• I've been to Disney World dozens of times but I went with my daughter for the first time this year.
• At 2 years old, there was a lot she couldn't (and didn't want to) do there.
• Her experience of the park was so different from mine and made me feel like it was new again.

I'm not exaggerating when I say my introduction to Disney World is a core memory. When I first stepped through the gates of Magic Kingdom at age 4, it was love at first sight.

Over the next three decades, dozens more trips followed. Going as a little kid was wildly different from going as a zitty teen with my younger brother or a recent college grad dragging my boyfriend along.

However, even as the parks changed, and I changed, my attachment to them remained consistent. That emotional tie is precisely what's enabled Disney parks to hold firm as the most visited theme parks in the world, even as the price of a Disney trip has become out of reach for many families.

In January, I had the opportunity to visit the parks for a Magic of Milestones media event and thought it was the perfect opportunity to introduce my toddler to Disney life for the first time.

At first, I worried she was too young. Googling "What's the best age to take a kid to Disney for the first time?" yielded nothing conclusive — some said under a year, while others insisted never take a kid under 5.

Lacking a direct answer, I decided to throw caution to the wind and take my 2-year-old and go for it. Surely she'd have an identical experience to my inaugural visit, I thought.

I was wrong.

Going to Disney World for the first time as a parent didn't match my expectations at all — and I can't wait to go again.

Your toddler's individual temperament will really determine the Disney World rides they can go on

My 2-year-old is a daredevil, but she's short, so the majority of height-limit rides were out of the question.

I was looking forward to taking her on more of the baby-friendly rides, where you just sit in a slow-moving car and cruise along, waving at animatronics.

What I didn't anticipate was her sudden onset fear of even moderate darkness.

This kid has never asked for a nightlight in her 27 months of life, but suddenly, waiting in the grotto-inspired line for "Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid," the dim undersea lighting and slightly spooky ocean sounds were too much for her.

"I scared," she loudly declared approximately 3 ½ minutes into the wait. We turned around and left.

We actually made it onto the "Frozen" ride in Norway at Epcot, but that was also a mixed bag. I had completely forgotten that Marshmallow, the giant snowman, makes an appearance near the end, and we were wholly unprepared for the freakout.

We avoided dark rides after that.

She did love the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, which we figured would be the case since she makes a point to ride every carrousel she sees.

The Mad Tea Party teacup ride was also a big hit — we were all happy to just sit in it without spinning.

On the flip side, toddlers will find Disney magic in the most unlikely of places

My daughter's favorite "ride" was the Skyliner that took us from our hotel to Hollywood Studios.

She couldn't get enough of it. Every time we rode that thing, she hopped up on the bench to stare out the window, singing loudly (much to the amusement of other families who were shuttled in with us), and screaming the names of all the characters she saw on the gondolas swinging by.

Beyond the rides, I had measured my expectations for other Disney experiences, like character meet and greets.

I'd anticipated that we would need to steer clear of most characters. We'd limited screen time until she turned 2, so she wasn't super familiar with any of them, and I worried she'd be freaked out seeing them (some for the first time ever) in life-size form. We'd also had an encounter with an Easter bunny the previous year that gave me pause.

Surprisingly, she was only a little apprehensive and warmed up to them very quickly. By the end of the Disney Jr. Play and Dance, she was having a dance party with Minnie Mouse and giving her hugs.

She couldn't quite work up the nerve to get that close to Goofy, who is much larger than Minnie, but all these months later, she's still talking about giving Goofy a high-five "next time."

The princesses were an even bigger hit, and it was such a joy seeing her interact with them. Princess Elena was her favorite, despite never having watched the show.

The live music shows were also a great choice. On my pre-parenthood trips, I'd never bothered to go to them — who cares about abbreviated versions of Disney movies I've seen a trillion times? For my toddler, though, they were a major win.

At under 30 minutes, they're the perfect length for short attention spans and a great primer for some of the movies she hadn't seen yet. "For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration" was her favorite and has sparked an intense Queen Elsa phase.

The safari ride at Animal Kingdom was also something I'd never done, but we prioritized it knowing my toddler's love of zoos. It was a major hit.

The fireworks shows were always a highlight of my Disney World trips, but they were too much for my toddler

The "Fantasmic!" show at Hollywood Studios is my single favorite Disney experience, and I've always made a point to go multiple times during each of my past trips. However, we didn't even consider going with my daughter.

She had never experienced a fireworks show before, so to test the waters, we took her to "Luminous: The Symphony of Us," a 17-minute show in Epcot. We watched from the World Showcase because I figured that was far enough away from the sights and sounds not to be too overwhelming. I was extremely wrong.

My toddler was immediately freaked out by the first boom. Unfortunately, because the show was at 9 p.m. (technically after the park closed), all the stores and restaurants were inaccessible for an escape. My husband ended up taking refuge near a trash can, singing songs to keep her distracted until the show ended.

Part of this was a rookie mistake: We forgot to bring noise-canceling headphones for her. That said, I doubt she would have kept them on even if we had.

After that mishap, we knew to avoid "Fantasmic!" and other fireworks shows, such as "Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom."

My toddler ate way more at Disney World than I expected

At home, my daughter is a very picky eater, convinced she can exist on air and the occasional Cheerio alone. It's a major stressor for both my husband and me in our day-to-day lives, but I made the decision to forcibly chill out and not worry about it while on vacation.

However, instead of the skipped meals and crankiness we were anticipating, we were pleasantly surprised by her slightly more adventurous appetite at Disney World. Now, she wasn’t exactly angling to chow down on a turkey leg, but it was better than I expected.

Her favorites included the Mickey-shaped blueberry muffins at Cinderella's Royal Table, the pizza at Connections Cafe, and clementines and french fries wherever we could find them.

The biggest win, though, was the Nemo Fin-tastic Cake at Coral Reef, one of my favorite restaurants in Disney World. She's usually not a sweets girl (much to my distress, as a big Dole Whip fan) and the cake was so cute she wasn't initially sure whether it was even edible. Once she took the first bite, though, she couldn't get enough.

