Matador Network's Blog, page 953

When to visit major attractions

This is the Travel Take, where Matador’s writers and editors make the case for their favorite travel hacks, tips, and personal tics.

Now and then, when traveling with friends, I’ll suggest something crazy: putting off touring our destination’s requisite attractions until the end of our trip.

It may seem like a straightforward suggestion, but more often than not it inspires nervous laughter, as if tourists are legally obligated to spend their first day or few in a new city checking off points of interest, lest they turn into pumpkins or some other locally grown gourd.

“But, what do you do when you get there?” they ask.

The answer varies, but it’s generally met with similar confusion. Ride the subway, I might suggest. Go to a grocery store. Walk from one end of the city to the other, mapping a route by parks, bookstores, water bodies, or anywhere else you enjoy spending time, irrespective of location. Duck into the first pub you pass for a pint of whatever’s on tap.

In short, treat your first day in a new place like any old Wednesday back home.

You only get one shot at a first impression

We’re never our best after travel days, yet too often, we spend our first-impression-forging moments battling exhaustion in line for top attractions, where we’ll make memories of other tourists with the same agenda vying to take the exact same photo.

Rather than spend your first day among patience-testing mobs, spend it observing, exploring, and getting the lay of the land. Hold off on touring museums, which, let’s be honest, probably won’t do your energy levels any favors, and instead hunt for the best vantage point in the city to see how all of its landmarks fit together. If a world-famous market is on your to-do list, spend your early days restaurant-hopping to better appreciate the ingredients you’ll see later on.

Keeping active without putting too much pressure on yourself to adhere to a strict schedule is a great way to adjust and ensure you’re ready to be wowed when you end up visiting the landmarks you have high expectations for. Plus, if you walk or take public transportation early on, you’ll learn how to navigate and relieve some of the stress of the big sightseeing days.

Putting together the best possible itinerary

It can be tempting to plan every detail of our vacations before we’re actually on them. Usually, that means frontloading our schedules with the things we know, or at least think, we have to see. But the longer we prioritize interactions with a place and its people outside of the tourism sector, the more insight we’ll get for planning the rest of our trip.

Depending on the length of your stay, you may not have much downtime. But even one day in a new city can teach us a lot about what to see and what to skip. Hear the same anecdote about a local landmark enough times, and you may realize a quick, self-guided tour will suffice. That may even free up space to do a nearby hike your server recommended or hit up that gelato shop three different people cited as their favorite.

The more time you give yourself for reconnaissance, the more insider information you’ll get on attractions, both famous and under-the-radar, as well as how the city itself operates.

Consider a trip to Rome. You might think it’s important to knock out seeing the Colosseum or tossing a coin into the Trevi fountain, but there’s a lot to discover in the Italian capital, and you may not see as much of it if you burn out on sightseeing early on.

Sightsee in reverse. Start with less popular attractions where there are shorter lines and smaller crowds. Swing by the Video Game Museum of Rome, perhaps, before darting off to the Galleria Borghese. You’ll be able to do more in a day, which, again, means more time navigating, more opportunity to be flexible, and more face time with people. Easing into sightseeing also means you’ll have the energy to tackle the cultural heavy-hitters when the time comes.

And while chances are slim you’d leave the Italian capital before getting a photo in a gladiator pose outside the Roman Forum, there’s a decent likelihood you’d consider passing up a niche attraction for a midday nap toward the end of a vacation if you’ve already hit the big sights.

Getting closure on your trip

So, your trip is coming to a close, and you have yet to see the sights that made your destination famous. By now, you should have some sense as to what you want to see, how long you want to spend at each place, and the best ways to get around. Tackling the major attractions should be a breeze. And you actually have a shot at enjoying them.

Destination-defining landmarks offer context about a place, but there’s something special about waiting to see them until you’ve gotten to know said place. Your perspective will shift, you’ll have a base knowledge to build on, and you may develop a deeper appreciation for the attraction. More than just educational, sightseeing can be an exercise in reflection. An opportunity to get closure on your travels and end the trip on a high note.

Seeing a city inside out, from its most banal details to its grandest monuments, may seem counterintuitive, but there’s no law against it. As important as it is to globetrot with an open mind, putting off major attractions until the end of a trip is one type of backward thinking that might just enrich your travels.


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The post In new cities, save major attractions for the end of your trip appeared first on Matador Network.

