• 8 months after devastating hurricanes, the British Virgin Islands are still recovering — but many areas have reopened, or are rebuilding. 
• BVI Tourism Board is running a Summer Sails promotion to spotlight its reopened charter companies and landside accommodations.
• They are striving to regain their status as a prime boating destination, and several yacht charters are open for business.
• Although hotels on Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and smaller islands were hit hard by Hurricane Irma, most are committed to rebuilding—and many have reopened.
• Many popular dive sites were undamaged, but visitors can now also dive at the BVI Art Reef, a naval ship site that Richard Branson opened in April.

Eight months after suffering the one-two punch of hurricanes Irma and Maria, the British Virgin Islands are bouncing back in a significant way.

While it was previously only operating until 5 p.m. daily, Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport has resumed commercial evening flights. Travelers can once again reach the islands via connections in San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, and St. Maarten on Cape Air, LIAT, InterCaribbean Airways, and Seaborne Airlines. Additionally, many more hotels, resorts, and charter companies have opened their doors in preparation of the 2018 winter travel season.

Currently, the BVI Tourism Board is even running a Summer Sails promotion to spotlight its reopened charter companies and landside accommodations. Visitors can enjoy discounts on a minimum seven-day yacht charter or five- or seven-day hotel stay—depending on the property—as well as VIP clearance upon arrival (including a greeter and expedited customs and immigration processes) and coupons to redeem at local restaurants, bars, and more.

Participating charters include BVI Yacht Charters, Seabbatical Long Term Charter, Horizon Yacht Charters, and The Moorings, while landside accommodations range from Cooper Island Beach Club and Guana Island to Leverick Bay Resort & Marina and Villa Sirenetta. Trips can be booked through BVI Summer Sails with code BVISS18; however, the promotion is only valid for travel from June 15 to August 15, 2018, and the tourism board is accepting only 100 bookings.

SEE ALSO: Photos show Hurricane Irma's aftermath in the Caribbean, where some islands were more than 90% destroyed

Yacht charter update

Tourism and yachting are the economic cornerstones of the BVI, so the islands are striving to regain their status as a prime boating destination. The yachting sector began welcoming visitors in November 2017, and charter boat providers are once again sending visitors to cruising grounds. Ferries have also resumed operations between Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, St. Thomas, and St. John, as well as to smaller islands in the BVI.

While glass and wood continue to be in short supply for necessary infrastructure reconstruction, several boat yards, including Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour, Nanny Cay Boat Yard, Tortola Yacht Services, and Soper’s Hole Boat Yard, are working to disassemble damaged yachts and repurpose their materials.

The following yacht charters are open for business. Other charter companies are working to assemble fleets to accommodate bookings.

Conch Charters: Operations have resumed on Tortola

Dream Yacht Charter: Reopened on Tortola last November and added two new boats to its fleet, the Sunreef 70 Muse and Lagoon 620 Reve2Mer

Horizon Yacht Charters: Operations have resumed from Nanny Cay on Tortola, with six new yachts added for the 2018 winter season

Sunsail: Operations have resumed on Tortola

The Moorings: One of the biggest charter bases in the world, The Moorings lost two thirds of its fleet during Hurricane Irma. The team rushed in boats from the Mediterranean to compensate and has since resumed operations on Tortola.   

TMM Yacht Charters: Operations have resumed on Tortola

Hotel and restaurant status

Dive-site update

Dive sites, including the 150-year-old wreck of the RMS Rhone off little Salt Island, were undamaged by Hurricane Irma.

Visitors can now also dive at the BVI Art Reef, a historic naval ship turned dive site just south of Virgin Gorda that Richard Branson and other BVI stakeholders opened in April. When photographer Owen Buggy learned that the Kodiak Queen—a former U.S. Navy fuel barge and one of only five ships to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941—was marked for the scrap heap, he enlisted Branson to help him turn it into a dive site. The pair, along with the Maverick1000 group of entrepreneurs and other environmental organizations, then worked to save, clean, and sink the ship, creating an artificial reef, marine habitat, dive site, and large-scale underwater art installation that doubles as a coral nursery. The next phase of the project, currently underway, includes coral restoration, species monitoring, and ocean conservation education to positively impact the BVI ocean ecosystem.

The Trump administration took another step this spring toward its campaign promise to keep undocumented immigrants out of the US.

In early May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Department of Homeland Security officials would begin a new "zero-tolerance" immigration policy: Everyone who attempts to cross the border — even those seeking asylum — are now being prosecuted.

The policy seems to be doing exactly what it was designed to do. Homeland Security figures reveal that, between April 19 through May 31, border officials separated 1,995 children from 1,940 adults, according to a report from the AP's Colleen Long published Friday.

Even before the Trump administration enacted this policy, migrant families often needed to separate, largely because crossing the US-Mexico border undocumented was always dangerous.

Steel fencing with razor wire, sensors, and surveillance cameras line most of the nearly 2,000-mile US-Mexico border today. Back in 1971, the US fundamentally changed a section of the barrier: The Nixon administration built Friendship Park, the only federally designated bi-national meeting place along the US southern border.