Another bonus is that kids under 3 eat free at all-you-care-to-enjoy Disney restaurants. Roundup Rodeo, a new barbecue restaurant in Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios, was a great option for this — there was more than enough food for all of us, and plenty for my daughter to sample — meaning she'd pretend to try it and then surreptitiously remove it from her mouth.

Portion sizes are pretty big, especially at à la carte table service and quick-service restaurants, so we never went hungry.

What's the best age to take a kid to Disney World? There isn't one

I know this isn't a very satisfying answer, but at the end of the day, the best age for a first Disney trip is extremely variable.

While we were limited in what we could do with my toddler in terms of certain rides, experiences, and restaurants, there was plenty still available to us. And the rider swap option, which allows one parent to wait with the child and then swap to ride without waiting in line separately, was also very helpful in still allowing me to ride my favorite rides.

Do I regret taking my 2-year-old to Disney World? Not at all. It wasn't the trip I'd imagined, but it was still plenty magical — largely because the things that were magical to her were things I didn't expect or things I hadn't even experienced before.

I'm reminded of seeing her face light up meeting princesses or chowing down on a Mickey-shaped treat every time she bops me in the head with her prized Olaf bubble wand.

My only hope is that next time she'll be brave enough to share a Dole Whip with me.

• The Trump administration is using US troops and military assets in its costly immigration crackdown.
• Navy warships, military aircraft, and combat vehicles have been deployed to the US-Mexico border.
• The Pentagon has spent $376 million on militarizing the southern US border since January 20.

US Navy destroyers are cruising coastal waters, spy planes are flying overhead, and troops are out patrolling desert trails in armored fighting vehicles.

America's southern border is starting to resemble a military front line as the Trump administration ramps up its crackdown on illegal immigration at the divide between the US and Mexico.

President Donald Trump swiftly put his mass deportation plan into motion after taking office, using US military personnel and assets to execute it by formally declaring illegal immigration a federal emergency.

About 10,000 active-duty troops have been deployed to support the Pentagon's southern border operation, as have two warships, a handful of military aircraft, and over 100 combat vehicles.

Costly crackdown on immigration

On April 1, Defense Department officials said the militarization at the US-Mexico border had cost roughly $376 million since Trump returned to the White House on January 20, or about $5.3 million per day.

After making illegal immigration a major campaign issue, with Trump criticizing Biden's border policies, the Trump White House has touted plummeting numbers of illicit border crossings. US Customs and Border Patrol reported that March saw the lowest number of attempted crossings in decades.

Illegal immigration was already on the decline prior to the start of Trump's second term, but the president is taking things further. He's got numerous military assets at the border. Here's what the administration has deployed.

Thousands of troops

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 1, Pentagon officials said 6,700 active-duty troops had been deployed to the US-Mexico border, in addition to about 2,500 National Guardsmen that were already stationed there.

Only Border Patrol agents or civilian law enforcement can actually apprehend migrants, leaving a large majority of the troops tasked with "detection and monitoring," Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of the US Northern Command, said.

Active-duty forces are limited in their actions on US soil.

The general said that deployed military personnel "operating in close proximity to the border" are armed with rifles or pistols, and military officials are seeking authorization for troops to shoot down suspected cartel drones surveilling the border.

USS Gravely

Two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers — USS Gravely and USS Spruance — have also been deployed to help "restore territorial integrity at the US southern border," officials said in two statements in March.

"Gravely's sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States' territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security," Guillot said. The destroyer departed Yorktown, Virginia, in mid-March to waters off the Texas coast to support the border mission and counter maritime weapons and drug crime in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gravely played a key role in Red Sea combat prior to this deployment. In December 2023, USS Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles and was involved in sinking three Houthi small boats, marking the first time the US Navy killed Houthi fighters since the Red Sea conflict began.

USS Spruance

A second Navy destroyer, USS Spruance, which also saw combat in the Red Sea, left its homeport in San Diego last month to patrol waters off the West Coast as part of the border operation.

Guillot said that the warship "brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security."

"With Spruance off the West Coast and USS Gravely in the Gulf of America, our maritime presence contributes to the all-domain, coordinated DOD response to the Presidential Executive Order and demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border," the general added.

The warships have been conducting operations alongside the Coast Guard.

Airlifters flying deportation flights

Migrant deportations are typically carried out using civilian charter flights operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Trump administration supplemented the deportation effort by using military cargo aircraft, like the C-17 Globemaster and C-130 Hercules, to transport migrants to Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, and even India.

Military vs civilian flight costs

But the military aircraft, which are designed to transport both troops and cargo, come with a steep operational price tag. It costs about $28,000 per flight for one deportation on a C-17, whereas civilian flights cost an estimated $8,500.

Following backlash from Democratic lawmakers, the Trump administration halted military deportation flights in early March.

Though there are no further flights scheduled, Air Force Gen. Randall Reed told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March that his command is prepared to carry them out should the order be reversed.

"If I get the task, I'll absolutely fly it," Reed said.

Surveillance aircraft and drones

The big cargo planes aren't the only military aircraft being used at the southern US border. Spy planes and drones have been conducting regular intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flights.

Reconnaissance aircraft like the U-2 "Dragon Lady" and Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint have been used for ISR missions above Mexico. The Navy has also reportedly used Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft to conduct maritime patrol and surveillance along the US-Mexico border.

Additionally, there have been reports of MQ-9 Reaper drones conducting flights as well. The Reaper is an uncrewed surveillance and combat asset.

The Trump administration also directed Pentagon intelligence agencies to direct satellite surveillance to the southern border region, Reuters reported last month.

Armored vehicles

Border patrol agents typically drive SUVs, sedans, and pick-up trucks donning a green-and-white paint scheme to traverse the rugged terrain at the border.

