LOVE the Santa Ana winds, so keep an eye out for suspicus people or even other idiots at their "gender reveal" parties such fires destroy thousands of peoples homes and kill those that can't escape. submitted by /u/SD_TMI to r/sandiego [link] [comments]

I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/New-Way-888 Originally posted to r/AITAH Previous BoRUs: #1, #2 [New Update]: AITA for "uninviting" my brother and nephew from my celebration dinner? NEW UPDATE MARKED WITH ----- Editor’s note: removed older relevant comments for space in this latest BoRU Trigger Warnings: ableism, neglect, verbal abuse, controlling behavior ---- RECAP Original Post: October 27, 2024 Backstory - My sister and I (early 30's) have an older brother. He's on his second marriage. His first marriage gave me my nephew, Connor (15). Connor is autistic. When he was born, my (at the time) sister-in-law's family was the "village". My parents were also the "village". My sister and I were not. This resulted in many arguments until I told my parents they could either have my brother and his family and I would go NC or they could respect my boundaries and I'd still be around. They agreed. Eventually, my brother got a divorce because of marital problems, one of which was his ex-wife insisting that I and my sister step-up and help. I felt bad for him, still do, but I wasn't going to change my stance. My sister didn't either. I have lived out of state for a bit and recently accepted a new job offer close to home. It came with a nice bonus, so I decided to invite my parents, sister, and brother out for dinner at my favorite KBBQ spot. My parents confirmed that it wasn't my brother's week with my nephew, so all was well and good. About a week before I got back home, my brother called and said his ex had something come up and that he had Connor the upcoming week and his current wife was going to be out of town with her sisters. I said no worries, and asked if he wanted to call his regular babysitter for Connor and I'd cover it for our dinner night. He said no, he wanted to bring Connor to the dinner and asked if we could change the venue because Connor gets overstimulated. I said no. This was my dinner, I'm paying for it, I'm going to my favorite place. He said "You know, your nephew really can't handle a place like that." I said yes I know. That's why I'm offering to cover paying for a babysitter for that night. He argue that he'll just bring Connor with him. I said he's welcome to do that, but then I'm not going so it'll just be him and our parents. He told me that was messed up, that if Connor gets overstimulated, he'll just take him and go outside until he calms down. I reminded him the last time we went to a KBBQ place, Connor had a meltdown and they had to leave. My parents always feel bad for Connor, so they'll usually leave and go to my brother's house to help. I said I didn't want that happening. I wanted to have a nice dinner without having to worry about that. He told me to go fuck myself and hung up. We went to dinner - my sister, my parents and I. My brother did not show up. It was a nice dinner. My parents enjoyed it too, but they said they wished my brother had come. I agreed. They then said they wished my nephew had come too. I did not agree. I said it would have likely resulted in my brother leaving after maybe 30-40 minutes of being there, and they would have followed him too. They agreed, but said I should have let him come anyway and just deal with it. I said that sounds like a good reason for me not to do that and we didn't talk much that night after that. AITA? EDIT: Somebody suggested I post it here. I've babysat Connor before, even now I will watch him for a few hours if my brother has to do something. I don't watch him all day or overnight though. It's not his fault and he is no way a bad kid. However, I had to set boundaries because my parents and brother (mostly his ex wife) would take a mile if you gave them an inch. They wanted my sister and I to stay local after high school so we could help with babysitting, and I was not about to do that. I did see both of them before I left, since I wanted to, but I did not apologize for wanting to eat my favorite spot and have it done my way for just one night. Whenever he(my brother) wants to have to dinner, we basically go to the same local spot because it's quiet and doesn't upset my nephew and it's his fixation when it comes to food. That's perfectly fine, and I go to those dinners, but for my dinner, I wanted it somewhere I enjoyed. AITAH has no consensus bot, OOP was NTA   Update #1: October 28, 2024 (next day) First, I wanted to thank everybody, positive for negative for giving feedback. Whether it was good or bad, I did read every one of them, even the ones who called me an asshole. Totally valid. While I did see my brother and Connor before I left, it was more of just playing with Connor and making small talk with my brother. I decided today to call my brother to try and get more info and smooth things out. We talked for about 5 minutes before I broached the subject. I told him I was sorry if it felt like I was being unnecessarily mean or exclusionary to Connor, but that I felt I had a right to decide how to celebrate the way I wanted to. He said he was sorry that he snapped the way he did, and looking back, he realized Connor would have had an awful time and it would have been a big waste of money for me (the place we went to was about $80 a person, $40 for Connor whether he ate or not). He just really wanted him to be there too. I told him going forward, for things like my birthday, I would be more than happy to have lunch as a family with Connor at somewhere he likes so he can have a good time, then go to dinner at somewhere I want to eat at and I'd pay for a babysitter or his mom (my brother's ex) can watch him. He asked if Connor would be welcome at the dinner too, and I said I don't think so because I still planned to have KBBQ/hot pot/sushi/fine dining and Connor doesn't do well in those environments(lights/sounds/smells/atmosphere), which is why I brought up having lunch the day of/beforehand so we can all celebrate and it be ok for him. But I was still standing firm that for my birthday (or something like another promotion), I wanted to go somewhere that I enjoyed without having to worry. I brought up also that when he took us out to lunch (was once a month before I moved), he picked or my parents picked and they always catered to Connor. I had no problems with that and attended almost all of them. This time, I wanted something for myself. He wasn't over the moon about it, but said it sounded good and thinks Connor would enjoy it too. He also looked into getting him sunglasses, as one of you suggested, for bright/overly stimulating environments. He then had a question for me, which I knew was going to be asked at some point. Now that I'm closer to home, he asked if I was going to be more involved as an uncle. I said yes, but not in the way he probably wants. I said I'd be more than happy to go over to his house and hang out with him, his wife and Connor and bring food he likes, as well as babysitting him once or twice a month so he and his wife could go see a movie or have dinner together, but I wasn't going to be an on-call babysitter like my parents are. Several times he's dropped Connor off at their house for a week/weekend with little notice because he and his wife wanted to go on a spontaneous vacation. I told him that was not gonna happen with me, especially since I'm the process of adopting a cat and he and Connor are allergic (I wasn't allowed to have a cat while I lived in my parents house, which was fine because it's their house and it wasn't fair to my brother and Connor who were over super often) so him getting dropped at my new place was out of the question. He thankfully didn't press the topic and said it's ok, mom and dad don't mind and that he missed hanging out with me and was happy that I could be around Connor more. So, everything worked out as well as I could have hoped. I'm excited move back home in a few weeks, and thank you all again for the advice/criticism!   Update #2: May 25, 2025 (almost seven months later) Hi. Me again. Was hoping I wouldn't have to post here again, but well, life had other plans. I (31M) moved back to LA from Texas for a new job. My parents live here, as does my brother (40M), his wife, and my nephew Connor (16). Connor is autistic, and while he's made a lot of progress since he was 10, still struggles with a lot of things. He is nonverbal, stims often, and frequently has meltdowns. My brother, his wife, his ex-wife,, and my parents are the only ones really able to calm him down. I regularly watch him once or twice a month so my brother and his wife can go see a movie or hang out. I do *not* watch him overnight or for several days consecutively, and it's always at their house. After our argument last time, my brother and I have been on pretty good terms. He hasn't really pushed boundaries about babysitting, and we've mended our relationship quite a bit. However, something came up recently that has us on rocky terms. My brother recently got news that he was selected to attend a conference out of the country. The company is putting him up in a hotel for 10-days and while they won't pay for his wife to go, they have no problems if he pays her airfare and everything and occupies the room with him. I'm very happy my brother got this opportunity. The issue is child care. The conference happens to align when my parent's and sister are going to NYC for a week to celebrate my sister's birthday. Nothing is refundable and my parent's promised my sister this over a year ago they'd do this. His ex-wife (Connor's biological mother) will also be out of town for work. So that leaves me. When he called me up to explain everything and ask, I told him "No". However, I listed reasons for why I wouldn't do it. I live about 90-minutes away. Distance wise, not that far, but LA traffic makes a lot of things more difficult than they should be. I don't mind making the drive once or twice a month when I'm watching him, but I do not want to make it 10-days in a row. Connor cannot come to my place because I have a cat and he is allergic, as well as me having things around the house that are fragile. I do not WFH, and Connor would still be in school, so I would have to likely put in PTO to do it logistically. The longest I've watched Connor was about 6 hours. He had a meltdown near the end that I was unable to calm him down from, and it was only my brother and his wife getting back 20-minutes later that saved me. I can not picture myself doing it for 10 days straight. This one might sound really selfish, but I don't want to set a precedent. If I watch him overnight even once, I know my brother and his wife would push it on me again. I don't want that to be a thing. I'm happy with our arrangement of me watching him a once or twice a month and hanging out with him with my brother and our parents. That being said, I would *not* hesitate to watch him during an emergency. But that is a totally different story. I explained this all to him. He wasn't happy. He went off on me about how he thought me being back would mean he could rely on me for this (I have said before, I am not an on-call babysitter), and his wife would really like to go on this trip. I said I'm sorry, but I'm not doing this. I said I would be happy to go and help her on the weekend he's not here and hang out with Connor, to give her a break, but I'm not going to risk my own mental health for 10-days and use 8 days of PTO to watch him for a non-emergency. He had a few choice words for me and hung up. He got my parents involved in the family group chat, and they surprisingly were on my side. They said it would be a really nice gesture if I did it, but reminded him that I've never watched Connor overnight and his wife doesn't *have* to go on this trip. He hasn't really talked to me since. I feel bad for his wife not being able to go, but I also don't trust myself to be able to handle Connor for 10-days. AITAH?   Update #3: May 31, 2025 (six days later) First, thank you to everyone who provided advice. I really appreciate it, and it helped know that I wasn't out of line. I messaged my brother. I said he has 2 options. Either he and/or his wife stay home and watch Connor or he works with the local agencies/care facilities (I apologize if I'm not using the right terms) to get respite care for him for as long as they are gone and I check on him during the weekend. I would not be watching him, and I will not hear him out in regards to that. He called me and his wife got on the line and said that I know how she feels about other people watching him overnight, and how his mom feels too, and she's never been to this location before and it's on her bucket list. I said I'm aware, and that I'm assuming in that case she'd be staying home with Connor and maybe she and my brother can take Connor there in the future. My brother tried to interject and I cut him off. Said I really don't care what he has to argue, I'm not here for it. As some of you suggested, I again pointed them towards local organizations and government entities dedicated to helping parents with children with special needs but didn't really get anywhere. I was really burnt out over everything, so I said good luck with the situation and hung up. I made a group chat with him and his wife and told him that, going forward, I will be visiting them once or twice a month. Meaning, one of them has to be there when I'm there. I'm not watching Connor alone anymore. I feel like this is a good compromise, letting me still hang out with Connor and also not being a caretaker. I told them that, maybe in the future, we can work back towards what we had before. But not anytime soon. They both wrote back paragraphs on how they were sorry but they had no other choice and thought maybe I'd do it for them, that this could be like a second honeymoon for them, and to please keep watching him for a day or two a month. That they'd even pay me for it. I told them no amount of payment is worth it. It's not fair to me, it's not fair to Connor. He is not my son, he is theirs. That they need to start working with agencies now, and get him accustomed to care and other people watching him, because our parents are getting old and soon they won't be an option. My brother responded that he and his wife will start the process, and get his ex involved too, but if that doesn't work, what are they going to do? I told them that it's on them. I'll happily join them in researching organizations and benefits, but if they have an inkling in their head that I'm going to do for them what my parents do, they are out of their minds. His wife asked if I would consider getting training and learning how to care for Connor like they do, and I shot that down. I am more than happy to be the fun uncle that drops by and hangs out, but I value my independence and I won't let that be compromised. Both of them eventually just gave me thumbs-up emojis, his wife said she was going to stay home with Connor and not go on the trip, and said they'd see me in 2 weeks to have a hang-out. We'll see what happens then, but at the very least, I'm not on the hook for watching him and someone that can calm him is. I will do my best to keep pushing them to expand their circle and seek out other options and programs that help them with Connor, as I think that would greatly benefit the quality of life of all of them and prevent a situation like this from ever coming up again.   Update #4: June 18, 2025 (almost three weeks later) Once again, thank you for all the comments and advice. They are all greatly appreciated. I went to hang out with my brother, SIL (I realize it was strange to call her my brother's wife the whole time), and Connor over at their house. My brother ordered pizza and he played with Connor while my SIL and I hung out in the living room. My SIL, surprisingly, apologized. She said she was very sorry with the way she was acting. She told me how, coming from the Midwest and her family(she's an only child), she was very used to seeing aunts and uncles take her and her cousins for a few days or weeks when parents had to do something. That they'd do sleepovers and the like, and always had parties at a different relatives house pretty regularly. She thought that based on her friends and how their families did roughly the same thing, that it was very commonplace. She did not expect me or my sister to rebuff that kind of relationship and be so against it. She said she understands now she was trying to force what she thought was normal, and she'll do her best to respect my wishes going forward. I thanked her for that. My brother came in with Connor, and while Connor was playing close by, my brother said he and my SIL plan to go therapy to come to terms with Connor getting older and start planning for the future. He said it was stupid to think our parents would be around forever, much as we both wish that. He's hoping in a few months they (my SIL and Connor's bio mom) will be comfortable enough to start leaving him overnight at respite care and with individuals trained to handle kids like Connor. My SIL joked that she hoped that in a few years, maybe they could all go to the destination my brother was going to. I was happy to hear that. I told them I am really happy they are moving forward, but I also wanted to layout some things I want them to know. - I'd be happy to go with them to check out care facilities and assisted living (I believe that is the term) facilities that Connor may go to when the inevitable happens. - I'd be happy to, if something horrendous happens, make sure that their assets and savings are used to take care of Connor and his needs. - I'd visit Connor at said facilities when he's there. - I would not take on any kind of caretaker role now or ever. That is not something I want to do. If they ever try what they tried recently or attempted to broach the subject again, I would go LC/NC. I said this more politely than I wrote it, but that was the gist of it. I will accept being called an asshole for this, but I took some of your advice and spelled it out for them incase they weren't getting the message. - I would never let Connor end up on the street, but I also would not let him live with me and I would never be his guardian/adopt him. I would make sure he is with people who can handle and care for him the right way. Both of them took it pretty well, and were happy to know that I would make sure that I'd execute their wills correctly if it came down to it. My brother apologized again about the last argument. I told him I accept his apology, but (politely) to never ask me to do that again. I reminded him that his dream was to be a dad and have a family. My dream was to travel the world. I am going to start doing that soon, probably week long trips at most, but that I wasn't going to ever sacrifice my happiness and youth to be a caretaker. I love Connor, but he's my nephew, not my child. And that I love him (my brother) too, but there are certain things I draw the line at. We hugged it out and had a good rest of the night. So that's that. I am really really hoping that they keep to their word. I am so emotionally drained from all this, that I honestly don't think I could stand another situation like what happened prior. But here's to baby steps and small victories.   ----NEW UPDATE---- Trigger Warnings: verbal abuse Update: AITAH for not babysitting my nephew for 10 days? [FINAL]: February 17, 2026 (eight months later from the previous update) Good: Both my brother and SIL, and my former SIL, caved in and were able to make peace with Connor going to respite care. He's doing very good at it. Bad: Back to NC with any of them. So, lot happened. After a few months, my brother got SIL and my former SIL on board with respite care. It wasn't particularly easy for any of them, and Connor did not take well to the first few attempts. But thanks to some really awesome staff/caretakers (I apologize for not knowing the right term), he was able to be left in their care for a few days, then up to 2 weeks. My brother and SIL were pretty nervous at first, lots of phone calls to check up and whatnot, but they've been able to go on a few trips they had been wanting to go on. I was pretty happy for them. Connor also has gotten a lot better overall. They said he's still likely never going to be able to live by himself, but he throws far fewer temper tantrums and overall is just pretty much non-verbal with a few stims and habits. Additionally, my parents sold their house and moved into a retirement community where they also seem to be really enjoying themselves. Now the bad. My uncle had a Christmas party that a good deal of the family was invited to. My brother and SIL, and Connor, couldn't make it, nor could my parents. I went and had a good time. During the party, another uncle we'll call Jeff came up and asked if I could watch his daughter Stacey (16F) for a weekend while he and his wife go to an Adults-Only wedding in another state. He and his wife are somewhat overprotective when it comes to Stacey, but just in the "we don't feel comfortable leaving her alone for the weekend" vs being complete helicopter parents. Stacey is a good kid, outside of calling My Chemical Romance "Dad Rock". I said sure. Stacey was there and I told her we could go to Disneyland for one of the days and she's welcome to bring a friend, my treat. She was very excited about that, and honestly, me too. I hadn't been to Disney in a few years now. Good stuff, so I thought. The next weekend, I was over at my brother's place to drop a few things off and hang out. I told him and SIL that I wouldn't be coming by on that particular weekend because I would be watching Stacey for the weekend, but I'd come by the next weekend. He said sounds good, but SIL got quiet. She said "Oh, well, you can take Connor next weekend to Disneyland too. I think he'd like that". I said no. My parents took him to Disneyland once when he was a few years younger and left after about an hour. They said it was a miserable experience for Connor and he was super overstimulated. I told her if they ever want to go to Disneyland, I'll happily tag along but I'm not taking Connor with Stacey and I when even they haven't taken him to Disneyland and seen how he acts. I said it's not fair to any of us to be on the hook for that. She blew up. She went off on how he's gotten so much better, how he's so better behaved and has a ton more coping skills. I said I know. I said I was proud of her and my brother for getting him where he is now...and that I laid down, last time, what I was and willing to do. Taking him out for the day without either parent was on the "not willing to do" section. That's that. She went on ranting about how I'm a horrible uncle and it's a good thing I don't have kids. I said I agree on the not having kids part. I don't think that's something that'll ever be in my future. I like kids, I couldn't imagine raising them myself. She called me a few expletives and went into their bedroom and slammed the door. I asked my brother what the hell that was about. He told me that she's in a few groups for parent's of kids with autism and they've been "shaming" her for having "uninvolved" aunts and uncles(my sister and I). I asked him what the fuck they meant by that, and rattled off everything I had done for Connor, be it financially or anything else. He said he knows, and he's brought that up and told them and her that, but they seem to zero in on "They don't babysit, do they actually love him?!" Even her own family has apparently given her grief for the fact that my sister and I don't babysit or take him on outings or have him over. He didn't defend them, but he didn't condone them either. I asked, brother-to-brother, if they were in therapy for all this. He said yes. He said she really loves him, and Connor, but she's also a big people pleaser and has a lot of family values that aren't being met. He said she got really sad that my parents sold the house, because now they can't host Connor anymore(They still visit and see him a few times a month, but it's not like before). I asked if there was anything else he was comfortable sharing. He said their sessions just usually devolve into her hounding him to ask me and my sister to be more active. I was shocked. I brought how many times I've said I'm not doing that, how my sister has gone essentially LC/NC and she still is bringing that up. He said yes. She's never going to be happy unless she has that. He begged me to come around. He'd pay me, he'd pay for my time off, he'd move closer to me if that's what it would take. I said no. None of that. I'm not doing any of that. I told him I thought we(him, my SIL, me) had an understanding about what my role was going to be. That they promised it was going to be ok. He was in tears, saying "I know, I know but" and went on about how it would make her world if I could just do some of the things she's asking. I knew it was a lost cause. I gave him a big hug and told him I'd always love him. I went to go hug Connor too. I told him that I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore. I can't keep getting flooded and hounded by these requests. It's not fair to me. I asked that they both no longer contact me, to let my parents know anything important and they would relay that to me. He was on the couch stunned when I left. I felt horrible, but thinking about being asked to do that again and again was something I couldn't imagine going through again. I called my parents and told them what happened. They were upset but understood. They were very unhappy that she kept pushing when she said she'd stop. I told them I was getting a new number, and to please not share that with them. I also said I do not mind if they bring them up in our conversations or mention them, as I don't hate them, but asked that they not broach the topic of reuniting or talking again. I don't think that's something I can mentally handle. To be safe, I called my housing office the next day and asked if I could break my lease and move to a different complex they own in a different part of the city. They were, thankfully, very understanding and had no problem with it. So that's it. I'm happy Connor is doing better now, and my brother and SIL can take trips on their own with him being taken care of. I'll probably take a trip to Europe this summer to clear my head. I really wish things had worked out differently, but in the end, all of you were right. It was never going to be enough for them, and it took me going NC for them to stop. I really hope they do ok in the future. I'll always love my brother and Connor. Just going to have to be from afar now. (Also Disneyland was a blast, holy shit. Galaxy's Edge was amazing. Still can't stomach how expensive it's gotten though) Relevant Comments Commenter 1: …where are SIL’s family in all of this? Surely her family’s “village” should be the ones meeting those expectations she’s arbitrarily set? Commenter 2: SIL is the stepmother. Her family is not related to Connor. OOP: They are in the Midwest. They refer to where we live as "Commiefornia" and won't come out here. She's ok with that, but me being unwilling to babysit is apparently a huge deal. Commenter 3: He told me that she's in a few groups for parent's of kids with autism and they've been "shaming" her for having "uninvolved" aunts and uncles (my sister and I). Wow, those are support groups?! Dayum SIL will never learn until she can get everyone to drop their boundaries to her requests and your brother, sadly, won't get a spine to stand up to her properly because unfortunately he feels the same as her. This is definitely the best outcome OOP: From what my brother said, most people in the group are really nice and supportive... but there's a few that really play on the "FAMILY HELPS FAMILY NO MATTER WHAT" that were in her ear about things. Commenter 4: I would go NC for now but I have to say, I do feel bad for Connor. He’s taking his parents’ punishment as well and that’s not good for anyone. I would say instead of going NC with Connor, still visit him at the respite with a member of staff there if it makes you feel comfortable, even if it’s just for ten minutes and once or twice a month. He shouldn’t have to suffer from his parents’ actions. It’s not his fault. He’s been put in the middle of all this. Take some time away by all means but don’t go NC with your nephew just because your SIL can’t take no for an answer. You don’t have to see his parents if you don’t want to. But it’s not nice knowing that your family members are not talking to you and you don’t know the reason why. As for your brother and SIL, whatever happens in their relationship is between them but I wouldn’t give up hope on your brother just yet. It sounds to me like he’s being controlled by his wife. Maybe someday he’ll realise what it’s cost him. The marriage might not even last. I’m not saying it will but who knows? No one has an idea of what the future holds. Why not have a think about it but first focus on yourself. Take that trip to Europe and in the meantime, try doing some things that make you happy. OOP: I've been NC for about a month now and it's been the best feeling ever. It hurts not to have my brother and Connor in my life, but I don't think I could do what you're asking as I asked to be removed from everything regarding his care. Commenter 5: The whole situation is so sad. I’ve been following your story from the beginning and I’m sorry it came to this for you. You said your brother and Connor’s bio mom split because she wanted more involvement from you and your sister? I think that’s what’s happening in this marriage too. That would explain why your brother seemed so desperate (even offering to pay you) to just “do some of what she wants”. Clearly he accepts your boundaries but I think he’s afraid to lose another wife due to the same issues. It’s very sad all the way around. I really hope this can be mended someday because it sounds like you’re going to miss your brother. Best wishes OOP: You said your brother and Connor’s bio mom split because she wanted more involvement from you and your sister? Yes. She comes from a different culture where it's very much "everyone is the village" mindset, while my family is "don't set yourself on fire to keep others warm". My parents obviously would really enjoy if I was more involved, but they learned that wasn't going to be the case and were happy with whatever I was willing to do. Downvoted Commenter: You are not wrong. Your brother is in a near impossible situation. Your SIL is in a BAD supposedly "support group." That is not what they are supposed to do. They are to vent, to listen, to give personal testimony, and to give suggestions and problem solving coping mechanisms. NOT to become a gang mentality of what's wrong and right for others , it's destructive and breaks people's tenuous perspective. SIL is grieving the child she didn't have and the circumstances surrounding that. She's lashing out at what she wishes possible even though it is an unattainable goal. It's no ones fault. It's actually quite common in high stress care giver situations. You need to keep contact with your brother. You don't need to do anything but every once in a while, listen or tell him a joke. He's in the weeds. She needs help, not you or your sister, a therapist designed for this. She needs to move towards acceptance. OOP: Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to do that. He really really loves her, which I am not saying is a bad thing, but it's going to devolve back into trying to please her. I left the line open to hear things from my parents but I'm not going to be getting involved in the future. This is the happiest I've been and it feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off my back. Might be an asshole move, but this is the peace I haven't had for 10+ years. OOP on his future and having visits with Connor at the respite care OOP: I'm likely going to be taking a job overseas within the next year or so. My parents are aware. I think starting fresh is the best thing for me to do. I'll be sending stuff to my parents to give to him, and my brother and SIL, but as much as it hurts to say...I don't think my brother and SIL will take what I do seriously if I still have any interaction with Connor.   DO NOT COMMENT IN LINKED POSTS OR MESSAGE OOPs – BoRU Rule #7 THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT OOP submitted by /u/Choice_Evidence1983 to r/BestofRedditorUpdates [link] [comments]

If you’re starting to plan a 2026 vacation but you’re not sure where to go, these travel ideas are fueling our wanderlust right now – and they might just provide the inspiration you need too. Spotting incredible wildlife on an African safari through a volcanic crater. Destination: Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Best time of year to visit: From June to October during the dry season – not only is the weather more pleasant, but the grass is also shorter, making it easier to spot animals. Where to stay in Ngorongoro Crater: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge (4-star | 8.8/10 guest rating). Soaking in springtime beauty with delicate Japanese cherry blossoms. Destination: Kyoto, Japan. Best time of year to visit: From late March to early April for peak cherry blossom blooms (but be prepared for large tourist crowds and bear in mind that unusually cold or rainy weather can cut the peak window short). Where to stay in Kyoto: Comfort Hotel ERA Kyoto Toji (3-star | 9.4/10 guest rating). Road-tripping across Route 66 for a dose of nostalgic small-town Americana. Destination: Multiple U.S. states (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California). Best time of year to visit: During late Spring / early Summer or during the Fall for the most pleasant weather and cheaper hotel rates outside peak tourist season. Where to stay on Route 66: Kings House Motor Hotel (2-star | 8.8/10 guest rating). Taking a river cruise through the untamed jungles of the Brazilian Amazon. Destination: Manaus, Brazil. Best time of year to visit: During June, which straddles the end of the rainy season and the start of the dry season. The Amazon looks the most stunning after being rejuvenated by the rainy season and is more accessible due to higher water levels, so you can make the most of your trip while still avoiding the bulk of the bad weather. Where to stay in Manaus: Hotel Casa do Bispo (3.5-star | 8.8/10 guest rating). Visiting one of Europe’s most buzz-worthy cities in Denmark. Destination: Copenhagen, Denmark. Best time of year to visit: During the Summer months for comfortably warm weather and extra-long days (the sun doesn't set until nearly 10:00 PM during the peak of summer!). Where to stay in Copenhagen: Nimb Hotel (5-star | 9.6/10 guest rating). What destinations are on your travel bucket list? Let us know! submitted by /u/expedia to u/expedia [link] [comments]

