• Mike Holp, now 38, left Austin in 2019 due to the high cost of living.
• He bought a one-way ticket to Asia and eventually settled in Koh Samui, Thailand.
• Island life is slower and much more affordable; his monthly expenses rarely exceed $1,800.

Seven years ago, Mike Holp was riding through the streets of Austin as a food delivery worker, earning between $15 and $20 an hour.

He lived just outside downtown in a shared rental with three roommates. Even with a computer science degree, the tough competition made it hard for him to get the tech job he'd hoped for.

"Basically, the only thing that I could find to do to pay expenses was to deliver food on my bike," Mike Holp, now 38, a digital creator, told Business Insider.

Each day blurred into the next as he worked long hours just to cover rent, only to repeat the same grind the following month. It was a relentless cycle, and the lifestyle started to wear him down.

He felt disillusioned, and the rising cost of living wasn't helping his situation.

"At that point, I was like 'What am I doing all this for? Just to get by?'" Holp said.

His life in Austin didn't feel sustainable, and he knew he had to get out.

In 2019, with money saved from delivering food and working real estate photography gigs on the side, Holp bought a one-way ticket to Asia.

Finding home in Thailand

After a brief stint in Bali and then Singapore, Holp decided to make Thailand his next stop.

He spent time living in different parts of Thailand, including Chiang Mai — where he met his now-fiancée, Mary. She was on vacation at that time but was based in both Bangkok and Koh Samui for work.

Wanting to be closer to her, Holp decided to move to Samui because he preferred its slower pace over the bustle of the Thai capital.

House-hunting was fairly easy: He found their first home on Facebook Marketplace. It was a one-bedroom house located in Lamai, a laid-back area along the southeastern coast of the island. Rent was 9,000 Thai baht a month.

After three years in that house, it was time for a change. His fianceé had left her previous job and now works at a school, and they wanted to live close by. They're still in Lamai, but in a bigger one-bedroom property that costs 20,000 Thai baht, or about $600, each month.

"It's a modern village-style home. It's on a raised platform, about 12 feet off the ground, so if there's any flooding, we don't have to worry about that," Holp said.

Although Holp has learned a little bit of Thai, the good thing about Samui, being a tourist destination, is that many locals can speak and understand basic English, he said.

It was also fairly easy for him to connect with new people.

"There's a large Facebook group called Koh Samui Expats — they've got about 40,000 people in there," Holp said. "And I'm actually a moderator in that group, so that helps to meet people."

Escaping the rat race

Holp says his life in Samui is "completely different" from that in Austin.

He starts his mornings by dropping off his fiancée at work. After that, it's time for a walk along the beach and a quick workout session at an outdoor gym situated on a tiny islet linked to the Samui mainland by a wooden bridge.

Post-workout, it's time for a coffee at a nearby café before he heads home to start work for the day. Apart from creating content for his own social pages, Holp also runs a photography business and a consulting business that helps others relocate to Thailand.

"I have a flexible schedule," he said. "It's just a much more carefree, relaxed lifestyle compared to Austin."

The fact that he's no longer in the rat race also means he has the time and energy to spend on his hobbies, such as exploring the island on his bike and meeting with friends.

The lower cost of living in Thailand helps, he said.

"It frees up my time so that I can focus on passion projects like the YouTube channel, and I don't have to worry about just paying rent all the time and stressing out," he said.

Holp says he and his fiancée typically spend between 50,000 and 60,000 Thai baht, or about $1,500 and $1,800, a month.

"We sometimes cook at home, but the meals are usually very affordable here, so going out to eat is very easy," Holp said.

Their weekly grocery run costs about 2,000 Thai baht, and it's also fairly easy to find international brands and products at the larger stores, he said.

"Even going to the grocery store, you can get 30 eggs for 5 bucks," he added.

Holp estimates a comparable lifestyle for two in Austin would cost about five times as much.

A single person needs to earn at least $101,587 annually to live comfortably in Austin, per a 2025 SmartAsset analysis based on data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator.

The average rent in Austin was $2,000, per the latest May data from Zillow Rentals.

Not missing the lifestyle in the US

Holp says he loves the warm weather and the friendliness of the locals. He also feels very safe living in Samui.

"I don't even really have to worry about locking the door, whereas back in Austin, I probably have to worry about how somebody might break in and rob me," he said.

He hasn't been back to the US in five years, not even to visit. There isn't much that he misses anyway.

"There's a big car culture in the US. I do kind of miss driving a car around here. I just use the motorbike for everything since it's really easy to get around the little roads and stuff," he said.

"But I can't think of much that I really miss about the US other than my family, obviously, and friends. That's about it," he added.

Do you have a story to share about relocating to a new country? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Brad Barrett retired from full-time work at 35 and started a financial independence podcast.
• He sees retirees making four common mistakes.
• Barrett emphasized the importance of planning post-retirement life beyond just financial goals.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brad Barrett, who hosts the ChooseFI podcast. Business Insider has verified his professional history.

My journey to financial independence, or FI, started when I got my first job.

I began my career at one of the big accounting firms. I was fortunate enough to live at home with my parents, and I tried to save around 90% of my income when a lot of my friends began getting apartments alone or buying fancy cars. I've always been a bit frugal and never cared much about impressing other people. I saw saving and making sacrifices, like moving to Virginia instead of living in New York City, as a service to the life I wanted in the future.

I retired from my full-time job in 2015, when I was 35. I then began a travel and reward points website and later launched ChooseFI, which has been downloaded 70 million times since 2017.

FIRE, or Financial Independence Retire Early, is a cute acronym, and we used it a lot in the early days. But it doesn't matter whether you are working full time, part time, or are completely retired. It's all about financial independence — reaching a point where we can control the only thing that matters in life, which is our time.

From the countless questions I get from listeners or those who read our newsletter, there are four common mistakes I see early retirees make that keep them unsatisfied post-FI:

1. They're retiring from something

One broad category of mistakes I see involves people simply not having ideas of what they want to do in their post-work life. In the 2013-2017 timeframe, FI was about getting to a number as quickly as possible, and little else mattered. It's getting better, but there needs to be a mindset shift to: "I'm not running away from a job, but I'm running toward a life that I want to live."

If it were just about reaching a number on a spreadsheet for me, and then I woke up the next day expecting it to be the greatest life ever, I would've been really disappointed.

2. They don't experiment enough

I suggest people don't have an arbitrary number of hobbies for post-retirement. Instead, they should experiment and keep an open mind.

You could make plans to travel around the world on a sailboat for the rest of your life, and within a month, you could get seasick and have to stop. But that's not failure — it's just an experiment.

Retirement can be decades long. You may be really active in the early years post-work and do things like climb mountains and walk the Camino, but you maybe can't do that at 85.

This is a mistake I also made in my journey. I got very busy with raising two young daughters, and I didn't experiment enough. I didn't do a great job of leaning into what I love, including small things like watching soccer, and I'm trying to fix that now.

3. They don't take pride in being FI

Lots of people have a hard time talking about hitting FI because there is a degree of others' not understanding or jealousy. I've seen people avoid talking about it completely or making up some type of job, like "I'm consulting from home."

Honesty is really important, and there should be a significant sense of pride attached to being FI. Just being able to say, "Hey, I worked hard at this. I saved for the most important thing to me, which was my own time freedom."

There's a way to communicate that with empathy, and it may lead to other people also taking an interest in FI. If you're volunteering at Habitat for Humanity on a Tuesday at 10 a.m., and people ask you why you aren't working, you can talk about it.

4. They wait too long to quit

The "one more year" syndrome is a mistake I still see. It's when people delay quitting their jobs or moving onto something new because they're worried their retirement nest egg isn't big enough. Most of the time, it's more than enough, and people are being too conservative.

People don't understand the finite nature of their lives. If we are really lucky, we get eight or nine decades on this planet, and even fewer with good health.

Every day that you work longer than you have to is a day that you're not doing something with the only resource you can't get back — your time.

• Southeast Asian tech startups are increasingly targeting the US market for growth and opportunity.
• Traditionally, startups from the area focused locally, but AI is driving a shift to the US.
• Founders are finding that a physical presence in the US has become a necessity as business grows.

Yoeven Khemlani knew he wanted to build a product for engineers like him.

The Singaporean's friends told him they were spending tons of time maintaining code, web scraping, and translating their work for different markets. In July 2024, he launched JigsawStack, a company to create small models that could automate those tasks. One country — not his own — quickly became the source of his customers.

"We saw a huge uptake of users and realized a lot of the early-stage customers that we got were from the US," Khemlani said.

JigsawStack, which raised $1.5 million in pre-seed rounds from the venture capital firm Antler's Southeast Asia fund in October and February, is part of a growing group of Southeast Asian startups building products for US-based customers, rather than those in their backyard.

For these software startups, the US's rising isolationism isn't threatening their customer base — yet. But sweeping tariffs on China may push up the cost of hardware they need to import into the US, such as servers.

"Traditionally, Southeast Asian startups honed in on local or regional markets to solve unique, homegrown challenges," said Jussi Salovaara, a cofounder of Antler who leads investments in Asia.

The ride-hailing apps Grab and GoJek — two of the region's best-known startups, now publicly listed — are examples of how founders in the early 2010s built for local needs.

"However, as the ecosystem matures, founders are now setting their sights on the US, encouraged by a blend of opportunity and necessity," Salovaara said, adding that he'd seen more of these US-focused startups in the past three years in Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia is growing, but it doesn't have the US's firepower

Southeast Asia, a group of 11 countries east of the Indian subcontinent and south of China, has seen skyrocketing economic growth over the past decade. Since 2015, the region's GDP has climbed more than 62% to $4.12 trillion, boosted by a growing middle and upper class.

Between 2015 and 2021, the number of venture capital deals within the region more than tripled to 1,800, PitchBook data shows. Activity peaked in 2021 — a similar pattern to startup funding globally.

Despite the region's growth, more Southeast Asia startups are choosing to focus on building products for the US, not for those around them. Founders and business experts note that the American market is more concentrated, more mature, and less price sensitive, all of which make it an attractive playing ground for new entrants.

Plus, the US is leading in artificial intelligence, the major driver of today's global tech industry.

"We're in an AI-first world where currently the US is at the epicenter of driving groundbreaking advancements," said Shailendra Singh, a managing director with Peak XV, the VC firm previously known as Sequoia Capital India & Southeast Asia.

"This," he added, "is why we put in a lot of focus and effort on building global go-to-market operating teams in the US."

And American businesses are happy to have them.

"SEA startups are often positioned to offer high-quality, cost-competitive solutions that can undercut US-based alternatives, making them appealing to American businesses in need of cost-effective innovation," Antler's Salovaara said.

To be sure, the model isn't unique to Southeast Asia.

