Kassondra Cloos is a travel writer in London. She focuses on wilderness adventures, urban green spaces, and slow travel. Her work has been published by Outside, The Denver Post, Fodor’s, HGTV, Travel Channel, and many others. She almost always has a few postage stamps in her backpack and is weirdly obsessed with snail mail. You can find more of her work via her newsletter, outofoffice.substack.com
A rare baby horse born in England is bringing hope to a wildlife reintroduction program in Mongolia. Luujin, a Przewalski’s horse, was born last week at the Whipsnade Zoo in England. The zoo is working with scientists in Mongolia to save the species, which is considered the last of the “truly wild” horses in the [...]
Parts of the West have gotten record snowfall this winter, which means the mountains in some places are piled high with more snow than we’ve ever recorded. Statewide, California has 237 percent of the snowpack it usually does at this time of year, according to the state’s Department of Water Resources. And that means something [...]
The volcanic hot springs of Italy are harboring more than just a great vacation destination. According to a recent scientific expedition, they might be hiding the key to a clever way to clean up our carbon footprint. In the Baia de Levante, off the coast of the island of Vulcano, researchers discovered a kind of [...]
Like the other elephants at the Berlin Zoo, Pang Pha likes to eat bananas. Unlike the others though, she prefers her bananas to be peeled – and she’s figured out how to peel them herself. Even more curious is that the middle aged elephant seems to know exactly when a banana is at its ripest, and [...]
Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales is getting a new name. And actor Michael Sheen is here to explain why. This week, the park formerly known by the English name of Brecon Beacons released a short film starring Sheen to explain why the park is rebranding to adopt the old Welsh name of Bannau Brycheiniog [...]
If you’ve been meaning to give meditation a try and you’ve been putting it off, here’s your official invitation: A new collaboration between Headspace and the National Parks Foundation is bringing you guided meditations and bedtime stories straight from your favorite parks. Headspace, a meditation app that offers “sleepcast” bedtime stories to help you wind [...]
In the deserts of southwest Africa, a small bird called the Namaqua sandgrouse hides a big secret. To bring water back to its young, the bird has a sort of water reservoir hidden in its feathers. A new study from the Royal Society Interface investigated just how this desert-dwelling bird is able to do this, [...]
In the Scottish Highlands, you can find a unique landscape: Caledonian pinewoods that are direct descendants of trees dating all the way back to the last ice age, but these forests are in grave danger. The main culprit? Deer. The solution? It’s complicated. A new study published by Trees for Life, which is working to regenerate [...]
It’s already well-established scientifically that nature is good for your mental health, physical health, and overall wellbeing. A recent study published recently asked an interesting new question: could hiking in the mountains improve your relationship? The study, published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, investigated the effects of “forest therapy” and [...]
In Churchill, Canada, there’s a jail for bad news bears. The crime? Getting too close to humans. The punishment? A time-out that lasts for up to a month with no snacks and then a one-way helicopter ride miles outside of town. Churchill is a unique, remote place in the Canadian province of Manitoba, right in [...]
