Fashion mogul Tommy Hilfiger is relisting his impeccably designed Manhattan penthouse for a very hefty $80 million, according to Curbed— making it one of the most expensive American homes on the market.

The condominium is located at the top of the Plaza Hotel on the 18th and 19th floors. The listing on StreetEasy shows that it includes unobstructed views of Central Park, five bedrooms, five and a half baths, and over-the-top decor.

The duplex was originally marketed as a "fixer-upper" for $50 million in 2008, but was never sold despite a $20 million renovation and price bump to $80 million later on.

Now Hilfiger is trying his luck again, adding new photos of the penthouse that show the "glamour of a bygone era coupled with 21st century conveniences," which basically translates to a lot of chandeliers and paintings. 

Welcome to Tommy Hilfiger's duplex at the top of New York's Plaza Hotel.

As you can tell, the decor is quite grand. It's unclear whether the Warhol paintings actually come with the apartment.

Here is his all-American foyer.

It's official name is the "Volkswagen Transporter," but you probably know it as the VW Bus. This remarkable vehicle entered production since 1950 and occupies a unique place in the global visual consciousness. It was built until 2013, when the assembly lines in Brazil shut down.

In its 1960s hippie incarnation, it became the inspiration for the character of Filmore in the "Cars" movies.

But it didn't vanish after the Summer of Love.

Plenty of vintage VW buses are still around, as are later versions. At a recent gathering in England to celebrate the vehicle's 60th birthday in the United Kingdom, owners posed for portraits with their beloved buses. The photos were all taken with an iPhone and then filtered.

SEE ALSO: 12 Insightful Quotes About Cars From Jay Leno

Matt Lawton's model dates all the way back to 1959!

But he's outdone by Grant Goree's 1958!

Sue Bunclark has kept her '64 in great shape.

A summer reading assignment is a college tradition, one that unites incoming students in an intellectual and "Uggggh, can you believe they gave us homework over the summer?" kind of way.

The Ivy League institutions are no exceptions. We dug up what texts they assigned to the Class of 2018 by visiting their orientation websites and speaking with university officials.

Harvard University and Yale University are not included on this list, as they give their kids the summer off.

BROWN UNIVERSITY: "Oil & Water" directed by Francine Strickwerda

For the first time in the program's eight-year history, Brown selected a movie instead of a book to unite first-year students in a "common intellectual experience."

"Oil & Water,"according to the university's website, is "a coming-of-age story of two boys, from two different backgrounds, confronting one of the world’s worst toxic disasters."

Find a screening near you »

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: "The Iliad" by Homer

A summer reading of "The Iliad" is a Columbia tradition. It's read and discussed in students' first weeks on campus each year, according to the Center for Student Advising.

Richmond Lattimore's latest translation of Homer's epic war poem is said to "bring the book into the twenty-first century."

Buy the book »

CORNELL UNIVERSITY: "Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio" by Amara Lakhous

Amara Lakhous' colorful, bittersweet comedy follows the culturally mixed residents of a Rome, Italy apartment building, as the community deals with the mysterious death of a neighbor.

Buy the book »

Robin Williams died Monday night, leaving lasting films like "Good Morning Vietnam, "Mrs. Doubtfire,""Good Will Hunting," and "Aladdin."

The response to his death has been overwhelming.

James Lipton, the great interviewer of actors, said that Williams was one of a kind. 

"His gift was the most mysterious of all gifts,"Lipton said. "It was genius. Genius is inexplicable. ... You can teach craft. You can teach technique. You can't teach genius."

See inside the mind of a genius through his own words. Here are a dozen of Williams' most inspirational quotes. 

On his favorite impersonation

"Oh my god, Jack Nicholson. He once was with me at a benefit and leaned over and said 'even oysters have enemies.' In a very intense voice. I responded with, 'Increase your dosage.'

"Dana Carvey does my personal favorite impression of myself. It's accurate. And kind."

[Reddit AMA, 2013]

On wonder

"My children give me a great sense of wonder. Just to see them develop into these extraordinary human beings. And a favorite book as a child? Growing up, it was 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' — I would read the whole C.S. Lewis series out loud to my kids. I was once reading to Zelda, and she said 'don't do any voices. Just read it as yourself.' So I did, I just read it straight, and she said 'that's better.'" 

[Reddit AMA, 2013]

On raising kids

"Everyone has these two visions when they hold their child for the first time. The first is your child as an adult saying, 'I want to thank the Nobel Committee for this award.' The other is, 'You want fries with that?'"