Nataliya Wright, an entrepreneurship professor at Columbia Business School, researched startups founded from 2000 to 2015 for a forthcoming paper on scaling. She found that software startups from small countries in Europe, for instance, typically focused on the US from the get-go. Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, however, are considered midsize markets, with populations in the tens of millions. Startups from midsize markets tended to start with a local focus, assuming there would be enough customers.

"A US orientation," Wright told Business Insider, "would suggest a departure from that model."

11 unique markets

Working only within the region is tough. Southeast Asia is home to a huge diversity of languages, business practices, and household incomes.

"You're spending five times more because you're entering five different markets," Khemlani, the JigsawStack founder, said about working in the region.

The US and tech hubs like San Francisco allow startups to find an abundance of customers in one place, or at least in one country.

"We don't have the resources to do two streams of marketing," Khemlani said.

Having some American customers is good for fundraising, too, said Wright, the Columbia Business School professor.

This is because of a bias called "foreign discounting" — VCs based in startup hubs such as Silicon Valley overlook or undervalue startups founded elsewhere, Wright said. When foreign startups show they have US customers, it helps cancel out that bias and could give them a leg up in future fundraising rounds.

VCs say founders from the region have advantages.

Singh, the Peak XV managing director, said Indian and Southeast Asian startups often have an underdog mindset.

"They feel a startup in Silicon Valley is more polished and has better access to capital and talent, so they want to overcompensate by working harder, learning faster, and often they're understated and very hungry for success," he said.

Hotbed for innovation

Realfast is a Singaporean Peak XV-backed startup that builds AI agents for IT systems. Its cofounder, Sidu Ponnappa, has found that the US is the deepest market for its product.

"Everything from deal velocity to deal size operates at a completely different level in the US," Ponnappa said. "Can you do the same thing for other markets? Yes, but it's always lower margin."

Guan Dian, who heads the Asia Pacific operations of Patsnap, a software maker for research and development projects that's backed by Vertex Ventures, said the company's founders always thought the US would be a priority market.

While the startup has customers in 50 countries, more than half of its 5,000 customers are in the US.

She said the company refined its branding to emphasize AI-powered features for industries such as biotech and advanced manufacturing, which dominate US patent filings.

Cost consciousness among Southeast Asian customers is another reason founders are reaching abroad.

"Southeast Asia is a little bit more price sensitive, and we tend to get a bit more into negotiation," Khemlani said.

Cheaper labor means local customers try low-tech solutions or building themselves first, but that's starting to change as AI models get more complex and expensive, Khemlani said.

'Should we move our headquarters to America?'

Founders don't want to fully decamp to the US, though, thanks to the ease of doing business in places such as Singapore. For startups including Multiplier, an HR platform backed by Tiger Global and Peak XV, Singapore's strong geopolitical relations with virtually every country are a big advantage over the US.

"We do business with China and Taiwan, we do business with India and Pakistan, we do business with America and China," said Sagar Khatri, Multiplier's CEO and cofounder.

"We've evaluated time and time again: Should we move our headquarters to America? And the answer has always been no," Khatri said.

The founders who spoke with BI also touted Singapore's tax policy — it doesn't tax capital gains — and government grants for tech companies.

Some startups are splitting their people, moving one cofounder to the US while the other stays in Southeast Asia.

For JigsawStack, being in the US is essential for networking. Khemlani, the founder, spent six months in the US last year and moved permanently this year to scale the startup.

"You can't sell to the US when you're not there," he said. "Just going for an event or a hackathon in the US makes such a big difference in your sales."

• My husband and I are part of the sandwich generation, raising little kids and caring for parents.
• We realized that it was time to do those bucket list trips we had all been waiting for.
• The trip was over a year and my dad still raves about it.

When you first have kids, lots of well-meaning (or obnoxious) folks will tell you, "The days are long but the years are short." What no one tells you is that this also applies to our parents.

As part of the sandwich generation raising young children while also seeing our parents age and all the ups and downs that accompany that, that adage now hits hard.

Both my dad and my husband's parents are now in their 80s, while our youngest child is 6. When we were in the throes of new parenthood and trying to figure out how to juggle two full-time commuting jobs with day care, daily life, and everything in between, the thought of trying to plan a multigenerational vacation honestly probably never occurred to us.

Sure, there were the little weekend trips here and there, but as it became clear our parents were aging, we started wondering about those bucket list experiences they'd always wanted to do with their grandkids that everyone just kept putting off year after year because life is always too busy and time always goes way too fast.

We planned a multigenerational trip

We'd taken for granted that our parents were relatively healthy, mobile, and active. As someone who lost my mom at 29, I was always highly aware that life is short and we should take our opportunities while able. Even with that knowledge, the years flew by.

For my dad, the bucket list dream he'd always talked about was taking all of his kids and grandkids to South Korea, where he was born, and introducing us to the remaining aunts and uncles of his eight siblings that we'd never met, along with a particular request to rent traditional Korean clothes (hanboks) and wear them for family pictures.

He was already over 80, which seems to mean you just never know if there will be a bad fall or serious health issues at any given moment. Basically, the time to go was yesterday, so after chatting with my younger siblings, we got moving.

I'm grateful we made it happen

While planning a multigenerational trip that involves five adults with their own schedules and three young kids to another country is no small feat, we managed to make it happen — and I'm forever grateful we did.

One of the primary challenges was finding places to stay that allowed room for everyone and thanks to an amazing traditional Korean house, called a hanok, my brother found on AirBnB and another spacious multi-room condo Airbnb, we were able to be together but still have some space to spread out, which I would argue is essential with a trip with multiple family members. I'll never forget meeting aunts and uncles for the first time and my kids will talk about all the things we did together with their grandfather and uncles and beg to go back.

While the trip was now over a year ago, but dad still raves about it. I made him a photo book to remember the trip and it wasn't all the sightseeing we did or delicious food we ate he remembers, it was just the time spent together.

We did the same for my husband's parents

Fast-forward a year later and we were able to make another parent's dream trip with their grandchildren come true. My mother-in-law is a lifelong equestrian and had often brought up wanting to take a trail ride with the entire family at a ranch. At the time, many of the grandkids were too young to ride, but this past year seemed like the perfect time.

We headed off to the gorgeous Alisal Ranch in Santa Ynez for a memorable girls-only trip, from Grandma to the six-year-old. It was clearly a property meant for family reunions and multigenerational vacations. The cabin we stayed in had a clever Murphy bunk bed, couch bed, and spacious bedroom for Grandma to rest comfortably.

It was a slower pace of trip that appealed to both young and old. Sitting on the porch watching horses meandering around while the sunsets will always remain a highlight, as will the friendly goats in the barn the kids went back day after day to pet.

Eating each meal together and just hanging out is basically what any grandparent really wants, and we had that in spades. The trip culminated in a wonderful morning horse ride to a "cowboy breakfast" (the youngest and I went in a wagon instead).

The all-inclusive nature of the property made it a super easy no-fuss planning process and everyone got to do what they wanted, whether it was just running around the expansive lawn, making crafts in the kids' art room, or playing ping-pong and roasting s'mores with Grandma.

If you're like me and have been sitting around wondering when to make a special trip with the grandparents happen, the answer is now. None of us are getting any younger, and it's such a precious window when everyone is healthy enough, the kids are willing and able, and you have the opportunity to make literal dreams come true.

There will never be a perfect time when work or extracurricular activities don't have to get rearranged but trust me, it's not something you'll ever regret.

• Theme park companies are leveraging technology to transform the guest experience.
• Legoland uses AI to track ride attendance and manage lines.
• Disney is partnering with Nvidia and Google DeepMind to bring AI-powered robots to its parks.

It is a truth universally acknowledged: Lines are the worst part of amusement parks.

Sure, too many $8 pretzels can gut your budget, but there's something uniquely taxing about waiting in line for a popular ride on a sticky summer day.

There might be a fix, however: artificial intelligence. New technology of all kinds is transforming the theme park experience in the United States, helping drive growth in the industry.

Among the theme parks leveraging new technology is Legoland.

"We're using a technology called Vision AI," Adrian Thompson, operations transformation director for Legoland's parent company, Merlin Entertainments, told Business Insider. "We have cameras placed over our attractions that analyze the number of people physically riding those attractions at any given time. It doesn't identify you uniquely, but it identifies the number of people riding an attraction."

Thompson said incorporating AI into attraction line areas allows ride managers to receive data in real time, mitigating potential issues or delays.

"If they see anomalies in that data — the number of dispatches has reduced or the queue times have gone up — they can take action at that moment and make changes," Thompson said. "Before, when it was all paper-based, we didn't have access to all that data in real time. You might not have gotten that information until the end of the day, at which point it's too late to impact the guest experience."

New tech brings the Arctic to Florida

About 40 miles north of Legoland is SeaWorld, where Expedition Odyssey opened to the public last month. Expedition Odyssey is an immersive flying theater ride that transports guests to the Arctic using real footage of the icy landscapes and wildlife.

"There's no CGI in it," Conner Carr, the vice president of rides and engineering for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens' parent company, United Parks & Resorts, told BI. "The standard on those ride types has always been to generate with animation or CGI effects for a ride film."

Instead, SeaWorld sent teams equipped with custom-lensed cameras and drones on expeditions to the Arctic to capture the videos.

"For us, it's not just a theme park experience. It's that zoological aspect, too," Carr said. "We don't want to sit in an office and draw a beluga whale. We want to show them a real one."

Although the authentic footage helps set Expedition Odyssey apart from its peers, Carr said there's another reason he refers to it as the "most technologically advanced ride" SeaWorld has ever done.

A typical flying theater involves guests entering their seats, enjoying the show, and exiting before another group can enter. Expedition Odyssey uses a rotating main tower that allows guests to load the ride while another is already watching the footage. Once the ride is done, the tower will essentially flip, and the groups will switch places.

"This lets us keep the line moving and procedures like you would see on a coaster, but on a completely new type of ride that typically doesn't allow that," Carr said.

Carr said another way guests interact with new technology at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks is by including audio and visual aspects in the line.

"That's what Penguin Trek does," Carr said, referring to a roller coaster at the Orlando park. "When you dispatch on the ride, you have special effects and lights that make you feel like you're in an ice cave that's falling."

That technology is also found at Busch Gardens, where guests can ride the Phoenix Rising roller coaster, which utilizes media screens, lights, and onboard audio.

Augmented reality and Lego Ferraris

At SeaWorld, Carr said 3D scanning has become a reliable tool for repairs and creating models.

"It is not just roller coaster track replacement. We use 3D scanning all over the place," Carr said. "The technology has been amazing for new projects like Penguin Trek and Expedition Odyssey."

Augmented reality is another type of technology becoming more prevalent at amusement parks, including Legoland California and Legoland Florida.

The Lego Ferrari Build & Race attraction allows guests to build and test cars, then use augmented reality to scan and race them virtually. Hands-on activities are a priority for Legoland theme parks, where the Ninjago ride uses hand-tracking movements that let riders use hand gestures to test their skills.

