These National Parks Are Best in the Off Season

Plus, Anti-Vaxxers Melt Down Over Airbnb Discounts, of All Things [Subscribe]( [View in browser]( [Image] [Image] The entire world in your inbox. Hello all— Back in my cozy house in D.C., I’m still ruminating on the spectacular visit I had to Big Bend National Park a few weeks ago. Landscapes were out of a Western, the skies at night were covered in stars, and our hikes encountered few other souls. For those of you looking for a similar experience, [this week’s lead feature]( from Katherine Parker-Magyar will be so useful. [Written with her signature verve and wit](, she’s rounded up some of the best options for National Parks in wintertime that will give you some respite from home-life, while keeping your distance from crowds. Fortunately, here in D.C., the vaccine rollout is in full swing (by the end of this week nearly 10 percent of the city will have gotten the first dose!). However, if Daniel Modlin’s report[this week]( is a sign of what’s to come, we may be in trouble. He’s [reported on the truly bizarre war]( anti-vaxxers are waging over Airbnb discounts. I know how author names can sometimes be a blur, so be sure to check out some of Daniel’s other features for the Travel section, including: [A National Park Is Begging Hunters to ‘Kill as Many Goats as Possible’]( and also [The Fight to Save the Joshua Tree Has a Surprising Foe—the Solar Industry](. You all know how much I love working with Candida Moss. This past week was no exception. Another random treasure trove of ancient coins was discovered in Europe. It seems like this happens every month, and I can’t help but wonder (in true Carrie fashion)—should we all just be wandering Europe with metal detectors?! [Candida tackles this quandry in her latest column](. Our latest installment of the [World’s Most Beautiful Libraries comes to us this week from Helsinki](! And don’t miss [this truly lovely piece]( by Sheryl Nance-Nash about her love affair with lighthouses. — [William O’Connor](, Travel Editor [Image] [The Off-Season Is the Best Season at These National Parks]( [It's a well-kept secret that winter is actually the best season in many National Parks.]( [Anti-Vaxxers Melt Down Over Airbnb Discounts, of All Things]( [Hosts on the popular home-sharing site are engaging in an online war over discounts filled with unhinged rants and COVID misinformation.]( [Helsinki Has a Cathedral Perfect for Book Lovers]( [Walking into the boat-like building, and stepping into the airy ground-floor lobby with its high ceilings, cinema, and café, was an exercise in skirting expectations.]( [Should You Drop Everything and Hunt for Treasure in Europe?]( [Yet another discovery of a horde of treasure makes us wonder why it seems ancient riches are constantly being found in Europe.]( [Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless Headphones]( [ ]( With up to 30-hours of battery life, [these headphones]( have the ability to drown out anything and make you feel like you’re floating through space. The right ear cup uses touch controls to change songs, increase or decrease volume, with just the swipe of a finger. Most importantly, they work great on Zoom calls and phone calls alike. [BUY ON AMAZON ]( [“I always go through a song and dance about walking up the many, many winding stairs and doing so in a space that could send some claustrophobics in a bit of a panic. I take my time and move aside to let the eager beavers bound upward. I huff and I puff but I get to the top. It is so worth the sore knees that will be tomorrow. The view is always astounding, the glistening waters as far as the eye can see. For a moment all is right in the world. How could it not be?]([”]( —Sheryl Nance-Nash [writes beautifully about one of her great loves in travel, lighthouses](. [Travel to the World’s Best Memorials]( Created as spaces where we can all stop and ponder some important event or person, memorials are some of the most visited and photographed places on Earth. Some, like the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. or the Taj Mahal in Agra, are iconic and known by nearly everybody. Countless others from throughout the centuries, however, have been forgotten or overlooked. The latest selection for our Just Booked series (on gorgeous coffee table books)[In Memory of: Designing Contemporary Memorials](, seeks to catalogue and examine more than 60 memorials from around the world built in the last half-century. [The book]( was written by Spencer Bailey, himself the subject of a memorial in Sioux City after surviving the 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 crash. Flipping through the book (published by Phaidon), it's hard not to wonder which of these feats of design, engineering, and creativity will remain famous and which will fade to obscurity. Some, like the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin or Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. are already famous. But the book's true value comes in introducing some spectacular works that might not be readily familiar. That includes the Wenchuan Earthquake Memorial Museum which captures the earth being ripped apart, or the Steilneset Memorial in Norway which commemorates the 91 people burned at the stake in the town for witchcraft in the 17th century. Needless to say, you'll have some more sober ideas for where to go when this pandemic ends. Check out our previous selections for our series on gorgeous travel-related coffee table books, [Just Booked](. [BUY ON AMAZON >>]( Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts or newsletters, The Daily Beast may collect a share of sales. © Copyright 2021 The Daily Beast Company LLC 555 W. 18th Street, New York NY 10011 [Privacy Policy]( If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, [click here to view this email in your browser](. 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