Denali National Park, Alaska

    History

    Within Denali National Park, the Toklat River will always have a special significance, as it was the location where naturalist Charles Sheldon built a cabin and was so moved that he fought to preserve the land. He moved back east and spent nine years lobbying (游说）to create Alaska's first national park.

    When to Visit

    To avoid the crowds, visit in June, but keep in mind that there are up to 21 hours of sunlight in Alaska in summer. If it seems like a bit much for your taste, try visiting in late August or September.

    If you visit to climb Mount McKinley, May and early June are the best times to climb.

    Major Attractions

    It is difficult not to see Denali's largest attraction towering 20,320 feet high. Mount McKinley can even be seen up to 70 miles away on a clear day. If you brave the climb to the top, you will be rewarded with charming views of the Alaska Range.

    Sable Pass is a prime spot to view grizzly bears. Closed to off-road foot traffic, the area is popular for bears feeding on berries, roots, and even occasionally on other mammals.

    Beginning at just below the summit of Mount McKinley, Muldrow Glacier flows 35 miles through a gorge and across the tundra. Twice in the last hundred years, the Muldrow has surged (涌动）, most recently in the winter of 1956-1957.

Accommodation

    Five campgrounds are located within the park, and many are open from late spring to early fall.Note: reservations are strongly recommended during summer. Riley Creek campground is open all year round, and all but two (Sanctuary and Wonder Lake) offer RV (可供居住的大篷车）sites.

    Also within the park are a few lodges (旅馆）—North Face Lodge, Denali Backcountry Lodge and Kentishna Roadhouse.

    One October morning, I got off the all-night train in Mandalay, a city in Myanmar. A rough man came up and offered to show me around. The price he asked was less than I would pay for a bar of chocolate at home. So I climbed into his trishaw(三轮车).

    As he was showing me around, he told me how he had come to the city from his village. He'd earned a degree in mathematics. His dream was to be a teacher. But of course, life is hard here, and so for now, this was the only way he could make a living. Many nights, he told me, he actually slept in his trishaw so he could catch the first visitors off the all-night train.

And very soon, we found that in certain ways, we had so much in common—we were both in our 20s, we were both fascinated by foreign cultures—-that he invited me home.

    So we turned off the wide, crowded streets, and came to rough, wild alleyways(小巷). I really lost my sense of where I was, and realized that I could easily get cheated or something even worse.

    Finally, he stopped and led me into a hut. And then he reached under his bed. Something in me froze. I waited to see what he would pull out. And finally he took out a box. Inside it was every single letter he had ever received from visitors from abroad.

    So when we said goodbye that night, I realized he had also shown me the secret point of travel, which is to go inwardly(向内心)as well as outwardly to places you would never go otherwise, to go into uncertainty, even fear.

    At home, its dangerously easy to think we're on top of things. Out in the world, you are reminded every moment that you're not, and you can't get to the bottom of things, either.

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    Are you looking for a different place to visit this summer? Why not take a magical trip to an Earth-size planet beyond our solar system with NASA's Planet Travel Center?

    We live in a universe full of planets outside our solar system. Unluckily, even the nearest of those planets are light-years away, so sending spaceships and humans to these attracting worlds remains a distant dream. But on NASA's Planet Exploration website, you can start a journey on an imagined globe of a new world through 360-degree visualization（可视化）. As you land onto each globe's ground, you'll discover amazing views, like the blood-red sky of TRAPPIST-1d, or stand on a moon of the huge planet Kepler-16b, which appears larger than either of the planet's two suns. The view from each planet's ground is an artist's impression based on the limited information that is reachable; no real photos of these planets exist.

    The newest planet with such 360-degree visualization is Kepler-186f, an Earth-size planet rounding a star much cooler and redder than the Sun. “Kepler-186f is also so distant, and it is till now impossible to recognize their atmospheres—if they exist at all—or characterize their atmospheric qualities,” said Martin Still, scientist for NASA's newest space-based planet-hunting program, wondering people's reaction to their creation. “Though with such challenges unsettled, using the NASA visualization tool, you can see how the existence and disappearing of an atmosphere would change the view of the sky from the planet's ground.” Still added.

    Aaron, head of Planet Travel Center, points out that their present and future schedules of the globe visualization will find the nearest planets to our solar system and characterize their atmospheres, bridging the gap between our imagination and what's really out there. In the near future, all the 360-degree visualizations are viewable on desktop and mobile devices, like smartphones, allowing all readers a wonderful enjoyment from the possibilities of a new world.