Unfortunately, I (M51) have been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and was told this week I have 3-6 months left to live. Because this means I won't live to pensionable age, the laws around pensions have allowed me to retrieve the money in my pensions earlier than would normally be allowed. So I am now in a position where I have a large amount of cash, and a small amount of time (I don't want or need to spend all that cash, most of it is going to go to my family, but I want to enjoy being able to spend some of it!) I've been talking to my wife (F47) about going on holiday. Because of work commitments (she has to work, and I'm choosing to work despite my diagnosis) we can only spare 1-2 weeks. Long-haul travel is out of the question because of the risk of a DVT. Short-haul is possible, and I'm considering some European destinations - but I'm also aware that there are places in the UK I haven't been to, or haven't spent enough time in - importantly, this would be easier in terms of both insurance (which is particularly difficult given my medical condition, but not impossible) and travel, and I think it has the potential to be at least as nice so long as we pick the right place. So I'm after your opinions on where would be good places to visit that I may not know about, despite living here all my life! Thhings you should know: Places I have lived I would generally disregard: Manchester Blackpool Bournemouth The Lincolnshire coast London - but with lots of caveats because I either live there or have lived there, so I already know the areas well. Re. London, I can (and often do) go into town regularly for events or days/nights out, so this would not be a good reason to go to London. But a proper destination such as a luxury hotel is something I would consider. Places that I know well, mostly because I've worked there or go there regularly for events, include the West End, Victoria and Tower Hill (all of which I like), the City (which is great during the work week but dead at weekends) and Docklands (which I find soulless, but maybe that's because most of my time there is in the Canary Wharf area). Places I have visited either for multiple day trips, or for slightly longer trips, so I already know them a little: England The Cotswolds Lincoln The New Forrest Cornwall - Padstow, and the Rame Peninsula York Wales Cardiff - several visits, because my step-daughter studied at Cardiff university Scotland Glasgow (can't say I was fan) Edinburgh (lovely place, I've been several times) A tour around the Loch Ness/Inverness area Northern Ireland Never been (although I have been to Dublin - but the Republic of Ireland is probably not helpful here because it would have the same travel insurance issues as other European destinations) Things we like to do We are generally a sedentary couple, who are happy going for a long drive where we can enjoy nice scenary and stop off for a pub meal We also enjoy wandering around pretty countryside and towns, at a relaxing pace Very happy to do occassional days out to significant places such as monuments, or trips to museums etc, but wouldn't want that to be the main focus of a holiday. As examples, we've been to Blenheim Palace and Tattershall Castle multiple times I love walking, and previously would have been happy walking for hours, but my illness means I'm able to walk much shorter distances now and changes of elevation can be particularly difficult My wife is less keen on walking, and would rather have a spa day We both love good food - anything from a really good local chippie, to the most expesnive of fine dining Musical theatre, although that's something where you'll probably struggle to beat London, which, as I said, we can do any time We've been to the Edinburgh Festival several times - my wife loves everything there, whereas I'm not particularly a fan of comedy but have really enjoyed other events such as music and theatre We both enjoy a little bit of luxury - we'd choose a hotel over a campsite, and probably pay to upgrade to a nicer room, for example So - convince me. Where in the UK should we go which is a better option than a short-haul international holiday, with money being (for practical purposes) virtually no issue? Edit: I am totally overwhelmed (literally as well as metaphorically) by the number of responses I'm getting here! I normally try to upvote every helpful reply to a question I ask on Reddit, and reply to as many of them as I can - but with replies coming in at this rate, that's just not possble. But please do keep them coming - I promise I'm reading every one, and already seeing some patterns which are giving me some good ideas! Edit 2: some people are asking why I'm still working. Simple answer - because I want to. I enjoy my job, and it keeps my brain active. I enjoy a weekend off - we all need some downtime - but when I have more than a few days off work and no particular plans, my mood becomes noticeably worse. The only way I would consider quitting work, unless I was medically unable to work, is if I had enough stuff planned to fill the rest of my life, and I'm hoping that I have enough life left that it's too soon for that right now. Edit 3: we’ve settled on Highlands and Islands. Fred Olson do some amazing looking cruises around the islands, which is something we wouldn’t have even thought about, but your comments gave us the idea. Unfortunately the dates seem like they won’t work… but it’s prompted us to look at other guided ways of seeing the area, and greatrail.com have some fascinating trips in the area which is currently option 1. We’d have to pay a large amount up front, so we’d ideally want travel insurance just in case the worst happens and I can’t make it. So we’re talking to specialist insurers to see if that’s possible. If not, we’ll probably drive around the area, basing our route on the NC500 and booking hotels that have last-minute cancellation policies. We’ve also booked a short break to the Lake District, including a visit to Henrock, the two Michelin star restaurant by Simon Rogan. Thank you to everyone who’s made suggestions, whether we went with your suggestion or not it’s been great reading them. submitted by /u/LondonPilot to r/CasualUK [link] [comments]

Me and a couple of my friends are planning a road trip for summer 2026 and want to do something in the American southwest. This is just an idea for a route that I came up with quick that includes a lot of the things that have been on the bucket list for a while. This would probably be a 10-12 day trip also so let me know if I should cut anything out or if there’s anything I absolutely should add! submitted by /u/TheDonutcon to r/roadtrip [link] [comments]

Looking for travel experiences that go beyond sightseeing? Cultural festivals offer an authentic way to immerse yourself in local traditions, history, and community spirit. Here are ten of the most iconic festivals to add to your 2026 calendar, plus where to stay for easy access. 1. Edinburgh International Book Festival – Edinburgh, Scotland A paradise for lovers of literature and ideas, set against the backdrop of Edinburgh’s historic streets. When: 15 – 30 August 2026 Season: Late summer Where to Stay: The Balmoral Nearby Highlights: Literary walking tour & Edinburgh Castle visit 2. Venice Carnival – Venice, Italy Experience centuries-old traditions with elaborate masks, candlelit canals, and romantic European charm. When: 7 – 17 February 2026 Season: Winter Where to Stay: Palazzo Veneziano Nearby Highlights: Gondola ride & St. Mark’s Basilica tour 3. Adelaide Fringe – Adelaide, Australia One of the world’s largest arts festivals, featuring comedy, theatre, music, and street performances from February to March. When: 20 February – 22 March 2026 Season: Late summer / early autumn Where to Stay: Mayfair Hotel Nearby Highlights: Barossa Valley wine tasting and Glenelg Beach sunsets 4. Diwali – Jaipur / Delhi / Varanasi, India Celebrate the Festival of Lights with lanterns, fireworks, and vibrant cultural rituals. When: 8 November 2026 Season: Autumn Where to Stay: The Leela Palace Jaipur Nearby Highlights: Ganga Aarti in Varanasi & Amber Fort illumination. 5. Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany Beyond the beer: Bavarian music, traditional food, and a festive community spirit. When: 19 September – 4 October 2026 Season: Early autumn Where to Stay: Hotel Torbräu Nearby Highlights: Neuschwanstein Castle day trip & Viktualienmarkt stroll 6. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta – New Mexico, USA Witness sunrise balloon launches and magical night glows – a truly surreal experience. When: 3 – 11 October 2026 Season: Fall Where to Stay: Hotel Chaco Nearby Highlights: Turquoise Trail scenic drive & Petroglyph National Monument 7. Africa Oyé – Liverpool, UK A free celebration of African and Caribbean music, food, and culture in a vibrant community setting. When: 20 – 21 June 2026 Season: Summer Where to Stay: The Municipal Hotel Liverpool – MGallery Nearby Highlights: Beatles Story Museum & Albert Dock dining 8. Hebridean Celtic Festival – Stornoway, Scotland Enjoy traditional music and breathtaking island landscapes at this intimate, authentic event. When: 15 – 18 July 2026 Season: Summer Where to Stay: The Royal Hotel Nearby Highlights: Lews Castle visit & Isle of Lewis coastal hike 9. Festival d’Avignon – Avignon, France One of Europe’s most respected theatre festivals, blending classic and contemporary performances. When: July 2026 (exact dates TBA) Season: Summer Where to Stay: Hotel d'Europe Nearby Highlights: Palais des Papes tour & Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tasting 10. Gion Matsuri – Kyoto, Japan A centuries-old celebration featuring ornate floats, street food, and vibrant processions. When: 1 – 31 July 2026 (main parades July 17 & 24) Season: Summer Where to Stay: The Hotel Seiryu Kyoto Kiyomizu Nearby Highlights: Kiyomizu-dera Temple visit & traditional tea ceremony Event Travel Tips: Book Early: Rooms near festival venues sell out fast. Add a Buffer Day: Arrive early or stay late to explore without peak crowds. Prioritize Walkability: Staying close to the action saves time and stress. Cultural festivals are one of the best ways to experience a destination from the inside out – through its food, music, and traditions. Which one will you add to your 2026 bucket list? submitted by /u/expedia to u/expedia [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/Pathetic_lriG43 to r/MadeMeSmile [link] [comments]

Good morning and once again thank you for joining me for our bi-annual-or-sometimes-quarterly-or-whenever-I-feel-like-something-has-significantly-changed housing market update. I am your host gowhatyourself and I will be giving you the information you need that you didn’t even know you wanted. I’m a local real estate agent with 10+ years of experience in resale and new construction and have a lengthy history of shit posting my way into the hearts and minds of /rva redditors like yourself so go back and read some of my prior posts once you finish this one. I typically like to share information I feel like consumers should have a grasp on and then answer one off questions in the comments so if I miss something just ask whatever and I’ll do my best to get you what you need to know.   https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/1e0p1s0/rva_real_estate_summer_2024_i_read_the_news_today/   https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/199phgu/rva_real_estate_outlook_2024_q1_party_like_its/   https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/1l2azgm/2025_rva_real_estate_mid_year_update_chaos/   1. A little late to the party (la-la-la-la) I normally do something around the start of the year, but I think given the changes we've seen the last few months and the fact that most people should be thinking well in advance of their purchase/sale it was prudent to put something out sooner rather than later. Let’s start with a bird’s eye view of the local market before your eyes glaze over. Some of this is your run of the mill seasonality in real estate, but the market has slowed down quite a bit. Is this a bad thing? No absolutely not. We have been cooking extra hot for years and the market needed some breathing room for buyers to relax. Sellers needed to come back down to planet earth. Let’s just run through some general stats for the greater Richmond area and I think you’ll see what I mean. The city and surrounding counties each have their own unique quirks but all of them are roughly in line with similar trends with some exceptions in the nitty gritty details that I can go into later.   The market has shifted. Economic uncertainty (putting it mildly) and high interest rates caused buyers to pump the brakes a bit. After years of seeing 5%+ home price growth year over year (ie where prices were in June 2024 vs June 2025) things scaled back to a more reasonable 1-3-ish %. Now YMMV here because there are still areas of town where these numbers were and are higher. So if you were trying to slide into Forest Hill for example you might still be bent over a barrel but this time you got a pillow or the flogging wasn’t quite as severe. You just weren’t seeing the insane over asking prices that would make your eyes water that we saw in 21 and 22. Back then between years of price hikes, lower rates, and buyers flush with cash desperate to get into the city the market was on fire and things were just way too hot. We are no longer in a state of the dog sitting in the burning room going “this is fine”. Now we’re just simmering. Not cold. Not room temp. A measurable step in the right direction.   We have been here before though and things can go any number of ways. Going into the winter of 2023 we were in a similar position with home price appreciation slowing to similar levels. It ramped back up to 5.5% in the spring of 2024 so we could be right back where we were a few years ago once we get to March/April of 2026. What might cause that? A number of things. Maybe rates go down and that causes buyers to get off the couch. Maybe the tariffs are struck down by the supreme court and the prices of goods drop in response alleviating some of the inflation we’ve had this year. Maybe a ton of companies start hiring a lot more people because of that. Maybe there’s another highly contagious airborne disease that kick starts this whole thing all over again because why the fuck not. Nationally inventory has dropped a bit in the last few weeks because rates slid and buyers got off the couch so if that continues…   BTW the reason I’m using year over year home price appreciation as a rough gauge here is because it's a solid apples to apples comparison. if there is enough demand and a lack of supply prices will be always pushed beyond the average rate of inflation (which housing contributes to anyway). It’s just a good metric to look at when judging whether a market is running hot or cold. Sexy outliers designed to catfish multiple offers can fuck up sales vs list price so that isn’t always accurate. A broad view better corrects for that.   The drop off in home price growth directly correlated to an increase in homes listed for sale. So more homes = more to go around. Basic supply and demand. We went from around 1,800-1,900 homes for sale at this time in 2022 to 2,900-3,000 now. Pre-pandemic that was closer to 4,000-4,500 depending on the year. This is for our whole MLS area btw and that stretches a good bit beyond just the RVA metro area. Home builders saw the same thing happen to their back log. The number of spec homes for sale this summer into the fall shot up like crazy (Especially in Chesterfield) and it made some of them a little nervous. Mostly the smaller builders because as counter intuitive as it is the bigger builders can be quick on their feet because they can absorb lower margins in ways smaller builders can’t. Same goes for renovations and flippers. There have been a looooot of renovated homes sitting for much longer than they have in the past because their pricing strategy was baked in months in advance of the home hitting the market. If you’ve been window shopping on Zillow you’ve probably seen quite a few grey on grey on grey boxes chilling for extended periods of time. Not the most appealing homes but they fill a role just as they always have. Some are also just irredeemable trash.   Of course like I said before this also depends on where you are looking. The drop off that took place in northside is considerably more pronounced than what took place just south of the river and that makes sense because those two areas are very different vibes/areas. There are also a lot more flips and renovations in northside than there are in an area like Bon Air which goes back to what I said about the flippers being slower to respond in market fluctuations. The numbers can also be skewed in some areas because the homes aren’t as homogenous as they are in others. For example you could have a bunch of multi-million dollar homes in the west end throw things off in the average if you aren’t looking east of 195. “Well there are always expensive homes there” yeah but if you go a few months without a listing over a million then a couple 3 million dollar homes sell in one month it’s gonna knock shit out of whack.   OKAY BUT WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME THE PROTAGONIST OF LIFE?   It means if you’re on the fence and thinking about buying then now until March is probably a really good time to do it. Most people will wait until the spring because they are under the (incorrect) assumption that it is the optimal time to buy. It’s not. Never has been. Don’t get sucked into feeding frenzy and assume that an increase in options will be of great benefit to you. I mean yeah if everything that’s for sale right now is an unappealing boomer box 90s throwback and there is nothing you're even remotely into then wait a bit, but if you’re flexible it will be much easier to use the leverage of the season to get something you want at a reasonable price instead of waiting until everyone else is out there pounding the pavement fighting over the exact thing you’re looking for.   If we get to April or whatever and there is a 30-50% increase in new listings that’s great news until you realize that you might be looking at a 100-200% increase in the number of buyers fighting over them. It will not get to the extremes of 2022 but I can promise you increased competition does not work to your advantage unless you're a seller with the flexibility to time seasonality. For what it’s worth many agents (myself included) will often go looking for their own home well before the spring rush because we know that’s likely when we’ll get optimal pricing. Doubly so if you are considering new construction because unlike resale new construction often comes with extra incentives builders can play around with that home owners do not. Rate buy downs, X dollars towards upgrades, closing costs etc. It’s all given out like candy to meet sales quotas. DR Horton is advertising rate buy downs to as low as .99% for the first year (Do not buy a DR Horton home plz) . I don’t know how I feel about teaser rates but the big builders are all saying these kinds of buy downs are here to stay for the foreseeable future.   That being said do not take this as a sign that you must do something right now if the timing doesn’t work for you. I do not subscribe to the cliché idea that “now is the right time to buy” that a lot of agents espouse because that is stupid salesy unrealistic bullshit. Don’t take what I write here to be misconstrued as pressure to get you to do something you aren’t prepared to do. I’m just saaaaying if you were going to do it anyway and thought springtime was the best time to do it you should reconsider. I’d even go so far as to check your lease to see if it has a clause that says you just need to give 60 days notice without any strings attached.   