"The beauty for us is we're always going to do hands-on experiences because it's Lego," Thompson said.

Carr said SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have a similar approach, given their animal conservation efforts. "The mission is to inspire and educate right alongside rescuing all the animals," he said.

Other theme parks in the United States are also flexing their tech acumen, including Disney, which partnered with Nvidia and Google DeepMind to develop Newton. The open-source physics engine will help robots learn to navigate tasks more accurately.

Disney intends to use the technology to enhance the robotic characters in its theme parks to be more lifelike.

"This collaboration will allow us to create a new generation of robotic characters that are more expressive and engaging than ever before—and connect with our guests in ways that only Disney can," Kyle Laughlin, the senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering's Research and Development, said in a press release.

Theme parks are navigating tariffs

Although the attractions industry continues to entice guests from around the globe, the volatility caused by the Trump administration's tariffs has become an unpredictable obstacle.

"New tariffs will make securing product — like games, plush, and merchandise made outside the United States — more expensive to import. Ahead of the rate hikes, some operators created additional storage space and took possession of goods earlier in the season than what they have imported in the past to avoid paying the tariffs," the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions said this month.

The association said the tariffs have also strained the US relationship with Canada, potentially affecting theme park attendance this summer.

"Also of concern for several American facilities: a softening in the zest to travel south by Canadians who are accustomed to spending their summers in the United States. The current political climate between the two nations may adversely affect the sentiment to travel in the months ahead," the IAAPA said.

However, the uncertainty hasn't stopped companies from steamrolling ahead with ambitious projects. Universal's newest theme park, Epic Universe, opened to fanfare this month in Florida, while Disney announced plans to develop its seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi.

• "Stranger Things" season five will be the hit Netflix series' final installment.
• The Duffer brothers have teased information about the final season since season four was released in 2022.
• Season five is set to be split into three parts, with the first premiering on November 26.

Since premiering in 2016, "Stranger Things" has become one of the most popular Netflix series of all time. 

The supernatural drama, set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s, is now headed into its fifth and final season.

Its stellar young cast — long one of the show's biggest strengths — are now adults. Millie Bobby Brown's breakout role as Eleven has led to her becoming a star in her own right, producing films like "Enola Holmes" and pursuing other projects away from her "Stranger Things" image. 

Netflix announced in February 2022 that the show's fifth season would be its last, bringing a conclusion to the story of Eleven, Hawkins, and the Upside Down. And while there are plenty of "Stranger Things" spinoff projects in the pipeline (and other shows to catch up on in the meantime), it's hard not to be excited about an ending that David Harbour said left members of the cast "uncontrollably crying" during a table read. 

Here's everything we know about season five of the show.

Season five will be released in three parts.

Netflix has announced that the final season will be released in three parts.

The first four episodes are set to arrive on November 26. The next three episodes are then due to air on December 25, before the much-anticipated finale lands on December 31.

The synopsis for season five teases a "final battle" between the residents of Hawkins and Vecna.

The full synopsis for season 5 reads: "The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown."

"Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will's disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they've faced before. To end this nightmare, they'll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time."

Audiences already know most of the episode titles.

In a teaser, Netflix released titles (or at least, partial titles) for eight episodes in season five. They are, presumably in order: "The Crawl," 'The Vanishing of...," "The Turnbow Trap," "Sorcerer," "Shock Jock," "Escape from Camazotz," "The Bridge," and "The Rightside Up."

Netflix also shared behind-the-scenes photos from season five on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stranger Things Netflix (@strangerthingstv)

Production on "Stranger Things" season five kicked off in January 2024.

On January 8, 2024, the official "Stranger Things" account posted on X that the fifth season had entered production. 

"THIS IS A CODE RED," the post read. "STRANGER THINGS 5 production has officially begun!!!"

By July 2024, filming for season five was halfway done.

Netflix released a behind-the-scenes featurette from the set of "Stranger Things" season five on July 15, 2024, marking the halfway point of filming for the final season. 

"I started when I was 10," Millie Bobby Brown says in the video. "I'm now turning 20 years old. It feels very weird."

The teaser also features appearances from other members of the primary cast, including Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Winona Ryder.

Season five newcomer Linda Hamilton of "Terminator" fame also briefly gets the spotlight. 

There are some fun glimpses in the trailer of Dustin wearing a Hellfire Club shirt (RIP Eddie) and the original four — Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will — attending school together. There's also a brief shot of Hawke and Ryder sharing a scene, and one glimpse of Mike's younger sister Holly looking shocked by something off-screen.

Production on the final season was meant to start sooner. It was put on hold until the end of the writers' strike.

In a May 6, 2023 tweet from the writers' room X account, the Duffer brothers announced that production was being put on pause until the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had reached a "fair deal." 

"Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins," the tweet began. "While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then -- over and out. #wgastrong."

The account also liked several tweets supporting the strike, including one featuring an image of a picket sign reading, "Pay us or Steve Harrington is toast."

Work on the scripts for season five started back in August 2022.

The Duffer brothers told Collider in an interview published in July 2022 that after some time off that month following the release of season four, part two, they were planning on starting up the writers' room for season five of the series during the first week of August.

Later, the official writers' room X account for the show confirmed that writing had started on August 2, 2022.

The series finale will probably be really long.

During a July 2022 episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, the Duffer Brothers told host Josh Horowitz that they didn't expect the show's final season to be as long as season four, in part because it won't require the exposition that season four did. 

"I don't know if it's gonna be going 100 miles per hour at the start of five, but it's gonna be moving pretty fast," Matt Duffer said. "Characters are already gonna be in action, they're already gonna have a goal and drive, and I think that's gonna carve out at least a couple hours and make this season feel really different."

Ross Duffer said, however, that they're likely to have another "two-and-a-half-hour episode" for the series finale in order to avoid a television phenomenon in which a series' climax falls in the penultimate episode while the finale acts as more of a "wind down."

Still, the brothers said that during the writing process, things could change.

Season five of "Stranger Things" will feature a "time jump."

Ross Duffer told TVLine in June 2022 that he was "sure we will do a time jump" for the show's fifth season, given the young cast's increasing age. At the time, the series' young actors were three to five years older than their characters in the show. 

"Ideally, we'd have shot [seasons four and five] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that," he told TVLine.

Netflix has confirmed that the series would take place "in the fall of 1987." That will put it approximately a year and a half after the conclusion of season four, which took place in March 1986. 

Season five of "Stranger Things" will bring an end to the story of Eleven, Hawkins, and the Upside Down.

In February 2022, Netflix announced that the fifth season of "Stranger Things" would be its last.

In a letter at the time, the Duffer brothers laid out their plans for the universe. While there was plenty left to explore, the letter read, the series finale would bring an end to its central story.

"We hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down," the letter read.

The Duffer brothers said they "feel good" about the "Stranger Things" ending.

The brothers told Collider in July 2022 that they had confidence in the show's ending.

"We do feel good about the ending," Matt Duffer said. "I was like, okay, I think this ending is not… I'm not super insecure. I'm insecure about a lot of things, but I feel like this ending feels good." 

Ross Duffer told the publication at the time that the final 20 minutes of the series were already "locked in."

Season five will explain more about the Upside Down.

Ross Duffer told Netflix Geeked in 2022 that lingering questions about the Upside Down, such as why it's frozen in time to the point where Will was taken in season one, would be answered in season five. 

"The answers to what the Upside Down actually is, is really gonna be the core of what season five is, and the mysteries of season five," Ross said. "And those answers are really gonna lead us to the conclusion of this story."

The end of the story was apparently emotional enough to make Netflix executives cry.

In 2022, Ross Duffer told The Wrap that when he and Matt pitched season five to Netflix, some tears were shed in the room.

"I mean, it was hard. It's the end of the story," he told the publication. "I saw executives crying who I've never seen cry before and it was wild. And it's not just to do with the story, just the fact that it's like, 'Oh my God, this thing that has defined so many of our lives, these Netflix people who has been with us from the beginning, seven years now,' and it's hard to imagine the journey coming to an end."

• Ukraine carried out a massive drone attack targeting Russian bombers on Sunday.
• A Ukrainian security source said at least 40 aircraft were struck in the attack.
• Footage shows the Ukrainian strikes on Russian bombers shielded only by tires.

Ukrainian forces carried out a massive drone attack targeting Russian bombers and other aircraft on Sunday, striking dozens of planes, a security source told Business Insider.

The source in the Security Service of Ukraine said that the agency carried out "a large-scale special operation" to destroy Russian bombers deep inside the country. They said that the attack drones hit at least 40 aircraft, including Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control planes and Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bombers.

Video footage captured by a drone and obtained by BI shows a row of Russian bombers burning, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air.

Another video captures the moment a drone hits an aircraft.

At least two bombers in this footage, including the one struck, are covered in tires. Russia has used this tactic throughout the war in an apparent attempt to confuse Ukrainian weapons systems, like drones and missiles, that are looking for the aircraft.

"Enemy strategic bombers are burning en masse in Russia," the SBU source shared in translated remarks. They said that Ukraine attacked four airbases across Russia and said Moscow's losses amount to billions of dollars, adding that the number of damaged planes could increase.

The source said the operation, which was supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, involved more than a year and a half of planning and was "extremely complex from a logistical point of view."

The SBU transported numerous small first-person-view (FPV) drones to Russia, along with what looked like wooden shipping crates. Once all the pieces were in the country, the drones were hidden in the crates, which were placed on trucks. On Sunday, the tops of the crates were remotely opened, and the drones flew out.

BI could not independently verify the shared details of the operation against Russia.

Zelenskyy celebrated the drone attack in an X post on Sunday.

"An absolutely brilliant result. A result achieved solely by Ukraine. One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution. Our most long-range operation," Zelenskyy said. "Our people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time."

Zelenskyy said he instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to share some details and results about the operation with the public.

"Of course, not everything can be revealed at this moment, but these are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books. Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war," Zelenskyy said. "Russia started this war, Russia must end it."

Russia's defense ministry has yet to issue a public statement on the attack, nor did it respond to BI's request for comment on the attack. The Russian embassy was also unresponsive.

The Tu-95 and Tu-22M strategic bombers have been used to launch missile strikes against Ukrainian targets. Russia's attacks have intensified recently; Moscow launched more than 900 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles over just a three-day period in late May, officials said.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 472 attack drones and decoy drones — Moscow's biggest bombardment with uncrewed systems so far. Kyiv said 385 enemy air vehicles were taken down.

The Ukrainian attack on Sunday marks Ukraine's latest deep strike into Russia. Kyiv's forces have repeatedly used domestically produced drones and missiles to hit airbases, ammunition depots, and weapons-making sites far behind enemy lines over the past year.

