Latest news with #Wander
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Novels and Movies Offer Closure. Video Games Should Too.
Twenty years ago, while the credits rolled on Shadow of the Colossus, I left my PlayStation 2 console powered on and took a somber lap around my neighborhood. I had just defeated the last of the game's 16 colossi before being violently flung across the desolate battlefield. The game's themes of sacrifice, obsession and the morality of violence stitched together an unforgettable narrative. As I walked around a nearby basketball court, I was full of contemplation over the ending's meaning and a yearning that I didn't want the game to be over. But that's precisely why the protagonist Wander's journey left such an indelible mark: It ended. Too many games nowadays are unwilling to embrace their own story's mortality. Live service games, which are continually updated for months or even years, have become extremely popular for studios because successful ones can be financially lucrative. By the end of the year, Fortnite is projected to have generated over $40 billion in revenue since its 2017 release, drawing players back with regular updates and special events like an A.I.-powered Darth Vader and concerts featuring J Balvin and Juice WRLD. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
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Travel + Leisure
16-06-2025
- Travel + Leisure
This Virginia City Was Just Named the Most Underrated Travel Gem in the U.S.
Luxury vacation rental service Wander recently conducted a study to determine the most underrated travel destinations in the U.S. By analyzing data from Google, Numbeo, Tripadvisor, and Instagram, Wander ranked often overlooked U.S. destinations that travelers can experience without the crowds. According to the report, Williamsburg, Virginia, came out on top, earning an impressive score of 9.29 out of 10. Williamsburg might not be at the top of most people's vacation wish lists, but it should be. With dozens of historical and cultural attractions in a compact city center, it's the kind of place where travelers can quickly dive into the city's roots and discover something new around every corner. As one of Virginia's historic capitals, Williamsburg is part of the state's famed Historic Triangle, along with Jamestown and Yorktown. The city has played a key role in shaping American history, including the Civil War Battle of Williamsburg. It's also home to the College of William & Mary, the second-oldest university in the country. While the city is most known for Colonial Williamsburg—the world's largest living history museum, spanning 300 acres—Williamsburg has far more to offer beyond its 18th-century roots. Explore the newly renovated Muscarelle Museum of Art, which houses nearly 8,000 artworks and compelling exhibits. This includes Haiti to Harlem: Toussaint L'Ouverture & Jacob Lawrence , which is on display through Jan. 4, 2026. Stroll through the Williamsburg Botanical Garden in Freedom Park, or paddle down the James River at sunset. Foodies will appreciate Williamsburg's culinary scene, which includes historic spots like King's Arms Tavern, contemporary establishments like the AAA Four Diamond-rated Fat Canary, and quirky spots like Food for Thought. Sip a flight of meads on tap or by the bottle at Silver Hand Meadery, or enjoy barrel-aged beers and craft lagers at Virginia Beer Co. For some lighthearted fun, head to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Set across nearly 400 acres of landscaped grounds, the park has been named 'The World's Most Beautiful Theme Park' by the National Amusement Park Historical Association. Rounding out the top five underrated U.S. spots are two destinations in Montana—Bozeman and Missoula—followed by Fairbanks, Alaska, and Charlottesville, Virginia. To learn more about the methodology, visit
Skift
15-06-2025
- Business
- Skift
Lodging Tech and Jet Fuel: Travel Startups Raise $560 Million
Funding has been slow this year, but B2B travel tech startups are still leading the way these days. Travel Startup Funding This Week Each week we round up jd@ if you have funding news. Each week we round up travel startups that have recently received or announced funding . Please email Travel Tech Reporter Justin Dawes atif you have funding news. Business-to-business tech platforms are still leading the way in terms of travel startup funding. As Skift has reported, that's where the money is: Platforms that promise to modernize travel sectors that have aging tech. Funding has been slow this year, but it picked up slightly in recent weeks with three significant raises in the B2B category for hotels and vacation rentals. Hotel tech company Canary Technologies just raised $80 million, one