2. Fit check for my napalm era   Even though things are slowly improving on the affordability front there is still so much room to grow. We are still nowhere near how many homes we had on had on the market pre-pandemic. Nationwide only 19-20 states are back to that point which is where you’ve seen the sharpest downturn in pricing that you could consider a market “correction”. Most of which is in the sunbelt. A lot of that actually has to do with an increase in supply of apartments because so many were completed in 2023-2024 that it drove down rents to the point it became more advantageous to keep renting. Virginia just…hasn’t had that. We are still down 30% from where we were in active number of homes for sale and I’m not sure anyone has noticed but uhhhhh we’re still a prime destination for transplants from all over the country. Everyone has noticed we’re even a hot spot within the state with NOVA transplants barging in and ruining the local vibe with their uhhhhhhh ::checks notes:: ok says here they really aren’t ruining anything and we should warmly welcome them because almost nobody reading this post was born and raised here let’s be real.   Remote work has been clawed back and the freedom employees had to just go wherever the fuck has diminished considerably in the last year. Even companies in Richmond are forcing people back into the office with Capital One yanking the leash and CarMax demanding 4 days in office (and firing their CEO lol). I don’t think this means anyone already in the city limits is chomping at the bit to sell their place at a loss but it definitely means that the days of getting a remote six figure computer touching job and plucking up some snazzy spot in the fan are coming to a close.   Funny thing about that though. When things were getting really crazy and people were howling about transplants "taking-R-homez" I would sit up at night and look at recently closed sales that way above list price to see if there was a pattern. You'd think with all the talk of spooky investors I'd see lots of LLCs. Sales are all public and we (agents) have a streamlined portal for searching tax records to see who is buying what and I’d say about 99/100 times I would look at purchaser information it was all local. It's not like we don’t plaster who we are all over the internet.   It’s pretty easy to see that Bradford McSalmonpants III, who paid 250k over list for a home off Grove, has been working locally since graduating college for at least 8 years per his linkedin profile. You can also see that his father, a prominent eugenicist and member of the CCV, is the owner of the largest septic transport business on the east coast gee I wonder where the money came from.   3. I'm 'bout to switch up these vibes, I finally opened my eyes   Something that may be helpful are some anecdotes about where some of the people I worked with originally looked and where they ultimately landed. By that I mean people come to me saying they want to live in a certain part of town, we go check it out, and either through experience or just being priced out they end up in a different area. No one I mention here regrets the decision either because they either saved themselves a lot of money, or didn’t realize they’d be just as happy if not happier somewhere else only because they never thought to look there in the first place.   I had one couple throw themselves over and over again losing out repeatedly for homes in the fan. They didn’t even really love what they offered on either. They just wanted the walkability and convenience, but they also didn’t want to be too far from access to things like the river or decent coffee. After a few months we ended up looking in Forest Hill in a kind of “eh why not” trial run. It wasn’t originally on their radar, but while it wasn’t as walkable as something a few blocks from Carytown, it came with its own set of unique perks (Blanchard’s is a 2 minute walk) plus it was kind of cool to actually have a yard instead of an off-street parking pad or nothing at all. We came in around 75k under their budget too. They ended up using the shed in the back yard as a make shift climbing training spot.   There was a buyer that was looking in Glen Allen around the Staples Mill/Woodman Road area because tucked away in some of those neighborhoods are some nice starter homes. They weren’t tied to anything in particular like a school district or needing to be a certain distance from whole foods or whatever so after a few failed attempts I took them over to the Highland Park/Mechanicsville end of town. They’re very happy and ended up paying considerably less than they would have out west for a solid home similar to what you’d find where we had been looking and a much larger yard. This specific scenario played out multiple times with a number of buyers. It happened so often they're probably reading this and going "hey that was me!"   There are other examples I could give but if you have been focusing your redfin window shopping on one specific area expand your horizons and consider what else might work for you. A lot of times shifting your expectations just a smidge gets you nicer home with a better commute, a lower price, lower property taxes, or features you didn’t even realize were important to you. Stop focusing on the sexiest listings and think about what’s actually important. Not letting perfect be the enemy of the good isn’t settling!   From here on out this post is going to focus on general trends and the bigger picture beyond just Richmond so if that doesn’t interest you feel free to dip and continue about your day. If you want to get ur learn on let’s continue.   4. You're all I can think of every drop I drink up   With home price appreciation generally getting back to normal you have to pour one out for the doomers who thought this was when housing would collapse. It just hasn’t happened. There have been corrections in markets where things swung wildly out of whack (San Antonio, Denver, Austin etc) but here in Virginia things are just…kind of chugging along. We’re also well below our rate of foreclosures compared to pre-pandemic. In fact the foreclosure rate in Virginia is 50% lower than it was pre-pandemic. I’ve seen a number of articles sounding the alarm that foreclosures were up 30-40% nationally and I am begging you to learn how percentages work because in absolute terms the actual numbers are extremely low. Everyone posting doom porn about an impending market collapse has been doing it for five years straight and their forecasts could not be more wrong year after year. If you were looking for signs that The Big Short 2.0 was happening, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Almost all of the increases that are taking place nationwide are with FHA/VA mortgages which are typically given to borrowers on shakier ground anyway. Again in absolute numbers the shift is inconsequential.   Where I do see softening is among sellers who still think it’s 2022 and have a severe case of “I know what I got” FB Marketplace brain as well as flips and renovations. I just got someone under contract in an absolutely rad home off Huguenot because the seller started outrageously high for their neighborhood. We’re going to end up 35k under their original asking price (Lower than where it should have been from the start) and it sat for over 30 days because they refused to acknowledge the market has shifted. When the appraisal came in it was nowhere near what they originally wanted. A few years ago I think someone would have YOLO’d and gone for it but nuh-uh no ma’am not in Q4 2025. Home inspectors have actually been more difficult to book because people are getting inspections in their offers now. I actually got a signed repair addendum back the other day and everything was accepted. Sellers agreed to fix everything we asked for! You do not need to fuck yourself over giving away all your leverage to get a house. Neat!   This softening is especially true of the flips because I think a lot of people kind of held their nose and got under contract to get into something just a few years ago but shoddy workmanship and DIY dipshits who thought it was easy money are getting a wake-up call. What I’m very curious to see is whether or not the prolonged time it takes to get permitting wrapped up and homes finished is going to significantly fuck with the margins some of these companies can work with. It sometimes takes years to get something off the ground if you’re investing in the city and if you project that you can sell something for $425k in Brookland Park only to suddenly realize you’d be hard pressed to hit $400k that’s going to be a tough pill to swallow. I’ve been in some of these and they can be pretty decent for the money FYI.   While there are spots where the market has softened on the margins, I don’t see where a collapse comes from. I’m unaware of any fucked up collateralized debt obligations or other financial instruments that could go boom at any moment. Maybe AI takes over capital one and a shitload of developers lose their jobs and have to sell their homes at the same time but I think we’re pretty far away from AGI. The AI bubble could pop but if that happens lol strap the fuck in. This is compounded by the fact that now over 40% of homes in America are owned outright. If you don’t have a mortgage, you can absorb external shocks much better especially in an area where property taxes are generally very low like Henrico and Chesterfield.   5. Waited so long to break these walls down to wake up and feel like me   So what about everyone’s favorite boogeyman, the investor class? They still make up an extremely small portion of the overall market, but in the last year they’ve actually become net sellers. They’re offloading a bunch of their portfolio that’s currently contributing to the increase in homes on the market. In Richmond it’s a negligible amount (that includes flippers FYI) but in the hottest rental markets like Atlanta it’s alleviating some of the supply issues. It’s kind of a drop in the bucket but it is a notable change from their purchasing habits of 2021-2022 which were still a very very small portion of transactions despite what that yahoo finance article portrays.   As I’ve said before a bajillion times though they were not really active in Richmond and no they were not scooping up all the affordable housing across the city and surrounding counties. There is zero evidence their activity was causing the spike in home prices. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. It was almost entirely locals with more money than you or people with parents willing to cut fat checks. If you look at data on 401k "hardship" withdrawals this lines up with the peak housing market. So stop posting about investors. Especially if you keep confusing Black Rock with Blackstone and don’t know the difference.   6. I will love you more when it all burns down   Rates probably aren’t going to fall much more than they already have. Inflation is strung around our economic necks like an albatross. You sometimes hear murmurings among some of the Fed governors that the economy could use a rate cut but their thinking is tied to the job market rather than the housing market. There has been some slack there and there is a good case to be made that the job market isn’t exactly great especially in tech adjacent positions, but if a cut does happen and the bond market responds the right way rates could fall. This is kind of a double edged sword though because lower rates bring out buyers waiting on the side lines which increases competition which leads to higher prices.   Most sellers are buyers though so that also means it could open up some inventory. There are people waiting for some softening so they can downsize or move up because kids are in the 5 year plan. Buyers want to buy and sellers want to sell so rates could get the party going. I just worry that you’d have a repeat, albeit less intense, of what we had in 2020 when rates fell to nothing and everyone went wild. Something in the high 5s would probably be a good compromise but that’s just my gut feeling.   7. All the secrets that keep me in chains   Let’s go to our go-to reddit lender u/gracetw22 for a brief comment on the dumbest fucking idea of the last few months: the 50 year mortgage:   There has been a lot in the news about new mortgage initiatives and unfortunately it's all more or less made up. Sorry. The 50 year mortgage concept? Once you account for the higher interest rate, your payment doesn't actually go down and might actually be higher because of amortization math. I got blown up in the tiktok comments and even did a regression analysis on the rate estimate but apparently I don't know what I am talking about and girls can't do math, so who knows. Maybe it will defy all other data points and you can nearly double your term without increasing your rate. The other things mentioned about portable mortgages? Also more or less made up. Maybe it could be an option going forward on new loans with a complete restructure of how mortgages are collateralized and sold on the back end, but I don't really think something happens long term that screws over wall street to allow people the opportunity to keep their comparatively high interest rates of today when they move. If someone could manage that, then I don't see how it solves anything. What is real mortgage news is that mortgage fraud is being investigated as a weapon and while we can debate the merits of those cases, what it does bring to light is just how frequently people misrepresent their occupancy on a home and expect nothing to happen. I don't play that game, but if you are trying to, I suggest making sure not to make any political enemies in the future because the worst case scenario is no longer that your note is called due, you might very well end up in federal court.   That wraps up this update. If you have any additional questions feel free to ask in the comments and I'll do my best to respond. If you're a parent you already recognize the lyrics from K Pop Demon Hunters. The soundtrack slaps ngl. Hearing my five year old try to hit the high notes in "Golden" never fails to crack me up. submitted by /u/gowhatyourself to r/rva [link] [comments]

Frequently Asked Questions Start here before you post a question: Banff Must See and Do Park Pass Admission Fee FAQ Wildfire, smoke status and FAQ Moraine Lake and Lake Louise Shuttle & Parking FAQ Banff vs Canmore vs Calgary vs Golden vs Lake Louise Camping Reservations Key Dates & Parks Banff National Park: Frontcountry sites (Tunnel Mountain, Lake Louise, etc.) launch Friday, Jan 23, 2026, at 8 a.m. MT . Lake O'Hara (Yoho NP): All camping on Thursday, Jan 22, 2026, at 8 a.m. MT. Jasper National Park: Frontcountry (Whistlers, Wapiti) on Tuesday, Jan 27, 2026, at 8 a.m. MT. Moraine Lake/Lake Louise Shuttles: April 15, 2026. Parking and getting around Banff BEST OPTION: free all-day parking by the train station with over 500 stalls only a 5 minute walk to downtown (more info) Very limited paid parking downtown, lots of congestion Avoid driving downtown as two blocks of Banff Ave are closed to cars Avoid driving across the bridge, or risk getting stuck in traffic for 20-45 min Roam Transit provides affordable public transit to major sites and destinations within the town of Banff and throughout Banff National Park. Banff Gondola offers a free shuttle. Roam Transit connects Banff and Canmore with the route 3 bus, costs $6 or less The town is very walkable and only 2km x 2km in size. Come here with walking in mind. General Parking Info The best way to void parking issues is to use public transit or walk. In the summer many parking lots fill up in the morning, at Lake Louise expect them to be full by 7am (we don't know how early it will be full, often it's by sunrise). Moraine Lake and Lake Louise Shuttle & Parking FAQ Hiking AllTrail is the best resource for trails, routes and recent hiker feedback, the app is great and free. Parks Canada maintains a list of trails and trail conditions 9 Bucket List Hikes in Banff National Park 7 Short Hikes in Banff 10 Kid Friendly Trails Town of Banff: Hiking Rainy day hikes: Johnston Canyon, Bow River Falls, Grotto Canyon, Cave & Basin, Sundance Canyon. Accessible trails: Bow River in Banff, Johnston Canyon, Lake Louise lakeside, first half of Sundance Canyon Wildlife Feeding wildlife is illegal and can lead to a $25,000 fine Obey all closures Bring bear spray (see next section) Dogs on leashes at all times Best spots to see wildlife: Minnewanka loop, Vermillion Ponds, Norquay access road, 1A, the drive up the Icefields parkway, Banff Park Museum. Bear Spray Highly recommended, even for popular trails Can be purchased at any hardware store or rental shop Can be rented for about $10 a day if you only need it for a day or two Drop off unused cans at Parks Canada visitor centres or hotel receptions You can't fly with bear spray, bear bells don't work, guns aren't allowed r/Banff isn't a bear spray buy and sell Dogs Must be on a leash at all times, NO EXCEPTIONS! Allowed on most trails (do not toss dog poop bags on trails!) There is an off-leash dog park at the Sundance recgrounds Dogs aren't allowed in any restaurants but many patios are dog friendly Can't go on public transit/shuttles unless in a dog carrier that fits on your lap Pet friendly hotels: Fairmont Banff Springs, any Banff Lodging Co hotel Rain and Rainy Day Activities Don't cancel your trip over forecasted rain. Rain is never a sure thing, creates opportunity: less crowds, more dramatic views. Dress for the forecast. If you can't do that, then do this: Banff Upper Hotsprings Museums: Cave & Basin, Whyte Museum, Banff Park Museum (stuffed animals galore!) Bowling at High Rollers (5 pin) or Banff Springs (10 pin Canadian style) Lux Cinema, or escape room just below it Fancy drink at the Rundle Lounge in the Banff Springs Hotel Banff Gondola if you can still see the peaks of mountains (don't bother if it's socked