• June is Pride Month, a time to honor and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
• Activists like Marsha P. Johnson and Larry Kramer helped fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the 1980s.
• LGBTQ+ scientists like Sally Ride and Alan Turing made significant advancements in their fields.

It's Pride Month, and as people and companies around the world celebrate (or back away from it), it's time to recognize the groundbreaking individuals who helped advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and representation.

From politics and media to science and sports, figures like Harvey Milk, Laverne Cox, and Billie Jean King have been instrumental in uplifting the voices and stories of the LGBTQ+ community to promote acceptance and understanding.

Here are 25 LGBTQ+ figures you should know.

Alan Turing created modern computer science, but he was persecuted for being gay.

Alan Turing was a mathematician who is often credited with creating the foundation of artificial intelligence and computer science. He also played a major role in World War II, helping break several German codes.

In the '50s, he told police that he had a sexual relationship with a man and was arrested for gross indecency. He was then chemically castrated. He died in 1954 due to cyanide poisoning.

BBC News reported that Turing was given a posthumous royal pardon in 2013. Three years later, the UK government announced it would posthumously pardon other men convicted of abolished sexual offenses, in what was dubbed the "Turing law."

Sally Ride was the first American woman to go to space.

On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman and, at the time, the youngest American, to travel to space when she flew aboard the Challenger space shuttle.

As the first American woman in space, Rider faced scrutiny based on her gender, which she repeatedly rejected. Throughout her life, she worked to encourage girls to go into science, and in 2001, she founded Sally Ride Science, a nonprofit aimed at inspiring young people in STEM.

While Ride kept her personal relationships private during her life, at the time of her death in 2012, her nonprofit and her sister, Bear Ride, revealed the astronaut had been in a relationship with science educator and Sally Ride Science co-founder Tam O'Shaughnessy for 27 years.

"Sally never hid her relationship with Tam," Bear Ride wrote following her sister's death, as reported by NBC. "They were partners, business partners in Sally Ride Science, they wrote books together, and Sally's very close friends, of course, knew of their love for each other. We consider Tam a member of our family."

James Baldwin is one of the most influential writers in history.

James Baldwin grew up in Harlem, New York, and published his first book, "Go Tell It on the Mountain," a semi-autobiographical novel, in 1953.

The following year, he published his groundbreaking novel "Giovanni's Room" — its main character is a gay man. Baldwin continued writing books and essays with LGBTQ+ and Black characters, speaking out about racial discrimination and becoming a civil rights advocate.

"He was fearless," his sister Paula Whaley told The New York Times in 2024. "He would say, 'You have to walk straight into it.'"

Christine Jorgensen was one of the first people to come out publicly as transgender.

Christine Jorgensen grew up in the Bronx, New York, and lived a quiet life. But the World War II veteran said she felt like a woman stuck in a man's body. When she read about a doctor who was carrying out gender therapy in Copenhagen, she jumped at the chance to go.

After hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery in Europe, Jorgensen returned to the US in the 1950s as Christine. Overnight, she became a celebrity; she shared her story widely, including in an autobiography.

Bayard Rustin worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr., before turning to LGBTQ+ activism.

Although most people associate the March on Washington with Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin was a key organizer, per the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In fact, Rustin is the one who taught Dr. King about Gandhi's belief in non-violence and civil disobedience. 

Rustin was also an openly gay man, so he often spoke about the importance of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. He shifted his focus from civil rights to LGBTQ+ activism in the '80s.

His life was the focus of the 2023 Oscar-nominated film "Rustin," starring Colman Domingo.

Dr. Alan L. Hart's work in radiology pioneered the way tuberculosis is diagnosed.

Born in Halls Summit, Kansas, in 1890, physician and radiologist Alan Hart identified as a male from a very young age, per Scientific American.

Throughout his medical research career, Hart pioneered the use of X-rays to detect early stage tuberculosis, a practice that is still used today to diagnose patients and that is credited with saving "countless lives."

Transitioning in 1917, Hart became one of the first trans men to undergo a hysterectomy in the US.

Barbara Gittings was a well-respected activist in the gay rights movement.

Before the Stonewall riots, Barbara Gittings was on the frontlines, attempting to normalize homosexuality.

Per Time magazine, she joined the Daughters of Bilitis, the first organization that focused on lesbian rights, and started its New York chapter in 1958. She also began editing the Ladder, a magazine by and for lesbian women.

Gittings was also an important figure in reversing the American Psychiatric Association's belief that homosexuality was a mental illness.

Marsha P. Johnson was on the frontlines of the Stonewall riots.

Although Marsha P. Johnson never officially identified as transgender, she is considered a transgender pioneer. As a drag performer, sex worker, and self-identified "transvestite," Johnson played a major role in the historic Stonewall riots in 1969 that jump-started the gay liberation movement, CNN reported.

After the riots, Johnson and her friend, Sylvia Rivera, became leaders in the community and used their power to open Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, which helped provide housing for homeless and transgender youth.

Sylvia Rivera was a gay and transgender activist, but she's mainly known for her role at the Stonewall riots.

Sylvia Rivera is often credited with throwing the second Molotov cocktail at the Stonewall riots in 1969 when she was only 17, according to Biography.com. After taking her place in history, she joined forces with her friend Marsha P. Johnson to create Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. 

Rivera experienced drug addiction, incarceration, sex work, and racism, so she fought for the rights of many marginalized groups throughout her lifetime.

Chavela Vargas challenged traditional gender expression in Latin America.

When the Costa Rican-born Mexican singer entered the music scene, the Rancheras genre she eventually grew popular in was astoundingly male-dominated. Still, she sang.

Covering popular songs in the genre, often love songs written by men toward women, without changing their pronouns, and performing in traditionally masculine clothing, Vargas, who was born in 1919, challenged the societal view of the genre and the role women played in it.

When the then-81-year-old publicly came out as a lesbian in her 2002 biography, fans weren't surprised, NPR reported. The singer was reported to have had multiple romances with women, including with Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Billie Jean King, a professional tennis player, was outed as a lesbian in 1981 and became one of the first out gay athletes.

Billie Jean King is one of the most famous names in professional tennis. She earned 39 Grand Slam titles from 1966 to 1975, and also beat Bobby Riggs in the famous "Battle of the Sexes" match.

But in 1981, King was outed as a lesbian, and her publicists told her to deny the claim. Instead, she confirmed that she was a lesbian and became one of the first out gay athletes.

Harvey Milk was a gay rights activist and politician in San Francisco.

Harvey Milk was the first out gay politician to ever be elected in California. While on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, Milk made a name for himself as a prominent, outspoken LGBTQ+ activist.

He was assassinated in 1978 in City Hall.

Eerily, Milk predicted his death by saying, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country," NBC News reported.

Gilbert Baker created the gay pride flag, which remains a prominent symbol today.

CNN reported that, in 1978, Harvey Milk asked his friend Gilbert Baker to make a symbol that would represent gay pride.

Using the US flag as inspiration, Baker hand-sewed a rainbow flag. He said each color on the flag represented something that was important to the community. For example, the hot pink was for sex, and the red was for life. The rainbow pride flag was first flown in San Francisco on June 25, 1978, for Gay Pride Day.

Larry Kramer is known for his writing, but he also created two influential organizations during the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Playwright Larry Kramer was on the frontlines of the HIV/AIDS crisis, which disproportionately impacted — and still impacts — members of the LGBTQ+ community, per the Human Rights Campaign.

In 1981, Kramer created the Gay Men's Health Crisis organization, which was the only group devoted to helping those who were HIV-positive, The New York Times reported. He later created Act Up (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), which was an organization that held high-profile demonstrations.

In the '80s, Kramer wrote the play "The Normal Heart," which chronicled his experience in AIDS activism. In 2011, the play finally went up on Broadway and then was turned into an HBO movie.

RuPaul is a drag queen who has brought the art of drag into the mainstream.

RuPaul got his start in the '90s in the music industry, releasing his hit single "Supermodel (You Better Work)," which reached the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. At the same time, he appeared in a number of films as his drag persona, including "Crooklyn," "The Brady Bunch Movie," and "Blue in the Face." In 2009, he started a drag-queen competition show, "RuPaul's Drag Race," and it quickly became a hit among the LGBTQ+ community.

Throughout the years, the series gained momentum and has become a major hit for mainstream audiences, leading to several spinoffs. The star has gone on to win 14 Emmys, per the Television Academy.

Edith Windsor was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that declared the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.

Edith Windsor's wife, Thea Spyer, died in 2009, igniting a court battle that would change LGBTQ+ rights forever. The federal government did not recognize Windsor and Spyer's marriage, so Windsor was left to pay $350,000 in estate taxes, per NPR. She waged a war against the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2013 that Section 3 of DOMA — which prevented the federal government from recognizing any same-sex marriages for the purpose of federal laws — was unconstitutional, paving the way for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Although she's known as a commentator, Rachel Maddow is also a longtime LGBTQ+ activist.

After college, a young Rachel Maddow became an AIDS activist, joining Act Up and the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco. After that, she became the first out gay woman to be a Rhodes Scholar, and she studied AIDS in prisons.

Maddow hosted her own radio show, which was eventually turned into "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC in 2008. The journalist continues to be a public LGBTQ+ activist.

Anderson Cooper is another news anchor who is open about his sexuality.

Anderson Cooper started as a correspondent for ABC News, but in 2003 he got his own show on CNN, "Anderson Cooper 360." In 2012, he became the news story when he came out as gay. 

"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud," Cooper wrote in an email to Andrew Sullivan, who was then given permission to publish in The Daily Beast, per Today.com.

In 2020, he revealed on his CNN segment that he had a son via surrogate and that he would be raising him with his ex-partner. "As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I am so grateful to all those who paved the way," Cooper said.

He welcomed his second child in 2022.

Laverne Cox was the first transgender person nominated for an Emmy Award for acting.

Laverne Cox jumped into the spotlight in 2013 when she started playing transgender inmate Sophia Burset on Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black." For her role in the series, Cox was nominated for four Emmy Awards, becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy in an acting category, per the Television Academy.

She is well known as an activist for transgender rights, serving as executive producer of "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word," which won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding special class special in 2015, making her the first transgender woman to win the award.

Cox also starred on CBS's "Doubt" in 2017 and appeared in Netflix's "Inventing Anna" in 2022. She has been a host of E!'s "Live From the Red Carpet" since January 2022 as well.

Lena Waithe was the first Black gay woman to win an Emmy Award for comedy writing.

Lena Waithe won the Emmy for comedy writing for her work on the Netflix series "Master of None." During her speech, she took a moment to thank the LGBTQ+ community, Time reported.

"I love you all and last but certainly not least my LGBTQIA family," she said. "I see each and every one of you. The things that make us different, those are our superpowers — every day when you walk out the door and put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren't in it."