Until 1994, the park between San Diego and Tijuana did not include any fencing. Anyone could spend time there during the day, under the monitor of US Border Patrol. But border security tightened over time, and today families can barely touch fingertips through Friendship Park's thick steel fence.

Friends of Friendship Park, a local community organization formed in 2006, is now attempting to work with the San Diego Border Patrol to allow unrestricted access to the park again.

Take a look below:

SEE ALSO: 26 photos that show the US-Mexico border's evolution over 100 years

DON'T MISS: A journey along the entire 1,933-mile US-Mexico border shows the monumental task of securing it

On August 18, 1971, first lady Pat Nixon inaugurated Friendship Park (located west of San Ysidro, California) and declared it a national monument.

Source: NBC News

"May there never be a wall between these two great nations," the first lady said. "Only friendship."

Source: The Washington Post

Over 100 years prior, in 1848, the US built a pyramid-shaped statue on the San Diego beach to mark the end of the Mexican-American War. Today, there are 276 such monuments to the war along the border; the one in Friendship Park was the first.

Source: The Washington Post

When it comes to children, the only certain things about them is that they’ll cry, they’ll poop and repeat.

Handling that is the easy part. Everything else is a minefield waiting to be stepped on. 

It doesn’t matter how many books you read, videos you watch, classes you take or parents you talk to, raising your own child and the affects it will have on you will only become known once you’re in the trenches.

While it may sometimes sound like war, having a kid is truly incredible. There are a few things, however, I wish I knew before my son arrived. 

SEE ALSO: 10 hard truths no one tells you about buying a house

SEE ALSO: 9 things I wish I knew before I got married

You're on your own

The baby’s born. Family comes to visit you at the hospital, friends send you text messages and your social media blows up with good wishes from the kid you sat next to in third grade. Then after 48 hours, at which point your insurance company strong-arms the hospital to discharge you, you're figuring out how to install a car seat.

No matter how many books you read, other babies you hold, or advice you half-listen to from your in-laws, when you have your first child, it's the first time you're a parent and you're going to have to figure everything our for yourself. 

We wanted to breast feed, but my wife couldn’t. Our son wasn’t eating. We didn’t wait for the first-week checkup. We were at the pediatrician’s office on day 3 to find out what kind of bombshell news we were going to be hit with. It’s scary. You and your partner need to hang on tight like Thelma & Louise because if you’re not in this together, you will drive each other off a cliff.

They really, really, really like sleeping in your bed

Me, my wife and my newborn son all lived in the same bedroom for the first year of his life.  It wasn't always ideal, but it was easy to roll over and pick him up from his crib and bring him into our bed. He'd call for us, and we'd go get him. 

Eventually when he was in a toddler bed, he could simply get out of bed on his own and climb into ours, parting my wife and I like the Red Sea, sometimes not even feeling he was in between us. Well, I would, because he’d kick mercilessly, which may explain my lower back issues and my affinity for sleeping on couches.

It's incredibly hard to break habits

Once you start letting your child do something it becomes a pattern. Some people may object to welcoming their child into their bed, for example, like we did. Sure, doing so sometimes put a damper on personal time with my wife, but all my son ever wanted when climbing into bed with us was to snuggle and feel comfortable. 

Sharing our bed with my son really allowed my wife and I to build our relationship with him, but to this day he still likes to fall asleep in our bed every night before I pick him up and transfer him to his own bedroom. Although it's not necessarily a bad habit, my wife and I are looking forward to upgrading to a king sized mattress. 

• Father's Day has arrived in the United States.
• Dads love to give advice. And, sometimes, it turns out to be pretty great advice.
• Check out these insights from the fathers of people who went on to succeed in business.

Father's Day is here in the US. Time to contemplate everything your dad has done for you — and maybe even reflect on his advice and insight.

You never know. Your dad's classic mantra might turn out to be words to live by. Plenty of famous success stories have had great results with taking such paternal gems to heart.

In honor of Father's Day, we've collected the best advice super-successful business leaders ever got from their dads.

Here's the fatherly wisdom:

SEE ALSO: A tech CEO's experience as a single dad convinced him to overhaul his $3 billion company’s benefits

Meg Whitman: Be nice

While "be nice" may sound like a platitude, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO said it's some of the most important advice she ever got. 

"I'll never forget my father telling me that," Whitman recalled in Fortune in 2005. "I had been mean to someone. He said, 'There is no point in being mean to anyone at any time. You never know who you're going to meet later in life. And by the way, you don't change anything by being mean. Usually you don't get anywhere.'"

T. Boone Pickens: Have a plan

The chairman of BP Capital Management was a student at Oklahoma State when his dad arrived on campus for his fraternity initiation — and delivered a life-changing message.

"A fool with a plan can outsmart a genius with no plan any day," he told Pickens. "And your mother and I think we have a fool with no plan. We think you're wasting your time here in Stillwater. You're not getting anywhere."

His dad was right, Pickens wrote on LinkedIn in 2014. "I had to admit I wasn't burning up the place." But within a month of that visit, everything changed. He picked a track and switched his major. "I got a plan," he says, "and I've had one ever since."

Bill Gates: Do what you're not good at

These days, the former Microsoft CEO and his lawyer father give each other advice as cochairs of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but back in the day, the elder Gates was the one doling out counsel to his son. 