‘Little Women’ filming locations

There have been many adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age novel Little Women over the years, but perhaps none has been as anticipated as director Greta Gerwig’s movie set to premiere on Christmas Day. In addition to a star-studded cast that includes Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg, Laura Dern as Marmee, Meryl Streep as Aunt March, and Timothée Chalamet as Laurie, the dedication to authenticity by way of filming in the actual area where the novel takes place is very promising. Here are all the places you need to check out if you’re dying to get a glimpse at where Little Women was filmed.

1. Concord, Massachusetts

Photo: Sony Pictures

Alcott’s novel is set in Concord, Massachusetts, and much of the 2019 movie’s filming took place there. Fans can also visit other relevant sights, such as Alcott’s Orchard House. The house is where Alcott and her family lived for 20 yearsand is famous for being where she wrote Little Women. Visitors will feel like they’ve truly stepped into the novel as preservation efforts have allowed much of the house and furnishings to stay the same as when the Alcotts lived there. Visits are by guided tour only, and tickets are available for purchase solely on site.

Where: Orchard House, 399 Lexington Rd, Concord, MA 01742

2. Harvard, Massachusetts

Photo: Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University/Facebook

Little Women made good use of Harvard, both on the university campus and around the town itself. These locations include in and around the Town Hall, Congregational Church, and the general store — which was used as a stand-in for the Concord general store. Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, a green space covering 281 acres that’s open to the public, was converted into a Parisian park with Victorian touches like antique gas lanterns and intricate ironwork for the movie. In particular, it was used for the scene where Aunt March and Meg are taking a carriage ride and happen upon Laurie.

3. Boston, Massachusetts

Photo: Fairmont Copley Plaza/Facebook

While not used as extensively as its smaller-town counterparts, several locations in Boston proper were used for interior shots. One, in particular, is the Fairmont Copley Plaza, a luxury hotel in Boston’s Back Bay area. Its Grand Ballroom can be seen in the trailer and was used for the scenes of the ball that Amy and Laurie attend. The hotel is even offering a “Little Women Movie Package” for two, which includes overnight accommodation, a guided tour of Orchard House, a tea blend from Harney & Sons created for the movie’s release, a copy of Little Women: The Official Movie Companion, and an official movie poster and bookmark.

Right across from Boston Common is William Hickling Prescott House, which was used for the scene where Meg and several other women line up in fancy gowns on a staircase at the Moffat family’s home, as well as the ball that follows. Owned and run by the National Society of Colonial Dames, the building is open for tours from April to October.

Photo: Emerson Colonial Theatre/Facebook

Boston’s oldest continuously operating theater, the Colonial Theatre was used for the scene where adult Jo, now living in New York City, attends a performance and notices Professor Bhaer giving her furtive glances.


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The post All the real-world ‘Little Women’ filming locations you can visit appeared first on Matador Network.

Earn $55,000 to travel the world

If traveling the world and taking pictures sounds like your dream job, this entrepreneur might help you get your start. Matthrew Lepre, a 27-year-old millionaire entrepreneur, is offering a photographer $55,000 to travel the world with him and take photos for Instagram. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a professional — Lepre only expects you to have a smartphone.

The successful candidate’s travel and accommodation expenses will all be covered, and you can even bring a friend on the first trip.

Lepre is the founder of Ecom Warrior Academy, which teaches people how to start online e-commerce stores.

According to the job posting on Instagram, Lepre is looking for “someone who loves travelling and has a great eye for the perfect shot; someone with experience using Instagram filters; someone adventurous and creative; someone who loves travelling and exploring.”

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Now Hiring A Personal Photographer to take my insta pics while I travel the world. ✈️

Iced-coffee mogul New Zealand house

Moving in with a roommate you don’t know can be a dicey proposition, but this particular opportunity is a bit more enticing than what you’d find on Craigslist. Karl Reipen, a German multi-millionaire and iced-coffee mogul, is looking for 10 “nice people” to share his remote New Zealand estate with him. The 540-acre Awakino estate is located on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, and has a winery, stables for horses, and sweeping views of the Tasman Sea.

According to the ad posted in the New Zealand Herald’s holiday accommodation section, successful applicants “could live in houses by two persons and share a beautiful winery for social meetings and dining […] You can enjoy walking, fishing, shopping, kayaking, bird watching, swimming, or looking at nice animals.”