Waithe also uses fashion as a statement to speak out for the community. In 2019, she wore a rainbow flag to the Met Gala that was Catholic Church-themed. A year later, she wore a pantsuit that read "Black Drag Queens Invented Camp" to the same event.

Janet Mock is a transgender trailblazer who is changing the face of television.

Janet Mock's powerful 2014 memoir, "Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More," chronicled her experience being transgender and became a New York Times bestseller. She released her second book, "Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me," in 2017.

Since then, she has moved into television and become the first transgender woman of color to write and direct an episode of television on Ryan Murphy's groundbreaking show "Pose," the National Women's History Museum reported. She also directed and produced episodes of Murphy's "Hollywood."

In 2018, Time named Mock one of the most influential people in the world.

Elliot Page is one of the most visible transgender actors in Hollywood.

Elliot Page is known for starring in the Oscar-winning film "Juno" and Netflix's "The Umbrella Academy." In 2020, he came out as transgender.

"I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive," the actor wrote in his coming-out post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Since then, Page has gone through top surgery and he sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an interview in April 2021 to explain his journey.

"It felt important and selfish for myself and my own wellbeing and my mental health," Page told Winfrey about coming out. "And also with this platform I have, the privilege that I have, and knowing the pain and the difficulties and the struggles I've faced in my life, let alone what so many other people are facing, it absolutely felt crucial and important for me to share that."

Page published a New York Times bestselling memoir, "Pageboy," in 2023.

Ariana DeBose was the first queer Afro-Latina woman to win an Academy Award.

For her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg's 2021 adaptation of "West Side Story," DeBose won the Academy Award for best supporting actress, becoming the first queer Afro-Latina woman to do so.

"So to anybody who has ever questioned your identity, ever, ever, ever, or you find yourself living in the gray spaces, I promise you this: There is indeed a place for us," DeBose said in her acceptance speech.

Michael Sam was the first out gay man to be drafted into the NFL.

In 2014, Michael Sam came out as gay in an interview with ESPN and made history that same year when he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams, becoming the first out gay man to ever be drafted into the NFL.

Unfortunately, Sam was let go from the team, and in 2015, CBS reported that he announced he was leaving the sport for good, citing mental health reasons.

He went on to coach in Europe and now works for ProformApp.

Robert Dover is recognized as the first out Olympic athlete.

Per the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum, Robert Dover became the first out gay athlete when he competed in the Olympics in 1988.

The six-time Olympic equestrian athlete and four-time bronze medalist told the museum, "I feel very fortunate that the equestrian community is made up of progressive thinking people for the most part," because he knows athletes in other sports have not always been as lucky.

"The US Equestrian Team and the federation itself has always been very fair with me and they have been my family," Dover added.

• I went to Las Vegas with friends and learned a few lessons the hard way.
• I wish I were more specific when ordering water and that I'd avoided the many slot machines.
• Free bottle service is tempting, but it can be a slippery slope to spending a lot of money.

Many members of my friend group dispersed around the US after college — so our annual girls' trips have become more of a lifeline than a luxury.

We've been on many, and a highlight was our long weekend in Las Vegas a few years ago. Between glitzy nightclubs, casinos, and pool parties that feel like something out of a movie, Sin City was an endless source of fun.

However, looking back, we made some mistakes on our Las Vegas girls' trip that could've been avoided.

Here are five things I wish I'd known before I went — and what I'd do differently next time.

Ordering water without specifying which kind you want can be an expensive mistake.

When you're partying in the middle of the desert, water is a must. However, if you forget to specify which kind, you could be in for a rude awakening when the bill arrives.

At one club, we ordered water and were given an ice bucket holding four small Fiji bottles. Later, we realized we were charged $80 for them.

We weren't just paying a premium for what was in the bottle — we were paying for the luxury of drinking inside one of the city's hottest clubs.

Next time, I'll make sure the servers know I have zero qualms about drinking free water from the tap, and no fancy bucket is required.

Free bottle service can be a slippery slope to spending a lot of money.

Many Vegas club promoters look for any way to get more girls in the door, so it's not uncommon to be swayed by the promise of complimentary bottle service.

However, I learned the hard way that this doesn't mean you're in for a free night out. Between cover fees, two rounds of shots, and one fancy water bucket, my friends and I left one "free" pool party with a $500 tab.

It's easy to make less-than-stellar decisions when you're caught up in the excitement, like ordering brightly-colored shooters instead of simply swigging from the bottle that was already on your table.

Hindsight's 20/20, and I'll try to be more aware of my spending next time.

Slot machines are almost everywhere and tough to resist.

Slot machines are synonymous with Sin City, and the flashing lights and sounds will do everything to pull you in from the moment you step off the plane at Harry Reid International Airport.

Yes, the airport has slot machines. Unlike many others, I resisted.

However, throughout our trip, those noisy machines were waiting around every turn, constantly telling me I was just one spin away from getting lucky.

The thrill of the lever pull got the best of me, and before long, I had dropped half a month's rent on slots.

Take it from me — just because your hotel has a casino on the first floor, that doesn't mean you have to empty your pockets. If you plan on gambling, set a firm spending limit before you get to Vegas and stick to it.

I wish I'd eaten more meals off the Strip.

Although many of the celebrity-chef restaurants on the Strip have great food and Instagram-worthy decor, they can get expensive.

I loved the ultra-hip vibes at STK and Hakkasan, but I wish we'd thought to save money by dining off the Strip for at least a few meals.

We could've savored authentic dishes without sky-high price tags or even super-long wait times. Next time, I'll ask locals for their favorite affordable picks.

Pay attention to your surroundings, especially in the desert.

We went on a group ATV ride in the nearby desert, which was awesome. However, veering off the course and getting lost wasn't.

Somewhere between snapping selfies and racing each other, my friends and I wound up separating from our group. I don't know about you, but Death Valley is not a place I want to be stranded in.

After a frantic search and a terrifying moment when one friend flipped her ATV, we learned a valuable lesson. No matter how much fun you're having, safety comes first.

Next time, I'll enjoy myself while still keeping my wits about me.

• President Donald Trump withdrew Jared Isaacman as his nominee to head NASA on Saturday.
• Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut, is a close ally of Elon Musk.
• Replying to the news on X, Musk wrote: "It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted."

Elon Musk has praised his close ally Jared Isaacman after President Donald Trump dropped him as his nominee for NASA administrator on Saturday.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was withdrawing Isaacman's nomination after a "thorough review of prior associations" and that he would soon announced a new, "mission aligned" nominee.

News of Trump's decision broke earlier in the day, and Musk was swift to respond.

"It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted," he wrote of Isaacman in a post on X.

Isaacman, the founder of payments company Shift4, was part of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew in 2024 and led the first private space walk.

In a social media statement Saturday, Isaacman said he was "incredibly grateful to President Trump" and "all those who supported me throughout this journey."

"I have gained a much deeper appreciation for the complexities of government and the weight our political leaders carry," he continued, adding: "I have not flown my last mission."

Trump had nominated Isaacman in December, calling him an "accomplished business leader" and saying he was "ideally suited to lead NASA" forward.

Isaacman's subsequent removal as nominee comes days after Musk said he was stepping back from his role as a "special government employee" in the Trump administration, ending his time with the White House DOGE office.

Trump's move appears to have come as a shock to supporters of Isaacman, with some experts questioning what it means for NASA.

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said missing out on Isaacman was "bad news for the agency."

"So not having @rookisaacman as boss of NASA is bad news for the agency. Maybe a good thing for Jared himself though, since being NASA head right now is a bit of a Kobayashi Maru scenario," he wrote on X.

Montana Republican Senator Tim Sheehy also took to X to air his support for Isaacman, saying he was a "strong choice" to head NASA and that he "strongly" opposed any efforts to "derail his nomination."

• I'm a registered dietitian and mom who helps busy parents lose weight and maintain weight loss.
• I try to stock up on nutrient-dense foods from Costco, from easy dinners to satisfying snacks.
• Kirkland Signature quinoa and mixed nuts are pantry staples for me, and I like Rao's marinara.

I'm a registered dietitian who specializes in helping busy parents lose weight without restrictive diets.

As a mom of three myself, I know weight management can be especially difficult when you've got a family to feed. Preparing healthy family meals feels like a Herculean task on busy weeknights between work responsibilities and after-school activities.

Having nutritious, balanced foods on hand is half the battle — fortunately, I've found great bulk buys at Costco that come in handy when life gets overwhelming.

Here are a few things I get at the wholesale retailer to help me (and my clients) consistently eat well while supporting sustainable weight management.

Trident Alaska salmon burgers are great for a quick dinner.

A freezer staple in our home, these Trident Alaska salmon burgers from Costco can be ready to eat in 10 minutes or less.

Throw the patty on top of a whole-grain bun, add a salad or some roasted veggies on the side, and dinner's done.

I love that the burgers are made with wild-caught salmon and loaded with heart-healthy omega-3s.

I always try to keep riced cauliflower on hand.

I love using cauliflower rice instead of brown rice to add more nutrition, fiber, and bulk to my meals without carbohydrate overload.

This frozen bag from Tattooed Chef is great because I can easily heat and eat a single serving or a larger portion.

Premade meals from Kevin's Natural Foods come in handy on busy evenings.

Meals from Kevin's Natural Foods are perfect for those "nothing's defrosted but I don't want to derail my weight-loss efforts" kind of nights.

From Korean BBQ-style beef to roasted-garlic chicken, these heat-and-eat entrées are ready in minutes and packed with protein to make them extra satisfying.

Pair them with precooked rice or riced cauliflower for a more filling dinner.

The Kirkland Signature chunky guacamole cups are convenient.

Portion-controlled, portable, and super satisfying, Kirkland Signature chunky guacamole cups are a staple for me.

Each cup contains 4 grams of fiber plus heart-healthy fats that can be great for stabilizing blood sugar and keeping you feeling full for longer.

I like to dip veggies or tortilla chips in these for a midday snack.

I keep mixed berries in the freezer.

I toss frozen berries into oatmeal or yogurt for an easy dose of fiber, antioxidants, and natural sweetness.

This four-berry blend is also great for nutrient-dense smoothies — I blend them with baby spinach, frozen banana, and a splash of water.

It's easy to make dishes more nutritious with baby spinach.

Baby spinach is a no-brainer for sneaking more greens into your meals. It's easy to add to smoothies, eggs, and sandwiches — or to use as the base for a quick side salad.

Pre-cooked chicken bites come in handy for lunches.

With 24 grams of protein per pouch, these fully cooked Fresh Station chicken-breast bites are a lunch lifesaver.

They can be the star of a balanced salad or wrap that can help keep your blood sugar stable midday.

Kirkland Signature egg bites can be an easy breakfast.

Some people skip breakfast because they're busy or want to "save calories," but that typically backfires when it comes to weight management.

Skipping breakfast can throw off your blood sugar for the whole day, so I suggest having even just a quick meal in the morning.