The most important lesson Gates ever learned from his dad? Invest in things — even if you're not good at them.

In a 2009 conversation with Fortune, he recalled that both his parents encouraged him to "to go out for a lot of different sports like swimming, football, soccer," he says. "At the time I thought it was kind of pointless, but it ended up really exposing me to leadership opportunities and showing me that I wasn't good at a lot of things, instead of sticking to things that I was comfortable with."

His father agrees that those early forced softball team memberships seem to have worked out okay. "Apparently it turned out to be good advice."

Watch out, Venmo — there's another payments app on the rise. 

Zelle is a year-old service that lets you digitally transfer money to someone else, no cash, checks, or wire transfers required. It sounds a lot like Venmo, but there's one key difference: Zelle was created by the seven largest banks in the US. 

Last summer, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, Capital One, BB&T, and PNC joined together to launch Zelle. Both Venmo and Zelle let you send money to friends instantly. The difference with Zelle is that you don’t have to wait to receive the money in your bank account.

This feature may have contributed to why Zelle is becoming so popular. According to eMarketer data, Zelle is now the most-used peer-to-peer payment app in the US, and is expected to grow more than 73% in 2018. By the end of the year, eMarketer predicts Zelle will have 27.4 million users, compared to Venmo's 22.9 million users. 

So what makes Zelle different from Venmo, and how can you start using it? Here's everything you need to know. 

SEE ALSO: What it's like to use Wyze Cam, the $20 home security camera trying to take on Amazon and Nest

The easiest way to get started with Zelle is to download the mobile app. Zelle will ask to use your location, but you're allowed to skip that step.

Next, the app will ask you to enter your phone number.

From there, you'll be able to see a list of the top banks that use Zelle. You can select your bank from the list, or view the full list available banks.

You can also search for your bank on Zelle's website. 

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller has been identified as the driving force behind the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy that separates immigrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border.

At 32 years old, he has been a rising star on the far right for years, often making headlines because of his polarizing demeanor and statements long before The New York Times reported June 16 that he was the origin of the controversial policy.

Miller's stature in Washington, DC, politics has grown as he emerged as a key player in talks to end the government shutdown in January, effectively serving as Trump's surrogate for crafting the White House position on immigration policy.

One of the few remaining staffers from Trump's 2016 campaign, Miller also writes the president's biggest speeches, including Trump's first State of the Union address.

His hard-line positions and knack for policy have made him a force to be reckoned with. But before Miller became a major figure in the Trump administration, he was an outspoken, conservative activist in high school and college who worked on congressional campaigns.

Here's how Miller became Trump's right-hand policy man:

SEE ALSO: Stephen Miller had to be escorted off CNN's set after his interview with Jake Tapper went off the rails

DON'T MISS: A far-right darling in the White House was the one who convinced Trump the US should separate parents from their children at the border

Stephen Miller was born in Santa Monica, California, on August 23, 1985, to a Jewish family whose ancestors fled persecution in what is now Belarus. His family was liberal-leaning, but Miller says he became a stalwart conservative at an early age.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

In 2002, at age 16, Miller wrote in a letter to the editor that "Osama Bin Laden would feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School" because of the student body's anti-war attitude after 9/11. Soon enough, Miller began appearing on conservative talk radio in the Los Angeles area.

Sources: The LookOut, Univision, Politico Magazine

A video emerged in 2017 of his giving a student-government campaign speech at Santa Monica High in which he argued that students shouldn't have to pick up their own trash because there are "plenty of janitors who are paid to do it" for them. The audience quickly booed him off the stage.

Sources: The Washington Post, Politico Magazine

• Costco and Boxed are both bulk retailers that sell pretty much everything. 
• Boxed has been called the "Costco for millennials" because it's an online-exclusive store with mobile ordering and speedy delivery. Costco also has an online store and mobile ordering, but its prices can be as much as 20% more there than in the physical warehouse stores.
• Costco shoppers can shop online without a membership, but a 5% surcharge is applied at checkout.
• The websites themselves have some obvious differences, and we found that one was much easier to use than the other.

Costco and Boxed — the so-called "Costco for millennials"— sell everything and anything in bulk.

Unlike Costco, Boxed is digitally native. It has mobile ordering and one-to-three-day delivery. It also offers free two-day shipping if you spend more than $49, and it doesn't require a membership to make a purchase.

Costco has an online store in addition to its physical warehouses, but products across all categories tend to cost more online than in stores. Though the website allows shoppers to order from Costco without paying for a $60 annual membership, a 5% surcharge is applied at checkout. However, Costco has been taking some steps to reach more millennial shoppers, like offering two-day delivery through Costco Grocery and one-day delivery through a partnership with Instacart.

One of the most clear differences between Costco and Boxed is that Boxed members don't need to pay an annual fee to access the savings. But the company did recently launch Boxed Up, a premium service that costs $49 a year and provides shoppers with perks like free shipping on orders over $20, 2% cashback rewards, and price matching with competitors.