    Does your local high school have a student newspaper? Only 1 in 8 of New York's public high schools has student newspapers – and many of those are published just a few times a year. A few more are online, which can leave out poorer schools.

    Rebecca Dwarka, an 18-year-old senior who works for her student paper said, “Facebook is the new way of finding out what happened. Nobody wants to actually sit down and read a whole article about it. This makes a 'whole article' sound a little like a long sentence in lonely places.”

    I am not nostalgic(怀旧的) about high school student newspapers and never worked for mine. I put out what was then called a personal magazine with a group of friends because we wanted to write about peace, war and rock 'n' roll without school officials warning us not to make jokes about the local officials.

    School newspapers are in decline(衰落) because students now find out what happened on social networking websites. This is a little discouraging because it proves that for millions of Americans, journalism is becoming a do-it-yourself thing. Every citizen can be a reporter.

    When something happens, we look for social media messages. Facebook posts and Tweets have become the means by which citizens and reporters can prove, deny, pass on stories and express opinions without the press' challenging, researching or slowing the message.

    But truly good journalism is a craft, not just a blog post. It requires seeing something carefully and it uses an eye for details to help prove a larger view. And even journalism that conveys an opinion tries to be fair. If school newspapers begin to disappear, I hope there are other ways for students to learn that.

    Amsterdam, the capital and most populous city in the Netherlands, is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, famous for its beautiful canals, top art museum, cycling culture, and Red Light District. Here are some of the key points to remember as you plan your trip to Amsterdam.

    Must-See Attractions

    Most visitors begin their Amsterdam adventure in the Old Centre, which is full of traditional architecture, shopping centers, and coffee shops. You'll also want to check out Amsterdam's Museum Quarter in the South District, which is great for shopping at the Albert Cuyp Market and having a picnic in the Vondelpark. The top museums to visit are the Rijksmusuem, the Ann Frank House, and the Van Gogh Museum. The Canal Ring is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was originally built to attract wealthy home owners and is a popular place for celebrity spotting and nightlife today.

    Transportation

    Travelers should be aware that Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is one of the busiest airports in the world. This airport is located about 15 kilometers southwest of city center. You can catch a train from Schiphol to Amsterdam Central Station, which has many connecting routes. It's typically not a good idea to drive a car to the city center because traffic is heavy and parking is difficult to find. Cycling is incredibly popular here, and it's easy to find cheap bike rentals around town. Amsterdam has a flat terrain (地形) and is a great city to explore on foot.

    Money Saving Tips

    Unless you really want to see the tulips (郁金香) blooming, avoid booking between mid-March and mid-May. This is when hotel and flight prices rise.

    Look for accommodations in Amsterdam's South District, where rates are generally cheaper than in the city center.

    Buy train tickets at the machine instead of the counter to save a bit of money.

    Instead of hiring a tour guide, hop on a canal boat. They're inexpensive and will give you a unique point of view of the city.

    Check out our homepage to view price comparisons for flights, hotels, and rental cars before you book.

ZOOKEEPER FOR A DAY

    Go wild with an extreme zookeeping experience!

    The Khaki Extreme program is a wild behind-the-scenes zookeeping adventure like no other! The program offers the chance for 11-15 year olds to see first-hand what's involved in looking after amazing wildlife at Australia Zoo.

    During the guided adventures, you'll gain an understanding and appreciation of what's involved in working in one of the world's most popular zoological and conservation areas, and you'll love getting up close with the awesome animals.

    Whether it's helping keepers prepare diets for the animals, cleaning enclosures (围场) for large animals, or making improved activities for Australia Zoo's wildlife — you will have a chance to get involved at grass-roots level.

    After a busy morning getting up close with wildlife, you can enjoy a specially provided lunch while watching the performance in the world-famous Crocoseum. Then you'll also receive a guided behind-the-scenes tour of the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. Here you'll see the kind veterinary (兽医的) team treating sick and injured native wildlife, and you'll learn what you can do to protect Australia's native wild animals.

    Every season is different and so is our Zookeeper for a Day Khaki Extreme program! We'll change the animals and activities each school holiday period to keep it exciting, but with so many great animals on offer, the Khaki Extreme program is always a bunch of fun.

    If reptiles (爬行动物) are more your thing, check our Zookeeper for a Day Khaki Extreme Reptile program. Here you'll have a wild day out with some of Australia Zoo's most scaly (有鳞屑的) and slippery friends. This program may not be available every school holiday period and program dates will be limited. Check the booking page for further details on availability.

    www.australiazoo.com.au

    Open daily 9:00 am—5:00 pm

    Bedtime for some of our animals is 4:30 pm.

    Closed Christmas Day