These Kirkland Signature sous-vide egg-white bites are one of my favorite easy breakfasts because they cook in minutes and have 11 grams of protein per serving.

I also try to keep protein bars on hand.

Stash protein bars in your purse, glove box, diaper bag, or desk to ensure you aren't skipping snacks on even the busiest of days — doing so can lead to sugar cravings or overeating at mealtime.

Sometimes, I grab G2G bars at Costco. They're filling and each has 18 grams of protein.

RxBars are also a solid pick.

One of my other favorite protein-packed Costco buys is RxBars.

They have 12 grams of protein per serving, and I like their simple ingredients.

Kirkland Signature mixed nuts are great to keep on hand.

Mixed nuts are a great grab-and-go snack with healthy fats, protein, and fiber.

Pair a handful of nuts with some high-fiber, antioxidant-rich fruit, like berries or an apple, to create the perfect blood-sugar balancing snack that'll help keep you full between meals.

Quinoa is a great whole grain to serve with dinner.

Quinoa is one of my favorite fiber-rich whole grains that's ideal for busy weeknights.

It only takes about 20 minutes to prepare in a rice cooker, and it pairs well with most proteins, from salmon to chicken.

I always grab a salad kit or two from Costco.

Costco typically has a great variety of salad kits, which keep my meals interesting.

The kits are great for busy weeknights since they typically include pre-washed lettuce, toppings, and a premade dressing. Plus, using them to fill half of your dinner plate with veggies is a surefire way to maximize your nutrition intake.

Chicken sausages are good to keep on hand.

Aidells chicken sausages can be a great protein for quick meals since they're fully cooked. I like to slice the sausages and pop them in the oven or on the stovetop with veggies.

These are also a great, simpler alternative to hot dogs at a barbecue.

Rao's Homemade marinara is a staple for me.

I've found it's difficult to find delicious premade pasta sauce that doesn't have added sugar or sweeteners. Fortunately, Rao's Homemade marinara fits the bill.

The sauce pairs well with chickpea or lentil pasta, which can be good sources of fiber and protein.

Skinny Pop is an easy, light snack.

Skinny Pop popcorn is good for satisfying salty, crunchy snack cravings. Each 100-calorie bag is made with just popcorn, oil, and salt.

I love the simple ingredients and how easy these are to throw in a lunch bag.

Click to keep reading Costco diaries like this one.

• After not doing it for a while, I decided to take myself solo to the movies.
• I started chatting with the concessions cashier and gave him my phone number on a receipt.
• He reached out and we fell in love like in the movies.

Every year, I try to rewatch dozens of movies, finding comfort in seeing familiar characters and saying aloud what their next lines will be. Around Thanksgiving, I'd prep myself for this tradition with one of my favorites, "When Harry Met Sally" by reading the screenplay for the first time ever, so that when it was time to actually sit down and watch it again, I'd connect with it differently than last time.

Reading that kind of thing around the holidays would make any other hopeless romantic yearn for their own cinematic meet-cute.

And miraculously for me, I didn't just fall in love like in the movies — I got to fall in love at the movies.

I went alone to the movies

When Thanksgiving came around, I decided to treat myself to another tradition I hadn't done in months: I went on a solo date to the movies.

I was debating which movie to watch in the first place. Torn between going to a theater closer to my apartment or going to a farther one that had the movie I actually wanted to see, I chose the latter and figured it'd be worth it.

And I was right.

The theater was surprisingly busy for Thanksgiving night, employees and customers alike pacing from end to end. As I waited in line for concessions, one employee in particular caught my eye.

He was tall, adorable, and seemingly around my age. He was rushing back to his register, anxiously apologizing to customers, which made him even cuter.

He beckoned me over since I was next.

As I nervously approached him to say my order, I'd learn the name that would stay in mind the rest of the night — Brett.

I gave him my phone number

It wasn't until I took my card out to pay that I finally mustered up the courage to find something to talk about with him.

Though his dimples certainly caught my eye, I used his hair as my starting point. "Do you use gel or anything like that to get your hair that way? Or you just wake up and poof?"

He laughed, "No, I just woke up, messed around with it and hoped for the best," while flashing that million-dollar smile at me.

He'd ask me what I was there to see, and my response ("We Live in Time") let him share the gem of knowledge that he could barely handle emotional movies like that. From there, we went back and forth about other movies we had or hadn't seen recently, chatting for so long that my cheeks hurt from smiling, and my back would turn in guilt of potentially holding up the line.

Anyone on the outside might think he was upselling me, but I had paid long ago.

I had to leave him then, but not forever. After filling my soda, because I was emboldened by either the rom-com gods or AMC's Nicole Kidman herself, I took advantage of a pen I had and the receipt he gave me. I wrote a semi-long note that started with "If you have a girl or aren't into girls, ignore this" and ended with my number.

I returned to him, Red Vines in one hand and the receipt in another. I said, "Excuse me, but you might've given me the wrong receipt."

We've been dating since

As his concerned eyes wandered to my note, I did what any romantic protagonist would do — I ran away.

I laughed and cried during the movie, my Brett in my thoughts every now and then.

Once the movie finished, I checked my phone. No notifications.

I got home. Still nothing.

I had just finished the screenplay and desperately needed Billy Crystal to cheer me up after Andrew Garfield's tears, so I finally put on "When Harry Met Sally." After convincing myself he was taken and about 15 minutes into the movie, Brett texted me.

He apologized for the delay, wanting to wait until after his shift so he could give me his full attention. When I told him what I was watching to soothe myself, not only did he say he does the same thing, but he'd immediately quote back to me my favorite scene: "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

While I didn't realize it then, I knew I wanted the rest of it to start as soon as possible after every surreal date that would follow. And though we're far from the ending, I'm grateful to have a partner who not only wants to accompany me to the movies but will never let us stop feeling like we're in one.

• Two of my four kids graduated from high school, and one graduated from college this month.
• I've noticed my feelings around this milestone are pretty consistent each time.
• Of course, I'm sad about them moving on, but I'm also proud and excited.

I'm not sure how it happened, but once my oldest graduated from high school, time went warp speed on me.

Two of my kids have now graduated, and all four of my children will be out of high school in less than five years. One of them just graduated from college.

So I've had a lot of experience dealing with the emotions — both positive and negative — that come as kids grow up and leave the nest.

The realization that my kids were moving on didn't just hit me at graduation

I don't really get emotional at graduation ceremonies because the actual day is very busy. I'm typically getting everyone to the right place at the right time, planning parties, getting tickets, and making sure we have food. It's kind of stressful in the moment.

But I'm the queen of mourning my kids' childhood at random times, well before they ever walk across that stage.

In my son's sophomore year of college, I was watching him in the marching band. They did a pre-game parade through the college campus, and he was laughing with friends, playing, and just loving where he was in the moment. I started sobbing in the middle of our tailgating party. It hit me that he only had two more seasons left to enjoy this. It's an activity with a limited lifespan, and it was already halfway over.

I was at my other son's end-of-season banquet in his junior year, and the seniors were making speeches and passing along advice and silly gag gifts to the upcoming class. Even though he had a year and a half left of high school, again, I cried when I realized what was coming — and what was ending.

My kids' school years have been a mix of joy as I watch them learn and flourish, and wistful sadness as I see how fast their childhoods are going. It's all a grieving process.

I'm proud of all that we accomplished as a family

Mixed with sadness about them getting older is the realization of how proud I am of these kids. I'm sure I'm biased, but I find them to be fascinating people. I like the adults they're growing into. I enjoy being around them.

I've had the same reaction every time we hit a milestone in this family. When each of them learned to walk, it was bittersweet because they were growing up, but I was also proud of their new skill. The same was true for the first day of school, when they learned to swim, and when they learned to drive. Graduation is a huge step forward, but all of us parents have been slowly training for it with smaller steps along the way.

I'm proud of myself, too. All those runs to the store to grab poster boards and markers, all those evenings helping with homework, all those carpools to school plays, sports practices, and music lessons. We all worked so hard, and now I have actual grown children who need me less because I did my job well.

It helps to remember how I felt when I graduated

There's one more thing I do when I start feeling melancholy about my kids growing up. I remember my own high school and college graduations. I was so excited for both.

I was ready for new college adventures. I couldn't wait to move out of the only home and city I had ever lived in and be on my own. After college, I was ready to be a working woman with my own apartment and a whole set of matching dishes. I couldn't wait to throw grown-up dinner parties and have friends pop by like we were living in a sitcom. I was even excited about paying my own bills.

I know my kids are anticipating these big moves, too. If they're anything like I was, they're nervous but ready to try new things without their parents. While I will miss them like a part of my actual body, I can't wait to see what they do next.

• Six of Alfred Hitchcock's best movies are available this month.
• Documentaries on the OceanGate and Astroworld tragedies are also available.
• So are hit movies like "The Town," "Barbarian," "Now You See Me," and "The Blues Brothers."

Whether it's films from the Master of Suspense or must-watch documentaries, there are a lot of movies to stream on Netflix in June.

Six Alfred Hitchcock classics (June 1)

A half-dozen of Hitchcock's titles are available on the streamer. These include some of the works that would solidify him as the Master of Suspense, like "The Birds," "Rear Window," and "Vertigo."

If you've never seen a Hitchcock movie or need a refresher on his mastery, this is a perfect way to start.

Titles available:

"The Birds"
"Family Plot"
"Frenzy"
"The Man Who Knew Too Much"
"Rear Window"
"Vertigo"

"Barbarian" (June 1)

If Hitchcock movies don't deliver the chills you crave, check out Zach Cregger's acclaimed horror, which follows a young woman's twisted journey when she realizes the Airbnb she booked is nothing like what it seems.

"The Blues Brothers" (June 1)

This beloved musical comedy is based on the characters created by original "SNL" cast members Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Director John Landis crafts an entertaining road trip movie as brothers Elwood (Aykroyd) and Jake (Belushi) Blues sing the blues, break hearts, and con their way across the country to fulfill their mission from God.

"Focus" (June 1)

Will Smith and Margot Robbie headline this clever dramedy, in which Smith plays a career con artist who takes an aspiring crook (Robbie) under his wing. They get romantically involved, which complicates things years later when the two reconnect on a high-stakes job.

"The Great Outdoors" (June 1)

With summer around the corner, it's a perfect time to watch this hit 1980s comedy starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy as two dads who try to give their families a great vacation in very different ways.

"Now You See Me" (June 1)

Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Morgan Freeman star in this heist movie as a team of illusionists who use their sleight-of-hand skills to commit elaborate robberies. The sequel is also available to stream now.

"The Town" (June 1)

If you're looking for a more grounded heist movie, check out Ben Affleck's beloved crime thriller in which he and Jeremy Renner lead a Boston-based bank robbing crew who put together one final score: robbing Fenway Park.