Both websites offer major savings for bulk shoppers, but upon trying both, I found one was easier to use than the other. See what it's like to shop at each:

SEE ALSO: We shopped at Forever 21 and H&M to see which was a better fast-fashion store, and the winner was clear for a key reason

Costco was the first site I went to. On the homepage were members-only savings deals, buyers' picks, and a selection of different featured products in a variety of categories.

It was hugely different from the Boxed homepage, which was very simple and sleek. Scrolling down on the Boxed homepage, there were links leading to more information about bow Boxed gives back to different causes.

Costco had far more departments on its website, but it was cluttered and hard to navigate compared to Boxed.

A home in San Francisco's ritzy Pacific Heights neighborhood has been privately listed off the market for $30 million, according to SF Curbed.

That's more than twice what it sold for just three years ago.

The home at 2900 Vallejo St. once belonged to Vanessa Getty and husband William Getty, the grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty, who shelled out $11.5 million in 2002 for the space and sold it within a decade of making the purchase. In 2015 the mansion sold for $12.5 million, $3.5 million below asking price according to Redfin.

The mansion has since undergone substantial renovation, which includes new stucco to the exterior of the house, an extravagant winding staircase and some earthquake-fighting fixings: every level of the five-story home is connected by steel reinforcements to the bedrock underneath the house.

Realtor Ludovico Mazzola told Business Insider that the seller's renovation was "comprehensive:" every aspect of the home was touched.

Whether it's the extensive renovation or the Bay Area's notoriously competitive housing market, the manor's $30 million price tag makes the property one of the most expensive currently for sale in San Francisco.

Inside, the home is as dreamy and fairy-tale worthy as it sounds. Take a look.

SEE ALSO: San Francisco housing is so out-of-control, this gorgeous home sold for $9.6 million — $1.6 million over the asking price

The grey mansion at 2900 Vallejo sits on a corner in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood and weighs in at 9,700 square feet.

Source: SF Curbed

The home has six bedrooms, eight and a half baths and an elevator.

Source: SF Curbed

The inside is decked out with marble and crisp, white touches.

• Wegmans has been voted the best grocery store chain in the United States for the third consecutive year, according to Market Force Information's annual survey. In 2017, Wegmans tied for first place with Publix.
• These two regional chains were ranked highest in terms of store cleanliness and item availability. Wegmans came out on top thanks to high ratings of its specialty departments. 
• America's largest chain, Walmart, fell to last place. 

Wegmans has once again been voted America's favorite grocery chain. 

The New-York based chain, which has fewer than 100 stores, beat out national rivals such as Target, Trader Joe's, and Walmart to be crowned the best grocery store in the United States for the third consecutive year. In 2017, it was tied for first place with Publix, which is based in the Southeast.

More than 12,700 consumers were asked to rate their favorite US grocery chains on attributes like best value, fastest service, and cleanliness in an annual survey done by Market Force Information, a consumer insights firm.

Both Wegmans and Publix scored highest on store cleanliness and item availability, but Wegmans won the top spot for its specialty department service – these include a deli, coffee shop, and bakery. Trader Joe's came in at third place and was credited for its fast checkouts and courteous cashiers. 

Wegmans has landed at the top of the list for several years in a row thanks in large part to its loyal fans who praise it for its ready-to-eat section. It is best known for offering a ton of variety in its product selection. The company has said that each location stocks up to 70,000 products, while the average supermarket stocks slightly more than 40,000 products, according to the Food Marketing Institute.

Market Force's scoring system is based on customers' satisfaction and likelihood to recommend the store to others. Take a look at the rankings below and see how your favorite store fared in the survey:

SEE ALSO: We compared grocery shopping at stores in the US and the UK — and it was shockingly clear which country does it better

22. Walmart

Score: 34%

21. Safeway

Score: 42%

20. Giant Food Stores

Score: 45%

The biggest risks to our life change as we grow and develop. When we're toddlers, being near water can put us in serious danger, while in middle age, our DNA is more susceptible to damage.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks the 10 leading causes of death for Americans at every stage of life. The health agency's data from 2016 reveals that some of the greatest hazards to our young lives include everyday activities like riding in a car, while deadly cancers and heart conditions become more dangerous as our bodies take on more wear and tear.

The list below describes most common causes of death at every age, from dangerous accidents that pose threats when we're young to diseases that are likely to take our lives when we're older.

SEE ALSO: The suicide rate has risen 28% in the US in less than 20 years, according to new data

Here's a map of what to watch out for from age 0 to 65. Notice that most deaths that occur before age 45 are likely to be caused by accidents.

The single biggest threat to life for people between 1 and 45 is some kind of accident, whether it's consumption of a toxic chemical or a deadly crash.

But just looking at the leading cause of death for every age group doesn't tell us the whole story. Suicides are on the rise across the US and have become the second leading cause of death in many age groups.

For that reason, we've also included the second leading cause of death for each age group in the categories below.

The biggest risk to newborns' nascent lives, from birth to their first birthday, is birth defects.

In the US, one in every 33 babies is born with a birth defect, according to the CDC.

These development issues include critical and potentially deadly malformations of the heart or brain, as well as milder ones like a smaller-than-usual ear or a misshapen foot.