of the largest rounds of the year for a travel software company. Holidu and Wander, both offering operations management tech for vacation rentals, each raised around $50 million. Kolet, an eSIM app that raised $10 million, also promotes its B2B offering for travel companies. It's likely a more significant revenue driver compared to individual consumer sales. SkyNRG, a renewable jet fuel producer, had the biggest raise, $285.7 million, for any travel startup so far this year. Companies of that type follow a different set of funding rules compared to software startups, which often have to prove a strong business model to raise that level. Renewable jet fuel companies need a lot of money to develop their tech in line with the airline industry's zero-carbon goal by 2050. Seven travel startups announced raises totaling over $560 million in the last four weeks. SkyNRG: $346.8 Million SkyNRG, which produces and distributes renewable jet fuel, has raised $346.8 million (€300 million). Pension management company APG committed $285.7 million (€250 million) to the round on behalf of ABP, a pension fund in the Netherlands. The other ($57.1 million) €50 million comes from Macquarie Asset Management, which led SkyNRG's $191 million round in 2023. Amsterdam-based SkyNRG says it sources the feedstocks used to make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The company produces SAF in its plants and then distributes it to airline clients. SkyNRG says it has supplied SAF to more than 50 airlines worldwide. The company has facilities in Washington state, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The company plans to use the funding to help construct facilities in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.S. It will also support research and development, advisory services, and client projects. Canary Technologies: $80 Million Canary Technologies, a platform for hotel guest management, has raised $80 million in series D funding. Brighton Park Capital led the round, with support from Insight Partners, F-Prime Capital, Thayer Ventures, Y-Combinator, and Commerce Ventures. Canary said that the latest round brings its valuation to about $600 million. The company raised $50 million in June 2024. The platform by San Francisco-based Canary includes products for mobile check-in and checkout, upselling, guest messaging, and digital tipping. Canary last year added a generative AI chatbot for guest messaging, which is meant to answer specific property questions and sell add-ons like late check-out, without disrupting front desk staff. The company has since released an AI voicebot product to handle guest phone calls, as well as an AI chatbot for hotel websites, meant to drive direct bookings. The company said its tech supports more than 20,000 hotels for clients including Best Western, Aimbridge Hospitality, Marriott, Wyndham, TUI Hotels & Resorts, and others. The funding will go toward strengthening its products and expanding business. Holidu: $52.8 Million Holidu, a vacation rental management platform, has raised $52.8 million (€46 million). Key1 Capital led the round, with support from Vintage Investment Partners, Prime Ventures, 83North, and others. The tech by Germany-based Holidu primarily targets hosts who own one property. Holidu now manages nearly 50,000 properties, which drives 70% of the company's revenue. The company said that the number of properties has tripled, and revenue from that business has grown 3.5 times, since it raised $102 million of debt and equity in 2022. Holidu also owns Bookiply, which helps owners generate more bookings. The funding will go toward accelerating AI integration, expanding the property management business, and moving into new geographic markets. The company said its first AI chatbot for guests 'reduced simple support tickets by 70% and complex ones by 30%.' The company also said it acquired Cybevasion, operator of French vacation rental booking sites and Their more than 35,000 properties now have access to Holidu's tech. Cybevasion employees will be integrated into the Holidu organization. Jean-Louis Desouche, founder of Cybevasion, will stay on to lead the business. This is Holidu's eighth acquisition, which it said is part of a strategy for 'bolt-on growth across Europe.' Wander: $50 Million Wander, a property management platform for luxury short-term rentals, has raised $50 million in series B funding. QED and Fifth Wall led the round, with support from Redpoint, Uncork, Starwood, Authentic, Breyer, Alumni, Hakluyt, Activant, Soma, and others. The company last raised a $20 million series A round in 2022. San Francisco-based Wander says its AI-powered operating system manages a variety of tasks for short-term rental logistics and guest needs. That includes listing creation, maintenance coordination, guest communication, check-in, and more. 