1 . Family Camping Guide: Ensuring Safety and Fun for Everyone

Are you planning a family camping trip?Whether it's a weekend getaway or a longer adventure, spending time outdoors can be a wonderful experience for families.    1    This guide has practical tips for keeping everyone safe and having fun on a family camping trip.

Check the weather forecast ahead. This step ensures you pack the proper clothing and equipment for unexpected weather changes. It's also wise to have a backup plan.    2    This way, you'll still have some fun even if the weather doesn't cooperate.

Assign age-appropriate tasks.     3    Younger children can help gather firewood and set up tents while older kids can take charge of tasks like cooking simple meals and setting up the camp. Remember to ensure that clear instructions are given for each task.

Pack a First Aid Kit.     4    The basics should include bandages,tissues,tape,and tweezers. Besides, familiarize yourself with basic first aid techniques and remember to check the dates of the items in your first aid kit and restock as needed.

Plan safe outdoor activities. Camping offers various family-friendly activities. However, it's essential to plan safe and age-appropriate activities for everyone. If you're going hiking, pick a trail your youngest family members can manage. When swimming or boating, ensure everyone has a life jacket.

    5    Remember, preparation is critical, but the most important thing is to have fun, make memories,and cherish the time spent together in the great outdoors.

2 . Wild camping is simply camping outside of a developed or regular campsite. Camping at a music festival, in your backyard, or at a developed campground (营地) is just regular old camping.     1     You don’t have to pay a fee or reserve a spot in advance.

    2     For example, when you set up a tent at a developed campground, you will usually stay in the same place for a few days. On the other hand, wild camping allows one to spend most of the day exploring the wilderness before they put up their wild camping tent for the night and move on in the morning.

There are many mental and physical benefits of spending time in nature. Modern-day life can be stressful, so many people head out into the wild for relief.     3     Also, you can enjoy a sense of primitiveness that regular camping can’t give you. It’s a cheerful way to tackle multi-day hikes in remote areas, allowing one to spend nights under the stars in breathtaking locations.

Wild camping generally requires checking if you can legally camp at a particular place and in some cases, getting permission to do so. Leaving no trace is essential. Take what you bring with you when you depart.     4    

Most safety problems about wild camping arise from not dressing up and preparing properly for camping in the wild.     5     Additionally, ensure someone knows where you are wild camping and when you will return.

3 . In some countries, many families are choosing camping as an affordable way to vacation due to the cost-of-living crisis (危机).     1     Here are several tips to help make your first camping trip a success.

Camping needs careful planning. Making a detailed list of what to bring ensures nothing important is forgotten. It is advised to pack light and easy-to-set-up tents (帐篷). It’s also important to choose equipment suitable for the season. For families, bringing comfort items like favorite books or toys can make the new environment more welcoming for kids.     2     Other necessaries like wet wipes (湿巾) are must-haves.

Camping is more than just setting up a tent.     3     Group camping trips can simplify things, especially when it comes to meals. Sharing meal responsibilities with other families not only reduces the load but also improves the shared experience. Choosing simple and easy-to-prepare foods helps too.

    4     Activities like treasure hunts, campfire stories can turn camping into an adventure. Nature itself offers endless enjoyment, from bird watching to plant recognizing. Moreover, camping is also an opportunity to teach kids valuable life skills and safety lessons. From cooking over a campfire to learning about nature, these experiences are both educational and enjoyable. Safety lessons are also important, like staying within campsites and recognizing dangerous plants.

All in all, camping is a fantastic way to enjoy the outdoors and spend quality time with family.     5    

4 . Going on vacation every week might sound like the very unattainable dream.    1    . All you need to do is get in the habit of treating your weekend like a vacation, suggests Cassie Mogilner Holmes, a professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. We asked experts to share their favorite tips for adopting a vacation mindset at home.

    2    . Some people have to bear weekend schedules packed with work. You could still make the best of a Thursday evening, Holmes suggests. Or, spare an hour on Sunday morning for chores, but protect the rest of the weekend as your vacation time.

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Decision scientist Nika Kabiri recommends doing something totally new so you can disconnect from the same old routines governing your life. Among her favorite ideas: Drive to a part of town you’ve never been to before, go for a city walk, and grab lunch at the first cute café you see. Or take a bike or boat tour of your city.    4    

Treating your weekend like a vacation doesn’t mean it needs to be a delicate affair. If your “vacation” encounters a few unexpected affairs or lasts for only a few hours, don’t be annoyed.    5    .Don’t put pressure on yourself to have this “perfect vacation”. It’s meant to be fun. Plus, there’s always another one just a few days away.

6 . Have you ever paused to see clouds when you rush to your destination? There’s a group of passionate “treasure finders” dedicated to observing and capturing the beauty in the sky cloud spotters.

Cloud spotters take a more serious approach to make sense of the sky.     1    

Ji Yun, 36, is an expert in cloud spotting. He set up a WeChat group to gather together people with similar hobbies in 2013. As the number of group members continued to grow, Ji and several cloud enthusiasts created dozens of online groups for different regions in China, forming the Sky Enthusiasts Association in 2019.     2    

Power comes in numbers. Three years after the association was formed, cloud enthusiasts from all over China had collected every kind of cloud in the International Cloud Atlas, a reference by the World Meteorological Organization.