Most birth defects crop up during the first three months of pregnancy, when the organs of a fetus are beginning to form. But some abnormalities can go undetected until months later. Many issues like hearing loss or heart problems can't be diagnosed until after a baby is born.

Factors like family history, the health of the mother, use of medications, and consumption of alcohol or drugs can all have some effect on birth defects. But the reasons that some babies are born with potentially devastating or deadly health problems are still not completely understood.

The second leading cause of death for babies from 0 to 1 is premature birth.

From ages 1 to 4, babies, toddlers, and their caregivers should be extra cautious around water.

The CDC estimates that every day in the US, two children under the age of 15 die from unintentional drowning. Babies can drown in just a single inch of water, according to the Mayo Clinic.

"A curious toddler can fall into a toilet, bucket, or fish tank," the clinic's website says.

New parents should consider toilet locks, keep the bathroom door closed, and always supervise bath time.

The second leading cause of death among children between 1 and 4 is birth defects.

• Being an active father impacts your success in a number of important ways.
• Fatherhood can factor into how much you earn, your health and eating habits, and your happiness, among other things.
• Based on scientific research, we compiled 9 significant ways being a dad impacts success.

Fatherhood isn't a one-size-fits-all cap you simply slip on once you have a child.

Working dads wear many hats when they become a parent, and for each father, how and when you wear these hats differs.

Some fathers split the child-rearing responsibilities with their partner down the middle, while others focus more on breadwinning and others still become primary caregivers at home.

At the end of the day, active fatherhood will inevitably affect your success, though how is a slightly more complicated issue.

Hopefully, these studies will begin to unpack the question of how being a dad impacts your success a little and help us better understand the many factors at play:

SEE ALSO: The science behind why paid parental leave is good for everyone

DON'T MISS: Science says parents of successful kids have these 13 things in common

Being a dad could make you more hirable

A study out of Cornell found that, while employers tend to discriminate against mothers, fatherhood actually provides a boost in opinion from employers.

As part of the study, researchers sent employers fake, almost identical résumés with one major difference: some résumés indicated that the job applicant was part of a parent-teacher association.

Male job candidates whose résumés mentioned the parent-teacher association were called back more often than men whose résumés didn't, while women who alluded to parenthood in this way were half as likely to get called back than women who didn't.

The study participants also rated fathers as more desirable job candidates than mothers and non-fathers and deemed them more competent and committed than mothers or men without kids. At the same time, applicants who were fathers were allowed to be late to work significantly more times than mothers or non-fathers.

Having a child can help you earn more money if you're a father

"For most men the fact of fatherhood results in a wage bonus," research group Third Way's president Jonathan Cowan and resident scholar Dr. Elaine C. Kamarck write about "The Fatherhood Bonus and The Motherhood Penalty: Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Pay." 

In the academic paper, author Michelle J. Budig, a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, writes that, "While the gender pay gap has been decreasing, the pay gap related to parenthood is increasing."

In her 15 years of research on the topic, Budig found that, on average, men earn 6% more when they have and live with a child, while women earn 4% less for every child they have.

This jives with the Cornell study finding that employers are willing to offer fathers the greatest salary compared to non-fathers, mothers, and non-mothers. 

Dads are no less productive than their childless counterparts

Contrary to the popular belief that parents, who often have more responsibilities than childless workers, are more likely to be distracted at work, research suggests that fathers are not significantly less productive than their childless counterparts. In fact, some fathers' productivity may benefit from parenthood.

After analyzing the amount of research published by more than 10,000 academic economists, researchers commissioned by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that, over the course of a 30-year career, fathers of at least two children are slightly more productive than fathers of one child and childless men. Fathers become 52% more productive after the birth of twins.

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

International travel, from a distance, can seem like one big graph — replete with peaks and valleys. The peaks are almost exclusively confined to the trip, and the deep valleys occur in the preparation, airport, and ensuing jet lag.

But thanks to my work as a product reviewer, I see a high volume of great tools and products designed just to make traveling easier. And on my recent trip abroad, I decided to put a few of them to the test. What I got was a trip that was markedly easier — and more enjoyable — from start to finish than any other I’ve planned before. 

Below, you’ll find 15 purchases that made my last international trip a breeze — just in case any of them might be helpful to you, too:

DON'T MISS: 11 common travel annoyances and how to fix them immediately

Reliable, impressively affordable Wi-Fi that goes where you go

Skyroam Solis WiFi Hotspot and Power Bank, $149.99

Skyroam day passes (5 for the price of 4), $40

Skyroam Solis was probably the number one most helpful thing I packed. It's a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that offers unlimited 4G LTE service without having to worry about cell data overages or big fees. The device itself is $149.99 on Amazon and the Skyroam "day passes" for wifi are $40 for 5 days ($8 per day). For the $8 per day, you can hook up to five devices at a time to the Solis. If you're traveling with family or friends, that means that one day pass will cover everyone's data for the day. Over our five-day trip, it worked almost flawlessly.

Part of the joy of international travel is not always having wifi, but we really only used it for necessities like Google Maps and looking up more information on the sights we were enjoying. It allows you the considerable luxury of being flexible with your choices, and can save a closed restaurant, museum, or unfortunate turn of events from ruining your day.