'Wander is on track to automate 95% of operational tasks within the next 18 months,' the company said. Wander also has a booking platform for travelers. Wander said that more than 1,000 homes use the service. As of the second quarter of 2025, the company has logged more than 35,000 nights booked and a repeat customer booking rate of 27%. Wander says it focuses on recruiting the top 5% of properties, those that already drive 30% of the industry's revenue. The company looks for properties that include amenities like WiFi, gyms, pools, and saunas. It estimates that there are more than 300,000 potential clients worldwide. The funding will go toward expanding into new markets, strengthening the tech system, and building the brand. Qashio: $19.8 Million Qashio, an expense management platform, has raised $19.8 million in equity and debt. Rocketship VC led the round, with participation from MoreThan Capital, regional banks, and family offices. Dubai-based Qashio says its expensive management products and services include corporate cards, custom approvals based on client policies, reimbursement, AI-powered receipt matching, analytics, and more. The company also offers a loyalty program, enabling users to earn air miles and hotel points. Partners on the loyalty program include Emirates, Air France, KLM, Avios (British Airways, Iberia, Finnair), Jumeirah One, Accor, and IHG Hotels & Resorts. The company said that it generated $1.2 million in profit in the first quarter of 2025. Its revenue has grown over 800% year-over-year for three consecutive years, the company said. The funding will go toward expansion in Saudi Arabia. Kolet: $10 Million Kolet, an eSIM app, has raised $10 million in series A funding. Daphni led the round, with support from former Expedia CEO Peter Kern and Jon Gieselman, chief growth officer for Comcast and former exec for Apple and Expedia. The round includes €1 million in non-dilutive funding from investment bank Bpifrance. Kern and Gieselman are joining the board, along with Certares managing director Philippe Chérèque. The company last year raised €5 million in seed funding. Besides the consumer product, Paris-based Kolet provides the eSIM app as a product that travel companies can offer to customers. Clients include Air France-KLM, Evaneos, Exoticca, and Wego. Kolet says the app includes 'instant' eSIM activation and the ability to use unused data on a future trip. Pricing starts at €3.99 for one gigabyte. The company said it has gained more than 300,000 users since it launched a year ago, and it's on track to reach 1 million users by the end of the year. The funding will go toward strengthening the mobile app, simplifying the installation experience, and hiring. Truely: $2 Million Truely, an eSIM app, has raised $2 million. Investors included DG Daiwa Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Beenext. The company last raised $3.5 million in 2024. Singapore-based Truely says users download only one eSIM, eliminating the need to download new eSIMs for different countries or regions. The service is usable in more than 190 countries, the company said. The pricing for most countries starts at $2.50 per day when purchasing 30 days, according to the website. The fewer days the user purchases at one time, the higher the daily price. The highest daily price for the U.S. is $5.52, while the lowest is $2.50. The funding will go toward network scaling for lower latency, localized pricing and payments, and new tools for business travelers. Travaras: $1.5 Million Travaras, an experience booking marketplace focused on sustainable tourism, has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round. The funding comes from Techstars following the startup's completion of its accelerator program. San Francisco-based Travaras says it curates ticketed experiences based on a proprietary ranking system. All the experiences at this point are based on four Hawaii islands. The funding will go toward strengthening the tech and user experience, along with marketing. The Tarzan Way: $234,000 The Tarzan Way, an AI-powered trip planner website, has raised $234,000 (20 million Indian rupees). Inflection Point Ventures led the round, with support from Your Trips Limited and a group of angel investors that includes Prateek Maheshwari, founder of education tech company PhysicsWallah. The Tarzan Way, based in India, says its site includes AI-powered itinerary creation, a booking engine, and 24/7 live concierge support. The company says it has facilitated a total of $1.6 million (135 million Indian rupees) in bookings. The funding will go toward product development, operations, marketing, admin, and launching a new mobile app.