[RV: Runaway Vacation, 2006]

Google has spent more than $28 billion on a whopping 163 companies since 2001. That’s almost one company per month.

The search-engine-that-could has purchased all kinds of companies, services and technologies — from mapping companies to security services to gadgets and robots to gaming and facial recognition software and much, much, much more.

But with so many companies, we thought it’d be fun to look at the top 11 companies and services Google has acquired over the years, based on how they’ve impacted Google’s business.

Makani Power — Clean energy — $30 million

Google previously invested in the green energy startup before it completed its purchase of Makani Power last May. Since then, Makani has operated out of Google's X Labs to build airborne wind turbines, which have the potential to be the dominant form of clean energy. Google currently has a working prototype.

Zagat — Restaurant reviews — $151 million

Google's purchase of Zagat in September 2011 was mostly about getting the company's content into Google's various services, including Maps, search, and Earth. With Zagat's treasure trove of ratings and reviews, Google has been better able to compete with services like Yelp.

Titan Aerospace — Drone and UAVs — $60 million

Google has many uses for the New Mexico-based company that made solar-powered flying drones, which was purchased in April. Though it can contribute photos to Google Maps and Earth or even work with the Google X project Makani Power, Titan Aerospace is playing a big role in Google’s Project Loon, which strives to bring internet connectivity to those regions without it by beaming broadband from the sky.

Google tackles so many different things all at once that at times it's hard to keep track, or even fully comprehend it. 

A Quora user posed a straightforward question: What are some mind-blowing facts about Google?

We've plucked out our favorite facts from that list and other sources to bring you this selection of surprising tidbits.

SEE ALSO: Google's Company That Wants To Cure Death Now Has Its Own Website

Google takes over 200 factors into account before delivering you the best results to any query in a fraction of a second.

The company owns a bunch of domains that are common misspellings of Google, like Gooogle.com, Gogle.com, Googlr.com, and more. Google also owns 466453.com, too ...

There are more than 2 million Google searches per second.

Source. 

Agricultural giant Deere & Co. just announced third quarter earnings, reporting earnings and revenue that topped expectations. For its fiscal-year 2014, Deere expects revenue to fall 6% over the prior year, a steeper decline than the 4% that Wall Street had been expecting.

Along with its earnings report, Deere also released a 42-slide presentation giving an update on the state of global agriculture. As a major global supplier of tractors and other ag equipment, Deere keeps close tabs on the state of the commodity market. 

Over the last few months, corn, wheat, and a number of other commodities have seen prices decline sharply. We've pulled seven slides from Deere's presentation to provide some color on the current state of agriculture and the broader global economy.

Deere is cautious on the Eurozone recovery, calling GDP growth in the economic bloc 'vulnerable.'

The outlook for China is also cautious. Deere sees growth in the world's second-largest economy slowing in the second half of the year.

Deere reduced its outlook for commodity prices, both for this year and next.

Unlike American sports leagues, English Premier League teams tweak their uniforms every year.

Some teams change because they have new sponsors or manufacturers. Others make changes for the sake of selling more merchandise.

As a result, all 20 EPL teams have new home and away kits this year.

Our favorite: Chelsea's away shirt.

Our least favorite: Every Liverpool shirt.

The EPL kicks off on Saturday.

Arsenal (home, away, third)

Aston Villa (home, away)

Burnley (home, away)

Jim Rogers first made his name when he cofounded the Quantum Fund with George Soros. 

In 2007, he packed up and moved to Singapore where he is essentially shorting the West.

Behind Rogers' quick wit and endless charm are brilliant investing insights he gained during his lengthy and legendary career.

We put together 14 of the best insights that every investor will find helpful.

"Most successful investors, in fact, do nothing most of the time."

Once you've invested in something, done your research, made money, and decide to sell, you need to be careful, Jim Rogers says:

Now that is a very dangerous time. It is dangerous because you think you are really hot. It is the time when you think you know that this investing thing is an easy game. It is the time that you should open the curtains, look out the window, go to the beach, do anything but think about investing. Because now is when you're most vulnerable. You think: I have to find something else. I have to do it again. This is wonderful. This is so easy. Just as I thought after tripling my money with my puts. ... It is the great mistake people make."

Source: Street Smarts

"If you want to make a lot of money, resist diversification."

Brokers will tell you to diversify, but Rogers writes that this is mostly to protect themselves.