But as more active-duty troops are deployed to the region, armored tactical vehicles have become a regular sight in an apparent intimidation tactic.

"This sends a clear and unequivocal message to the criminal organizations operating on either side of the border that we will not tolerate illegal incursions or illicit activities along our border," Border Patrol spokesman Claudio Herrera-Baeza said.

He added that "these vehicles have incredible detection technology that the Border Patrol will incorporate into its mission of safeguarding our borders."

'More military assets'

The US Army sent over 100 Stryker armored fighting vehicles, along with hundreds of soldiers, to an installation near the border between Yuma, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas. Black Hawk helicopters and Chinooks for support aviation were also deployed.

Typically deployed to warzones, the 20-ton eight-wheeled Stryker combat vehicles can be armed with a machine gun or grenade launcher and carry up to 11 troops. They can also reach speeds of up to 60 mph and have a range of 300 miles.

"That's really what we're doing with the Stryker out here," Lt. Col. Travis Stellfox told Scripps News. "It provides us great mobility to get soldiers where they need to be to observe on the border."

There is always the possibility more military assets could be deployed. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said previously that "whatever is needed at the border will be provided."

• Ride AI hosted its first autonomous vehicle conference in LA, featuring some top AV players.
• Companies like Waymo have demonstrated the real-world applications of AI and autonomous driving.
• But human drivers are still very much in play, at least for the next few decades. Here's why.

My day at an autonomous vehicle conference in Los Angeles started in a human-driven Uber.

On a Wednesday morning, Waymo said it would take at least 15 minutes to snag a car for a five-minute ride to NeueHouse Hollywood, where Ride AI was hosting its first-ever autonomous vehicle summit, featuring some of the sector's leading players.

I wasn't particularly in a time crunch, but, like most people, I don't call a rideshare driver half an hour or more before I leave the house to get to a destination.

Exit app. Open Uber.

It's fair to say that, at least for now, the battle between human and robot drivers is still raging.

Stephen Hayes, Lyft's VP of autonomous operations, and Ryan Green, CEO of Gridwise — a platform for rideshare drivers to track their earnings — both said at the conference that the future of ride-hailing will look like a hybrid market of human and robot drivers.

Green estimated that that'll be the case for at least the next 10 to 15 years.

It may be Hayes' and Green's prerogative to make such a claim. But that outlook made perfect sense to me — even as someone who has had great experiences in a Waymo — and appeared to resonate throughout the summit.

A hybrid future

Toyota Research Institute CEO Gill Pratt jumpstarted the event as the first speaker to say it's a "myth that we need autonomy to help with terrible human driving."

"Humans are actually reasonably safe, pretty good drivers. For every hundred million miles there's an accident," Avinash Balachandran, TRI's VP of the Human Interacting Driving division, told me. "Where we really see value for autonomy is this ability to help drivers in situations where they tend to struggle."

For a conference centered entirely on the future of autonomous mobility, I was surprised that some of the top players in the AV field weren't throwing out rosy pictures or estimates of when robots will take over the wheel and our city roads.

Tesla, whose CEO has made wild predictions like one million robotaxis by 2020, was noticeably absent from the conference but still came up during panel talks.

Instead, voices from various autonomous mobility players, from ride-hailing to OEM software providers, spoke on the challenges of perfecting full self-driving technology and the still-fresh business opportunities for the human-driven vehicle segment.

Amnon Shashua, CEO of Mobileye, talked about the lack of "precision" in AI, stemming partly from the need to perfect the application of redundancies and a lack of data.

Over at Wayve, a UK-based autonomous driving software company, Kaity Fischer, the VP of commercial and operations, talked about the "very large untapped market" of level two and level three assisted and autonomous driving systems for consumer vehicles.

Both levels still need humans behind the wheel but with varying degrees of driver input.

"For the foreseeable future, there'll be a very long period of time where it's a hybrid solution of vehicle ownership intermingled with varying levels of autonomy, and those things all need to be able to coexist," Fisher told me when I asked her what she thought city streets will look like decades down the line. "So levels two, three, and four all need to be able to share a space on the road and operate safely in conjunction."

Christoph Lütge, an economist and AI ethics expert at the Technical University of Munich, told me that in Germany, where robotaxis exist only for limited testing, Level 3 driving is still not widely implemented.

"It should have happened already, but it's not really happening," he said.

Riding the hype cycle

This is not to underestimate the progress folks in San Francisco and other markets have experienced firsthand. One of the reasons everyone gathered in Los Angeles for an autonomous vehicle conference is undoubtedly because of Waymo.

As Sophia Tung, a former engineer and now an AV-focused content creator, told me, we've seen an autonomous vehicle hype cycle before — this time's just a bit different.

Timothy B. Lee, one of the Ride AI moderators who has reported on transportation for Ars Technica before launching his Substack, Understanding AI, pointed to the Gartner hype cycle: Technological innovation first comes with the skyrocketing of what's called peak "inflated expectations" before crashing into a "trough of disillusionment," then rising again, more gradually, on a "slope of enlightenment" followed by a "plateau of productivity."

The peak of inflated expectations happened around 2016 or '17, Lee told me, before an Uber autonomous test vehicle killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018.

"Then there was a period of three or four years, from 2018 to 2022 or so, when things were going very badly for these companies," he said. "You had Uber shut down their program, Lyft shut down their program. Ford had Argo (AI) that shut down. That was a bad time to be in the industry and not as much fun to cover. And then, the last two years I would say it's been on the upswing pretty much since Waymo started expanding to San Francisco."

Lee's prognosis is that the great human-driver replacement will be gradual. In the next 20-plus years, city roads will see fewer human drivers before they completely disappear.

For example, he cited the decades it took before automatic elevators made human elevator operators obsolete.

"There's going to be a long process," he said.

My day in Los Angeles ended with another human-driven rideshare, which arrived in the same amount of time it took to say goodbye to my friends, put on my shoes, and walk out of their apartment.