Anyone is welcome to apply, as long as they’re under 70 years old, and not afraid to live in a remote area (the closest cities are 90 minutes away). Reipen also encourages you to BYOH (Bring Your Own Horses).

Reipen, who made his fortune selling canned iced coffee, bought the estate back in 2000 and spent 10 years renovating it.


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The post Multi-millionaire is looking for 10 people to live with him in New Zealand appeared first on Matador Network.

Wakanda listed as a US trade partner

If there’s one thing we know now, it’s that the members of the IT department of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have a sense of humor and are up to date on pop culture references. The Kingdom of Wakanda, the fictional East African country that’s the home of Marvel superhero Black Panther, was added to the USDA’s foreign agricultural service’s tariff tracker during a system test. And someone obviously forgot to remove it, making the day of many Black Panther fans on Twitter.

One of the first to spot the country listed on the website was Francis Tseng, a New York-based software engineer.

Wakanda is listed as a US free trade partner on the USDA website?? pic.twitter.com/xcq1OFTIPh

— Francis Tseng (@frnsys) December 18, 2019

Tseng told Reuters that he got very confused when he saw Wakanda on the list. “[I] thought I misremembered the country from the movie,” he said, “and got it confused with something else.”

The commodities that were exchanged between the two nations ranged from “live asses” to “mules and hinnies.”

The USDA acknowledged its mistake and laughed it off with tweet.

While we removed the Kingdom of Wakanda from our list of US free trade partners, our relationship will always be strong #WakandaForever pic.twitter.com/wiRSCIdfGh

— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) December 19, 2019

More like this: A black panther has been spotted in Africa for the first time in 100 years

The post Black Panther’s Wakanda listed as one of the US’ trade partners appeared first on Matador Network.

Vacations are good for kids study

Springing for a family vacation might not sound like the cheapest Christmas gift, but research shows that it could actually be what’s best for your kids.

Professor Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist at Washington State University, discovered that family holidays can enhance brain development in children. Playing and exploring, two activities that are not part of the daily routine of school and work, lead to brain growth that is linked to “cognitive functioning, social intelligence and well-focused, goal-directed behaviours,” explains British child psychologist Dr. Margot Sunderland for The Telegraph. Not only that, but playing and exploring together release well-being neurochemicals, including opioids, oxytocin, and dopamine, which reduce stress and activate warm feelings toward one another in both adults and children.

Research has also shown that children’s attention spans are increased by being outside for just 20 minutes, and that outdoor holidays can be even better for children with ADHD than medication. Exposure to new environments where there is a lot to discover is also associated with children with higher IQ.

So, basically, if you’re looking for an excuse to take a trip, and can’t figure out what to get your kids, you can justify your family vacation by saying, “It’s good for the kids” — because it truly is.


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The post Science shows that the best present for your kids is a family vacation appeared first on Matador Network.

The origin of classic holiday spices

“The holidays” is not technically a scent, but we all know exactly what the phrase “smells like the holidays” means. Catching a whiff of five key spices — allspice, anise, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg — evokes a warming feeling of comfort during the coldest months in the Northern Hemisphere.

A major reason these spices are nearly universally accepted as holiday staples is that many of them appear in the food and drinks we consume this time of year (and candles, but first and foremost food). The spices are key to the mulled wine and eggnog we drink, and the pumpkin and apple pies we eat from Thanksgiving through the new year. The smell conjures memories of holidays past even more than the sight of a roasted turkey or the itchy feel of an ugly Christmas sweater. Studies have found that smells are processed in the same part of the brain as emotion and memory, whereas sight, sound, and touch are not.

Humans encountered these spices long before they had an inkling about (relatively) modern holidays like Christmas. Cinnamon use in today’s India and Sri Lanka dates back some 7,000 years, writes David Trinklein, who works in the division of plant sciences at the University of Missouri. Lucrative trade of cinnamon, and later other spices, occurred between Asia, North Africa, and Europe via the Middle East from the time of the Ancient Egyptians. The Romans made Alexandria, Egypt, the center of trade with India, and Indian spices helped make Alexandria a major commercial center for the Roman Empire.

Merchants in Venice controlled the spice trade in the 10th century, creating vast fortunes. By the 1500s, European empires were looking to skip the middleman and get into the spice trade. Spices, in large part the ones we now associate with the holidays, were a major reason for expeditions by Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and others.

