• I've traveled to over 40 countries and visited many of the world's popular tourist attractions.
• Though many attractions are worth seeing, some didn't live up to the hype.
• Famous attractions like the Spanish Steps and Changing the Guard ceremony weren't that exciting.

Having visited over 40 countries, I've been fortunate enough to experience many of the world's most famous tourist attractions.

Although tourist traps get a bad rep, they still get tons of visitors. About 89% of American travelers said they've visited more than one tourist trap in the past two years, according to a recent survey by PhotoAiD.

I think many popular attractions are worth going out of the way for, but not every one I've seen has lived up to its hype.

Here are some of the most overrated tourist attractions I've visited:

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto was much smaller than I expected.

Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities I've visited. As long as you don't mind waking at the crack of dawn to beat the crowds, you can enjoy some of the most gorgeous, serene settings in Asia there.

But Kyoto is also home to what I think is one of the most overhyped attractions in Asia, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest.

I expected a vast bamboo forest full of trails to get lost in. Instead, I found a short, wide trail winding through a small, underwhelming forest. The bamboo trees make for a cool photo op, but that's all.

The Spanish Steps didn't inspire as much awe as the rest of Rome did.

You could spend days in Rome without running out of famous historical and architectural sites to explore.

Most sites, like the Colleseum, left me in awe. Unfortunately, some of Rome's most famous landmarks, like the Spanish Steps, didn't leave the same impression.

If the Spanish Steps weren't on every list of things to see in Rome, I probably would have walked right by them without noticing them.

Aside from being Europe's largest and widest staircase, there was little about them or the surrounding area that stood out.

Watching the Changing the Guard ceremony in London wasn't worth dealing with crowds.

Though I skipped the Buckingham Palace tour, I did stop by to watch the Changing the Guard ceremony.

There is something cool about witnessing long-standing traditions, and the precision of the routine is impressive. But, I found the experience to be pretty underwhelming.

Changing the Guard is seemingly on every visitor to London's checklist, and I found myself constantly jockeying for position just to get a glimpse of the ceremony. The 45-minute ceremony seemed to go on forever, and I didn't find it all that exciting or entertaining.

Neverending construction dampened the beauty of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

If you've been to Barcelona, there's a good chance you've seen Sagrada Familia. One of architect Antoni Gaudi's most famous works, Sagrada Familia towers above Barcelona's skyline and is visible from all over the city.

But it's still famously unfinished, and the never-ending presence of cranes and scaffolding makes it quite the eyesore.

George Orwell once referred to Sagrada Familia as "one of the most hideous buildings in the world." Though I can't say I fully agree with Mr. Orwell, I do think Sagrada Familia is pretty overrated.

I did appreciate the intricate details on the church's facade, and maybe my opinion will change if the church's construction is ever actually complete.

I didn't think Marina Sands SkyPark Observation Deck in Singapore was worth the price or the wait.

Singapore is a clean city with a beautiful skyline and delicious food. It's an excellent place to explore on a long layover.

But at times, I felt stuck in one giant tourist trap, especially at the Marina Sands SkyPark Observation Deck.

Don't get me wrong, the views from the rooftop of the 57-story Marina Sands are breathtaking. But it wasn't worth paying $24 to wait in a long line only to have access to a small section.

I spent most of my time on the Observation Deck, melting in the sun and attempting to wedge myself into any small opening along the railing.

The bizarre mural inside the White Temple in Chiang Rai was a shocking discovery for me.

I'd describe White Temple in Chiang Rai as a beautiful but bizarre tourist trap that you won't miss if you have to skip.

White Temple is more of an art installation than a temple. The buildings and grounds are stunning, but I felt very confused once I entered.

The interior of the main building contains large murals that seems to depict anything but Buddhist culture. Instead, the murals include a mix of American pop-culture icons and movie characters, like Spider-Man and Neo from "The Matrix." I also saw the controversial depiction of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

This was not at all what I expected from a "temple" in Northern Thailand.

• A personal finance TikToker said unlimited vacation days are a "scam" that saves companies money.
• Career experts agree, noting unlimited PTO can lead to fewer days off and employee burnout.
• In reality, setting a few boundaries at work leads to more freedom.

A personal finance creator said she wanted to remind people that working at a company with unlimited vacation days was a "scam."