The closest Waymo was 13 minutes away.

Exit app. Open Uber.

When everything gets more expensive everywhere because of tariffs, that starts a cycle for businesses, too — one that might end with layoffs, bankruptcies, and higher prices for the survivors' customers.

Why it matters: The cycle is just starting now, but the pain is immediate.

• From clothing retailers who get all of their production from heavily tariffed Asian countries, to bakers whose pastries depend on newly levied imported vanilla, to the tech companies whose batteries need the minerals China just cut off in retaliation, this weekend will be a scramble to figure out how to survive the new world order.

The big picture: The stock market is not the economy, but if you want a decent proxy for Main Street businesses, look at the Russell 2000, a broad measure of the stock market's small companies across industries.

• It's down almost 20% this year alone.
• That in and of itself doesn't make a business turn the lights off, but it says something about public confidence in their prospects.
• "The market is like a real time poll ... this is going to impact all businesses in one way or another undoubtedly," Ken Mahoney of Mahoney Asset Management wrote Friday.

Zoom out: The early signs are everywhere, large and small.

• Electronics trade group IPC estimates the cost of critical components coming from overseas will rise 30% to 50%. Even if you're already manufacturing domestically, the parts you need from somewhere will get expensive, quickly.
• Automaker Stellantis paused production at multiple factories and laid off hundreds of people.
• Irrigation company Lindsay Corp. said the tariffs would increase its cost of goods, which it would pass through to customers. Those customers are farmers, who are now getting squeezed by foreign retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
• It's only April, but already Christmas is getting complicated, too. Forty-eight hours after announcing a pre-order date for its new video game console, Nintendo had to cancel it. Turns out there's now massive tariffs on the countries where it's manufactured.

The bottom line: Businesses need to plan. In this environment, they can't.

• Meanwhile, their costs will keep rising and their customers will keep pulling back.

Let's go back to basics. What is a tariff, what role do they play in the economy, and how have they been applied, both historically and now?

The big picture: Tariffs were once the primary way the United States collected tax revenue, but over time elected leaders and economists alike have rejected them for their many downsides.

• President Trump is seeking to reverse that long tide.

The basics: A tariff is a tax on imported goods. When a ship full of bananas or T-shirts or Toyotas arrives at a U.S. port, part of the paperwork for crossing the border is paying the applicable tariff, also known as an import duty.

• In recent years, those taxes have been relatively low — down to 1.5% in 2017, after decades of bipartisan efforts to craft global trade deals.
• President Trump then pushed those upward to around 3% in his previous term (which President Biden mostly maintained).
• The policies announced so far in Trump's current term are on track to push the average tariff to 22.5%, per the Yale Budget Lab.

Flashback: From the colonial era through the early 1900s, tariffs were the predominant source of the federal government's revenue.

• Taxes on imports were relatively easy to enforce even in the days before computers, Social Security numbers, and the like. When a ship arrived at a port, customs officers could inspect the goods, charge the appropriate tariff, and ensure tax compliance.
• The Constitution limited the federal government's taxing authority, so that a modern income tax was not legally permissible until the enactment of the 16th Amendment in 1913.
• Politicians sought to protect domestic industry from European competition as it matured. (There are echoes in how Japan and South Korea used protectionist policies in the latter half of the 20th century to allow their countries to catch up to world leaders).

Yes, but: This reliance on tariffs had deep-seated problems, which is why their use has been mostly in retreat over the last century.

• They disadvantaged agricultural interests and other U.S. exporters, as other countries put in place corresponding barriers to trade.
• The tax burden disproportionately fell on lower-income people, who spend a bigger share of their money on basics than the rich.
• They didn't raise nearly enough money to pay for a modern government, with a large military, social welfare programs like Social Security and Medicare, and the like.
• At the heyday of America's tariff-centric era, they raised revenue around 1.1% of GDP. Government spending is now around 23% of GDP.

Moreover, they distorted economic activity. Major U.S. industries spent more effort trying to lobby for preferential treatment via tariffs than they did building great products that could compete on the world stage.

• When the world economy stumbled in 1930, nations rushed to implement tariffs in hopes of bolstering domestic industry, particularly the Smoot-Hawley Act in the U.S. Mainstream economists view this cascade of protectionism as a key part of why that episode became the Great Depression.
• Based on those lessons, and as part of a broader effort to knit together the economies of the world's democracies in hopes of ensuring lasting peace, the U.S. and other advanced nations spent the postwar era gradually removing tariffs and other trade barriers.

Reality check: Even in the heyday of free trade enthusiasm, tariffs did not move to zero.

• In some cases, it's a simple matter of realpolitik, such as when President Bush raised steel tariffs in 2002 to try to bolster support in steel-producing states.
• Agricultural interests exert major political sway and have historically secured high tariffs on imported foods including dairy and sugar.
• There are cases for limited tariffs that even pro-trade economists can live with, such as protecting and nurturing domestic industries seen as important for national security.

Zoom out: In his first term, Trump used provisions of trade laws that allow a president unilateral authority to implement tariffs on specific countries and products on national security grounds, or in retaliation for unfair practices.

• Those came with careful legal limitations and a process for companies to seek exclusions — and their total scale wasn't enough to have much effect on the overall U.S. economy
• This time is different. Trump is implementing tariffs on a scale an order of magnitude higher, on every country on earth and nearly all goods, and by invoking an emergency authority never used for this purpose.

The bottom line: If the new tariffs announced this week stand, America's average tariff burden will be higher than nearly any living human has seen— higher than they were in the Smoot-Hawley era and roughly at 1909 levels.

• That's why markets have reacted so furiously to the president's announcements.

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

• My husband cut our $2,000 monthly grocery bill by $415 just by shopping differently.
• Switching from name brands to store brands saved us thousands — and my kids didn't even notice.
• His engineering mindset means no impulse buys and less food waste.

In May 2023, my husband and I sat down to look over our budget app on his laptop — one of my least favorite activities.