Daily Mirror
24-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Flight attendants use eerie codeword if passenger dies mid-flight
If you hear this word whilst you are on a flight, it might mean that one of your fellow passengers has died on board - and cabin crews have a whole host of codewords like this Cabin crews have a lot to deal with as they take care of passengers during their flights. In addition to keeping everyone happy and well-fed, they occasionally have to deal with more major crises, but flight attendants are known to use secret codewords to ensure that they don't panic any of the other passengers. One phrase, in particular, can mean, if you hear it whilst travelling, that someone on the plane has sadly died - and the staff are trying to let each other know what's going on, whilst keeping the situation under wraps from the passengers. The code words regularly used for a death mid-flight are "Angel" or "Code 300." These words allow discretion while the crew deals with the sad situation and ensure that no excess attention is drawn or alarm is generated amongst those on the flight. Travel experts at Wander have put together a list of in-flight codes and phrases that passengers may encounter on a flight, but do not know what they mean. Whilst most flights go smoothly, on others there can be some issues where flight crews need to communicate with each other secretly, so as not to alert passengers. There are a number of other in-flight codes and phrases that passengers may hear when on a flight. If a traveller hears 'Squawk 7500' or 'Hotel', it means that a hijacking is in progress. As a passenger, if you hear this either mentioned by the flight crew or air traffic control, it signals that there is a potential security threat on the flight. Usually, the aircraft's transponder will send a signal with this code to alert authorities that the plane is in danger. Another alert is 'Code Yellow'. A 'Code Yellow' indicates a minor medical situation, such as a passenger feeling lightheaded or nauseous. While not an emergency, it allows crew members to discreetly monitor a situation and assess whether they need any assistance. If a serious but non-life-threatening emergency occurs while on a flight, passengers may hear 'Peter Pan'. The phrase indicates that something is wrong onboard the flight, which could be mechanical trouble or a medical emergency, but it also signals that the flight is not in imminent danger. 'Mermaid' is a nickname used for a passenger who deliberately sprawls across empty seats. This behaviour is particularly common on flights with spare seats, where a passenger may stretch out to try and claim the extra space. Last year, one passenger got into an argument with another passenger over an empty seat, as she was told she wasn't 'allowed' to sit in it despite nobody paying for it. The woman needed to move seats because something was wrong with hers, and a flight attendant informed her she could move to an empty seat in the row across from her own. When she tried to sit in it, however, the woman sitting next to the empty chair told her she "wasn't allowed"—despite nobody having booked it. 'Code Adam' is not used onboard planes but in airports to indicate a missing child. If an announcement is made for a 'Code Adam', staff will begin searching the airport while securing exits to prevent abductions. At an airport, 'Code Bravo' may also be used to signal a general security alert. Finally, while 'VIP' is usually used to refer to a 'Very Important Person,' in the airline industry, it can sometimes refer to a 'Very Irritating Passenger.' Crew will sometimes use the code to refer to a traveller who is making excessive demands, complaining a lot, or generally being difficult without violating any specific rules.
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Educating Entrepreneurs: Practical Lessons Learned From Thiel Fellows
The education journeys of Thiel Fellows Joshua Browder and John Andrew Entwistle show the benefits ... More of moving outside of traditional academic structures. In today's innovation-driven economy, traditional education often stifles entrepreneurial talent. Conventional school structures prioritize uniformity and passive learning—qualities at odds with the creativity and risk-taking that entrepreneurship demands. The Thiel Fellowship provides a bold alternative, empowering young innovators like John Andrew Entwistle and Joshua Browder to build groundbreaking startups by bypassing college. Their stories highlight the challenges of educating entrepreneurs within traditional frameworks and reveal why transforming learning environments to foster practical problem-solving and intrinsic motivation is essential for nurturing the next generation of innovators. Joshua Browder, the founder of DoNotPay, a company using AI to help citizens and consumers overcome bureaucratic challenges by automating solutions for issues like parking tickets, provides a striking example of the gap between educational requirements and practical learning. In his final year at Stanford, several years into the development of his company, Browder faced a dilemma: attend a mandatory dance class or resolve a server crash affecting thousands of DoNotPay customers. This decision prompted him to leave Stanford—just months before graduation—to become a Thiel Fellow. Founded