Career experts think she might have a point.

The creator, Jessica, creates content about budgeting and career advice. In a recent video that amassed more than 800,000 views, she said unlimited PTO saves a company "millions if not billions of dollars."

Her reasoning was that if you accrue days off during your time at a company, and you leave, that has to be paid out on your last paycheck.

"If you don't accrue PTO because you have unlimited or discretionary PTO, guess what? They don't have to pay you anything," Jessica said. "See how that might save them a good chunk of change?"

A perk or a sham?

Unlimited vacation time has been a perk companies have offered to attract talent for a few years.

Proponents of it argue that it gives employees the freedom and flexibility to take off the time they need, which may vary on any given year. They say it also shows that companies trust their employees not to abuse the system.

However, a Business Insider poll of 1,000 US-based professionals from 2019 found that 29% with unlimited PTO said they "always" work while on vacation, and 42% said they "always" log on at some point during their time off.

Critics have also labeled unlimited PTO a "sham" that can lead to employees actually taking fewer days off than they should and getting burned out. Some recommend that companies also introduce a minimum number of holiday days and avoid offering bonuses or perks for taking fewer days.

Jeanie Y. Chang, a licensed therapist and workplace mental health expert, told BI that unlimited PTO is becoming the norm in the US, but it "isn't necessarily as beneficial as it may seem."

She said it's one example of a "double bind," which is "a distressing form of communication because you're giving out two or more conflicting messages at the same time."

Chang said that in these companies, no one is actually able to take as much time as they would like with the workload they are given due to conflicting schedules, managers taking issue with it, or employees feeling guilty about the responsibilities they are leaving behind.

Chang also doesn't believe unlimited PTO has any mental health benefit, and that unlimited mental health leave "would be far more beneficial and appreciated" by workers.

"It's just a marketing gimmick, in my honest opinion, which makes it appealing to work at an organization," she said.

While some liken work rules to micromanagement, Chang argued that having a few guidelines is actually more freeing for employees.

"Just like a child needs ground rules in the home and from parents to feel secure, unlimited PTO doesn't provide the boundaries needed for employees to feel safe to actually commit to taking unlimited PTO," she said.

"Also, let's be real," she added. "Should one actually take their unlimited PTO, I believe they would be frowned upon and seen as someone who isn't doing their end of the job."

'A bait and switch'

Denise Rousseau, a professor of organizational behavior and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, agreed that unlimited PTO is "basically a fraud," and she thought the matter had been settled years ago when the trend began.

"I'm sort of surprised that people still fall for it," she said.

Rousseau said there was "a lot of buzz" at the time about unlimited vacation days, which would give employees flexibility to get their work done.

"But the fact of the matter is that it's a very exploitive practice, whether it's originally intended as that or not," she said. "I think it's a bait and switch."

Rousseau said workplaces that offer this perk tend to have ambiguous norms for when staff should take time off.

Ultimately, unlimited PTO means "no time off," she said, "because people don't feel free to take it because it's not technically theirs."

"People do feel guilt because they're leaving their coworkers in jeopardy," she said.

They are also likely to assume their boss will judge them for taking time off, she added.

"So, in effect, it's never what it claims to be," she said. "It's always incredibly stressful and ambiguous."

People need to rest and recover from work, so not taking any time off can lead to many problems, including burnout.

This means it's not just the employees at risk, but the employer too, Rousseau said.

"Companies think they're benefiting from it because they wind up giving less time off to workers," she said. "But actually, you pay in accumulating negative feelings towards the employer, distress on the part of the workforce, and unhealthy lifestyle on the part of the workforce."

Building trust

Daniela Herrera, a talent and recruitment expert and founding partner of Allies in Recruiting, told BI the solution is for companies to set guidelines for what "unlimited" actually means and what an appropriate number of vacation days is.

"These policies work best when there is a clear minimum number of days off for every employee to take," she said. "This practice helps build and sustain trust and encourages employees to use their time off and avoid burnout."

One way to build trust in the company is for managers to intentionally ask their reports during their 1:1 check-ins whether they have taken time off recently.

"They set a positive example and show the company's commitment to employee well-being," Herrera said. "This question also helps managers spot any coverage plan gaps, potential burnout risks, and inequities within their own teams."