As a family of six living in the Chicago suburbs, our grocery bills were already sky-high and climbing with inflation. I hated budget conversations.

Even though my husband never made me feel this way, I always felt like I was getting in trouble for overspending. So when he pointed out that our Walmart grocery bill for the month was $1,923, I felt the guilt creep in.

But then, he said something that I didn't expect: "Let me take over the grocery shopping."

I laughed. Not because I thought he'd do a bad job but because I couldn't imagine it would make any real difference. Plus, grocery shopping was my domain: I knew what we liked, and I meal planned. I didn't love the idea of him double-checking my choices. But I was exhausted from the weekly trips, so I handed him the grocery list — half expecting him to come back overwhelmed.

The next month, our grocery bill dropped to $1,511. I figured he was just cutting corners to prove he could spend less. But the following month? $1,555. Our pantry was full, our kids were happy, and we were spending around $400 less a month.

I had to admit: maybe my husband was onto something.

He started by taking his time in the store to consider all the options

I got curious about his method: "How are you doing this?" I asked.

It turns out his first grocery shopping trip took almost two hours — and not because he couldn't find anything. While I was home imagining him wandering lost in the aisles, he was carefully reading ads (the ones I would have tossed aside) and checking prices on every single item.

Ever the engineer, my husband pulled out his phone to show me some of the side-by-side price comparisons he made. I was beyond surprised.

My husband made some big money-saving switches

My kids go through ketchup like water. I had been buying Heinz at $4.48 for years without thinking twice. The Great Value brand my husband chose is just $1.92 for the same size bottle, and it tastes exactly the same, saving us $2.56 every time.

But the ranch savings may be one of our biggest. Switching from Hidden Valley at $6.97 to Great Value at $3.54 saves us $3.43 per bottle, and no one can even tell the difference. We use it for everything from salads to dipping vegetables, so these savings add up quickly. We even did a blind taste test with our pickiest eater, and he liked the generic brand best.

The cereal aisle turned out to have big savings, too. Name-brand Rice Krispies were costing us $3.98 per box, but Great Value Rice Crisps are only $1.97. This cut our cost in half while keeping breakfast the same.

For the kids' school snacks, I used to buy the individually packaged Goldfish for $9.76 out of convenience. My husband started buying the bulk carton for $7.79 which saves us almost $2.00 for even more crackers. For what we are saving, I don't mind taking the extra minute to put the Goldfish into individual baggies for school snacks.

It's not just about switching to store brands or buying in bulk. Even with name-brand things we love, my husband finds a way to save money. For example, with our coffee, instead of paying $31.08 at Walmart for three pounds, he gets it directly from Dunkin on his way home for $26.21. That's saving $4.87 just by changing where we buy it. It's the exact same amount, but almost $5.00 cheaper.

We're happier and saving money

There have been unexpected benefits beyond just saving money. I no longer dread those weekly grocery trips because I'm not making them anymore. Since my husband actually sticks to the grocery list (unlike me and my impulse purchases), we're wasting less food.

I still handle meal planning, but he approaches grocery shopping with his engineering mindset.

I wish we'd made this switch years ago. It's funny how sometimes the best solutions come from playing to each other's strengths and letting the more cost-conscious partner do the shopping.

That one conversation didn't just change how we grocery shop — it's saving our family about $4,980 a year. And, all because I was willing to hand over the grocery list to my husband, who was willing to spend two hours comparing ketchup prices.

• Cruise lines like MSC, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean own resorts and private islands throughout the Caribbean.
• They're increasingly upgrading their properties and expanding their real estate portfolios.
• Satellite imagery shows how cruise lines have changed the Caribbean landscape.

A decade ago, Ocean Cay, a Bahamian island 65 miles from Miami's coastline, stood abandoned, bearing the scars of its previous life as an industrial sand mining site.

These days, the 95-acre island looks less like an excavation facility and more like a slice of Caribbean paradise.

Gone are the debris and floating metal fragments. Now a vacation destination, Ocean Cay is home to seven pristine beaches, waterfront cabanas, and family-fun activities — all thanks to a $500 million investment from MSC Cruises.

In 2019, after three years of cleanup and development, MSC opened the island as Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, a private retreat exclusively for its cruise passengers. It now sees thousands of travelers virtually every day of the year, many of whom are ready to spend big on a swim with stingrays and a beachside massage.

Cruise lines like MSC, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean collectively own 17 ports and resorts in the Caribbean. Some are still under development as these at-sea vacation companies increasingly build back onshore, transforming swaths of the warm-weathered landscape into unrecognizable but highly profitable exclusive vacation destinations.

The transformation of neighboring rivals

About 85 miles from Ocean Cay, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have claimed two private islands separated only by a mile-long stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.

Norwegian was an early trendsetter, having been the first cruise line to acquire an island, now known as Great Stirrup Cay, for its guests in 1977.

The company has recently upgraded its 270-acre buildout, expanding the dining and walkways in 2017 and launching a luxurious hotel-like retreat in 2019.

Later this year, Great Stirrup Cay is also expected to debut a new pier that can concurrently accommodate two of Norwegian's largest ships — a $150 million investment in an attempt to rival its successful neighbor, Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Like Ocean Cay, their locations are strategic. Perfect Day at CocoCay and Great Stirrup Cay are less than a day's sail from Florida's busy ports, allowing the companies to save on increasingly costly fuel expenses.

A closer look at CocoCay

CocoCay is as much a "perfect day" as it is a perfect investment, having opened in 2019 as a resort-like extension of Royal Caribbean's splashy ships.

The more than 130-acre island has since become a massive hit, accommodating almost all of the company's Caribbean cruise guests with its waterpark, lounge-lined beaches, and, as of last year, an adult-only beach club.

The cruise line has poured a cool $350 million into developing the property. Yet, amid strong guest demand, financial returns have been "exceptionally high and significantly above its target," Naftali Holtz, the CFO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in 2023.