"Us" (June 1)

Jordan Peele's twisted horror stars Lupita Nyong'o as a woman who learns that she and her family are being hunted by doppelgängers who want to take over their lives.

"Piece by Piece" (June 7)

Pharrell Williams gets the biopic treatment, but in typical outside-the-box fashion for the multi-hyphenate, his life and career are recounted in Lego animation.

"Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy" (June 10)

On a November night in 2021, thousands watched Travis Scott perform at his own music festival, Astroworld. It ended horrifically with 10 dead and many wondering how an evening of joy could result in such terror.

This documentary investigates the night, focusing on the survivors, paramedics, and security that were at the center of the crowd crush.

"Titan: The OceanGate Disaster" (June 11)

In 2023, a submersible known as Titan suddenly imploded while doing a deep-sea dive to the Titanic, killing all on board. Though at first many questioned how this could happen, over time, it was revealed just how unsafe the journey was.

This documentary examines the bold vision of OceanGate founder Stockton Rush and why the trip was so dangerous.

• I stopped drinking about a year and a half ago.
• It's been a game changer in my relationship with my two teenagers.
• Being a sober parent shows my kids that we can do hard things without turning to alcohol to cope.

I've done a lot of things right while parenting my kids, but I've also made plenty of mistakes. My "babies" are 17 and 15 now, and my greatest parenting achievement just might be that I've always been open with them about my mess-ups.

Yelling when I shouldn't have, looking at my phone too much, taking their dad (my husband) for granted — these things all make the list. No parent is perfect, and over the years, I've apologized when necessary and made lots of changes to my parenting style. Still, if there's one regret I still have and one thing I'm glad I course-corrected in my parenting journey, it's my relationship with alcohol.

When my kids were young, alcohol was my default way to handle stress

I started drinking in high school and maintained a pretty run-of-the-mill relationship with alcohol throughout college and my 20s. At 28 (and again at 30), I had a baby, and, like so many moms, I turned to my nightly glass (or bottle) of wine to cope with the stress of having two little ones.

Surrounded by messages like "rosé all day" and "mommy needs wine," I felt like I was part of a special club that knew the secret to relaxing after a long day of parenting. By the time my kids neared middle school, every part of parenthood felt tied to alcohol, from making sure there was a cooler of beers for the parents at my kids' birthday parties to taking ride shares to "moms' night out" activities because we knew we'd all be drinking.

Becoming sober is the best thing I've done for my parenting

I was sober-curious long before I stopped drinking completely. I knew alcohol was creating problems in my life, like strained friendships, increased anxiety, and spending too much on tipsy, late-night, online shopping splurges. After years of reading quit-lit, listening to sobriety podcasts, and analyzing my relationships with alcohol with friends, I woke up one morning (with a hangover) and decided to stop drinking completely.

It's been nearly 600 days since I've had a drink, and I've never looked back. Alcohol disgusts me now, and thoughts of my drinking days fill me with shame. There are plenty of reasons I'll never drink again — one of the biggest being my kids.

Sobriety has allowed me to be more present for my kids

Since I quit drinking, my daughter went through a tough break-up, and my son was diagnosed with ADHD and autism. There were thousands of smaller moments where my kids needed me to be of sound mind to offer them advice: whether to quit a part-time job, how to handle a disappointing theater audition, and what to say to a close friend during an argument. I'm so glad I was fully present without a wine buzz, so they could trust and confide in me.

There have been happy moments, too, that I'll always be grateful I was sober to experience. We've traveled, celebrated holidays, and made beautiful memories together that I'll remember so much more clearly. Like all of my parenting mess-ups, I've spoken candidly with my teens about my choice to live an alcohol-free lifestyle, sharing everything from cautionary, embarrassing drinking stories to insights from my therapy sessions, and how much more manageable things like anxiety and depression feel.

My teenagers telling me they're proud makes it all worth it

[Photo: 4 diet coke]

An unexpected perk? My teenagers are incredibly proud of me — I know, because they tell me. Often. And it's something I never tire of hearing. Not only are they proud, but they've told me they're also taking notes on how sobriety has led to my improving my physical and mental health and forging deeper, more intentional friendships.

My sobriety is allowing me to model to my teenagers that alcohol isn't a necessity to have fun, be social, or make friends. They're seeing in me an example of what it's like to do hard things and not only succeed, but thrive. Most of all, my kids are seeing that mommy doesn't need to drink just because they exist, a message the media sends kids that sends shivers up and down my spine. Because I choose not to drink, my kids see that stress and tough times are normal parts of life, and that the best way to handle them is to be present and work through them, not numb out with a drink.

• My husband and I retired at 55 and did a lot to prepare for it, like paying into pension plans.
• But unexpected bills, rising costs of essentials, and lifestyle creep have stretched our budget.
• We've already dipped into our savings and began working side gigs to help maintain our lifestyle.

My husband and I thought we did all the right things to prepare for successful early retirements at age 55.

We worked hard for over 30 years in our respective careers and both had pension plans. Plus, we invested in RRSPs (popular retirement savings plans in Canada) for extra cushion.

Before we retired, we paid off almost all of our debts and purged 30 years' worth of accumulated belongings. An inheritance and the sale of our acreage also allowed us to build our new forever home without taking on a mortgage.

Over the years, we've sought advice from different financial advisors, who all assured us that retiring at age 55 and living a comfortable life thereafter was attainable. Now, we're not so sure.

Despite all of our planning, we found ourselves worrying about money

In 2015, my husband retired at 55 and helped out with his nephew's construction business until I joined him in retirement a few years later in 2023 when I turned 55.

At first, early retirement was off to a great start.

As empty nesters without a mortgage, we suddenly found ourselves with more free time and extra disposable income. In a way, we experienced a lifestyle creep.

We upgraded our vehicles and went out to concerts, on day trips, and even occasional cross-border shopping expeditions. We planned future vacations to the US, thinking we'd "made it" and that we'd fairly easily be able to maintain this lifestyle from here on out.

Then, unexpected costs began piling up.

Several major appliances broke down in our home within just a few months and we paid for unplanned home renovations to accommodate our son's family after a devastating house fire.

Soon, we were withdrawing huge sums from our emergency savings account. We didn't expect to touch those savings for several years, but our monthly cash flow is limited now that we're both retired.

On top of the unexpected bills, tariffs and inflation mean many essentials, like fuel and food, cost more than we'd anticipated. Soon, we began dipping into our savings to help pay off credit-card bills, too.

For now, I'm grateful that we have skills and assets to help keep us going

Although we receive my husband's payments from his Canada Pension Plan, mine haven't kicked in yet. And, like many in our age group, our net worth consists mostly of assets and investments.

When we realized our pensions alone would not sustain us, we began finding ways to supplement our income.

My husband works seasonally in construction and sells woodworking projects. Since I'm a retired teacher, I can choose to take substitute teaching gigs. I also have freelance writing and translation contracts that allow me to pick and choose my work days.

These gigs have helped us get back some of the freedom and flexibility we sought in retirement — and we're still available to help with our grandkids as needed.

Fortunately, we're in good health and we've found joy in creatively using our transferable skills to our advantage during retirement.

Hopefully, these gigs won't be necessary forever. As we get older, additional Social Security benefits, like Old Age Security, should kick in to give us extra income and stability.

For now, we're trying not to take our situation for granted. We're fortunate to have pension plans and no mortgage, plus assets we could sell to maintain our current standard of living if needed.

We don't know how long we'll live or what other surprise expenses may come up, but we're trying to be way more careful with our spending in the meantime.

It's probably for the best that we learned early on how important it is to keep reassessing our desires, needs, and budgets if we really want to reap the rewards of retirement.

• Buckingham Palace has published lists of the gifts the royal family received between 2020 and 2023.
• Among the most eye-catching gifts was a luxury Rolls-Royce from the King of Bahrain.
• King Charles III also received a "Charles 3" soccer shirt signed by players from Paris Saint-Germain FC.

Buckingham Palace has published lists of gifts received by the royal family between 2020 and 2023.

The official register, which was published on Friday, shows the royals have received some particularly expensive gifts over the last few years.

One of the standout presents — a Rolls-Royce car from the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa — was gifted to King Charles III for his coronation in 2023.

The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II costs around $450,000, according to Autotrader, and it will reportedly be used for official occasions.

The luxury vehicle, along with all the other gifts, is not considered to be personal property and cannot be sold or exchanged. The royals also do not pay tax on official gifts.

Other eye-catching gifts presented to Charles in 2023 included a leather folder from former President Joe Biden containing letters between the late Queen Elizabeth II and former President Dwight Eisenhower inviting him to the UK, a "Charles 3" soccer shirt signed by players from the French Ligue 1 team Paris Saint-Germain, and a ceremonial sword from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Elsewhere, the lists showed that in the final years before her death in 2022, the late Queen Elizabeth was gifted dog jackets from the Royal Australian Air Force, a Cedar of Lebanon tree from the late Pope Francis, and an engraved Tiffany sterling silver box from Biden. You can check out the full lists for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 here.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle do not appear on the lists, having stepped back from their duties as working royals in 2020.

The publication of the lists comes after it was reported last year that the royals had failed to publish details of official gifts for the past four years.

Guidelines have been in place governing the royals' acceptance and use of gifts since 1995.

• US manufacturing is struggling to fill existing jobs as tariffs aim to bring back more.
• The manufacturing industry faces a skills gap, an aging workforce, and negative perceptions.
• Trade experts say China has advantages in manufacturing from subsidies and low-cost labor.

The US manufacturing renaissance may need a lot more than tariffs.

President Donald Trump wants to bring back manufacturing, but even if his tariffs manage to stimulate growth in this sector, the industry faces a skills gap, an aging workforce, and negative perceptions — not to mention the potentially mounting cost of hiring domestic labor in comparison to countries like China.

Experts and researchers in trade told Business Insider that the manufacturing sector is struggling to fill the existing open positions.

"Manufacturers have faced a structural challenge for multiple years now," said Carolyn Lee, president and executive director of the Manufacturing Institute. "The heart of that is most people don't know what modern manufacturing is all about, that we still are challenged by a perception of what the industry used to be."

"Our workforce, a lot of them are also retiring, and they are older," Lee added. "Manufacturers have averaged about 500,000 open jobs every month for several years now."

The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte found in an April 2024 report that the manufacturing sector could need as many as 3.8 million net new employees between 2024 and 2033, and that around half of these jobs could remain unfilled if the shortfall in workers with the right skills is not solved.

More than 65% of manufacturing companies consider recruiting and retaining workers as their top business challenge, according to the Manufacturing Institute.

Sameeksha Desai, Associate Professor at Indiana University and director of the Manufacturing Policy Initiative, told BI that job functions and the types of technologies that workers need to know are rapidly changing, and training is struggling to keep up.

"More innovation and more technology uptake are crucial for the industry, but this also means manufacturing companies need to fill needs related to cybersecurity, digital skills, data management, and so on," said Desai. "These skills can also be workforce concerns."