A website that plans your trip for you for $25/day, complete with booking hotels and making your reservations

Travel with Journy for $25 a day

Before I remembered Journy, I was so stressed out by the details of planning the trip (researching restaurants abroad, mapping out must-see sights to group them by neighborhood, and allocating time for all the activities we wanted to include) that I wasn't even enjoying the anticipation of a big trip.

For $25 per day of your trip, Journy basically takes care of all of the travel stressors so you can relax without missing out while you're gone. You work with a seasoned concierge who designs your itinerary, books hotels, makes restaurant reservations, and keeps your priorities and preferences in mind. In other words, it's a huge relief. If you want more details, you can find a full review here. 

A phone case that keeps cards and IDs within reach at all times

Incipio Stowaway Credit Card Case, from $13.95

Both myself and Insider Picks editor Ellen Hoffman are longtime fans of Incipio's lean but functional Stowaway card case. It keeps my debit card, ID, and metro pass within easy reach instead of zipped in my bag or loose in my pocket while I'm traveling, which is a real lifesaver.

• The Boeing 777 is one of the most successful and revolutionary airplanes in aviation history.
• The 777  helped usher in the era of the modern twin-engine, wide-body airliner that effectively rendered four-engined jumbos like the 747 obsolete.
• It's also the first computer-designed airliner.
• Boeing has taken more nearly 2,000 orders for the 777, making it the best selling wide-body airliner in aviation history.

This week in 1994, the Boeing 777 airliner made its first flight — kicking off a career that would revolutionize the airline industry. 

Once every few decades, an airplane comes along and simply redefines what a modern airliner is capable of delivering for airlines and its passengers. In 1957, Boeing changed the game with its first jet-powered airliner, the 707. In 1969, Boeing turned the airline industry upside down with the introduction of the 747 jumbo jet. In 1994, Boeing did it again with the 777.

In the two decades since its first flight, the 777 has become the trusty long-haul workhorse for the world's international airlines.

In the early days of jet-powered commercial flight, traditional thinking dictated that there is safety in numbers. As result, long-haul flying was dominated by three and four-engine jetliners.

With modern airframes and turbofan engines becoming exponentially more reliable, US and international regulators have relaxed rules that limited the routes twin-engine airliners could fly. These rules changes have helped smaller, twin-engine jetliners such as the Boeing 777,  767, 787 as well as the Airbus A330 and A350 become the airplanes of choice for airlines around the world. In the process, the Boeing 777 helped render the jumbos like the iconic 747 obsolete. 

Through May of 2018, Boeing has sold a whopping 1,971 777s — making it the best-selling wide-body jetliner in aviation history. It's also the second best selling airliner in Boeing history behind only the 737. 

Here's a closer look at the history of the Boeing 777.

SEE ALSO: How the Airbus A380 superjumbo went from an airline status symbol to being sold for spare parts in just 10 years

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The Boeing 777's journey began in October of 1990 with an order from United Airlines for a twin-engine wide-body airliner larger than Boeing's 767...

... But smaller than the iconic 747 jumbo jet.

Leading the 777 program was its general manager Alan Mulally. In 2006, Mulally left Boeing to become CEO of the Ford Motor Company.

Sony's PlayStation 4 continues to dominate the world of gaming, with over 75 million consoles in the wild. And what's selling all those consoles? Great games!

Games like the incredible-looking "The Last of Us: Part II," which Sony dug into in a lengthy video on Monday evening:

It's one of four hotly anticipated games that Sony showcased during an event at the video game industry's annual E3 gathering in Los Angeles: "Spider-Man,""Ghost of Tsushima,""Death Stranding," and the aforementioned "The Last of Us: Part II."

Check out all four below:

SEE ALSO: The 7 biggest announcements from the first 2 days of E3 2018

1. "The Last of Us: Part II"

The folks behind the Indiana Jones-esque blockbuster third-person action "Uncharted" series are true veterans of video game creation. The studio, Naughty Dog, goes all the way back to the first PlayStation console, having created the beloved "Crash Bandicoot" series.

Beyond those two (massive) game franchises, Naughty Dog is also responsible for the incredible, genre-pushing PlayStation game "The Last of Us." Naughty Dog's next game is a highly anticipated follow-up, the aptly-titled "The Last of Us: Part II."

In "Part II," the duo of protagonists Joel and Ellie are making a return. But in the latest trailer, Ellie's out on her own.

Check out the full gameplay video right here:

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2. "Ghost of Tsushima"

Sucker Punch, the studio that created the PlayStation blockbuster "inFamous," is working on something completely new: a samurai game set in Feudal Japan, called "Ghost of Tsushima."

All we know about the game is that it's a tale of revenge. Here's the full description from Sucker Punch:

"The year is 1274. Samurai warriors are the legendary defenders of Japan — until the fearsome Mongol Empire invades the island of Tsushima, wreaking havoc and conquering the local population. As one of the last surviving samurai, you rise from the ashes to fight back. But, honorable tactics won't lead you to victory. You must move beyond your samurai traditions to forge a new way of fighting — the way of the Ghost — as you wage an unconventional war for the freedom of Japan."

From what the trailer shows, "Ghost of Tsushima" is a third-person, character-driven action game with a focus on swordplay. This is a samurai game, after all. 