The Age of Exploration turned into the age of colonization in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The Netherlands colonized the Spice Islands, now known as Indonesia, through the Dutch East India Company, the United Kingdom colonized parts of modern India with the British East India Company, and the French colonized parts of Southeast Asia and traded through the French East India Company.

The colonies devastated local communities as Europeans fought amongst themselves and used forced labor and violence to meet the demand for spices in their home countries. Over the next couple hundred years, prices went down and what we now consider holiday spices became crucial to traditional Western recipes — including for formally bland recipes for winter foods made with whatever lasted from the final harvest of the year.

These spices are just as valued, though not necessarily as lucrative, in the modern global economy, and countries that were once European spice-producing colonies are now some of the biggest spice exporters. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, China, India, Thailand, and Indonesia are among the top exporters of these spices, though a large share of exports is still run through former colonial powers like the Netherlands and Spain (though, it should be noted, this isn’t exclusive to holiday spices). The largest spice importer in the world is now the United States, which buys up 11 percent of the $2.4 billion spice trade.

While this general history of the spice trade gives the bigger picture of this collection of holiday spices, each of the five major holiday spices is special in and of itself.

1. Allspice

Photo: Glevalex/Shutterstock

Allspice is not just a mixture of all the other holiday spices. In fact, as it’s originally from Central America, it’s the only spice on this list that’s not from the Eastern Hemisphere. The scientific name is Pimenta dioica because the Spanish originally believed it was a type of pepper (pimienta). The common name comes from its aroma, which is like a blend of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Ancient Mayans used allspice for embalming and flavoring.

2. Anise

Photo: DG Stock/Shutterstock

Anise hails from Southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. It’s long been used as a digestive, and its licorice flavor features prominently in many early European liqueurs.

3. Cinnamon

Photo: Koca/Shutterstock

There are two types of cinnamon common today. True cinnamon, or Ceylon cinnamon, comes from the inner bark of a tree native to Sri Lanka called Cinnamomum verum. A second variety grows in China and Indonesia and comes from a related plant, Cinnamomum zeylanicum. The latter is what people in the US are most familiar with while the former is thinner and has a lighter taste (and is also more expensive). Ancient Egyptians used cinnamon in embalming and spiritual ceremonies while Europeans have long coveted the spice for baking.

4. Clove

Photo: Mamsizz/Shutterstock

Native to present-day Malaysia, cloves are a dried flower bud that get their name from the Latin for nail, clavis. According to Trinklein, use dates back 6,000 years to China, when messengers kept cloves in their mouth to ward off bad breath while speaking with the emperor.

5. Nutmeg

Photo: neil langan/Shutterstock

Nutmeg comes from Indonesia and is a seed, not a nut. It was historically one of the most expensive spices because of its limited growing region, but it was brought to the Caribbean at some point and now thrives in Grenada, giving the island the nickname “Nutmeg Island.” If it weren’t for the craze for nutmeg, New York City might have been a much different place. The English and the Dutch battled over Indonesia’s nutmeg-growing islands in the 1600s. In a treaty, the English traded one of these islands, Run, for the then Dutch-owned island of Manhattan.


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The post Where your favorite holiday spices really come from appeared first on Matador Network.

How to pack a carry-on for Christmas

Some people are totally fine checking bags. They enjoy the cultural anthropology that is airport baggage claim and prefer to breeze through airports with nothing but the shirts on their backs. And for these people, the holidays don’t present much of a challenge other than making sure none of their gifts get broken in transit.

But for the carry-on-only crowd, flying this time of year can be especially perplexing. How does one fit a week’s worth of cold-weather clothes into a carry-on already jammed with presents for the whole family? And how do I get all my presents back home afterwards? Well, we chatted with Juan Phillips, Design Director at TravelPro luggage, who’s been designing bags for packing efficiently his whole career. And he shed some light on packing light for the holidays.

Use a bag that maximizes space

Photo: Travelpro Products/Facebook

Contrary to popular opinion, all roller bags are not the same. So the old roller board you dust off and that was last used to haul DVD players for Christmas might not maximize your packing potential. Generally, the limit for most airlines is about 14 inches wide by 22 inches tall by nine inches wide. Phillips recommends TravelPro’s Crew Versapak, but there are plenty of products this same size.