It's now hoping to replicate CocoCay's success with a private resort 63 miles away on Paradise Island, located just offshore from Nassau, Bahamas, and near Atlantis' sprawling resort.

Royal Caribbean began purchasing land on Paradise Island in early 2017. Seven years later, it started developing the 17-acre property into what would soon become its first Royal Beach Club, a sprawling exclusive resort.

Royal Beach Club Paradise Island is scheduled to open in December 2025.

Guests will have to pay to enter the all-inclusive property. Once inside, they can expect access to 10 bars, shopping, cabanas, and several pools and beaches, including some for families.

Another island, another resort

In addition to expanding its island — RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay — Carnival Corp is also following the private resort strategy with a mile-long getaway on Grand Bahama Island.

Celebration Key, as it's been dubbed, is scheduled to begin welcoming Carnival cruisers in July.

The land is expected to be transformed into a vacation hub with beach clubs, a family lagoon, and plenty of dining options — "clearly following Royal Caribbean's footsteps," Patrick Scholes, lodging and leisure research analyst at Truist Securities, told Business Insider in 2024.

The resort is expected to accommodate 4 million visitors annually when Carnival builds two additional berths in 2028.

The $600 million project is set to be the company's largest. Yet, Carnival Corp's CFO, David Bernstein, told analysts in 2024 that Celebration Key is already expected to be a "smash hit and provide an excellent return on investment. "

• My husband and I went on our first African safari last year.
• The bucket-list trip was incredible, but there are a few things I wish I had known before we left.
• I didn't realize how different each safari drive would be or that I should've packed differently.

Last year, my husband and I took a 10-day guided group tour of South Africa with Adventures By Disney.

Part of the trip included a three-day African safari at the Kapama River Lodge, a luxury safari resort on the Kapama Game Reserve near Kruger National Park.

Even though most of the trip's schedule and transportation details were planned for us through the tour group, it was our first time in South Africa — and our first time on safari in general.

Needless to say, we weren't totally prepared for what the experience would entail. Here are the five things I wish I had known before going on the trip.

I should have packed more layers.

We went on safari in August, which is Africa's winter. During this time of year, the temperature can fluctuate greatly during the course of a day.

Even after researching the weather patterns, the range in temperature caught me off guard. For example, our morning safaris were very cold, but by early afternoon, it became T-shirt weather.

I mainly brought sweaters for the trip, but looking back, I would have focused on packing layers instead.

I also found headgear to be absolutely vital for blocking the sun and keeping my hair from getting unruly in the wind. On my next trip, I'll definitely bring more than one hat with me.

I didn't realize I'd want to spend more time at our resort.

While planning the trip, I was so focused on the safari experience that I didn't realize how amazing our resort would be.

With its beautiful spa and gourmet dining options, it felt like an all-inclusive resort. Three days there was not nearly enough time.

Next time, I'd carve out additional time to explore the lodge's restaurant, spa, and amenities in more depth.

Each safari drive offered something unique.

As part of our vacation package, we were able to go on two safaris each day: one in the morning and one in the evening. Ahead of the trip, I had a preconceived notion that things would get redundant. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm so glad I didn't skip any of the safaris because I was able to see all of the Big 5 animals: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and African buffalo.

Night rides ended up being my favorite as we stopped in the middle of the bush for a happy hour at a makeshift bar. If I had only gone on the daytime rides, I would have missed this entire experience.

It would've been nice to have a professional camera.

I had no idea just how many animals we would spot and how close we would get — sometimes, within several yards.

Although there's definitely value in enjoying a moment, I do regret not bringing a professional camera on at least a few safari rides to get incredible photos.

I had no reason to be stressed before the trip.

"Bucket list" isn't a term I take lightly, but I absolutely feel comfortable labeling this trip as such.

This was the most outside-of-my-comfort-zone vacation I've taken to date. I knew very little about what to expect and was worried about letting others take control of the planning.

However, it ended up being one of the best trips I've ever taken, and I wish I'd gone into it less stressed.

• My husband died when I was 46, and I received a wake-up call about financial preparedness.
• His life insurance policy was a lifesaver as I developed a more long-term plan for our family.
• I sought professional advice to get through that time, and I'm glad I did.

In the wee hours of the morning, several days after my husband's death in 2003 from sudden cardiac arrest, I awoke out of breath, my heart racing. Would my daughters be able to stay in their schools? Could I continue to pay the mortgage on our home?

When my husband accepted his first overseas diplomatic assignment, I gave up my career. Once back in the States, I began to slowly rebuild my professional life, but I was far behind my peers in earning power and savings. Still, I didn't worry too much about our income and my slow-growing 403b. We weren't diligent savers; we had mortgages, car loans, and two children in private schools. We relied on the assumption that Uncle Sam had our backs.

Insurance was a lifesaver for me during that time

Suddenly, with a base salary of $42,000 a year, I became responsible for my two teenage daughters and, as an only child, my elderly mom. My husband had good life insurance in place (with his morbid sense of humor, he often joked about how "well off" I'd be when he died), which was a godsend, but I needed to understand how to use our money efficiently.

Most financial experts say you should have enough money in your emergency savings fund to cover three to six months' worth of living expenses. Being unprepared is exacerbated if you are not used to navigating the finances. In my case, I was aware of our position in general terms, but large decisions, such as our daughters' education and buying or selling a home or vehicle, were always joint.

As my husband's beneficiary, I received his federal life insurance payout. Early on, I received incorrect information, leading me to believe that I needed to keep the insurance payout I received in the low-interest settlement account. Learning that I was able to move it to an account that delivered a higher rate of return eased a lot of stress. My initial priority was not investing but making sure I had enough money coming in to pay our bills. I chose to work with an advisor at our credit union to invest the money in instruments that would conserve — and hopefully increase — my principal and provide an income stream to supplement my small salary.