Beyond the story, and the pedigree, "Ghost of Tsushima" simply looks incredibly unique. It's gorgeous, and set in a time period rarely explored in blockbuster video games. Perhaps more than any other trailer Sony showed, "Ghost of Tsushima" looks the most interesting and fresh.

• The Trump administration has been under fire for weeks over its new "zero-tolerance" policy that has resulted in the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents.
• On Sunday, a handful of reporters were permitted to tour Border Patrol's largest processing facility in McAllen, Texas, where many of the family separations are taking place.
• The reporters said they saw hundreds of migrants — including children — in cages, sleeping on the mattresses on the ground, under foil blankets.

Public outrage has been brewing for weeks over the Trump administration's tactic of splitting up families at the US-Mexico border under a new "zero-tolerance" policy to criminally prosecute all migrants who cross the border illegally.

Addressing the outcry, the federal Customs and Border Protection agency permitted a handful of reporters to tour its largest processing center on Sunday in McAllen, Texas, where the majority of the separations have reportedly occurred.

None of the reporters were permitted to take their own photos or interview the migrants. Instead, the government provided several handout images that were edited to blur the faces of the detained children.

Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their parents under the zero-tolerance policy in the first six weeks it was in place, the Homeland Security Department said Friday. During that time, numerous reports have circulated throughout the national media describing devastated parents, traumatized children, and dismal-looking conditions they are being held in.

The Trump administration has for the most part sought to portray the family separation tactic as a side effect of the zero-tolerance policy, not the goal of the policy itself.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen weighed in on the controversy Sunday evening, tweeting that there was no policy to separate families at the border, and that no migrants legally seeking asylum at designated ports of entry were being criminally prosecuted, despite some reports to the contrary.

"We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period," Nielsen tweeted. "This misreporting by Members, press & advocacy groups must stop. It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry."

Here's a glimpse of what Border Patrol's largest processing facility looks like:

SEE ALSO: Trump keeps falsely blaming Democrats for his administration's family separation policy — here's what's really going on

DON'T MISS: Sobering photos show a Texas detention center where hundreds of immigrant children wait to be reunited with their families

The migrants are contained in large cages, sleep in mattresses on the floor of the facility, and are given foil blankets for warmth. Border Patrol agents told media that everyone in the facility is given adequate food, access to showers, clean clothing, and medical care.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press

On Sunday, the facility was holding 751 family members and 258 youth. The facility was divided into separate wings: one for unaccompanied children, one for adults, and one for mothers and fathers with children.

Source: Associated Press

Children at the age of four and under are not separated from their parents at the McAllen facility, according to Rio Grande Sector Chief Manuel Padilla, though he said that could change. By law, children must be turned over from Border Patrol custody to shelters funded by the Health and Human Services Department within 72 hours.

Source: Los Angeles Times

For many outdoors-lovers, the word "camping" conjures images of roasting marshmallows over a crackling bonfire, unwinding with friends, and stargazing late into the night. For some unlucky campers, however, that experience was marred by the same vulnerability to the elements and connection with nature that they originally sought out.

From animal attacks to inexplicable sightings, we've rounded up some of the most harrowing, startling, and stomach-churning camping stories from Reddit users. They make the thought of a cozy hotel bathrobe and clean sheets all the more appealing. This is, of course, just for fun, as we can't independently authenticate these stories. 

"I woke up somewhere in the middle of the woods."

"This happened to me when I was little. I went camping with my older brother and my mom. I was about 7 or 8 and I went to bed around 10 in a sleeping bag inside my tent with both my mom and brother. Sometime during the night, I don't know when I woke up somewhere in the middle of the woods still in my sleeping bag. I had no idea where I was or where my tent was. I screamed for my mom and I heard her calling back for me in panic but she was easily 100 yards away or so. To this day I have no idea how I ended up in the middle of the woods still inside my sleeping bag." -Redditor cckaufmann

"He… set the place on fire."

"Every time I've gone camping with my dad, he's set the place on fire. Every time. He says he's not at his best until his morning coffee.

"The first time he was dumping water on the grass fire trying to put it out. It quickly got out of hand. Luckily it started raining. Unfortunately, we brought our ... standard poodle and he didn't like thunder, so he destroyed the tent try[ing] to get in. So we had a collapsed tent that smelled like a mix of lawn mower and wet dog for the rest of the trip." -Redditor monstermayhem

"The marshmallow flew off the stick."

"I was around 4 years old at the time. This particular camping trip, the day was winding to a close and my dad and a few of his friends built a campfire. Being a little kid, I wanted to make s'mores, so someone gave me a stick with a marshmallow on it without really knowing that I had never roasted a marshmallow before. I stuck the thing right into the flames, and as you can imagine, it was very quickly engulfed in a ball of fire. Being 4, I had no idea how to put it out, so my first reaction was to wildly start waving the stick back and forth, up and down.

"Almost immediately, (before anyone could react) this flaming marshmallow flew off of the stick and smacked me right in the center of my forehead, essentially covering my face in molten goo that is rapidly streaming down towards my eyes. I essentially had to be dunked into this cooler headfirst by all of these adults to put the marshmallow out." -Redditor Benjen_Victorious

For the first 22 or so years of living, graduating college seems like life's pinnacle — indeed, your entire existence has been built up around getting a degree, from the time you waddled into kindergarten.