Along the same lines, Phillips points out that traditional roller board bags — where you have two wheels on one side, and you roll the bag at an angle — offer more room than “spinner” bags with four wheels. That’s because the roller board wheels sit almost flush against the bag and don’t require extra height, whereas spinners do. “The advantage of a spinner, it’s going to glide alongside you,” he says. “But it’s going to have a little less volume compared to a roller board.”

Utilize packing cubes

“With things like gifts, that are going to be bulky, you’ll have to come up with creative ways to pack around them,’ says Phillips. “Rolling or compressing within packing cubes is a great way to fit the most while also packing personal items.”

For the unfamiliar, packing cubes are essentially plastic bags equipped with one-way valves, so you can stuff clothes in them, press all the air out, and no air gets in. It’s vacuum sealing your clothes, minus the vacuum. They’re especially helpful when packing for cold places, where big sweaters and jackets will need to be scrunched as small as possible.

Phillips adds that using packing cubes also helps you to stay organized and know where things are in your luggage, so you’re not tearing apart your bag every time you need a sock.

Roll, baby, roll

Photo: Boyloso/Shutterstock

Along the lines of packing cubes, rolling clothes is another popular method of saving space in carry-ons. Anyone who’s spent time in the military is all too familiar with this method of packing, but it works for Christmas as well as it works for field ops. Especially if you’re gifting clothes.

“I’ll fold and roll to fit my belongings as well as gifts I’m traveling with,” adds Phillips.

Pack your presents before you wrap them

Aside from the obvious issue of potentially frayed wrapping paper, carrying already-wrapped presents also severely limits your packing flexibility. If everything is already boxed up, you have to pack it in a space that fits a box. And chances are there’s a lot of air in that box taking up valuable carry-on real estate.

Instead, strip gifts down and put them in wherever they fit. You may also want to consider the packing itself when purchasing gifts. Gift cards, while possibly impersonal, also save you a lot of stress as they don’t take up much room. Neither do clothes. And if you do all your Christmas shopping from the comfort of your laptop, you may consider having gifts shipped to your Christmas destination.

Fit as much of your own things into your carry-on

“Make sure your clothing and personal items are separated from gifts,” says Phillipps. This is more of an organizational hack than anything else, as he says it keeps you from having to fumble around your bag.

“Those who are okay with checking a bag, I would propose they see what they can get in their carry-on and get as much (of your stuff) as you can carry in a personal item,” he continues. “Then when it comes to your check-in piece, you can stuff it with presents.”

Get a bag with a TSA lock

Photo: Nor Gal/Shutterstock

Not to besmirch the good name of our nation’s baggage handlers, but around the holidays when bags are filled with juicy stuff like electronics and gift cards, the very few who might be tempted have extra incentive. Again, not saying it’ll happen, but do you really think your family will believe you when you show up empty-handed for Christmas and say, “I swear they stole it out of my suitcase!”

“If you have more gifts than will fit into carry-ons and personal items, make sure you use a TSA lock,” Phillips says. “They’re either built in (to the suitcase), or buy a TSA padlock and use it on your main compartment. So your belongings are locked and nobody can access them but TSA.”

Assume you’ll do laundry

“I am not somebody who likes to check,” says Phillips. “I like to get right off and I don’t like to wait for my checked bag, so I’m always thinking about doing laundry. Always side with doing laundry rather than overpacking. Especially at home.”

Because during the holidays, typically you’ll be staying with family. And family has cool stuff like washing machines and dryers in their house that you can use without having to find nine dollars in quarters. When you’re traveling light, much like during college breaks, take full advantage of your family’s laundry facilities.

Pick your shoes wisely

Photo: arslaan/Shutterstock

Perhaps you’re stoked to show off the slick new Ferragamo boots you bought with your epic bonus this year and want to make sure your family knows it. While your need to impress loved ones is a completely different issue, the issue at hand is that those boots just aren’t very practical, and they take up a lot of space in your bag. Packing light is not always for the fashion-forward, and when it comes to footwear, finding shoes that serve multiple purposes should be your main priority.

“I’d suggest if you’re going for a week take maybe one or two pairs of shoes,” says Phillips. “Something for working out and something good for both casual and leisure, as well as outings to dinner. Something universal.” Ideally, wear the bulkier pair on the plane and stuff your collapsible running shoes into your bag to maximize space. If you’re going to a snowy destination, consider wearing your boots on the plane as well — just give yourself extra time for lacing and unlacing at security.