• Delta Air Lines changed its pin policy so flight attendants can only wear ones featuring the US flag.
• It comes after the airline deleted a social media post about cabin crew wearing Palestinian flag pins.
• A group campaigning for union representation launched a petition in response.

Delta Air Lines flight attendants are disputing the airline's change in policy for pin badges.

It follows a social-media incident after cabin crew members were pictured wearing pins with the flag of Palestine.

When an X user reposted the photos and called them "Hamas badges," Delta's official account replied: "I hear you as I'd be terrified as well, personally."

Delta deleted the response and apologized last Thursday, adding that the employee responsible no longer works on its social media channels.

Then, from Monday, Delta changed its policies so that flight attendants could only wear US flag pins.

This prompted an outcry from the Delta Association of Flight Attendants — a group that has been campaigning for union representation since 2019.

It launched a petition on Saturday calling for a public apology and a reversal of the policy change.

In a video, Delta flight attendant Rasaq said: "For decades, flight attendants industrywide have worn flag pins as a symbol of our role connecting the world and connecting different cultures."

"This policy removes our right to express ourselves and does nothing to face the real problem, harassment," he added.

Flag pins were especially common with Emirates cabin crew — highlighting that the Dubai-based carrier employed people from 140 nationalities — until a 2017 controversy over Taiwanese flag pins.

Delta told employees in an internal communication seen by Business Insider that its current pin policy prohibits advocating for positions or causes other than those sponsored by Delta.

"Throughout the world, nationality/country flags are increasingly leading to confusion about whether they represent advocacy for or against positions or causes," it added.

In a statement shared with Business Insider, Delta said: "We are proud of our diverse base of employees and customers and the foundation of our brand, which is to connect the world and provide a premium experience.

"We are taking this step to help ensure a safe, comfortable, and welcoming environment for all," it added.

• We moved to New Zealand when our child was 5 months old.
• Kiwi attitudes helped us to parent creatively in both places.
• The experience helped launch our daughter to be fearless and independent.

About a year before starting a family, my husband and I applied for permanent New Zealand residency because we wanted to raise our future child in the United States and New Zealand.

We had previously visited Aotearoa, and we loved the landscapes, the political neutrality, the feelings of safety and security, and what seemed to be a simpler life — with less commercialism and consumerism.

We divided our time because we had family in the US and wanted our child to know them.

My husband and I found that our parenting styles were compatible with most Kiwi parents. However, Kiwis practiced "fearless parenting," reinforcing a sense of adventure, the need for sustainability, and problem-solving skills from birth through childhood.

Kids in New Zealand are taught to be independent from an early age

Kiwi kids are taught to be autonomous from an early age because their whānau — or extended family group — are keen on adventure and having an active life, including swimming, hiking, and boating, but also zip-lining, bungy jumping, and zorbing.

As an island nation, the beach and ocean are fundamental to social life, so learning to swim in any weather is mandatory. I am a worrier, so it was difficult to allow Faith to be near the water by herself, even if she knew how to swim. This is when I learned that most Kiwi parents tend to measure danger in two categories — possible or probable. Will Faith drown in the ocean? It's possible. If I am watching her and she is a strong swimmer? It's not probable.

Kiwis are innovative and creative

The high cost of shipping consumer goods has driven the Kiwis to be innovative and creative while respectful of the natural resources of the islands. "You can fix anything with Number 8 wire" — the common fence wire — sums up this perspective.

New Zealand parents rely on imagination and ingenuity to make use of old things, so there is a tendency to conserve more and waste less.

While US parents may be inclined to use devices or television to pass the time, in New Zealand, parents emphasize "messy play." Making a mess was fun and liberating for Faith — mixing playdough with sand and mud and clay and paint to fill her senses. "Junk play" is similar — using pine cones, moss, feathers, sticks, flowers, shells, bark, and leaves for an inspired masterpiece or using old tools, wood scraps, tires, or plastic containers to build a new invention. Each year, Waiheke holds Junk to Funk, a competition (open to children as young as age 5) to design sustainable fashion from items destined for landfills.

Through structured play, such as befriending the kauri trees in a fairy tale forest or stargazing during Matariki, parents are supported in teaching the more serious life lesson of shepherding the earth and becoming a caretaker of the land. It is not unusual to see toddlers digging right in with community plantings or wading into the water for clean-up at Te Wharau Bay.