in). Elevation Place in Canmore for climbing wall, pool and splash pad. Canmore Climbing Gym for bouldering. If it isn't raining hard, go for a hike. Check out hiking section for rain friendly hikes. Accessibility https://www.banfflakelouise.com/accessibility Cheap! Cheap! Hotels: hahahahahahaha, expect to pay $500 a night for a room, $200 a night in a hostel. Camping is the only affordable option. Eats: Arashi Ramen (And Arashi Express, Arashi To Go), Hankki (Korean Street food), Zyka (Indian), Tommy's (pub), Aardvark Pizza Activities: hike Sulphur Mountain and save $70, park at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier and walk 10 minutes to touch a glacier. Visit Bow Falls, Peyto Lake Lookout, Emerald Lake or Athabasca Falls all for free! Getting here from Calgary Airport shuttle services: Banff Airporter, Brewster Express both cost about $80 one way Vivo Green is about $30 cheaper each way Flixibus runs for about $20 one way, also does Lake Louise and now Moraine Lake On-It Shuttle from Calgary to Canmore/Banff, $10 one way, only runs Fri/Sat/Sun, holidays and some Thurs from May 19 to Sept 17. Many stops in Calgary, no airport. Lots of tour options directly from Calgary, Google is your friend. Canmore / Kananaski Canmore is great, see Banff vs Canmore vs Calgary vs Golden vs Lake Louise Roam Transit connects Banff and Canmore with the route 3 bus, costs $6 or less The Legacy Trail is a great connector bike ride between Banff and Canmore Ask r/Canmore for Canmore and K Country questions Must see/do/eat Google is your friend, but a short list: Banff Must See and Do with many free options Sights: Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake Lookout, Bow Falls, Johnston Canyon, Lake Minnewanka, Columbia Icefields, Emerald Lake, Norquay Lookout, Takkakaw Falls Activities: Banff Gondola, Banff Upper Hotsprings , drive the Icefield Parkway, paddle the Bow River, Sunshine Meadows, Horseback riding, sightseeing tours, Via Ferrata, rent an ebike Hikes: Tunnel Mountain, Lake Agnes, Plains of Six Glaciers, Sulphur Mountain, Larch Valley/Citadel Pass, Stanley Glacier, Boom Lake Eats: this is an excellent start, but some favorites are Arashi Ramen, Shoku, Bluebird or Chucks for steaks, Zyka, Hankki, Eden, Grizzly House. Check out Banff & Lake Louise Tourism or 20 Iconic Bow Valley Places for more ideas. Additional Info Check out our wiki, here are some common topics: Free Things to do in Banff National Park Cheap Things to do in Banff National Park Where to stay in Banff/Lake Louise Getting Around without a Vehicle Jobs in Banff And finally... Posts that are answered by the FAQ will be removed. Feel free to ask your questions or suggest other FAQ topics/answers below. submitted by /u/furtive to r/Banff [link] [comments]

This week was the C++ Committee meeting, in Hagenberg, Austria 🇦🇹, on which we just finalized the C++26 feature freeze! The features voted on will be added gradually to the working draft, and will likely be officially released on the next C++ version (C++26), barring any subsequent changes. This was the last meeting for forwarding C++26 features. The meeting site was "The Upper Austria University of Applied Science", allowing the students to join the discussions as guests for the discussions. There was also an evening lecture (by organizers, with the participation of Herb, Bjarne and Jens) on which they could learn about the latest status of C++ and future directions! 🧑‍🎓 The hotel was convenient, and the meeting organizers ran the meeting wonderfully, with a lot of attention to details, including providing the menu schedule 🙂 (Thank you!) The hybrid (on-site/online) experience worked as expected. We appreciate that greatly! We will continue operating hybrid meetings going forward. Main C++26 Features approved in Hagenberg: 🎉 P2900R14: Contracts for C++ P2786R13: Trivial Relocatability For C++26 P2841R7: Concept and variable-template template-parameters P3471R3: Standard Library Hardening P0260R15: C++ Concurrent Queues P3179R6: C++ parallel range algorithms P3070R2: Formatting enums (was enums only, extended to user defined types) We also rebased C++26 on C23 by approving: “P3348R1: C++26 should refer to C23 not C17” (thank you, Jonathan Wakely!) We had 201 attendees attending the Hagenberg meeting: 128 were in person, and 73 were virtual. Language Progress Evolution Working Group (EWG) Progress This week, EWG saw 56 papers and resolved 7 issues. The objective was to finalize C++26 features, "all bugs in". Meetings going forward will have EWG fixing any bugs for C++26, and reviewing features for C++29. おつかれさまです！🙏 📝 Contracts ⏩ contracts are in C++26, polls on the P2900 tracker This week we: reviewed significant feedback disallowed pre/post contracts on virtual functions entirely contended, but unchanged: exceptions when they leave predicate evaluation 📈 Consensus on contracts has increased since the last meeting. 📈 Thank you to all the authors, and everyone who's provided feedback! Contracts in C++26 are a huge deal for programmers who want to increase their code's correctness and quality. Papers considered: ❌ P3573 — Contract concerns ❌ P3506 — P2900 Is Still not Ready for C++26 ❌ P3591 — Contextualizing Concerns About Contracts ❌ P3500 — Are Contracts "safe"? ❌ P3577 — Require a non-throwing default contract-violation handler ❌ P3229 — Making erroneous behaviour compatible with Contracts ❌ P3269 — Do Not Ship Contracts as a TS ❌ P3265 — Ship Contracts in a TS 📋 Profiles We reviewed the following papers on profiles: ✅ P3589 — C++ Profiles: The Framework ✅ P3611 — Dealing with pointer errors: Separating static and dynamic checking ✅ P3081 — Core safety profiles for C++26 ❌ P3586 — The Plethora of Problems With Profiles ❌ P3543 — Response to Core Safety Profiles (P3081) ✅ P3447 — Profiles syntax ❌ P3599 — Initial Implicit Contract Assertions ✅ P3274 — A framework for Profiles development ❌ P3541 — Violation handlers vs `noexcept` For profiles, we voted the following: Pursue a language safety white paper in the C++26 timeframe containing systematic treatment of core language Undefined Behavior in C++, covering Erroneous Behavior, Profiles, and Contracts. Appoint Herb and Gašper as editors. What does this mean? Many people felt that what profiles are trying to address (security, safety) is hugely critical... yet profiles as they stand today are not ready. The C++26 train is leaving the station, but we want progress, now! What are White Papers? White papers are a tool that ISO is now encouraging us to use, whereby we need WG21 plenary approval and SC22 approval, and then we have an approved white paper. The implication: We can get profiles in a white paper, implemented in compilers (behind a flag) before C++26 is finalized. How does that work? White papers are a lightweight TS, or a heavy paper. The way we manage this is fairly open and we heard concerns which Herb and Gašper will suggest ways to address. For now, we have them as editors, they choose what goes in the white paper, and our hope is that they are trusted by everyone to do so while increasing consensus. EWG will see updates, forward them to CWG, then to plenary, then SC22, with votes at each stop. This is actually lightweight, and will allow rapid improvements and feedback. One way to address issues brought up is to have a git repo on github.com/cplusplus where the white paper is developed, with great commit messages, with periodic reports (say, monthly), and with periodic EWG telecons to review (say, monthly). Herb and Gašper will publish details soon. Of course, we cannot take implementations for granted. A white paper is a new tool, but we can't be shipping unstable white papers every week and expect implementations to ship them. But we know white papers will be lower overhead than a TS. We therefore expect that white paper editors will be mindful editors. What is expected in the white paper? systematic treatment of core language Undefined Behavior in C++, covering Erroneous Behavior, Profiles, and Contracts. This is broad! The final white paper doesn't need to include all of these, but it's the scope that was given to them. The idea is to try to comprehensively address security and safety issues, and do so with a comprehensive design. The scope given to the white paper allows aligning these topics, together. Contracts are in C++26, but profiles will likely be usable in a production compiler before contracts are usable behind -std=c++26. This is great for contracts as well! It means that we'll be able to address perceived shortcomings of contracts with respect to safety rapidly, with direct feedback, in the C++29 timeframe thanks to the white paper. Why Herb and Gašper? Throughout the years they've shown themselves to be mediators, and great at obtaining consensus from groups who have a hard time agreeing. Herb is indefatigable, and has in the last few months put in incredible efforts in advancing a variety of proposals. Gašper goes into details and synthesizes it into consensus, we've seen this in action in contracts to help bridge gaps that seemed unbridgeable. The thinking is that they complement each other, and are well trusted by a variety of committee members to fairly take feedback and advance this critical topic. This is a huge undertaking for both of them. Herb has signed up to dedicate 1.5 to 2 years of his life almost full-time on improving C++ safety and security. Thank you Herb! While Gašper wasn't here for this meeting, he's also signed up for significant work. Thank you! 🍱 Various C++26 papers ✅ P2841 — Concept and variable-template template-parameters ✅ P2786 — Trivial Relocatability For C++26 ✅ P3310 — Solving issues introduced by relaxed template template parameter matching ✅ P2719 — Type-aware allocation and deallocation functions ✅ P2866 — Remove Deprecated Volatile Features From C++26 ✅ P2843 — Preprocessing is never undefined ✅ P2287 — Designated-initializers for base classes ✅ P3501 — The ad-dressing of cats (note: no cats were present) ✅ P0149 — Generalised member pointers ✅ P3618 — Allow attaching main to the global module ✅ P2825 — Overload resolution hook: declcall( unevaluated-call-expression ) ✅ P3492 — Sized deallocation for placement new ✅ P2952 — auto& operator=(X&&) = default ✅ P1967 — #embed - a simple, scannable preprocessor-based resource acquisition method ✅ P3540 — `#embed` offset parameter ✅ P1306 — Expansion statements ✅ P3074 — trivial unions (was std::uninitialized) ✅ P3471 — Standard Library Hardening: forward to CWG for inclusion in C++26 this is a huge deal for safety and security ✅ P3111 — Atomic Reduction Operations ✅ Transactional Memory TS to a white paper ♻️ P3006 — Launder less ♻️ P0876 — fiber_context - fibers without scheduler 🌊 P3568 — break label; and continue label; (only input for WG14, with not strong preference either direction, but interested in this feature) ⚠️ P2434 — Nondeterministic pointer provenance (prospective pointer value was taken out, otherwise back in CWG) ❌ P2883 — `offsetof` Should Be A Keyword In C++26 ❌ P3477 — There are exactly 8 bits in a byte ❌ P3232 — User-defined erroneous behaviour ❌ P3439 — Chained comparisons: Safe, correct, efficient Paper P2843 "Preprocessing is never undefined" above resolves the following issues: ✅ CWG2577 — Undefined behavior for preprocessing directives in macro arguments ✅ CWG2581 — Undefined behavior for predefined macros ✅ CWG2580 — Undefined behavior with #line ✅ CWG2579 — Undefined behavior when token pasting does not create a preprocessing token ✅ CWG2578 — Undefined behavior when creating an invalid string literal via stringizing ✅ CWG2576 — Undefined behavior with macro-expanded #include directives ✅ CWG2575 — Undefined behavior when macro-replacing "defined" operator 🪞 Reflection Reflection: "the renaissance of C++" Reflection is still in C++26! This week we: added access control, need to opt-in to unchecked add function parameter reflection add immediate-escalating expressions Papers seen: ❌ P3587 — Reconsider reflection access for C++26 ✅ P3547 — Modeling Access Control With Reflection ✅ P3096 — Function Parameter Reflection in Reflection for C++26 ✅ P3496 — Immediate-Escalating Expressions ❌ P3569 — Split define_aggregate from Reflection ✅ D2996R10 — Reflection for C++26 (changes back from CWG which needs our approval) 🧊 constexpr ✅ P3533 — constexpr virtual inheritance ✅ P3590 — Constexpr Coroutines Burdens ✅ P3367 — constexpr coroutines voted, but for C++29 🐾 Pattern matching Pattern matching: "We hardly knew ye" Pattern matching did not get consensus, but it was extremely close. Attendees felt that it wasn't quite ready for C++26. Let’s get it in C++29! Main papers which were discussed: ✅ P3572 — Pattern matching ✅ P2688 — Pattern Matching: `match` Expression Library parts, not discussed this meeting: P3527 — Pattern Matching: variant-like and `std::expected` P3521 — Pattern Matching: Customization Point for Open Sum Types Evolution Working Group Incubator Study Group (SG17) Progress EWGI discussed 7 papers during the day on Wednesday. Of these, 4 were forwarded to EWG, 3 were seen and will be seen again. Papers Forwarded to EWG P3412R1: String Interpolation — This paper proposes ‘f’ strings (and a similar ‘x’ string) that allows in-string expressions, which are handled at preprocessor time to expand to a call to std::format, or arguments compatible with std::format. P3424R0: Define Delete with Throwing Exception Specification — This paper attempts to remove a piece of undefined behavior by making a ‘noexcept()’ production deprecated, which prevents undefined behavior. P2490R3: Zero-overhead exception stack traces — An attempt to expose stack traces in catch handlers that opt-in. P3588R0: Allow static data members in local and unnamed classes — This paper attempts to remove an old restriction on data members of local and unnamed classes. Papers that got feedback and will be seen again by EWGI P3550R0: Imports cannot… — A modules based paper that attempts to make C variadic functions ill-formed outside of the global namespace. The author received feedback that this is likely not acceptable due to type-trait-like classes. P3530R0: Intrinsic for reading uninitialized memory — This paper explores and proposes 2 alternatives for managing uninitialized memory, and reading it in a non-undefined behavior method. P3568R0: break label; and continue label; — This paper proposes to expose the C feature of a similar name to C++. However, this feature is contentious/has alternatives being considered, so the author requested feedback on what he could tell the WG14 committee is our preference. Core Working Group (CWG) Progress CWG met during the full week, and reviewed papers targeting C++26, including reflection. We approved the wording for contracts, which were voted in C++26. We also approved resolutions for CWG2549, CWG2703, CWG2943, CWG2970, and CWG2990. As the next meeting (Sofia) is the last meeting for C++26 papers, our primary focus is on reviewing the wording of papers approved by EWG for C++26. most notably reflection. We will hold telecons to make progress ahead of the next meeting. Papers reviewed and sent to plenary (apply changes to the C++ Working Paper) P3542R0: Abolish the term "converting constructor" P3074R7: trivial unions (was std::uninitialized) P1494R5: Partial program correctness P2900R14: Contracts for C++ P3475R2: Defang and deprecate memory_order::consume P2841R7: Concept and variable-template template-parameters P2786R13: Trivial Relocatability For C++26 P1967R14: #embed - a simple, scannable preprocessor-based resource acquisition method Papers which will need to be seen again by CWG P2843R1: Preprocessing is never undefined. This paper removes UB from the preprocessor by making some constructs either ill-formed, or well-defined. We gave some feedback to the author and expect to approve it at a future meeting. This continues to remove UB outside of evaluation. P2719R3: Type-aware allocation and deallocation functions. This paper proposes a new new overload taking a type_identity. This can be used to have per-type allocation buckets, which reduces type confusion vulnerabilities. We gave feedback on the wording to the author and expect to see this again. This paper is currently targeting C++26 P3421R0: Consteval destructors P2996: Reflection Library Progress Library Evolution Working Group (LEWG) Progress LEWG met during the full week, and reviewed 45 papers. We’ve been working mostly on improvements and fixes to our main features targeting C++26, but we also had a chance to have some smaller neat additions! Main Topics Discussed (for topics already forwarded, we discussed improvements / fixes) Sender Receiver (P2300 (forwarded in St. Louis)) Reflection (P2996 (targeting Sofia)) SIMD (P1928 (forwarded in wrocław Trivial Relocatability (P2786 (forwarded in Tokyo) Concurrent Qs (P0260 (forwarded during this meeting)) Standard Library Hardening (P3471 forwarded during this meeting) Ranges (P0896, P2214R1, P2214R2 (accepted for C++20, additions since) P3348R1: C++26 should refer to C23 not C17 — rebasing C++ on C! (thank you, Jonathan Wakely!) Papers forwarded to LWG Reflection ✅ P3394R1: Annotations for Reflection — new feature allowing users to append information for reflection to build upon ✅ P3293R1: Splicing a base class subobject — addresses concerns ✅ P3491R1: define_static_(string,object,array) — adds compile time structures improving usability of reflection ✅ P3547R1: Modeling Access Control With Reflection — address concerns raised regarding access ✅ P3560R0: Error Handling in Reflection — adds std::meta::exception, utilize constexpr exceptions to improve error reporting in reflection Senders Receivers ✅ P2079R7: Parallel Scheduler (was: System Execution Context) — addition for managing execution context ✅ P3149R8: async_scope -- Creating scopes for non-sequential concurrency — addition for managing async-sync integration ✅ P3296R3: let_async_scope — managing async-sync integration, designed to provide simpler default ✅ P3481R2: std::execution::bulk() issues — improvements to utility (joined paper with “P3564R0 Make the concurrent forward progress guarantee usable in bulk” thank you to the authors for working together to merge the papers!) ✅ P3570R0: Optional variants in sender/receiver — utility for improved integration with coroutines ✅ P3164R3: Early Diagnostics for Sender Expressions — improved errors! ✅ P3557R0: High-Quality Sender Diagnostics with Constexpr Exceptions — utilize constexpr exceptions for senders! ✅ P3425R2: Reducing operation-state sizes for sub-object child operations — optimization ✅ P3433R0: Allocator Support for Operation States — improvement Safety ✅ P3471R3: Standard Library Hardening — turning preconditions into hardened ones, provides stronger guarantees. Other Features ✅ P3516R0: Uninitialized algorithms for relocation — library interface for Relocatability ✅ P2988R10: std::optional — adding support for ref types in optional ✅ P0260R15: C++ Concurrent Queues — concurrent container! ✅ P3179R6: C++ parallel range algorithms ✅ P3070R2: Formatting enums (was enums only, extended to all user defined types) — easier way to define formatters for users ✅ P3111R3: Atomic Reduction Operations — API extension ✅ P3383R1: mdspan.at() — API addition ✅ P3044R0: sub-string_view from string — API addition ✅ P3060R2: Add std::views::indices(n) — avoid off by one ✅ P1317R1: Remove return type deduction in std::apply — fixes ✅ P3623R0: Add noexcept to [iterator.range] (LWG 3537) — ✅ P3567R0: flat_meow Fixes — fixes ✅ P3016R5: Resolve inconsistencies in begin/end for valarray and braced initializer lists — fixes ✅ P3037R4: constexpr std::shared_ptr — extension ✅ P3416R2: exception_ptr_cast: Add && = delete overload — fixes ✅ P2319R4: Prevent path presentation problems — API update (Breaking Change, fixes filesystem::path) Papers / issues sent from LWG seen by LEWG ✅ P3019R13: Vocabulary Types for Composite Class Design — apply design changes, send back to LWG ✅ P2019R7: Thread Attributes — apply SG16 recommendation, send back to LWG ✅ P2663R6: Proposal to support interleaved complex values in std::simd — approved, sent back to LWG ✅ P2664R9: Proposal to extend std::simd with permutation API — approved, sent back to LWG ✅ P2993R3: Extend header function with overloads for std::simd — approved, sent back to LWG Papers that got feedback and will be seen again by LEWG 🔄 P3552R0: Add a Coroutine Lazy Type 🔄 P3380R1: Extending support for class types as non-type template parameters — no implementation, requires more work (reflection) Papers that did not get consensus ❌ P3559R0: Trivial relocation: One trait or two? ❌ P3477R1: There are exactly 8 bits in a byte ❌ P3160R2: An allocator-aware inplace_vector Policies discussion We will resume our discussion about policies in Sofia! Information about policies can be found in: “P2267R1: Library Evolution Policies (The rationale and process of setting a policy for the Standard Library)”. We will discuss the following topics: Explicit Constructors Overload resolution with concepts Unicode support (Collaboration with SG16) Worth noting that Evolution Work Group (EWG) have also introduced policies, and have accepted: “SD-10: Language Evolution (EWG) Principles” during Wroclaw. Evening Sessions In addition to the work meeting, we had two evening sessions during the week (initiated by WG21 members). Evening sessions are informative sessions, during which we do not take any binding votes. They are meant for either reviewing topics relevant to the committee in more depth than possible during the work sessions (such is the case for "Relocatability") , or for introducing topics which are not procedurally related but are relevant to WG21 (such is the case for “Perspectives on Contracts"). 🔎Tuesday: “Concurrent Queues” Thank you to all our authors and participants, for a great collaboration in a productive and useful review process, and see you (in-person or online) in Sofia!◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜ Library Evolution Working Group Incubator Study Group (SG18) Progress LEWGI/SG18 did not meet in person during Hagenberg (to allow more time to focus on C++26 design freeze) but will be holding regular telecons, usually only looking at one paper and giving the author feedback so that their paper is in the best possible shape for consideration by LEWG or various other study groups. SG18 planning on meeting in person in Sofia. &n debsp; Library Working Group (LWG) Progress LWG met in person throughout the week and reviewed multiple papers. Papers forwarded to plenary P3137R3: views::to_input P0472R3: Put std::monostate in ⟨utility⟩ — the C++ working paper P3349R1: Converting contiguous iterators to pointers P3372R3: constexpr containers and adaptors P3378R2: constexpr exception types P3441R2: Rename simd_split to simd_chunk P3287R3: Exploration of namespaces for std::simd P2976R1: Freestanding Library: algorithm, numeric, and random P3430R3: simd issues: explicit, unsequenced, identity-element position, and members of disabled simd P2663R7: Interleaved complex values support in std::simd P2933R4: Extend ⟨bit⟩ header function with overloads for std::simd P2846R6: reserve_hint: Eagerly reserving memory for not-quite-sized lazy ranges P3471R4: Standard Library Hardening P0447R28: Introduction of std::hive P3019R14: indirect and polymorphic: Vocabulary Types for Composite Class Design Papers that require more LWG review time P3096R6: Function Parameter Reflection in Reflection for C++26 P2996R10: Reflection for C++26 P3284R2: write_env and unstoppable Sender Adaptors P3149R8: async_scope – Creating scopes for non-sequential concurrency 35 P2781R6: std::constant_wrapper P3472R3: Make fiber_context::can_resume() const 58 P2988R9: std::optional P3179R7: C++ parallel range algorithms Issues Reviewed by LWG LWG4198: schedule_from isn't starting the schedule sender if decay-copying results throws LWG4198: schedule_from isn't starting the schedule sender if decay-copying results throws 16 LWG4199: ​​constraints on user customizations of standard sender algorithms are incorrectly specified 16 LWG4202: enable-sender should be a variable template 17 LWG4203: Constraints on get-state functions are incorrect 17 LWG4204: specification of as-sndr2(Sig) in [exec.let] is incomplete 18 LWG4205: let_[].transform_env is specified in terms of the let_ sender itself instead of its child 18 LWG4206: Alias template connect_result_t should be constrained with sender_to 18 LWG4208: Wording needs to ensure that in connect(sndr, rcvr) that rcvr expression is only evaluated once 19 LWG4209: default_domain::transform_env should be returning FWD-ENV(env) 19 Papers forwarded to other groups (CWG/LEWG) P2830R9: Standardized Constexpr Type Ordering) — finalized review, to be approved by CWG Note: Issues finalized during a meeting are tentatively ready but voted on during the next meeting (in this case, Hagenberg). IMPORTANT: Study Groups Progress is in the first comment! C++ Release Schedule NOTE: This is a plan not a promise. Treat it as speculative and tentative. See P1000, P0592, P2000 for the latest plan. Meeting Location Objective 2023 Summer Meeting Varna 🇧🇬 First meeting of C++26. 2023 Fall Meeting Kona 🇺🇸 Design major C++26 features. 2024 Winter Meeting Japan 🇯🇵 Design major C++26 features. 2024 Summer Meeting St. Louis 🇺🇸 Design major C++26 features. 2024 Fall Meeting Wrocław 🇵🇱 C++26 major language feature freeze. 2025 Winter Meeting Hagenberg 🇦🇹 C++26 feature freeze. C++26 design is feature-complete. 2025 Summer Meeting Sofia 🇧🇬 Complete C++26 CD wording. Start C++26 CD balloting ("beta testing"). 2025 Fall Meeting Kona 🇺🇸 C++26 CD ballot comment resolution ("bug fixes"). 2026 Winter Meeting 🗺️ C++26 CD ballot comment resolution ("bug fixes"), C++26 completed. 2026 Summer Meeting 🗺️ First meeting of C++29. 2026 Fall Meeting 🗺️ Design major C++29 features. 2027 Winter Meeting 🗺️ Design major C++29 features. 2027 Summer Meeting 🗺️ Design major C++29 features. 2027 Fall Meeting 🗺️ C++29 major language feature freeze. Status of Major C++ Feature Development NOTE: This is a plan not a promise. Treat it as speculative and tentative. IS = International Standard. The C++ programming language. C++11, C++14, C++17, C++20, C+23, etc. TS = Technical Specification. "Feature branches" available on some but not all implementations. Coroutines TS v1, Modules TS v1, etc. CD = Committee Draft. A draft of an IS/TS that is sent out to national standards bodies for review and feedback ("beta testing"). WP = Committee White Paper. Similar to TS, but is recommended by ISO for lightweight ISO process. For more information see SD-4 Updates since the last Reddit trip report are in bold. Feature Status Depends On Current Target (Conservative Estimate) Current Target (Optimistic Estimate) Senders Plenary approved C++26 C++26 Networking Require rebase on Senders Senders C++29 C++29 Linear Algebra Plenary approved C++26 C++26 SIMD Plenary approved C++26 C++26 Contracts Plenary Approved C++26 C++26 Reflection Forwarded to CWG, LWG C++26 C++26 Pattern Matching EWG (discussed in Hagenberg) C++29 C++29 Profiles, Syntax EWG (discussed in Hagenberg) WP C++29 Transactional Memory Currently Targeting WP Committee approval WP WP Last Meeting's Reddit Trip Report. If you have any questions, ask them in this thread! Report issues by replying to the top-level stickied comment for issue reporting. u/InbalL*, Library Evolution (LEWG) Chair, Israeli National Body Chair* u/jfbastien*, Evolution (EWG) Chair* u/erichkeane*, Evolution Working Group Incubator (SG17, EWGI) Chair, Evolution (EWG) Vice Chair* u/nliber*, Library Evolution Incubator (SG18) Vice Chair, Library Evolution (LEWG) Vice Chair, Admin Chair, US National Body Vice Chair* u/hanickadot*, Compile-Time programming (SG7) Chair, Evolution (EWG) Vice Chair, Czech National Body Chair* u/FabioFracassi*, Library Evolution Vice Chair* u/c0r3ntin*, Library Evolution (LEWG) Vice Chair* u/je4d*, Networking (SG4) Chair, Reflection (SG7) Vice Chair* u/V_i_r*, Numerics (SG6) Chair* u/foonathan*, Ranges (SG9) Vice Chair* u/bigcheesegs*, Tooling (SG15) Chair* u/tahonermann*, Unicode (SG16) Chair* u/mtaf07*, Contracts (SG21) Chair* u/timur_audio*, Contracts (SG21) Vice Chair* u/eddie_nolan ... and others ... IMPORTANT: Study Groups Progress is in the first comment! submitted by /u/InbalL to r/cpp [link] [comments]

Hi again r/kitchener! Mike Morrice here, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre. I’m back to share another update on my advocacy over the last few months, with some examples of how my team and I are continuing to steer clear of the partisan theatre and find ways to advance our community’s priorities despite Parliament being prorogued. [On that note: See here for some of my thoughts on prorogation. Short version is that I’m disappointed it limits our ability to respond and hold government accountable to actions related to the looming tariff threats from the US, the housing crisis, and more. Sadly, it also wipes away government bills that were in progress. More below on specific positives and negatives on this for our community.] If you haven’t seen my previous updates, you can find my last one in August here, and one from a year ago here. And as always, I’ll watch this post over the coming days – feel free to leave any questions you might have for me here and I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can. Housing Affordability We remain in a housing crisis, and of course it’s hitting average and low-income earners the hardest. Since my last update, I’ve pursued two new solutions on our community’s behalf. The first is amplifying a call made by Habitat for Humanity to increase affordable homeownership builds by extending HST relief to include builders like them, particularly given that’s already in place for for-profit builders of rental housing. See here for a letter Elizabeth May and I sent on this to both the Finance and Housing Ministers, and an example here of my calls and debate in Parliament on this. The second echoes calls made both by local housing leaders, like those at Thresholds Homes and Supports, and housing policy experts, like Dr. Carolyn Whitzman, Motion 170, calls on the federal government to create clear criteria for both affordable and deeply affordable housing funds, based on the actual income of the folks in need of housing rather than out-of-touch measures like 80% of median market rent, and make sure that federal dollars actually go to building that housing! See here for a quick summary of this idea, and check out more on this in reporting from CBC, The Record, and CityNews. Since the cabinet shuffle just before the holidays, my team and I have continued to raise these ideas with new Minister of Housing Nate Erskine-Smith, who I’ve worked with on a number of cross-party campaigns in the past (see here for the time I joined him on his podcast). I’ll be meeting with him next on this in early February. Corporate Greed Excessive corporate profiteering has been a major driver of the massive spike in the cost of living in recent years. A prime example is the oil and gas industry – an industry that generated $66 billion in pure profits in 2022 – with their profits responsible for 25 cents of every dollar spent on higher prices in 2021 and 2022 alone! It’s why I’m continuing to advocate to not only end the $18 billion in annual federal subsidies to Big Oil, but to extend an excess profits tax that was already placed on banks and insurance companies during the pandemic to include the largest oil and gas companies in the country. I proposed this in Motion 92 over a year ago, and have continued to raise this call in recent months. Even a 15% tax on their 2022 profits over $1 billion would generate a whopping $4.2 billion – every dollar of which could be invested into solutions that make life more affordable for folks in our community while reducing our climate impact. This builds on previous calls I’ve made to also address excessive profiteering in our housing market, by ending a tax exemption for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) which largely buy up existing affordable housing and jack up prices – instead pushing for them to be taxed at the same rate as other corporations in Canada. Moves like this are particularly important in our community given we lose more affordable homes for each one built than anywhere else in Canada. In recent months, in light of extreme gouging for the Eras Tour, I also sponsored a petition initiated by a community member looking for stronger consumer protections for ticket sales and resales as is the case in other countries, like Portugal and Denmark. The initiative took off in local and national media and saw over 5,000 people signing on – you can learn more in this interview with CBC KW. Affordable and Sustainable Transit I’ve continued to use every opportunity to fight for better transit in our community. In fact, my first question to the Prime Minister in the fall Parliamentary session was to put more pressure on our call for accountability from the federal government on a timeline for two-way all-day GO train service to and from Toronto. In recent months I’ve also been proud to sponsor a petition from a community member on the subject, which helped us keep the conversation going in local media following a joint press conference with MPP Aislinn Clancy. Nate Erskine-Smith is now also Minister for Infrastructure, and so while I’m disappointed Sean Fraser never delivered on this call, I’ve been talking with Nate about this as well in hopes he may be quicker to act. Meanwhile, in the face of both an affordability and a climate crisis, we’ve got to decrease costs and increase service for all public transit. Federal funds could help make that happen. It’s why I’ve been calling for the governing party’s promised permanent public transit fund to start earlier than 2026, and for it to include critical operational funding (e.g. hiring drivers or mechanics), as Environmental Defence and others have called for. It’s something we could easily cover the cost for with the tax on Canada’s biggest polluters I mentioned above. International Students The majority of immigration in Canada in recent years has come from temporary residents – a pattern that’s especially pronounced in our community with Conestoga increasing their international student permits from around 760 to over 30,000 in less than a decade. This is in large part because the federal government’s Immigration Levels Plan never even included a target for temporary residents until this fall. The impacts this has had in our community – both on already limited community resources like housing, as well as on international students at increased risk of exploitation – was first raised with me by folks on this sub in the summer of 2023. This fall, I continued to call for measures included in the motion/motions/12630628) I worked with many of you on to be implemented. Four have already been taken up to date - examples here and here – and our community is already beginning to see strain on resources start to reduce as a result. I’m meeting with the Minister of Immigration’s team again on Monday to continue pushing for them to adopt the remainder of the items in our motion, like limiting permits for schools where a large number of students never report for classes. Lifting People with Disabilities out of Poverty As I have since being elected in 2021, this fall I’ve continued to amplify the voices of folks with disabilities and call for the federal government to move quickly on delivering their promised Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) to lift hundreds of thousands out of poverty. Most significantly of late, this was in my submission on the government’s disappointing draft regulations in September, and I spoke about it frequently in the fall session of Parliament. Now, the prorogation of Parliament has threatened even getting a meagre version of the benefit out to recipients by the previously promised start date of July 2025. So while I continue to call to fix the benefit, Elizabeth and I have also written to the Minister this week to push her to meet this deadline. Equitable Funding for the Arts Following a visit my team and I arranged from the CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) to our community this summer, this fall I continued to raise our call for equitable arts funding in Parliament, and I’ve been working across party lines to build support. Because while regions like Montreal, Winnipeg, and