Bring an empty bag with you

Assuming your family buys you presents, odds are you’ll be going home with just as much — or more — stuff than you brought. And if you followed our earlier advice and either shipped online purchases ahead of time or bought a bunch of gift cards and T-shirts, you may have considerably more bulk on the way home.

“Pack foldable products,” Phillips advises. “Foldable totes and backpacks, duffles, we have plenty of those. Compressed items you throw in your bag that aren’t necessarily filled, and then on the way back you have a bag for all your stuff.”


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The post How to pack for the holidays like a pro appeared first on Matador Network.

Sustainability of wild-caught salmon

A trip to the grocery store can be fraught. With Earth’s environment in a precarious position, the list of endangered species growing fast, and devastating climate change on our doorstep, it’s become more important than ever to carefully consider what we eat. That doesn’t just mean buying organic eggs and milk. When it comes to stocking our pantries and refrigerators, many people are now considering where their food — especially meat proteins like fish, beef, and chicken — comes from and how it was raised.

The seafood aisle at the grocery store can be especially difficult to navigate. Take salmon, for example. There are two types of salmon available for purchase: wild-caught and farm-raised. And even though we think of salmon coursing through rivers during spawning seasons (and running into hungry bears along the way), around 90 percent of the salmon Americans eat — the garden variety salmon filets that you find at your local grocery store — are raised in aquaculture farms (net cages hanging in the water near the ocean’s shore).

The planet needs salmon aquaculture. The world’s population is growing, and according to the Global Salmon Initiative, the demand for protein is expected to grow 40 percent by 2050. Already strained wild salmon stocks simply can’t keep up with the needs of the population, and some species are already endangered, like California’s Coho salmon and the Pacific Northwest’s Chinook salmon. If everyone on the planet only ate wild salmon, the wild stocks would collapse. Yet the unfortunate truth is that farmed salmon poses a serious threat to the environment (more on that soon).

“Eating less salmon is not the solution either,” says chef Rick Moonen, founder of the Seafood Choices Alliance. “As long as science-based regulations restrict the amount of wild salmon that are hunted every season, we should absolutely support the fishing communities and everything tied to it.”

There is a sustainable middle ground on the impact of farmed versus wild-caught salmon. These are the environmental considerations to have when you’re planning to buy salmon at the grocery store.

Farmed salmon don’t always help wild species

Photo: Marius Dobilas/Shutterstock

Farmed salmon feels like an environmentally friendly option because it takes some pressure off of the wild salmon stock, as mentioned earlier. And as the Global Salmon Initiative points out, that can certainly be true if aquaculture is operated sustainably. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

Consider that a salmon’s diet is made up of smaller fish. According to Stanford Magazine, feeding farmed salmon means significantly depleting food sources for wild salmon. These smaller fish, like anchovies and sardines, are fished at enormous rates, depleting the ocean of a valuable food source for other ocean life.

Additionally, the ocean-bound nets that farmed salmon are raised in around countries like Norway and Chile can sometimes break, thereby releasing farmed salmon into the wild population where they spread disease. The marine advocacy organization Oceana explains that salmon are tightly packed into these nets and can easily transmit bacterial infections like piscirickettsiosis. To combat these diseases, farmers douse their fish in antibiotics and pesticides — chemicals that inevitably drift into the surrounding water.

Now, you might be wondering why any of this matters. Can’t farmed salmon simply replace their wild cousins? After all, there are no wild cows wandering the plains.

It’s a reasonable question with a complex answer. To put it in the simplest terms, wild salmon are key to sustaining the health of Earth’s river ecosystems. Salmon are an essential food for bears. When the fish die, they distribute nutrients into rivers that then flows into the ocean. Nitrogen produced during spawning encourages the growth of trees. There’s also the human element: Wild salmon runs in Alaska provide half a billion dollars in revenue to commercial fishermen.

Although it might sound counterintuitive, the best way to support wild fisheries is to eat wild fish. However, with so many options and species farmed and fished in places from New Zealand to Norway to Washington state, you might need help picking the most sustainable option.

How to find sustainable salmon

Photo: Ekaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock

Wild salmon runs are managed independently of salmon farms, and their goal is simply to maintain wild salmon populations for the health of the environment at-large (rather than to meet the demands of a salmon-hungry public), so you can trust their intentions.