"If you buy ten different stocks, chances are some will be good," he writes. "You are not going to go broke, but you are not going to make a lot of money, either. ... The way to get rich is to find what is good, focus on it, and concentrate your resources there. But make very sure you are right. Because it is also a fast way to go broke."

Source: Street Smarts

"It is remarkable how many people mistake a bull market for brains."

"There is nothing quite like a bull market to make people think they are smart," Rogers writes, adding: "All big bull markets, secular bull markets, end in a bubble. Everyone chases the conventional wisdom, following what they read in the press, and that presents the smart investor with opportunities."

Source: Street Smarts 

Last summer, Panasonic Corporation of North America moved into a glassy, eco-friendly headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.

The move was a big upgrade for the company, which went from a poorly organized, cubicle-filled office to an open floor plan in a 12-story building that's on its way to LEED Platinum certification. 

"We used to be in Secaucus in a building that felt like a maze. It would be a 10 to 15 minute walk between buildings, and you would almost get lost," Todd Rytting, CTO of Panasonic North America, told Business Insider. "Now I run into people much more frequently than I ever did before, just because of the foot traffic."

With interiors designed by architectural firm HLW, the building looks great and has ecological features including Tesla charging stations, solar panels, as well as an Innovation Center where visitors can see Panasonic products. 

HLW shared photos of the office and commentary from the architects, which we've lightly edited and published in the following slides.

After four decades in a corporate campus in Secaucus, N.J., Panasonic Corporation of North America recently moved its headquarters next to the Newark Penn Station transit hub.

The building is located near several prominent institutions, including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Rutgers University. This helps drive recruiting and nurtures other invaluable connections within the community.

With easy access to trains, buses, and bicycle routes, 40% of employees now use mass transit to commute, up from slightly less than 5% from Panasonic’s former headquarters in Secaucus, NJ. The target goal is 80% of employees commuting via mass transit.

Women are significantly outnumbered in the creative departments of ad agencies. Yet women are frequently behind some of the most creative ideas of the year. 

Business Insider's list of the most creative women in advertising looks to recognize the most talented women in the industry.

Skip straight to the list >

To put this list together, we asked adbiz insiders to nominate the women they believed were the most creative in the business. To  counterbalance self-serving nominations, we also asked each agency to nominate a female staffer from a competitor, someone they would love to work with in the future, or someone they admired in the industry. 

From these nominations, paired with our own research, we selected 36 women. Factors we considered included recognition within the industry, seniority in their respective agencies, size of the shop, and of course, exciting creative work that's garnered attention outside of the advertising world. 

Our list is by no means complete. But it does feature the fiercest talents in the business.

36. Tara Poto, EVP group partner at UM Studios

Tara Poto teamed up with BMW for the Sochi Winter Olympics to create a documentary with the help of the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. 

The result was a 30-minute documentary called "Driving on Ice," which aired on NBC. The video followed the men's bobsled team as it went after its first gold medal since 1936. However, the documentary also worked to increase brand awareness for BMW and show off the company's technology and design.

Here is Poto's 'Driving on Ice' documentary.

35 & 34. Gina Delio and Terry Rieser, chief creative officer and chief operating officer at TAG Creative NYC

Gina Delio and Terry Rieser work for numerous beauty brands including L'Oreal, Avon, and Sally Hansen. As of right now, their shop has a 15-member full-time staff, but the company taps into freelance talent for different projects.

This year they helped L'Oreal launch a new beauty app in about two weeks. The app lets users test out different products on their tablet and smartphone devices. 

By now we've all heard of the crazy, intimidating questions techies often face when interviewing at companies like Apple and Google.

But one thread on Quora shows that sometimes interviews take on a whole new level of bizarreness. These guys faced oddities, rudeness, and just pure insanity.

We put together some of the craziest experiences Quora users had in tech interviews.

Lee Ballentine endured an earthquake during his job interview.

"I was interviewing for a job as an applications engineering manager in a two-year-old Silicon Valley company of about 300 employees in the 1980s. My last stop was an interview with the CEO, an impressive ex-military Israeli entrepreneur. We were in a makeshift lab/office, sitting at a small table with a consultant in Japan on a speakerphone.

"An earthquake started, and kept going, fairly seriously, and from my chair I could see people running down the corridor toward the exit. The CEO reacted to this not at all. I kept the conversation going. The quake got more intense, stuff falling off of bookshelves, etc., and more and more people fleeing the building. I decided that if the CEO could take it, so could I. We kept right on talking until we were the only two people left in the building.