    3     Cloud spotting, in fact, is an invitation to be amazed by something so common every day that we’ve become blind to. “You’re not going to be worrying too much about what formation it is and why it looks the way it does.” Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, told Atlas Obscura.

Indeed, Jiang Xinwei in Jilin finds cloud spotting relaxing. Even though she is going through her toughest school year in grade 12, Jiang maintains this hobby as a short break from her heavy schoolwork. “Observing the clouds has become a habit for me,” the 17-year-old said. “    4    .”

“Clouds change in the blink of an eye.     5     ” said Jiang Na, a 25-year-old cloud spotter in Beijing.

7 . How to Hygge for the Holiday

Everyone is talking about “hygge” — the word used by Danish people to keep themselves mentally positive in the dark winter season and fill their homes with comfort and love. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? But how to realize at least some of hygge holidays?

Express your creativity. Take a step back from the pressures of everyday life and let your creative side out to play. Set aside paint, paper and an hour to yourself.     1    

Share good food with good friends. Friends and food are some of life’s simplest pleasures.     2     Invite friends round for coffee and cake away from the noisy distraction of a cafe, so you can really enjoy each other’s company.

    3     Empty your mind of thoughts and worries, and you can enjoy a little quiet time to yourself now and then. Choose one comfortable corner as a private place that you can hide in whenever you need to take time out and relax.

Make simple things special.       4     If you take to watching a film on Friday night, make movie night feel like a treat rather than routine, with your favourite snacks, good-smelling candles, and a comfortable sofa to throw yourself into.

It is possible to achieve hygge any time of the year nowadays.     5     But hygge is the most suitable for the winter holiday season because it is all about peaceful and warm surroundings that fill you with content. There is indeed something you can do to bring holiday hygge into your home this season.

8 . One great way to spend time outdoors is to garden. Here are some benefits you can get from gardening.

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Studies have found evidence that being in nature is linked with less anxiety, less depression and many other positive effects. The nice thing about a garden is that it can be right in your yard.     2    , you’re much more likely to be outside when the work of a garden requires it.

Eat healthfully

A garden can make the freshest and healthiest foods available. And the types of foods can have a great impact on your mental health.     3    .

Practice acceptance

Most suffering comes from trying to control things that you can’t. The more you can accept the limits of your control in your life, the more peace of mind you can find — and gardening is a great way to practice.     4    . You just bring your best efforts to what you can control, and let go of the rest.

Develop a growth mindset (思维模式)

Psychologist Carol Dweck developed the difference between “fixed” and “growth” mindsets, and gardening is a great opportunity to develop the latter.     5    . When something doesn’t work out the way you hoped, you view it as a learning opportunity rather than as a failure.

9 . Many people enjoy spending their vacations swimming, lying in the sun and staying at luxurious hotels.     1     They head for the country, to one of the numerous United States national parks, and take advantage of the fresh air and many outdoor activities that nature has to offer.

“I’m a successful lawyer from San Francisco,” says Gavin Murphy. “    2     I usually go to Yosemite National Park, where I sleep in a tent, hike, and enjoy the peace and quiet.”

    3     They can go fishing in a cold stream, hiking on a winding nature trail, or biking along scenic paths. At certain times of the year, guided nature walks and interesting lectures on a variety of topics are offered to park guests.

Camping out does have its disadvantages, however.     4     Even after the weather clears up, there’s still lots of mud to deal with. The weather can be quite cold at night, and there are always many mosquitoes (蚊子).

Park rangers (护林员) recommend that visitors watch out for snakes, whose bites can be poisonous. They stress the fact that it is necessary that food be kept packed away, so that an unexpected bear doesn’t pay an unwelcome visit to some surprised guests.     5     “It might be nice to sit by a swimming pool and sip (小口抿) a drink,” says Tanya Rodriguez, a nature lover, “but nature is really so beautiful, and I’ve met such interesting people here. Nothing compares to a vacation like this!”

10 . Being a Good Holiday Party Guest

When attending holiday parties hosted by friends and loved ones, many of people really want to be “good” guests. But sometimes well-meaning “helpers” can sometimes cause more trouble and stress for a host.     1    

Reply the invitation quickly.

    2     If the invitation (whether it comes in the mail, over email or through text) asks you to reply, do so well before the host has to reach out to confirm your participation.

    3    

Respect the event’s start time and arrive within 10-15 minutes of the time on the invite. If the invitation says 7:15 p.m., guests should arrive between 7:25 and 7:30. If you turn up early, the hosts may not yet be dressed or be trying to take a 10-minute break after last-minute preparations.

Offer help respectfully.

It’s fine to offer help during the event, but don’t insist.     4     A true host wants their guests to enjoy themselves and not be working, so the insistence might make your host uncomfortable.

Don’t stay for long.

At the end of the evening, you can make one last offer to help the host tidy up the space. But if they refuse, don’t stay. Many hosts are too polite to tell people it’s time to go. Watch out for clues that the hosts wish to end the evening’s enjoyment, like yawning, turning off the music, turning up the lights.     5