The most sustainable type of wild salmon comes from Alaska, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, where wild salmon runs are healthy and well-managed (however, much of Alaska’s wild salmon is exported to China). That means the population isn’t in danger of being depleted anytime soon, and there are legally enforced caps on how many fish each boat is allowed to catch to prevent overfishing. Alaska even banned salmon farming in 1990 — legislation which is nowhere near being overturned, according to Seafood Source. The initiative is working. In Bristol Bay, Alaska, for instance, the 2018 sockeye salmon run produced 62.3 million fish. Most wild Atlantic salmon, on the other hand, are protected by the US Endangered Species Act.

“Most of the salmon from Alaska in the market are truly wild,” says Ray Hilborn, a marine biologist and fisheries scientist who works closely with the sustainable fisheries department at the University of Washington. “Also the environmental impact of these fisheries is very low compared to almost any other source of protein, including plant-based. For example, no pesticides, antibiotics, or fertilizers are used in production, [and] no land transformation takes place.”

This doesn’t mean that salmon aquaculture farms are evil. Many do endeavor to practice sustainability. The Monterey Bay Aquarium publishes a nifty tool called Seafood Watch, which helps consumers choose the best seafood, either fish or farmed. Though these recommendations are subject to change, Seafood Watch currently indicates that the best choice is Atlantic salmon farmed in net pens in Norway and New Zealand (as well as, it’s worth mentioning, pink and sockeye salmon caught in Washington).

“Farm-raised Atlantic salmon aquaculture practices have been evolving to create a more sustainable process,” says Moonen, who advocates for Seafood Watch in addition to working with Seafood Choices Alliance. “These farms are producing a good salmon that is not destroying the natural habitat [and] help to supply a balanced, and often more affordable, aquatic protein to the mass public.”


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The post How to eat salmon without hurting the environment appeared first on Matador Network.

Scariest Christmas figures

With Halloween behind us, and jolly old St. Nick’s annual ride up ahead, it may seem like the creepiest thing we have left to contend with this year is the suspiciously innocent Elf on the Shelf. But according to European folklore, Christmas gets a whole lot scarier than rosy-cheeked dolls. Witches, demons, and a giant cat more terrifying than any character from A Nightmare Before Christmas feature in traditional tales from Iceland to Austria. Take note, superstitious types: These are the seven creepiest yuletide baddies to keep an eye out for this month.

1. Jólakötturinn: Iceland’s man-eating Yule Cat

Photo: Carolyne Parent/Shutterstock

How we act throughout the year generally decides whether we make the naughty or nice list. Yet Iceland’s bloodthirsty Yule Cat bases its judgment on another criterion: wardrobe. The massive, murderous feline is said to patrol the snowy landscape in the days before Christmas, peering into windows and gobbling up children who haven’t received new clothes. According to Icelandic tradition, children who finished their chores on time were gifted new clothes to wear for Christmas. Lazy children were threatened with receiving nothing and having to face Jólakötturinn. To appease the people-eating Yule Cat, some Icelanders still give each other socks, mittens, and other warm clothing on Christmas.

2. Frau Perchta: The Christmas witch made famous by Jacob Grimm

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Many children grow up thinking that the worst thing they could wake up to Christmas morning is a lump of coal in their stocking. Those from southern Germany and Austria know better, however, having grown up with the tale of Frau Perchta. Perchta is said to prowl the Alps during the 12 days of Christmas. On the last night, the Eve of Epiphany, she creeps into homes to leave silver coins in good children’s shoes and slit the stomachs of the naughty, particularly the lazy. Adults included. She then replaces their insides with straw, stones, and waste.

Descriptions of Frau Perchta vary. Once believed to be a goddess, she’s been depicted as both tall and womanly and grotesque and demonic, with features like horns, an enlarged foot, and a beak-like nose. In some stories, she switches between the two forms. Jacob Grimm, of Brothers Grimm fame, popularized the legend of Frau Perchta in the 19th century, linking the figure back to 10th-century lore.

3. Hans Trapp: Alsace Lorraine’s anti-Santa

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Hans Trapp is an evil spirit who haunts the forests of Alsace Lorraine. Trapp’s story is a cautionary tale about greed, as well as a good old-fashioned ghost story that’s come to be associated with Christmas on the French-German border. As it goes, Hans Trapp was a wealthy man whose cruelty and money-lust eventually got him excommunicated from the Catholic church, after which he became a disciple of Satan. Exiled to the forest, Trapp disguised himself as a scarecrow and began preying on young children. One day, about to devour one of his catches, legend has it that Trapp was struck by a bolt of lighting, a not-so-subtle sign from God, and killed on the spot. Unfortunately for the little ones of Alsace Lorraine, his restless soul is still said to roam the region every Christmas, looking for children to feast on.