"A half-hour later, people were straggling back into the building, and we were still talking. Eventually, everyone had returned to work, and we finished our conversation. He shook hands with me, thanked me, said they would "be in touch." A few days later, they offered me the job and I accepted. I kind of knew it would play out that way, after facing down an earthquake."

Rupert Baines missed a flight while waiting for his interview.

"A number of years ago I was interviewing at a significant tech firm in California. It was a very good job. Plus, they were pre-IPO but everyone knew it was imminent and it was going to be huge - so an offer with good options would be worth a fortune.

"I was based in Boston and flew out to California for the interview day. Met the man who'd be my boss, VP Marketing, CFO, HR etc. I passed all of those, so final stage is an interview with CEO.

"I am due to fly back home to Boston that evening on the redeye. The VP of HR shows me into the lobby for the meeting with him and I wait. It is mid-afternoon. The scheduled time comes and goes. I speak to the Executive Assistant who says to just wait.

"So time passes... I do email. I wait. All the time sitting outside CEO's office. Assistant goes home: says to wait but doesn't apologize - clearly this is usual. Eventually, about 8PM he asks me in. We are having the interview when an appointment alert goes off: he stops it and explains 'that means you have missed your flight.'

"I can only think it was the power play, but why he needed to show he was more powerful than I was is beyond me: that was pretty obvious. Even weirder because they were paying expenses, so the cost of hotel, of rebooking flight and of the very nice dinner I had were on them.

"Odd enough so far, but there is a real kicker: I got the job offer. I turned it down.

"I get an email from said CEO, furious. Absolutely red-faced, apocalyptic, SHOUT CAPS... The classic line was:  'I HAVE A LIST OF THE TEN STUPIDEST PEOPLE IN AMERICA. YOU ARE NOW ON THAT LIST. YOU IDIOT'"

Stan Hanks had a bizarre encounter when meeting a CEO to discuss potential partnerships.

"It was '97, I was CTO at a highly stealth company that had just raised a ton of money from Enron to build a massive new fiber optic network, and one of the key facets to the deal was my idea that we could create a commodity market for bandwidth - but no one outside the highest levels of both companies knows anything about that. The VP of BD had just heard of a company in NYC that was starting to advertise a market for trading minutes of telephone use and we decided to go see if they had anything, should be acquired, ignored, or what.

"The flight from Portland to NYC got into Newark at 2:00, we had just enough time to grab a cab, and arrive almost exactly on time. We're taken to a typical mid-town conference room - windows on one side, long conference table, whiteboard on one wall. The CEO introduces his team, we introduce ourselves, and start talking about all this 'minutes trading' that they're doing.

"As he talked, the CEO got more passionate, and started pacing. He'd talk and pace, then draw on the whiteboard, then talk and pace, etc. Eventually I got up and started drawing on the whiteboard and asking 'hard questions' and he got more agitated and started pacing more and talking less.

"After about 10 minutes of that, he stops and TAKES OFF HIS PANTS!!! He hangs them on a coat hook, and wearing wingtips, socks and boxers with his shirt and tie, keeps pacing and talking. No one on his team bats an eye. My VP of BD is dying laughing on the inside, working really hard to not just explode laughing. I'm more than a little freaked out. I mean, I've spent a ton of time in NYC, but come on..."

In many ways, a signature is like a fingerprint: Each one is a completely unique identifier.

But if your signature is more Jacob Lew than John Hancock, don't fear — it's possible to improve your autograph in a few quick steps, according to calligraphy expert Laura Hooper of Laura Hooper Calligraphy.

1. Find A Font You Like

The first step is deciding what kind of style you want. Angular and jagged? Loopy and old-school? Search around online for calligraphy, fonts, and different type faces that appeal to you. Keep track of your favorites and print out their letter samples.

“I usually find fonts I like online at MyFonts.com,” Hooper said. “You can also get inspiration from books and calligraphy stores.” 

2. Practice Only The Capital Letters

Now that you have a font you like, focus on the first letter of both your first and last names to practice.

“For my name it would be L and H,” Hooper explained. “The capitals are what make a signature what it is. Think back to elementary school when you were writing your name over and over again and practice these two letters in the different fonts you like. Find your favorite, and try to do it the same way every time.”

Once you have the capital letters down, the rest of your signature can be more fluid and abstract.

3. Write Your New Signature Over And Over

Practice is the key to improving your handwriting in general, Hooper said, but signing your new signature over and over again is the easiest and fastest way to break the habit of your old signature. 