by Peter Thiel in 2011, the Thiel Fellowship is a two-year program that provides financial support, mentorship, and a supportive peer network to young innovators who want to bypass or leave college and pursue entrepreneurial ventures, scientific research, or social movements. John Andrew Entwistle, the founder of and Wander, escaped the confines of conventional schooling and its restrictive structures at an early age. He launched his first company at 13 and transitioned to online high school to focus on his startups. By 20, having opted out of college, he joined the Thiel Fellowship, which he credits for offering essential peer support: 'Where else could a 20-year-old leading senior engineers find peers with similar experiences to connect with?' Entrepreneurs like Entwistle and Browder embody a producer mindset, actively creating solutions and learning through real-world challenges—contrasting with the passive consumption of textbook knowledge in traditional classrooms. This intrinsic drive to innovate often clashes with standard educational expectations. Entwistle's choice to transition to an online high school stemmed from his dedication to entrepreneurship. Likewise, Browder chose to leave Stanford rather than endure irrelevant coursework simply to obtain a degree. However, traditional education holds merit. Both entrepreneurs recognize the value of providing foundational skills when clearly aligned with individualized objectives. Yet, entrepreneurship often struggles in traditional classrooms, flourishing instead in environments that emphasize active, hands-on problem-solving. Case studies may illustrate past solutions, but genuine learning occurs best when addressing one's own daily challenges. Thus, effective educational approaches, whether conventional or alternative, must be tailored to individual student goals, readiness, and personal motivations. Both Browder and Entwistle emphasize the importance of high pain tolerance for entrepreneurs. Browder employs the familiar simile of entrepreneurship being akin to 'eating glass,' underscoring the resilience and problem-solving it requires. Entwistle concurs: 'It's tough. Most founders are optimists with high pain tolerance. Building companies young taught me humility—I assume every idea might be wrong until tested.' He views success as context-driven: 'It's not about being a 'great entrepreneur' but being the right person for a specific idea at the right time. I might not have thrived in the 1800s or with every idea today.' Therefore, educational institutions must cultivate resilience and adaptability, creating environments where students rigorously test ideas and learn constructively from failures. A significant hurdle in traditional educational contexts is fostering intrinsic motivation, particularly when students perceive assignments as irrelevant or uninteresting. For instance, students often struggle to understand why they should prioritize writing essays on obscure historical figures over engaging in more immediately gratifying activities like gaming. In entrepreneurial contexts, however, intrinsic motivation emerges naturally through personally meaningful and practically relevant tasks. Browder and Entwistle were intrinsically driven to solve real-world problems, resulting in sustained engagement that far exceeds traditional classroom expectations. This is the challenge that educational institutions face: how to incorporate real-world, personally meaningful projects into curricula to enhance intrinsic motivation and promote deeper learning when the range of activities available to most students is comparatively narrow? While entrepreneurship illustrates what can be achieved, it does not readily serve as a model for achieving enhanced relevance in drier, more academic subjects. The experiences of Thiel Fellows John Andrew Entwistle and Joshua Browder highlight the urgent challenge that traditional educational institutions face in remaining relevant and effective. As these examples clearly illustrate, entrepreneurial innovation relies on iterative experimentation, practical problem-solving, and intrinsic motivation—conditions that are often absent from conventional classrooms. To adequately prepare entrepreneurs—and indeed all learners—for a rapidly changing world, educational institutions must adopt flexible, innovation-driven models that promote personal relevance, active learning, and adaptability. Yet educating entrepreneurs serves as just one example of how the traditional educational model can fail to meet the diverse needs of individual learners. This broader transformation will require educational leaders and policymakers to consider how all curricula—not just entrepreneurial—can be made more intrinsically engaging and personally meaningful while also recognizing how formal structures like standards can contradict this goal. The entrepreneurial journeys of innovators such as Entwistle and Browder provide compelling evidence that fostering intrinsic motivation and active learning can unlock exceptional potential. The challenge lies in identifying authentic, real-world applications that offer pathways resonating with each student's interests and aspirations while still enabling the development of essential skills so that their future selves are not constrained by the goals and aspirations of their teenage years.