4. Krampus: The half-goat, half-demon keeper of the naughty list

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Santa Claus may be a far cry from St. Nicholas, but at least the patron saint of children on whom he’s based made it into the mainstream. Classic Christmas tales also speak of evil counterparts to gift-giving St. Nicholas who are said to punish naughty children.

One of the most famous anti-Santas, Krampus began its flirtation with the zeitgeist in 2015 after the surprisingly not-panned horror-comedy of the same name hit the big screen. The story dates much farther back, however, with roots in centuries-old pagan lore from Austria and Alpine Germany. Legend has it that Krampus comes to town every December 5 on the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas, also known as Krampusnacht, or “Krampus Night.” In tamer tales, the hoofed, fanged demon leaves bundles of sticks in naughty children’s shoes. Other stories have the monster beat the children or even drag them to hell.

Some young men still get drunk, dress up in menacing masks, and run through the streets on a Krampuslauf, or “Krampus Run,” over the holidays. The whole thing started as a way to scare disobedient children straight, but we suspect it’s more about adults letting loose these days.

5. Grýla, Leppalúði, and the Icelandic Yule Lads: Not-so-merry little pranksters

Photo: Keflavik International Airport/Facebook

Iceland’s Yule Lads, or Jólasveinar, are a band of 13 folkloric fellows who visit children during the lead-up to Christmas. Like Krampus, they supposedly leave treats in the shoes of well-behaved children, distributing candies rather than coins. Troublemakers receive rotten potatoes in their place. Now depicted as relatively child-friendly trolls, the original Yule Lads were conceived of as terrifying monsters intended to scare children. Each has a name and mischievous specialty, from licking spoons to stealing sausages and slamming doors.

Even before being watered down in the interest of not scarring children for life, the Yule Lads were never the most frightening part of their own lore. That title belongs to Grýla, their mother and Iceland’s notorious Christmas witch. Early Icelanders believed that the mid-winter holiday that predated Christmas was a time when supernatural creatures roamed the human realm. Among them was cave-dwelling Grýla who was notorious for stuffing naughty children into her sack, bringing them back to her lair, and cooking them up in her cauldron. In some accounts, her husband, a troll named Leppalúði, joins her in the hunt.

Though Grýla’s story was not originally associated with Christmas, she’s come to be regarded as the mother of Iceland’s creepy Christmas family, which includes the Yule Lads and Yule Cat. A large sculpture of Grýla is currently displayed at Keflavik airport, and you can jump into her pot for terrifying photo-op.

6. Mari Lwyd: The nightmarish “Grey Mare”

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Mari Lwyd is a Welsh custom with pagan roots that got swept up in Christmas and New Year’s festivities in South Wales and beyond. Traditionally, the practice involved wassailers going door to door carrying a horse skull mounted to a stick, draped in a white sheet, and decorated with ribbons, bells, and baubles. The skeleton-helmed procession sang ditties on every doorstep, demanding entry into people’s homes. Residents were challenged to retort with rhyming comebacks in a back-and-forth exchange called pwnco. After the battle of wits, the Mari Lywd procession was allowed in for drinks and snacks, and sometimes farewell songs were exchanged before the troupe continued on. It’s a lighthearted custom at its core, but the Mari Lwyd horse-spirit is one of the creepier Christmas figures out there.

7. Belsnickel: Santa’s cranky German companion

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Belsnickel is a character from German folklore, primarily featured in stories from the Palatinate region, but the legend carried over and grew with the Pennsylvania Dutch. Dwight Schrute introduced the figure to American audiences on The Office, dressing up as the fur-wearing, stick-carrying curmudgeon with a coal-smeared face in the Christmas episode of season nine. Though Belsnickel doles out both presents and punishments, he’s most famous for scaring naughty kids into behaving before Christmas. Said to appear a week or two before Christmas Day, he goes around beating insolent children to whip them into shape for his wholesome companion, St. Nicholas. Belsnickel bears some resemblance to an earlier German figure called Knecht Ruprecht who also accompanied St. Nicholas and threatened unruly kids.


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