Vancouver receive an average of $18.30 in federal funding per person, the arts in our community receive only $3.39 per person - a five-fold gap, representing over $9 million in 2022 alone! It’s why I introduced Motion 129/motions/13197593), calling for the federal government to close this gap by restoring funding to 2021 levels and redistributing funding so that underfunded communities, like ours, get their fair share. I'm proud to have secured support from MPs in all opposition parties to co-sign a letter to the Minister calling for this inequity to be addressed. More than words on Reconciliation In addition to pressing the federal government to follow through on their responsibility to provide health care to our neighbours living on reserve at Six Nations of the Grand River – starting by replacing the health care centre that has been shut down for months due to worsening black mold – I've also been working closely with Six Nations Chief Hill to propose amendments to Bill C-61. It’s a bill that would have helped address the lack of clean water on First Nations’ and other reserves. While the bill was inadequate, it would have been a step in the right direction for people who live on Six Nations' reserve, where 70% of residents don't have access to clean drinking water from their taps. One win as a result of this work was getting both recognition and affirmation of First Nations’ rights to clean drinking water added to the bill. Unfortunately, the entire bill was wiped out by the prorogation. One solution that Greens have called for in spite of this, is pushing for party leaders to meet to discuss giving unanimous consent to pass critical legislation like Bill C-61 as the first order of business when Parliament resumes in late March, before opposition parties will likely bring down the government. More on this in my interview here with the National Observer. And More... In my last update, I shared a bit about Noor, a constituent fighting for the rare cancer medication prescribed by her oncologist to be covered in order to extend her life. At that time, I had advocated directly to the Minister, both in Parliament and through a letter, to encourage the Canadian Drug Agency (CDA) to re-review the drug. Heartbreakingly, Noor passed away this fall, but her family has asked us to keep fighting for folks just like her across the country. One glimmer of good news that has come from this: the CDA has finally heard our call and committed to re-examining their previous decisions. I’d also promised an update on Bill S-210 before it comes to its final vote. The bill is extremely unlikely to move forward before an election because of prorogation. My only disappointment is not having the opportunity to vote against it at third reading - because it likely won’t ever get to that stage. Meanwhile, I’ve also used my time in Parliament this fall to call on the Prime Minister to follow through on electoral reform, to recognize the State of Palestine, and to deliver our community a fair share of funding for harm reduction and other supports for people dying from a poisoned drug supply. Check my record If you’re curious where I’ve stood on other issues important to you, here are a few search tools you can use to find more information: Easily searchable database of everything I’ve ever said in Parliament and in committee: https://openparliament.ca/politicians/mike-morrice/ Text and video of all the times I’ve spoken in Parliament since being elected: Publication Search (ourcommons.ca) List of every bill and motion I’ve put forward or seconded: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/mike-morrice(110476)#work#work) List of all votes I’ve taken in Parliament: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/mike-morrice(110476)/votes/votes) Digital copies of each paper newsletter sent to constituents at least every 3 months: https://mikemorricemp.ca/newsletters/ Feel free to connect If you’re a resident of Kitchener Centre and you’d like to chat more about any of the topics I mentioned or other priorities that are important to you, feel free to email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), or call my office here: 519-741-2001. My team can set up a 15 min phone or zoom chat. Please include your postal code in any emails, as this will help my team and I respond more quickly to folks in our riding. Each month I also share some updates in an e-newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here: https://mikemorricemp.ca/. And last, for those still reading who could use support navigating federal services and departments, like Service Canada, Federal Student Loans, or the Canada Revenue Agency, our community office remains open while Parliament is prorogued. Find more info here: https://mikemorricemp.ca/help-navigating-federal-services/ Thanks again to all those on this sub who’ve engaged with my team and I in recent months, and do feel free to post questions below if there’s more you’d like to know about our advocacy of late! Mike Edit: fixed broken links submitted by /u/mikemorrice to r/kitchener [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/BriantheSanDiegan to r/BrownU [link] [comments]

I wrote a post a few months ago (What will it take for Spacex to send humans to mars in 2024?) which did rather well. However I focused only on Starship itself, not on any of the other pieces that are just as important to achieve Spacex’s mars-sized ambitions, so let’s take a look at everything but the big shiny rocket. To be clear (like before), this is less me predicting the future and more me looking to start a discussion based on the data we have and a whole bunch of assumptions, speculations and wishes. Let's start off by making the mother of all Big Falcon assumptions: Starship works as intended This is a MASSIVE leap of faith to take. While SN5’s (and now SN6’s) flight(s) did alleviate some concerns regarding Starship’s ascent, and Superheavy doesn’t really worry me with all the falcon 9 first stages Spacex has to draw experience from, there’s no guarantee that Spacex’s re-entry, descent and landing systems will work as well as they want and expect them to, since those all fall somewhere between unusual and revolutionary. Nor is the rapid and reliable reuse guaranteed to work as well as we all want it to. Although I will say people need to cool it with claiming Starship is years and years away from orbit; the raptor works and the tanks, plumbing and command & control system are up to standards, as SN5&6 showed. If Spacex wanted to (and had enough engines) they could bolt together a Superheavy booster, stick a Starship on it and fly both expendable to put 100-200 tons in orbit right now if they had a launch pad and a humongous crane. Big waste of money and engines but they could do it. Once Superheavy hops (successfully) you can seriously argue that Starship is closer to reaching orbit than SLS, despite the latter’s development being started a decade earlier. It’s just that reaching orbit isn’t Starships main goal; getting to orbit and back down cheaply and reliably is, which is another thing entirely. To me, SN8’s 20 km flight will be the big thing to watch: if that works, Starship is ready for orbit. If not, Spacex has a nasty problem or two to solve. For the record, I will say that I think the launch, ascent and descent of SN8 will go fine, but that the flip-down has a high chance of going very, very wrong the first few times. Just to reiterate: this is not me saying what will happen, this is me speculating what Elon plans/wants to make happen in order to put humans on the red planet basically 4 years from now, to give people something to ponder on and give their own take. Personally I doubt that humans will really depart for mars in 2024, but given Elon’s repeated statements that 2024 is still the goal, and the fact that at least at tesla his timelines are getting a little more accurate recently, I have crammed the insane amount of progress needed into the next 3-4 years to make it fit. My timeline should not be taken as a prediction but as my best guess to somehow get all the needed pieces into place given the insane objectives. So, if we make the admittedly stomach-churning assumption that Starship works and is flying reliably and reusable sometime (early) next year, what else should SpaceX be working on? To me, it seems they need four other pieces to realize their mars ambitions: getting Starship to mars -> orbital refueling getting Starship back from mars -> fuel production on mars getting the humans inside Starship to mars -> life support in space keeping the humans inside Starship alive on the surface of mars -> life support on mars I will go through them in order from what I consider to be least to most difficult (no part is “easy” if you ask me): Orbital refueling: This one I’ve made a U-turn on. I used to think it was a major obstacle but recently have concluded that it won’t slow down Spacex at all. Why? Because in their Artemis bid, Spacex announced that they plan to use not just tankers, but fuel depots. This simplifies the whole operation massively. Spacex can launch a few custom Starships that consist of nothing but a giant empty fuel tank, something which they can probably build today. No heat shield, no fins, no payload bay, no life support, to maximize the fuel capacity. Only some batteries, a solar panel, rcs and a way to dock. Heck with the recent raptor improvements they might be able to stretch this type of Starship to have even more internal volume for fuel. Now these most likely will have to be painted pitch black to prevent an angry mob of astronomers marching on boca chica with pitchforks, but that’s probably not a bad idea regardless. The fuel boil off in LEO will be a lot less than Starship will have to deal with on its way to mars due to a noticeable lack of shade during the transfer, so subjecting the LEO fuelers to as high a temperature as possible seems like a useful safety margin when designing for that. The current Starship can hold 1200 tons of propellant with a large amount of its volume turned over for cargo. Given that a Superheavy can hold 3300 tons of propellant, let’s say that a fuel depot Starship can hold between 2000 and 3000 tons depending on how much it’s stretched, with the lower estimate being more likely. Edit: elon recently stated that they are pushing for Starship being able to hold up to 2000 tons of fuel, supporting my hunch that Starship’s length will increase. Some back-of-the-envelope calculations show that a 250 ton Starship (100 ton dry mass, 150 ton payload) with 750 tons of fuel and an isp of 380 will have just over 5 km/s of delta V. Going from earth to mars using a hohmann transfer takes just over 4 km/s, while a much faster 3-month transfer takes around 4.8 km/s. This fits well with Elon’s step-by-step strategy. For the first flights having an extra 1000 m/s will most likely be invaluable, allowing on-route course corrections, meaningful maneuvers in martian orbit, as well as an easier landing, both due to being able to start the landing burn higher up and the fact that more fuel means more mass at the bottom of the Starship making it more stable during the flip and upon touching down. Later flights, after Spacex has a high enough confidence in their navigation, aerodynamic controls and landing system, can then start to burn more fuel to incrementally shorten that transfer time until they reach Elon’s goal of a three month transfer for humans. Now what would this mean? If Spacex launches say three of these fuel depot Starships early next year (and they totally will have the means to build and launch these by then, all they need is a working Superheavy), they now have something to use their insane launch cadence for that is both useful and dirt-cheap. Each one of these fully fueled will provide the propellant for three mars-bound or two lunar-surface-bound Starships to reach their destinations. Since the tankers will be able to carry between 100 and 150 tons to LEO depending on how far along the vacuum raptor engine is, this is 60 to 90 flights right here for Starship. If I’m Elon/SpaceX, all I’m doing in 2021 is flying Starship tankers DOZENS of times to bring fuel up to these depots for use in 2022. Now I know people are excited about a Starship launch putting 400 Starlink satellites into orbit in one go, but let’s remember that those still cost $300.000 a piece to make, and that’s after achieving an impressive economy of scale (120 a month). One failure on ascent and there goes over a hundred million dollars. At least for the first dozen launches, Spacex would be wise to start with fuel only imho, and move to include Starlink launches after a few months of successful fuel flights. It will give Starship a simple cheap payload to fly over and over again with minimal impact if it suffers a catastrophic failure on ascent. Simply learn and move on; nothing of significant value was lost. While the engineers focus on decreasing the turn-around time and fixing whatever unexpected problems arise due to Starships re-entering multiple times (which there definitely will be, don’t tell yourself otherwise), the designers can spend 2021 seriously working on life support and ISRU systems, with both available to support the other should they need to. As an additional bonus, all these launches will greatly boost the confidence in Starship from both nasa and the commercial sector, paving the way for Starship’s utter domination of the commercial launch market from 2022 onward. Finally, maybe the realization that voting for Artemis meant voting for orbital fuel depots will give Shelby a well-earned heart attack (one can dream). /s If Spacex can get 10 to 20 Starship tankers to orbit in 2021 (they can all be the same ship, they can be 3 different ships or they can be 10 different ships depending on how successful they are in their re-use objectives by then), it will give them a much easier time in 2022; “simply” fly the mars-bound or moon-bound Starship to LEO, dock with the depot and perform a single large fuel transfer. This way Spacex won’t have to worry about keeping a dozen Starship tankers in orbit at a time. As for orbital refueling itself (wow, went a little bit of topic there), I don't see any major hurdles: if Starship’s fuel lines can handle the pressures of being fueled on the pad through the Superheavy booster as is currently the plan, than all Spacex needs to do is not exceed those pressures during on-orbit fuel transfers, which really should not be hard so long as they take their time with them. Life support on mars This might surprise some, but I actually think keeping humans alive on the martian surface will be much easier than keeping them alive in space due to the zero-g and radiation concerns that the latter will have to deal with. Consequently, if I were to suggest only one thing to Spacex from my very comfortable armchair, it would be to split the two: one type of Starship designed to act as a permanently inhabitable martian base that is basically an office tower with a big empty drained fuel tank and some engines at the bottom, and one designed for crewed use in zero-g as well as ascent and descent on both mars and earth. Trying to make a Starship do both is asking for trouble if you ask me, as well as greatly complicating the design (“the best part is no part”). Yes this would mean that these “base” Starships will not return to earth, but that is not that big a loss given the production rates Spacex is already achieving, plus having a few extra raptors on mars that can be cannibalised for parts or simply swapped with a malfunctioning raptor of another Starship sounds to me like good redundancy. Furthermore this split would have three enormous upsides: 1: The base ones are easier to design and build due to only being operated and inhabited under gravity after landing. Let’s remind ourselves that if Spacex wants to send people to mars in 2024, it will be much easier to find support from nasa and the like if there already is a habitable structure waiting on the martian surface for them, which will have to be sent there in 2022. The easier base ones can be the focus of design in 2021 before being built and launched in 2022. Meanwhile the manned zero-g Starship will be granted another year to prove itself as now it won’t be needed until 2023, which is probably a good thing anyway. Even if Spacex can build these next year there is no guarantee that any agency would have enough confidence in Starship by then to provide them with astronauts. Taking another year to really prove Starship’s reliability as a launch and landing system might be enough (remember this means dozens of launches since we’re assuming Starship works) for a Starship to take on crew in LEO at the end of 2022/early 2023, probably at first using a dragon capsule to go to and from orbit as Tim Dodd and others have suggested. 2: It’s simply much safer. Living and working in a separate Starship from the one that you land and launch in will probably be a whole lot more comfortable for the crew on mars. Sleeping well might be a bit harder if every morning the giant fuel tank a few dozen meters below you is a little bit fuller with highly combustible propellant than the day before. Compared to if the tank beneath you is completely drained while the Starship you will return in sits a few miles away being steadily refueled with you only returning to it a few hours/days before launch. Good back-up in terms of life support systems too; if something is really vitally needed you can take it with you from the lander/launcher upon arrival or from the base/habitat upon leaving, as only one at a time will be housing crew. I’m sure nasa would be much more comfortable with this system too. 3: This base/habitat Starship would be perfect for nasa’s Artemis program: While I don’t agree with Zubrin on a lot of things (seriously, he needs to stop with the whole mini-starship idea, it’s not gonna happen), he is right when he says that starship as a lunar ascent vehicle makes very little sense imo. It would be a huge investment of fuel and time for no real gain besides funding and nasa support, the latter of which is all but assured if Starship works. If instead Spacex offered Starship as a lunar base and suggested that nasa use the landers from the other two companies to go to and from the lunar surface, there’s no way nasa would say no. Imagine the offer: “So here’s the deal: we will build a Starship interior to your specifications and wishes. Once built we will launch it, refuel it in orbit and fly it out to whatever lunar crater you want us to. Once landed, we fill drain every drop of fuel out of the tanks, lower the staircase/elevator and wait for your crew to arrive on one of those landers. It will have a thousand cubic meters of interior volume, aka more than the ISS, and you can have it on the moon in 2023 since we want to send one or two to mars in 2022 anyway. We’d like you to give us a billion dollars and a promise for martian astronauts in 2024 once we’ve landed it in exchange. Deal?”