The whole family is involved in school events

Our most pleasant surprise in the NZ parent community also became our biggest disappointment when we returned to the States and witnessed the contrast in fundraising styles. As most US parents know, raising money is a part of life for your child's day care or school. For parents, it often becomes tedious — the boring gala, the same silent auction, the dreary expectation placed on families to donate money, often excluding parents who lack childcare or resources to participate in adult-only events.

Kiwi parents have a solid working model when it comes to raising money because they prioritize entire community participation — a magician and food stalls, a storytelling fair, or a sustainability festival — over making money. Instead of asking for cold, hard cash, a koha is often a welcome substitute — cheese, butter, tea essentials, or art supplies that the children can use.

When I pitched similar ideas to Faith's school in the States, instead of recognizing the importance of events where the entire family can participate, there was always an excuse why things couldn't move forward — the concern over how to report donations to the IRS, possible liability and injury or, as Faith's principal at her US preschool told me, an event "only making $10,000" wasn't worth the effort.

We always wanted Faith to have the skills she needed to adapt anywhere — whether in Oakland, California, or Auckland, New Zealand. She has traveled internationally without us and is now attending university in New Zealand.

This February, her lifetime friend from her Oakland preschool visited her in Auckland, and they boldly explored New Zealand's largest city together as young adults. I knew they were probably OK.

When David Duchovny first started playing the extraterrestrial-investigating FBI Agent Fox Mulder in "The X-Files" in the early 1990s, he wasn't as green as an alien from outer space. But despite having smaller roles in projects like "Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead," "Twin Peaks," and "The Rapture" under his belt, he still felt like he was learning on the job.

"Some actors can really do it from the beginning, and some actors are learners," Duchovny tells Business Insider. "I'm more of a learner."

Though audiences were charmed by Mulder's aloof determination on the hit Fox series, Duchovny looks back at the show's early seasons and sees an actor sometimes inelegantly coming into his own.

"I was afforded the opportunity to teach myself how to do what I do through those many hours," he explains, "so I can look back at it and say, 'That's kind of a lame performance I'm giving in year one or year two.'"

"The X-Files" ended up giving Duchovny a crash course in more than just acting. He credits series creator Chris Carter with encouraging him to try his hand at writing and directing his own episodes of the series, an opportunity that led him to fall in love with both crafts.

Since then, Duchovny, now 63, has followed various different creative pursuits simultaneously. He's directed stars like the late Robin Williams and Frank Langella in "House of D" and written, directed, and starred in "Reverse the Curse," a film he adapted from one of his five — yes, five — novels, "Bucky F*cking Dent." He's also continued to stretch himself as an actor, tackling roles like hedonist writer Hank Moody in "Californication" and Method actor Ryan Glenn in HBO's "The Sympathizer." He's even found the time to release three studio albums.

Clearly, being "a learner" is keeping him busy.

For the latest interview in BI's Role Play series, Duchovny breaks down the shock of filming his first sex scene, playing the straight man in "Zoolander," and why Method acting is misunderstood.

On how 'The X-Files' became his acting school

It's been over 30 years since "The X-Files" premiered. If you had the chance to do it all again, what would you do differently?

I wouldn't have done anything differently. It played out well. I was fairly green as an actor when I got that job. I was incredibly work-intensive in terms of hours and physical stuff — it really became my acting school.

I don't do it often, but if I watch something from the first couple of years, I see an actor that hasn't figured it out yet. But there's a certain kind of willingness in that person that I see on the screen, and I'm just thankful that I had the opportunity.

Is there a standout moment from working on the set that comes to mind?

Something that Chris Carter said to me. I said by the fifth or sixth season I'd like to try to direct something. And he said, "If you write something and it's good, then you can direct it." So he pushed me to start writing, and I learned a lot just from doing that show the previous five or six years.

So really, that was the moment when I started directing and writing and actually started taking control of other aspects of my performative life. That stands out to me.

On directing Robin Williams and playing the straight man in 'Zoolander'

You directed Robin Williams in the coming-of-age comedy-drama "House of D." What was your creative relationship like?

Robin was the reason I could make that movie! It was an independent film and back then — and to a certain extent now — financing is dependent on movie stars to get those little movies off the ground. So when Robin said yes, all of a sudden I had a movie.