Do it in meetings, while signing checks, at the grocery store, even on a blank notepad while you’re watching TV at home.

The goal is to get your hand as used to the new rhythm and style as possible. Eventually, it will become second-nature.

SEE ALSO: The 17 Coolest Signatures Of Famous People Through History

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Uber and Lyft don't like each other, even though they've supposedly had acquisition talks. The two are leaders in the on-demand ride service space, and they've been public about their disdain for each other.

Uber, led by bombastic CEO Travis Kalanick, has created multiple ads encouraging (and incentivizing) drivers to ditch Lyft.

Here are some of the craziest ads the companies (and occasionally their users) have run in the very-public war against each other. 

Uber posted this ad on Facebook, with a quote from a driver knocking Lyft's business. Lyft fired back and said that driver failed its safety test.

Uber has offered monetary rewards and electronics to Lyft drivers who switch over.

Here's another Uber ad making a similar promise to Lyft drivers.

When considering a good read, not everyone reaches for a work of fiction. True stories can be equally riveting, and often just as difficult to put down.

With this in mind, our friends at the New York Public Library helped us put together a list of the five best nonfiction books that will have you at the edge of your seat. All the books on this list were finalists for the New York Public Library's 2014 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism.

"The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster" by Jonathan Katz

A former Associated Press reporter, Katz was living and working as the only full-time American news correspondent in Haiti when the 2010 earthquake took out his home, along with thousands of others.

Heartfelt and political, "The Big Truck That Went By" is his firsthand account of what he considers an unfulfilled relief effort from the deadliest quake to ever hit the Western hemisphere.

Buy the book here »

"Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital" by Sheri Fink

Fink's Pulitzer Prize-winning book details some of the first five days immediately after Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans.

Fink's background as both a reporter and physician fuels her narrative as we witness the death and devastation through her eyes.

Buy the book here »

"The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War" by Fred Kaplan

Kaplan writes the thrilling true story of how former CIA Director David Petraeus led a small group of soldier-scholars to revolutionize one of the oldest American institutions — the military — in the middle of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kaplan gives us access to emails, confidential files and documents to piece together the retired Army general's influence in the way the U.S. military looks today.

Buy the book here »

"Thank You for Your Service" by David Finkel

A MacArthur fellow and Washington Post journalist, Finkel takes an in-depth look at some of the psychological issues, including PTSD, that plagued many of his fellow battalion members after returning from service in the Iraq war.

A sequel, if you will, to his book "The Good Soldiers,""Thank You for Your Service," Finkel presents snapshots of his battalion mates post-service, their day-to-day lives, and how their service has affected their lives and loved ones.

Buy the book here »

"Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation" by Dan Fagin

Winner of the 2014 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, "Toms River" is a detective story of decades of industrial pollution in a Jersey Shore town.

With vivid descriptions of time, place, and the people involved, Fagin sheds light on the legal settlement that resulted from the disregard for what years of negligence has on an urban ecosystem.

Buy the book here »

SEE ALSO: 12 New Books You Need To Read This Summer

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Since the death of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar in 1993, the Colombian cocaine industry has undergone a dramatic shift.

Gone are the days of lavish spending, mega-cartels, and murder-counts greater than 20,000 per year. Instead, the cartels have transformed into smaller units that efficiently manage much of the world's cocaine without a lot of the high-profile violence that has been associated with the trade in the past.

Vice News correspondent Monica Villamizar daringly traveled to the center of the cocaine trade in the Colombian city of Medellin to get an up-close look inside the day-to-day lives of "foot soldiers,""cuchos," and drug lords who run the country's modern cocaine industry. We've broken out the highlights, but click the link above to see the full video.

After being blindfolded with sunglasses and bandages for the drive to a secret stash house, Villamizar got her first glance at the operation. Driven by members of the gang, she was told to tell the police she had eye surgery if she got pulled over.

Via Monica Villamizar/Vice News

The Vice crew had to give up their phones to visit the stash house. The guy who drove them to the location was a hit man who had just gotten out of jail.

Via Monica Villamizar/Vice News

Although this enterprise focused on cocaine, the distributors had plenty of marijuana they were bagging to sell.

Via Monica Villamizar/Vice News

World history is full of secret clubs with elite members, like Skull and Bones, the Freemasons, and the Illuminati. Shrouded in mystery, these clubs become the stuff of legend. In a lavish Upper Manhattan townhouse lies the headquarters of similarly legendary, though far less secretive society — The Explorers Club.