. Obviously Spacex won’t be that blunt, but I don’t believe that nasa wouldn’t fall over themselves to take an offer like that. So what would this designed-for-gravity Starship need? Honestly, nothing fancy, which is why I suggested splitting them. Starship will have the unique luxury to simply, as musk has stated, throw mass at a problem until it is solved. As an example, let us say that a mars crew would number an impressive 12 people (one mission commander/test pilot, 4 scientists, 3 engineers, 2 botanists and 2 doctors). We know that they will be staying on mars for at least two years, but for safety let’s design it for 4 years. If they all eat like the most wasteful people on earth (cough, americans, cough...) they will consume 10 tons of food per year, with half of that being the recommended healthy amount. So.... let’s just put 40 tons of food on board. Done. 4 to 8 years of food just like that. This is what using mass as a solution looks like. All Spacex needs is a way to store and preserve that food by either drying or freezing it for up to 5+ years, at which point that problem is solved. I’m no food expert but surely that technology exists? Same story with water. 12 people will drink less than 10 tons of water a year, but here recycling is a well-understood and “easy” thing to implement. We’re able to reach 90+% efficiency on the ISS I think (if I’m wrong feel free to correct me), so if Spacex gets anywhere close to that (anything over 50% will do) they can put 20 or 30 tons of water on board Starship and for all intents and purposes have an unlimited supply. Recycling CO2 back into O2 is a solved problem that basically only requires power which Starship will have plenty of. Also keep in mind that the above figures don’t assume food production or recycling, higher efficiency or using martian resources like water ice, any one of which would make surviving on mars for a few years a non-issue. So… is that it? Well... yeah, pretty much. Spacex will need to design some ways to control temperature, humidity and (human) waste disposal as well as provide communication and spacesuits for the astronauts, but these are by no means show stoppers, especially with help from nasa and all the lessons learned from dragon. As for spare parts they can either take a 3D-printer or simply a literal ton worth of the more important components, or both if they want to. None of the above is easy, but none of it is something that Spacex cannot obtain or build in a year (that year being 2021). I have a design in my head for how this thing would look like on the inside but I’m a pretty bad programmer/modeller. If someone who is good at that wants to model and render it and read my far too detailed description feel free to ask. Just be prepared for a very long response comment. Life support in space This is where things start to get “actually” difficult even if Starship works. Keeping astronauts alive during the 6+ month trip to mars will be easy. Keeping them healthy and in good condition will be very hard. Like I said with the mars base Starship, food, water and air won’t be a problem. Even basic water recycling and CO2 scrubbers will keep the crew alive just fine. Put 10 tons of food and 10 tons of water on board and there’s your problem solved. Even if they have to abort the martian landing on-route for some reason and slingshot back to earth they will be fine as they will have 1 to 2 years or more of food, water and air. No, the two big problems will be radiation and weightlessness. On mars neither of these factors are a show stopper: The gravity most likely will be fine and mars and its atmosphere will shield you from some/much of the cosmic rays, while putting the radiation shelter right below your 40 tons of food with your 20-30 tons of water surrounding it will protect you reasonably well from solar storms. None of these “easy fixes” is available in interplanetary space, as there is no planet to create gravity or block radiation (shocking I know), nor will these ones be as full of food and water to use as shielding since they will be carrying much more cargo and scientific instruments. No reason not to if there is already a base Starship full of food and water waiting on mars. The simplest way to solve the radiation problem is some sort of physical shielding material in the walls (maybe hydrogen-rich foam?) and a solar storm shelter which is surrounded by all of the food and water on board. Whatever Spacex comes up with, this is something that I hope they work very closely with nasa on. The main problem is that they will not have much time to test this theoretical solution with humans on board until probably 2023. At the earliest Starship will be flying with crew on board in 2022, and even that’s jaw-droppingly aggressive. It would probably require Starship to reach falcon 9’s current amount of launches (a 100 basically) in less than two years (aka, one orbital launch every week on average) with little to no failures before nasa would trust Starship to launch and land safely, since I don’t see any sign of Spacex adding a launch abort system or changing the landing sequence. For the first few flights they can use a dragon to shuttle between a Starship in LEO and earth’s surface, but they can only do that a few times before the costs in both money and disposed falcon 9 second stages start adding up. No humans have ever gone beyond the earth-moon system, and no human has gone beyond earth’s magnetic shield since 1972, so this part very much has a possibility of providing some unwelcome unknown unknowns. There is another big thing though that I think too many people ignore: weightlessness. The first flights to mars will take at least 6 months. Even with exercise, I think it’s fair to say that astronauts currently do not have the muscle and bone strength to stand up and walk by themselves after returning from a 6 month mission on the ISS without help. Mars’ lower gravity might help them recuperate faster, but this too is a complete unknown that neither nasa nor Spacex will or should count on imho. So far I’ve seen only two solutions suggested: lots of exercise on-route combined with simply letting the crew recover slowly once they land on mars, or tethering two starships together and spinning them. I don’t think either one will be an option. The first one is probably not enough, and the second one is too risky. Nasa would almost certainly go pale with that amount of inhabited mass under constant loads and stresses from circular acceleration, even if Spacex can make it work mechanically. The only alternative I can come up with is this (and since I don’t believe for a second that I’m smarter than the teams at Spacex I’d very much appreciate someone more knowledgeable to explain to me where my thinking is flawed): You place a ring inside the pressurised part of Starship 8 meters in diameter and 3 meters in height, connected to a central pole that is bolted to the floors above and below but is free to spin. You put the sleeping accommodations on the inside of this ring with your head facing towards the centre. At the start of the sleeping shift, you spin the ring up to a lateral speed where you feel your back being pushed into the wall at a force of one g. Since your entire body is experiencing the same acceleration at every part, as the radius between your head and the pole and your feet and the pole is constant, it shouldn’t be nauseating. If there are walls on all sides of you (and one door) so that you don’t see the rotation, and your “bed” is slanted slightly to account for the coriolis effect, would it not feel just like regular gravity? Big bonus: you can start at one g and slowly move to 0.38 g over the course of several months to acclimate to mars. Small bonus: if you’re willing to pay the power cost, putting some big scoops or buckets on the outside of this ring might help with circulating the air around the ship since it will be spinning quite fast. Finally you could also spin it faster to do exercises like push-ups (basically any effort where your body remains more or less fixed to the floor could work), meaning you could compensate for being in zero g most of the day by sleeping under gravity and performing some exercises while under higher gravity [insert goku joke here]. I’m sure I have overlooked something, but it seems to me like this would work and be a reasonably effective and practical solution. Feel free to explain to me why I’m wrong. In short, Spacex needs to find a solution to the zero-g and radiation problems by the end of 2022 at the latest. Firstly because dearmoon is scheduled for 2023 and I can’t see nasa (much less the US congress) stomach letting private civilians being the first humans to return to the moon’s vicinity since Apollo instead of nasa astronauts. If a Starship capable of sustaining humans is flying successfully in 2022 and dearmoon is set for mid-to-late 2023, I’d bet on there being effectively an order from congress for Spacex and nasa to fly american astronauts on Starship around the moon before dearmoon takes place, regardless of the state of either SLS or Artemis. And before you say that that would be massive hypocrisy, remember that these are US politicians we’re talking about. Secondly because they really need to perform a 6 month trial run at the L2 earth-moon lagrange point to confirm that their life support, radiation protection and zero-g mitigation solutions work as intended. (This is why my money is still on humans to mars in 2026 because I can’t make myself believe that everything will work right the first time they try it). If they want to send people to mars in 2024 they will need to have this test done to satisfy nasa (or whomever is providing them with astronauts) by the end of 2023. So my reasoning/guess is that Spacex will want the design of this version of Starship finished in early 2022, build and launch one that summer, and maybe bring some crew on board with a dragon to prove out its life support systems by the end of the year. The big year for this piece of the puzzle will be 2023, as this is the Starship type that they will most likely use for dearmoon as well as perform any major test runs in the earth-moon system, before the big launch of the first crew to mars in 2024. Refueling starships on mars So why do I think this is the biggest hurdle? Isn’t the sabatier process a well-understood and quite simple chemical reaction? Yes it is, and the problem as I see it isn’t with the chemistry, but with the scale, the schedule and the industrial processes that are needed. Spacex will have to design, test and build a full-on fuel production system… and have it ready for launch roughly 18 months from now. Why so soon? Because there is no way, repeat NO WAY that Spacex will be allowed to send astronauts to mars, on a rocket that cannot get back to earth without being refueled, if there is no fuel production on mars at the time of launch. I know Elon has often said that there is a real chance that the first crew sent to mars will die, but I can’t imagine he actually believes that he can get professional astronauts and nasa support if he doesn’t take every precaution possible to ensure that they can get back home safely. Just to be clear: I don’t mean that there needs to be a fully fuelled Starship sitting on mars when the first crew lands, but there absolutely, 100% needs to be a Starship on mars producing fuel by the time the first crew leaves earth. And this is not as easy to pull off as it might seem. Getting the CO2 is a non-issue: mars’ atmosphere is so rich with it that you might not even need to filter the incoming air. Also as long as the crane/elevator on Starship works, setting up a large solar field won’t be that difficult provided Spacex has made the panels reasonably easy to unload and deploy (safe assumption if you ask me), and if the surrounding surface is flat. Given that Spacex has chosen a landing/base site in the northern plains (IIRC) this should also not give any major problems. The main difficulty will be getting enough water to produce enough fuel. If Elon is serious with his recent comment about “~2 tons/day” of fuel, which I have to assume he is, that means many tons of water ice have to be excavated, moved, filtered of other materials, melted and separated into H2 and O2, per day, for over two years, with no one around to fix something if it breaks. This is orders of magnitude more intense than what we’ve done on mars before. To be blunt, we are talking nothing less than autonomous bulldozers, that weigh several tons and make Perseverance look like a toy. Scooping up and gathering a truckload of ice and rocks daily and dumping them into whatever device Spacex comes up with to separate out the ice, melt it and split it into hydrogen and oxygen (of which the former probably must be combined with CO2 and turned into methane immediately given its habit of not liking being stored and subsequently floating away), and not break down thanks to the martian dust getting anywhere crucial. Even setting aside the fact that this operation will make the planetary protection crowd pull their hair out, the chances of it working as designed the first time are not high if you ask me. There is every chance that something wears out faster than expected, stops working due to some unknown unknown, or gets wrecked by a malfunctioning autonomous vehicle glitching out and driving into/over it. Once there are actual humans on mars, keeping these machines operational won’t be all that hard, but basic safety standards (and nasa) are going to require that the fuel farm works reliably on its own, for as long as it takes to make enough propellant for the first crew to return home safely in case of an emergency, before the go-ahead is given for that first crewed mars mission to leave earth. I would not be shocked if Spacex manages to design, test and build a system that they think will work in 2021 and launch, refuel, transfer to and land it on mars in 2022, only to find out that some crucial part doesn’t work as designed under the martian conditions, leaving a fully habitable base Starship and an empty propellant plant Starship sitting on mars with all the accompanying parts needed to start a base (pressurised cybertruck rover, unpressurised cybertruck rover, water ice gatherer/bulldozer, fuel transporter, solar farm and guidance & landing beacon) present, but no way to make fuel. It will be the most infuriating and cathartic thing ever at the same time. Such a situation will almost certainly set the Spacex timetable back the full two years, as I just can’t see nasa allowing astronauts to get in a Starship and blasting off to mars if there is no way for them to get back yet. I don’t think the argument “Well once they are there they can fix the fuel farm instantly!” will hold much weight, since if something important has broken, what’s to say that something else will not go wrong unexpectedly that the crew can’t fix, leaving them stranded? My basic reasoning is this: the other three parts can be tested in LEO or on earth with the results being representative of their supposed tasks, but this one cannot. The environment on mars is simply too different from the one on earth (especially the atmosphere), and the scale and ambition of Spacex’s plan means that the rovers currently on mars are not much of a reference either. There is no way for us to know outside computer models what a five-ton vehicle driving around on mars for years hauling several tons of regolith and ice around daily would go through in terms of wear and tear, creating a massive potential for unknown unknowns to appear where we don’t expect them. To put Spacex’s project in perspective: the first fully loaded Starship upon touchdown will probably consist of 99% of all the mass humanity has ever landed on the surface of mars. Let that sink in... ​ So that’s my take on Spacex’s mars ambitions. If Starship works (big if, but it seems to be getting more believable by the day), I am reasonably confident about orbital refueling and a martian habitat being ready on time, but have reservations about the human-rated Starships and am outright concerned regarding the autonomous propellant plant working as designed. As I’ve mentioned, my money if SN8’s 20 km flight goes well is on Spacex getting a Starship to mars in 2022, but not sending humans until 2026, either due to the 2022 starships not performing as well as intended (or not performing at all if they crash) or due to Starship not yet being declared safe for human flight in 2024. Now before I go ahead and request the longest-reddit-thread-of-the-year award (I genuinely think this post is twice as long as my previous one), I’m curious as to your response to the three questions that in my opinion sum up the whole thing: 1, Did I miss something important besides the four areas I covered? 2, If you agree that these are the major roadblocks for Spacex and Starship, do you agree with my take on them? Did I badly underestimate something that is much harder than I gave it credit for? Or are certain things that I considered difficult much easier than I made them out to be? 3, Regardless of whether or not you agree with my list, ranking and reasoning, what do you think Spacex’s biggest obstacle will be to sending humans to mars in 2024, assuming Starship itself works? Looking forward to your responses, opinions and rebuttals. submitted by /u/afarawayland1 to r/spacex [link] [comments]