I developed a long-term financial plan

My advisor suggested investments that would help me achieve the goals we had planned for our daughters. I was happy to learn I'd be able to keep my younger daughter in parochial high school and enable my older daughter to remain at her current college. Next, I paid off some high-interest items with part of the insurance money, which eased the burden on my modest income and saved me from having to make large draws from our investment accounts. Later, I tackled estate planning issues such as updating my own will and beneficiaries on all financial items.

Even though I knew how to access our bill-paying software and bank accounts, having no real savings of my own and a meager retirement plan due to contributions of only the 10 years we'd been back in the States made me anxious. The reality of planning a possible solo retirement made me again wish I'd been wiser about my personal saving practices. Soon after tragedy strikes, many widows and widowers rush to make huge — and sometimes unwise —

major financial decisions. A short time after my husband's death, I considered selling our home. but an accountant friend advised me to wait until I was on steadier emotional ground. I'm glad I did because the house appreciated in value, and I was able to secure a good price when I did sell it 15 years later.

I learned a lot about financial preparedness when I became a young widow

In my grief support group, I saw firsthand others having to sell homes or move in with family after losing a spouse or partner's income. I know I was fortunate because of my husband's foresight in planning for a future that did not include him. Because my life insurance had always come as a benefit of my employment, I purchased additional insurance to guarantee that the girls would have some assets should my financial situation change, or I could no longer work.

Even though I learned a lot by becoming a young widow, I wish I'd known more about financial planning before tragedy struck. Having to shoulder the weight of a family's financial present and future only added to my already fragile emotional state. At least, seeking both professional and personal help and a dose of strategic planning eased one of the burdens I felt immediately after my husband's death.

• This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Welcome back to our Saturday edition! The season finale of "The White Lotus" is almost here, and we'll finally find out who dies this season. Any predictions? Find out who we think might be floating in that resort.

On the agenda:

• The new "it" cosmetic procedure: veneers, but without the filling, drilling, and grinding.
• A millennial engineer dreamed of a walkable small town with big-city vibrancy. So, she's building it herself.
• A GI doctor who researches the gut microbiome shared the 3 things he does to prevent colon cancer.
• First came the trad wives. Meet divine feminine energy.

But first: Spring Break smarter.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here.

This week's dispatch

Let's optimize Spring Break

Spring Break isn't just for college students. It's also the perfect time for corporate types, finance bros, and entrepreneurs to recharge before sprinting into Q2.

If you want to plan your own rejuvenating retreat, here are some tips to ensure you leave feeling restored and ready for the rest of the year.

• Ditch the screens: Whether you're committing to less screen time, turning off Slack notifications, or doing a full-on digital detox, now is the time to step away from the black mirror. Instead, experience the outdoors now that the weather is turning. It's not only good for you mentally, but it can also lower your blood pressure and improve your memory.
• Rest isn't overrated: Now that our nights are getting shorter, sticking to an effective sleep routine is crucial. It also doesn't help that we just lost an hour of shut-eye. Spring also means it's a perfect time to invest in your sleep with fresh bedding — especially if it's been a while. No judgement!
• Have a little fun: The best part of any Spring Break is the adventure. Make sure you go on one — whether it's with your partner, with your family, or solo. And you don't have to travel far to have a new experience. Instead of prioritizing location, focus on the quality and take advantage of creating a new memory.

A new kind of veneer

Traditional veneers have been a favorite of celebrities since the 1980s. But plenty of would-be takers balk at the process, which requires shaving down the surface of the tooth.

Now, patients are gravitating toward a less invasive, lower-risk veneer procedure. It's part of the "quiet glow-up" trend, which is all about little fixes rather than sweeping changes.

What to know about the procedure.

Small town, big city

Disenchanted with pandemic-era San Francisco, software engineer Devon Zuegel sought to recreate the small-town atmosphere she experienced when visiting upstate New York.

The result is Esmeralda, a walkable and bikeable northern California town that Zuegel plans to build within another city's existing limits. The goal is revitalization, not starting from scratch.

An intentional-community experiment.

A GI doctor's advice for colon cancer prevention

Surgeon James Kinross researches how gut health affects cancer risk. He told BI that ultra-processed foods and microplastics are just a few factors that are likely linked to rising colon cancer cases in young people.

Kinross shared the three dietary principles he follows to lower his own risk of developing colon cancer.

Read his recommendations.

The deal with divine feminine

Posts about divine feminine energy are proliferating on social media. Content creators claim tapping into their divine feminine energy was the key to manifesting the life they wanted.

Experts say it's more complicated than that. You could end up creating helpful rituals … but you could also end up falling down an alt-right pipeline.

Approach it with nuance.

What we're watching this weekend

• "One of Them Days": After releasing in theaters in January, the R-rated buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA is now streaming on Netflix.
• "The White Lotus": Season three of HBO's thrilling anthology series comes to an end this weekend.
• "Pulse": Netflix's new medical procedural follows doctors under professional and personal pressure at a Miami hospital.

See the full list

What to shop

• Salon-worthy manicures at home: Getting your nails done in a salon takes a lot of time and money, especially if you maintain them regularly. That's why we tested the best press-on nails for a fast fix.
• Your own home bakery: There's a subscription box for just about everything, so it's no surprise that you can get artisan bread and pastry dough delivered to your doorstep. We gave it a try — learn more in our Wildgrain review.
• Away's new luggage: Away is famous for its sleekly designed, durable, and feature-packed suitcases. The brand released a new Softside Carry-on, so we gave it a shot.

More of this week's top reads:

• I never buy birthday presents for kids' parties. They often miss the mark and unwrapping them is chaos, so I give money instead.
• The fall of Lonely Planet.
• A 25-year-old strategy analyst breaks down how she spends $648 each month on staying fit.
• We splurged on extras and all-inclusive plans for our first trip to Disney World. It was a magical disaster.
• How Steph Curry spends his 5-9 — from recovering after training to no-rules summers.
• Mike White on why he almost didn't cast Blackpink's Lisa in 'The White Lotus': 'She's like Taylor Swift meets Princess Diana'.
• Meghan Markle silences critics after As Ever sells out in an hour.
• A 62-year-old dermatologist with barely any wrinkles shares what to do now for great skin at her age.
• Your Rolex is about to get more expensive.