Trump made manufacturing a cornerstone of his policy, but experts are skeptical

Bringing back manufacturing jobs has been an integral part of Trump's campaign promise, which he doubled down on by imposing some of the highest tariffs the country has seen in decades.

"Have you ever heard that we're going to take other countries' jobs?" he said to attendees during a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre in Savannah, Georgia, in September. "We're going to take their factories — and we had it really rocking four years ago — we're going to bring thousands and thousands of businesses and trillions of dollars in wealth back to the good ole' USA."

"Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country," Trump added while announcing sweeping tariffs on April 2. "And ultimately, more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers."

Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, also proposed having people work in factories for the rest of their lives and then passing the same lifestyle on to their children and grandchildren.

A recent Wells Fargo report says that tariffs are unlikely to bring manufacturing jobs back to America, and Willy C. Shih, a professor of management practice in business administration at Harvard Business School, told BI that some countries like China may indeed have some key advantages.

"Let's take your typical smartphone that I estimate to have about four hours of labor in it," said Shih. "In China, you pay between $6 to $8 an hour for that, but in the US, with overhead benefits, healthcare, and other costs, you'll probably pay $40 an hour."

"That's $160 versus $30 for four hours of labor content," he added.

Desai also says that China's subsidies for domestic industries are "definitely a big part of the story," as are well-established industry clusters and regional value chains that help keep costs down.

A solution for the manufacturing shortfall?

Carolyn Lee of the Manufacturing Institute told BI that she thinks a large part of the issue is that people are often being pushed to get a college degree, without thinking about what other well-paid opportunities exist and how to attain those skills.

"Let's get the learning you need for the job that you aspire to," said Lee. "I think there are a lot of different opportunities out there, and society shouldn't just be pushing people to one."

But it may not be the end of the world even if manufacturing does not return to the US in the desired numbers, according to one expert.

Gordon Hanson, a professor of urban policy at Harvard Kennedy School, told BI that policymakers are "asking the wrong question" by overfocusing on manufacturing.

"The problem we should be trying to solve here is the absence of good jobs, especially for workers without a college degree," said Hanson. "We've lost a lot of middle jobs in middle wage categories over the last 30 years, but most good jobs that non-college workers can get are not in manufacturing."

"They're going to be in healthcare, they're going to be in the construction trades, they're going to be in the many parts of the information technology industry where you don't need a four-year degree — there are options," Hanson added. "What you need is the right sort of technical training you can get in a community college — manufacturing is just one of many options."

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

Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. Elon Musk's foray into politics was the final straw for Mahican Gielen. She traded in her beloved Model 3 for a BYD Sealion 7 Excellence. She said she's overall happy with her new purchase, but there are a few Tesla features she misses.

On the agenda today:

• There's a CEO succession crisis brewing.
• The death of sneaky fees.
• Apple is the worst-performing Mag 7 stock in 2025, but it could be a good time to buy.
• Former Target superfans shared with BI why they don't love the retailer anymore.

But first: AI meets the consulting giants.

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

This week's dispatch

Consulting disruption

If you've read BI lately, you know AI is proving to be an asset and a risk for the consulting industry. Several months ago, we asked Polly Thompson in London to take on coverage of the the Big Four: Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG. She immediately zoned in on this tech and how it is poised to help — and disrupt — these massive firms. I chatted with Polly to find out more.

Polly, how do you size up AI adoption inside the Big Four? Is it more hype and hope, or embrace and happening?

Big Four firms are resting their futures on AI and have poured billions into developing in-house solutions. Employees don't have much choice but to embrace it — the messaging is to learn AI or get left behind — and their Fortune 500 clients will be following their lead. We'll see how quickly their efforts generate returns.

Tell us more about how AI is both an opportunity and, in some ways, an existential threat.

Consultants specialize in guiding companies through transformations, which means AI presents plenty of opportunities for the Big Four. They face a balancing act between meeting that demand and handling the massive upheaval that AI will bring to their operating models, leadership structures, and job roles.

What have you been learning about smaller consulting firms challenging the bigger rivals?

Midsize firms are in a sweet spot right now. Consultants increasingly are expected to become specialized and offer deep sector expertise — a demand many of these firms already fill. AI is also poised to help boost their productivity and widen their reach without the need to invest in a vast workforce. They see this as their opportune moment. That said, the midsize firms I've spoken to aren't aiming to be the next Big Four.

What are the other top-of-mind topics in your coverage?

I want to dig into how these industry shake-ups affect employees at every level of the chain. How should firms train junior employees as AI takes on more? Why are some execs shunning high-paid partnerships? Is there a tech talent war coming at the Big Four? If anyone wants to reach out to me about those questions, email [email protected]!

Succession IRL

The number of CEO changes for S&P 500 companies is on pace to reach 14.8% this year. With turnover up, BI spoke to corporate observers about how the search for new leaders is getting messy.

Poor succession planning, job-hopping, and cuts to middle management are damaging the pipeline. Despite the headache, companies aren't settling, either.

"The musical chairs is broken."

RIP, hidden fees

On May 12, a bipartisan-supported FTC rule cracking down on unfair and deceptive fees went into effect. You can now behold the glory of all-in pricing when you peruse Airbnb, Ticketmaster, Booking.com, or StubHub.

Some companies are trumpeting the news, even though showing costs up front wasn't their idea. BI's Emily Stewart took the new rule for a spin.

She said it's pretty awesome.

Apple's tough year

The iPhone maker is the worst-performing Magnificent 7 stock in 2025, with shares down 20% year-to-date. One reason for the decline is the trade war, since most iPhones are assembled in China.

President Donald Trump even singled out the tech giant over the issue. Regardless, many Wall Street analysts and investors remain optimistic about Apple's future.

To buy — or not to buy — the dip.

Veering off-Target

Target used to have a dedicated following of customers that treated shopping there as more of a pastime than an errand. In 2025, that's all changed.

The retailer's sales, foot traffic, and popularity have plummeted thanks to a DEI messaging fumble, declining in-store experience, and greater industry-wide headwinds.

Why former fans are disillusioned.

This week's quote:

"Employee surveys mostly seem like a way for the executive suite to pat themselves on the back."

— Nick Gaudio, creative director at chatbot startup Manychat, on the rise of employee satisfaction surveys.

More of this week's top reads:

• Getting divorced is even harder for millennials than it was for boomers.
• The TACO trade is the new Trump trade. Here's what to know about the meme ruling the stock market.
• Middle managers, beware: The Great Flattening layoff trend has moved beyond Big Tech and into retailers like Walmart.
• General Catalyst's Hemant Taneja is trying to redefine venture capital — and baffling the industry.
• What did tech CEOs get for pivoting toward Trump?
• Amazon's sprawling warehouse robot factories offer a glimpse into modern US manufacturing.
• Anthropic CEO says AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.

• Meta is working on plans to open retail stores, internal communication shows.

  ---

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

• I was spending all this money on workout classes and clothes, but wasn't getting any fitter.
• I already use AI in other areas of my life and decided to try it for my personal fitness.
• The results have been incredible: I'm stronger, leaner, more motivated, and am saving money too.

I used to feel like I needed to spend money to stay in shape — not just on the gym but also on classes, personal training, and enough Lululemon to dress a small Olympic team.

I was immersed in a landscape of gymfluencers and self-improvement culture, and that combined with my own poor impulse control, plunged me into a costly cycle where I felt like my ability to stay healthy was increasingly associated with spending.

However, I wasn't getting any fitter despite spending over $100 each month on a gym membership, personal training, and workout gear. What finally worked wasn't some militant app that blasted my phone with reminders or a new Apple Watch. It was self-discipline and an AI sidekick.

It's been over two months since I replaced my personal trainer with AI, and I've become stronger, leaner, and saved hundreds of dollars, as a result.

To be clear, trading people for algorithms wasn't my intention when I started out. After all, it was a person who got me hooked on fitness in the first place.

However, I have to admit that using AI to refocus has given me back ownership of my time, money, and motivation.

My fitness journey was erratic but not untypical

In my early 20s, I traveled frequently between cities, which made it hard for me to establish any consistent habits, including fitness. This lack of structure and haphazard routine came to a head when I moved to Cambridge for a master's program.

Juggling full-time work with studies took its toll, and I found that the only real solution to a clean bill of mental health was exercise.

I lucked out that one of the instructors running classes at my local gym was brilliant and had a knack for pushing me just beyond my natural limits. I trained with him for about a year, but when he moved on, my motivation tanked.

I stayed on at the gym, but wasn't getting what I needed from other instructors and the membership bills kept coming. Testing alternative spaces with Classpass and various free trials at other gyms was fine for a while, but without consistent guidance and encouragement, I started showing up less, making excuses, and procrastinating.

All the habit stacking and calendar updates in the world can't help if you just don't want to be somewhere.

Bribing myself with new gym wear and post-workout treats helped me show up, but that wasn't sustainable either. The pounds were rolling away, but they were the wrong kind: sterling.

I decided to make a change.

I needed a mindset shift

I already used ChatGPT and Perplexity in other areas of my life — mostly for recipes, travel planning, and other kinds of research and troubleshooting. So, tailoring a personal exercise routine wasn't difficult to start.

I used ChatGPT as a master app, entering my goals and progress each week and requesting new or updated workout routines.

I also used it to explore issues around willpower and discipline. Where once I might have taken a few days to read and sift out strategies and motivation from books, now I could find solutions in real time and dig into the reasons I might be holding myself back.

I even used ChatGPT to find recommendations for other free AI-powered apps.

The best of these was Cronometer, a nutrition and calorie-counting app, which I began using daily. I use the free version and it helps me track water intake, macros (carbs, proteins, and fats), fiber, iron, and vitamin levels.

I got curious about the results I was seeing with Cronometer and turned to ChatGPT again to learn more about nutrition.

I asked it questions like: Why does protein matter so much for muscle growth and recovery? How much do I need? What's the best way to get it? Soon it was providing me with simple meal plans to boost my protein intake and better complement my workouts.

I also use a free app that ChatGPT recommended, Hevy, which tracks sets of reps in real time. I also use the free version of Gymmade, which offers a catalog of resistance training exercises with step-by-step instruction and animated illustrations; it's been the perfect tool for confidently handling any free weights.

I'm finally seeing results

I'm now seeing real results across strength, stamina, body composition, and mood. My muscle definition improved, and I doubled the weight I was lifting in a matter of weeks.

Plus, the urge for expensive personal training has vanished. I dropped my gym membership and now I hit my local free outdoor gym instead.

I wouldn't have made it to this point without the encouragement of that first brilliant instructor. However, what made the most difference was learning to hold myself accountable and build my own motivation and momentum without anyone's help.

I didn't set out to build a DIY fitness routine, but I've stuck to it longer than anything else I've tried on my own.