1 . The Day of the Dead celebrations are a great time to honour the dead. Here’s where to stay to experience them.

Mexico City, Mexico

On November 4, a parade starts with thousands of dancers. “The best place to watch the parade is from a terrace on the Paseo de Reforma, where you can see the dancers and colours from above,” says Karla Gonzalez, director of the Mexico City tourism board.

Oaxaca, Mexico

This southern Mexico city is known for candlelit cemeteries on the Day of the Dead, and parades with dancers in the Jalatlaco neighborhood. “The city doesn’t sleep for three days,” says local tour guide Gabriel Sánchez. He takes guests to the cemetery in Santa Maria Atzompa, a village three miles from Oaxaca City, where the families go all out with candles and flowers.

San Diego, California

The first European settlement (定居点) in Southern California, Old Town San Diego is a seven-block state park with shopfronts dating back to the 18th century. It’s also the site of a long-running Day of the Dead celebration, with a crafts market and a candlelit parade to the El Campo Santo Cemetery on November 2, which dates to 1849.

San Antonio, Texas

This south Texas city was once a part of Mexico, known for its exciting Day of the Dead celebrations. In downtown’s Hemisphere Park, the festival brings a parade of boats lit with bright lights on the River Walk on the evening of October 27. You can also see a famous tourist draw on the south bank of the San Antonio River.

4 . Mammoth Cave National Park, in the state of Kentucky, is a unique and historical natural wonder. It has the world’s longest cave system. There may be another 600 miles of cave passageways that have yet to be explored. In addition, more than 200 caves that are disconnected from the larger system can be found in the park.

The underground caves were created naturally by the process of limestone (石灰岩) erosion. Rain and rivers slowly dissolve (溶解) and shape soft limestone. The system is still being shaped today. Not only are they an amazing destination to visit, but the system also provides drinking water for about 40% of the US population.

The caves’ first explorers were Native Americans, who mined (采矿) the upper levels of Mammoth Cave. Later, the sites were left in great shape and began to draw public interest.

Mammoth Cave was made into a national park thanks to strong support. Back in the 1920s, the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission was set up in 1925. After years of work, as well as building roads and public facilities, the park was completed on July 1, 1941.

The park now receives around 2 million visitors a year, with about a quarter taking a tour of the caves—everything from a cultural tour to the more adventurous tours on offer. The cave supports more than 130 wildlife species (物种). The park is also much more than just a cave; the forest around has a diverse (多种多样的) range of species. There are miles of trails open for horseback riding, with canoe trails and great fishing spots. There are also more than 1,300 flowering species in the forest, and animals like wood warblers, thrushes, and bald eagles can regularly be seen.

6 . Change can be unsettling. Good or bad, exciting or unexpected, there’s an undeniable anxiety that accompanies seeing our lives shift. Thankfully, nature reminds us that entering a new season in our lives is nothing to fear but something to enjoy.

What’s now known as “leaf-peeping” has become a highly profitable form of tourism in the United States. A research shows that across states in the eastern half of the country, fall foliage (叶子) tourism contributes more than $30 billion to local economies. And even though climate change has made int more difficult to predict when exactly foliage will peak, it hasn’t stopped people from trying to figure it out. Tourism leaders from the Smoky Mountains recently released their annual fall foliage prediction map which helps travelers plan out when they have the best chance to catch those beautiful autumn views.

Perhaps part of what makes the foliage so special is the belief that it’s temporary. Eventually, branches will become bare, and we’ll stop taking photos for social media. And as the seasons change and we feel that familiar longing for what was, trees will once again embrace (欣然接受) their evolution.

Even when they aren’t decorated with flashy fall colors and their internal systems slow down, trees are still supporting the ecosystem. Their fallen leaves are broken down by bacteria and fungi and provide the soil with nutrients the tree needs to grow. Insects take up shelter in their bark, eventually becoming food for other wildlife seeking a place to nest. Their strong roots stabilize the soil, preventing erosion (侵蚀) from winter snowmelt.

Right now, trees around the country are already beginning to welcome their next chapter. During this time of the year, it feels like forests are just offering endless joy for free. And fall foliage is an everlasting reminder that the growth with changes is beautiful.

7 . If you are looking for a day trip from Denver, here are our favorite family-friendly trips from Denver.

Explore Mesa Verde

ADDRESS: Mile Marker 15, Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330, USA PHONE: +1970-529-4422

A six-and-a-half-hour drive will bring you from Denver to Mesa Verde National Park, where your kids can explore ancient ruins carved (into the side of a mountain. Go on hikes, climb up mountainsides, watch a historical movie and appreciate museum exhibits in this fascinating park.

See Giraffes in the Springs

ADDRESS: 4250 Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80906, USA

PHONE: +1719-633-9925

The drive from Denver to Colorado Springs is just an hour. Feed giraffes at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Don’t miss the Dinosaur Resource Center, where you can get up close to fossils of a T. Rex and other unbelievable ancient creatures.

Go on an Adventure in Keystone

ADDRESS: Keystone, CO 80435, USA

PHONE: +1970-496-4386

It’s only an hour and a half drive west of Denver. Keystone offers a cool Kidtopia pro-gram, with all kinds of free, daily activities and adventures, from kite-building workshops to Wild West nights to nature hikes.

Splash Around in Glenwood

ADDRESS: 51000 Two Rivers Plaza Road, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601-2809, USA

PHONE: +1970-945-4228

A two-and-a-half drive west from Denver will bring you to Glenwood Springs. There’s even a wave built into the river where people can surf in the summer.

8 . Amazing new museums around the world we’re excited to visit

From an AI museum in Seoul to a music legend’s living room in Paris, here’s where to get your newest culture experience this month.

After work for more than a decade, this museum will open to visitors in late 2023. The GEM is expected to be the world’s biggest archaeological museum and will display more than 100,000 artifacts. Among the collections, you’ll find 5,000 treasures, some on public display for the first time in history.

Once a high-end restaurant overlooking the beach, Spain’s elBulli is reopening to the public for the first time since it closed in 2011 — but with a twist. elBulli 1846 will be a first-of-its-kind restaurant museum, showing the inventive cuisine crafted by its former head chef Ferran Adria. Opened in 1964, the restaurant was named the world’s best five times. Note: there won’t be actual food (sorry).

Whether you love or loathe AI, this new museum in Seoul, opening in November, is a proof to its attraction. Loaded with all things of artificial intelligence and robotics, the RAIM aims to educate the public on machine learning and robotic technologies.

A mix of music, dance, art, and performances, Manchester’s Factory International is a new cultural center showing creativity and innovation. The arts center, which this year will hold a large Yayoi Kusama immersive exhibition, came first on TimeOut’s annual list of the best things to do in the UK — so you know it’ll be good.

9 . Want to relax yourselves and broaden your horizon? Here are several recommended trips that you cannot miss!

If you are not interested in the choices above, some other tour destinations can be found on our website, e.g. Iceland: Snow and Fire ($4,371 each person, hiking a lot). With our unique design, you’ll enjoy your trip to the most. Come and sign up!