The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York City (on paternity leave). Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.

• I recently took the 16-hour overnight train from Warsaw to Kyiv for a reporting trip.
• The 'Kyiv Express' was loud and bumpy but surprisingly cozy.
• This is what the long journey was like.

WARSAW, Poland — When I boarded the big blue train that took me on a 16-hour journey into Ukraine, I was certain I wasn't going to be getting any sleep.

The makeshift beds rattled throughout the night as we barreled across the Polish and, eventually, Ukrainian countryside. The train stopped frequently, and passport checks interrupted hopes of grabbing some proper shut-eye.

Last month, I spent about a week in Kyiv reporting on Russia's ongoing invasion. I felt that as a journalist covering the war, I needed to be there, to see things myself, and to learn what the people of Ukraine are facing. It was eye-opening.

I experienced the uncertainty of waiting out a Russian barrage in an air-raid shelter in the middle of the night. Many Ukrainians in the capital are desensitized to the near-daily one-way attack drones and won't even get out of bed for those, but the missiles still cause alarm. I met air defenders shooting threats with a machine gun out of a pickup truck. And I saw firsthand the efforts to produce new types of drones for front-line combat.

Getting to Ukraine, though, from neighboring Poland meant an overnight train ride, one unlike anything I had experienced before in the US or in Europe. At the busy train station in Warsaw, a platform sign identified my ride as the "Kyiv Express."

Waiting in warsaw

I arrived at the Warsaw Wschodnia station an hour before my scheduled departure, giving me time to relax and grab a bite to eat. After hanging out and watching people flood in and out of the station, I devoured a small sandwich from Caffè Nero.

It was evening, just a bit before 6 p.m. I got to the platform a few minutes early and walked to my assigned train car, showing my ticket to an employee of Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine's state-owned rail company.

Boarding the "Kyiv Express"

I boarded the train and walked to my sleeper cabin at the end of the car, right next to one of the two bathrooms.

The blue train was dimly lit, dated, and had a stale odor. My room was the size of a large closet, but I had it all to myself, and it felt surprisingly cozy. I hung my coat and took a few minutes to get settled and organize my things.

The room had a three-bed bunk, with the middle bed swung down to act as a backrest for the bottom bed, where one would sit (eventually, I raised the middle bed to sleep on).

Besides the only window, there were some hangers, a small fold-down chair, a ladder, a storage rack, and a small desk with a mirror that opened and hosted an electrical outlet.

It was a spartan space, certainly not the luxury train Western leaders have used to travel into Ukraine in the past, but it was sufficient for what I needed it to do.

Sleeper cars

My train cabin

The cabin was equipped with three plastic packets containing sheets, a pillowcase, and a towel. What looked like sleeping pads and pillows were on the top bunk, and blankets were on a storage rack. (I didn't end up using any of them.)

The cabin also came stocked with two bottles of water, but I'd packed my own, along with some Pringles, biscuits, and Mentos to hold me over until I got to Kyiv. I figured there was a good chance I'd be up all night and get hungry.

Just me and my bags

Everything I needed

The train pulled away from the station shortly after its scheduled departure time. By this point, it was dark outside. Around 15 minutes later, someone came by to check my tickets.

I used Google Translate to communicate with him, and he tried to speak English at one point. The only word I could really make out from the exchange was "Trump."

My reporting trip came right after a contentious White House meeting between the US president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and as the Trump administration was pressuring Ukraine to make unfavorable deals.

The train felt like it was traveling fast, though I had no idea what our speed was. They may have said something, but I don't speak Ukrainian.

The journey across Poland was bumpy and loud. During the first three hours of my ride, I prepped for interviews in Kyiv, caught up on the news, ate some snacks, and watched a little TV on my phone. The cell coverage was surprisingly good at this point (it got worse).

Bathroom controls

Bigger than an airplane bathroom

It was dark outside, so I couldn't see much of Poland beyond some scattered homes, buildings, and streetlights. Every so often, the train stopped briefly at a station as we inched closer to Ukraine.

Polish customs began a little after 9:30 p.m., nearly four hours into the journey. A customs officer walked down the hall to check passports and clock us out of the European Union. The train didn't move for over an hour, but eventually, it started rolling again.

Ten minutes later, I received a knock from an employee saying that we had reached Ukrainian customs.

The couch functions as a bed

More than one place to sleep

Narrow hallways

I handed over my passport to a Ukrainian soldier and got it back 30 minutes later with my long-awaited Ukrainian stamp.

By this point, with the time change (Ukraine is one hour ahead of Poland), it was nearly 1 a.m., and I was super tired.

Twenty minutes later, we entered a massive warehouse, where the train underwent preparation to switch from European tracks to the wider Ukrainian tracks built during the Soviet Union. Though Russia's army has struck train tracks and rail centers, Ukraine's rail lines have been surprisingly well maintained, with most trains running on schedule.

The next hour was filled with the unenjoyable, piercing sounds of machinery and the coughing and snoring that penetrated the thin walls separating my room and the one next door.

Closing in on Kyiv

First sights of the Ukrainian capital city

Stepping off at my stop

For the next few hours after we finally got on our way again, our train zipped across the Ukrainian countryside. I was in and out of sleep, but when the sun rose, I gave up entirely and took my first view of the eastern European country out the window.

As we approached the Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station, the landscape slowly shifted from rural to urban, and we arrived in the Ukrainian capital just before 11 a.m. It was chilly and busy outside as I waited for a ride to my hotel.

Stepping out onto the ordinary-looking concrete station, I reveled in the fresh air before it dawned on me that I still had the same 16-hour journey back to Warsaw to look forward to.