Founded in 1904, The Explorers Club is a professional society that serves as a meeting place for explorers, scientists, and just about anyone with an interest in scientific exploration. The Explorers Club funds, promotes, and assists in expeditions around the world, often bringing together business bigwigs like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos with enterprising explorers hell-bent on doing things that no one else has done. Among the club's current and historical members are astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, film director James Cameron, Space-X founder Elon Musk, President Teddy Roosevelt, and aviator Charles Lindbergh.

Located on the Upper East Side, the Explorers Club operates in a Jacobean townhouse that, in style and extravagance, recalls a miniaturized version of the mansions of old-time robber barons.

Recently, New York City-based Business Insider headed uptown to take a look at the priceless historical artifacts and beautiful architecture the Club has been storing there all these years.

The Explorers Club is located on East 70th Street in Manhattan near Central Park. The house's Jacobean facade makes it instantly recognizable.

The Explorers Club headquarters was originally the home of Stephen C. Clark, the heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune and founder of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Club member and famous writer Lowell Thomas later bought the house and gifted the property to the club.

The front sitting room is suffused with history, including many 15th- and 16th-century fixtures from Europe. The wood coffee table was originally a hatch cover on the USC&GS Explorer, a survey ship and research vessel that was one of the few ships to survive the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.

The massive rains that hit the New York area Wednesday caused significant flooding in Suffolk County, east of New York City.

The rainfall was record-setting.

So much rain fell during such a short time that the region's roadways were inundated.

Numerous drivers had to abandon their cars or wait for rescue workers to lend an assist.

The flooding completely shut down whole swaths of the road system and made the morning commute a mess for lots of motorists.

SEE ALSO: Flash Floods After More Than 13 Inches Of Rain Falls In Two Hours On Long Island

SEE ALSO: 14 Photos Of The Crazy Flood That Soaked UCLA

A huge amount of rain fell in Islip, on Long Island, flooding the Southern State Parkway and forcing motorists to abandon their cars.

Some drivers stopped short of attempting to cross the sudden lakes of water that formed.

But plenty of drivers found themselves struck, with no way to continue on.

Most of us are aware that homelessness is a major problem in the United States. But what about those who purposefully forgo a traditional home life and instead opt for a nomadic life of travel, calling the road their home?

Every January, many of these travelers seek refuge from colder climates on the warm beaches and bays of southern California. Here, they regroup, reconnect, and plan ahead for their next move.

Photographer John Francis Peters began documenting these travelers for his series, California Winter, after spending time in San Diego and observing people living off the grid, hitching rides, camping, and communing with each other. 

"I found these scenes in the context of San Diego’s landscape to be strangely beautiful, intimate and surreal," Peters says.

Peters began frequenting the places where these travelers hung out and began meeting, speaking with, and photographing these modern nomads, learning about their travels and lives, and gaining insight into the motivations and choices. 

We asked Peters to share some their stories. 

Mike, who is originally from New Jersey, wakes up along the boardwalk early one cool December morning. During the winter months, San Diego becomes a temporary home for nomadic travelers from across America. Some will stay anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, while others call San Diego home for an extended period after connecting with the traveler community.

Mike from Tallahassee sits on a sand dune while he takes in his first view of the Pacific Ocean. This was Mike and his girlfriend’s first time in San Diego, having just arrived after slowly making their way across the country. For many travelers, San Diego is a “turn-around town” – it's as far south and west as they can go — so the setting becomes a place to rest, reflect, and contemplate their next move.

Karina and Tex, from Canada and Las Vegas, met on the road. Here, they cuddle during the early morning in a park where they camped out for the night. Karina had been traveling for an extended period across Canada and into the US and was continuing on toward Mexico and South America.

Rory McIlroy sold his 15-acre home in Northern Ireland last fall and its new owner is now renting it out for $20,977 a week, according to Golf.com. The estate sits on 15-acres and includes a driving range and practice greens that are up to PGA standards.

McIlroy designed the practice greens at the home himself, so if you're looking to improve your golf game, this would be a good place to start.

The sprawling estate also includes a hot tub, a tennis court (probably for ex-fiancee Caroline Wozniacki), a private lake, and gardens. Inside is a sun room with views of the lake, a library with gas fireplace, and an 18-seat movie theater.

Rory's old estate sits on 15 acres of land.

It's gated and very private.

The best part of the house is obviously the golf course. There's a driving range.