So what comes next? Apparently, adulthood, responsibilities, and "real life." The real world can be an amazing place, and finishing college signifies an entirely new stage of life (which many people claim is the best). But sometimes, you might just miss being able to sleep until noon and hang out with your friends all the time.

We spoke to INSIDER employees and scoured Reddit to find out exactly what adults miss about their alma maters — and the answers may surprise you.

Being able to sleep at all hours of the day.

"Sleeping in." - Kelsey Abkin

"Napping every day." - Celia Skvaril

"Staying up late playing video games with my friends. Now that I'm working I just can't seem to stay up past 10 anymore." - noypkamatayan

Learning new things.

"I'm a nerd so probably taking classes about things you enjoy, and learning new things." - Janaya Wecker

"I miss the challenge of coursework." - Reddit user

"[I miss] being surrounded by people who valued knowledge and learning." - not_falling_down

"I miss undergrad a lot. There was more time to take more liberties in what courses I wanted to take; electives were possible." - Reddit user

Having a defined structure and clear cut tasks.

"Being able to schedule my day where I could sleep late, be finished with classes before 3 pm, take a nap if I wanted, and stay awake as late as I wanted." - brandmed

"Rigid structure, knowing exactly what's expected." - JessieBear116

'The thing I miss the most is really how 'structured' it was — you have an end goal, you know exactly the steps to take to get there, and you can tell what's next. Now that I'm (allegedly) an adult, it kind of feels like free falling." - mozzarellapizza

Think you can tell a fruit from a vegetable?

Think again.

In the world of food, there are many plants most people consider vegetables that are actually fruits, botanically speaking.

The most famous example is probably the tomato. Its status as a fruit or a vegetable was so contentious that in 1893 the Supreme Court had to weigh in and settle the issue once and for all.

What it comes down to isn't sweetness, but seeds. "Any thing that grows on a plant and is the means by which that plant gets its seeds out into the world is a fruit," Merriam-Webster dictionary wrote.

So fruit isn't part of the plant itself, but a reproductive part growing from the plant. "The thing a tomato plant produces isn't a part of the plant itself, any more than the egg a chicken lays is part of the chicken," the dictionary said. When we eat vegetables, on the other hand, we're eating the plant itself or some of its parts, like roots, stems, or leaves.

Tomatoes are far from the only example of common vegetables that are actually fruits. Read on to see 14 foods you've been misunderstanding this whole time.

SEE ALSO: A tomato is actually a fruit — but it's a vegetable at the same time

DON'T MISS: 7 things the average American has accomplished by age 35

Tomatoes

Even though tomatoes are technically a fruit, it doesn't stop people from treating it and most of the other foods on this list as a vegetable.

It's that logic that prompted the Supreme Court to declare in 1893 that tomatoes should be taxed like other vegetables.

Here's how Justice Horace Gray summed up the argument:

"Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas," Gray wrote in the court's opinion.

"But in the common language of the people … all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert."

Peppers

Every kind of pepper, from the bell pepper to the jalapeño, fits the bill as a fruit and not a vegetable.

Pumpkins

Anyone who's carved a jack-o-lantern for Halloween knows that pumpkins are full of seeds. Pumpkins and all other gourds are technically fruits, not vegetables.

The 2018 World Cup in Russia is off to a great start, and the tournament has already produced incredible moments and photos.

Russia is a gorgeous background for some amazing sports photography.

From goal celebrations to great saves, gut-wrenching own goals, and crazy fans, here are the most mesmerizing photos from the World Cup so far.

Russia's Yury Gazinsky scores the first goal of the 2018 World Cup.

Aziz Bouhaddouz of Morocco lays on the ground after his own goal gave Iran a 1-0 lead.

Morocco's Younes Belhanda laments his team's own goal.

The Oscars are refined. The Met Gala is luxurious. The Emmys are classy. But the MTV Movie and TV Awards is one giant party and the red carpet fashion reflects that.

This annual awards show generally attracts the coolest, hottest, and most hip members of Hollywood which explains why the red carpet fashion is such a trip. From Francia Raisa’s one-sleeved catsuit to Tessa Thompson Valentine’s Day-inspired get-up, here are 14 of the wildest looks from the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards.

Katherine Langford was an emo bridal dream.

“13 Reasons Why” star Katherine Langford looked like a gothic dream girl when she stepped onto the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards red carpet. She wore a velour pantsuit with a train and topped it all off with an oversized black tulle hair bow. She looked ready for a romantic emo wedding.

Zendaya’s red carpet look belonged in a museum.

Zendaya looked like a piece of walking art in this August Getty creation. Teen Vogue called her a “walking Hershey Kiss,” and yes! Zendaya is quickly becoming a sartorial icon and truly thrives in the fashion spaces where others wouldn’t dare to venture.

Francia Raisa needed a catwalk for her glam Catwoman creation.

Francia Raisa looked like glam Catwoman in a one-shoulder black sequin catsuit with neckline ruffles.