I had my ex-wife, Téa Leoni, who I think is one of the great actresses of her generation. I had Erykah Badu, one of the great artists of her generation. I had Anton Yelchin, who was going to be one of the great actors of his generation, and Frank Langella before he made his comeback. I had an embarrassment of riches at my disposal.

None of that would've happened if Robin hadn't said yes.

Robin was just a creative powerhouse. He was just full of a life force. The question was, "How do we harness whatever we're trying to do here?" And he was an actor, so he knew how to do that. I was very fond of him personally and professionally.

You also worked with Ben Stiller on "Zoolander" in your cameo as the world's greatest hand model. What was it like ad-libbing with Ben Stiller?

I give him this long monologue that serves as the backstory to how models have been fucking up the world since time began. And then he says, "But what about models after that?" And I said, "I just told you," or something like that. It's not a great comedic moment or a great ad-lib, but I think it remains in the movie.

I remember I wanted to be kind of word-perfect because it was a lot of exposition. I felt like I could be funniest as a straight man. I thought, what if I play this guy like he's Gene Hackman in "Conspiracy Theory"? No winking at all. I'm in a different movie and that'll be funny.

I mean, it worked. Do people ask you about how to be a hand model?

They don't so much ask me about how to be a hand model, but they'll ask me which hand was in a biometric chamber, things like that. That little role has a certain amount of staying power. It's interesting to me because it wasn't a hit when it came out. It became kind of a sleeper hit after its original life.

On shooting his first sex scene and making sure everyone was comfortable in raunchier scenes in 'Californication'

Another fan-favorite project of yours is "Californication," which was pretty raunchy at times. How difficult was it to manage the sexy atmosphere in those scenes? This was before intimacy coordinators were commonplace, after all.

It was common decency, which is something I've tried to practice in my life forever. It's basically what intimacy coordinators do now. It's just trying to figure out how everybody's going to be comfortable, what they're comfortable with, what they want to do. And it was kind of a no-brainer to me.

The first sex scene I ever did was in "The Rapture," and forget about intimacy coordinators.

I had a director on a megaphone across the furniture store on Santa Monica Boulevard saying, "Come!" And we had never spoken about this, and of course, I'm not going to come, but he wanted me to act like I was orgasming.

It's very different from what we tried in "Californication." We're making a comedy, we're not making porn. These are actors and these are people and everybody needs to be respected and comfortable.

That was always first and foremost in my mind as the lead actor on the set. How's everybody going to be comfortable? How's everybody going to be safe? And how are we going to all be in the same tone of this show? I consider that my job.

What are your thoughts on using intimacy coordinators nowadays?

I think it's great that there's a way to make actors comfortable. Now, I think it's difficult for directors, because it's another person telling you what's okay to shoot. But it's a time and place that we're in, and it's probably going to do a lot more good than hurt some director's feelings or whatever. It's going to protect people.

There was a lot of bad behavior, and that's not just in Hollywood. So there should be intimacy coordinators all over the world, in every profession. That'd be great. The more we can protect people that need protection, the better.

On playing a Method-acting jerk in 'The Sympathizer' and adapting his own book

This year, you starred in "The Sympathizer" as Ryan Glenn who, respectfully, is an absolute maniac Method actor. Did you try double down for the role and go Method yourself?

Well, Method, it's kind of a misnomer, to be honest with you. I mean, I studied the Strasberg Method. That's supposedly a dumb Method. But I think in pop culture, we have this idea now that the Method means that you never break character.

That's not something Strasberg ever taught. I don't think it's something anybody ever taught. I really don't think it's something that people do very much — the people who are going to be badly behaved are going to find ways to justify it.

So the Strasberg Method is different from a guy who refuses to break character or who does shitty things under the guise of staying in character. The way I looked at that character was just that he cares that deeply about the work, and I could relate to that. I could relate to somebody who thinks that superficial work is being done around him or being applauded around him, and he's going to show up and he's going to do the work from the heart.

He's a jerk, but he ends up getting a great performance out of his costar, in a way.

Out of all the characters that you've played, who's your favorite?

I have to say I'm probably most proud of "Reverse the Curse" at this point as a work of art or commercial art. I loved playing Marty, the father. It was never something that I had planned on doing. I wrote this story originally as a screenplay 15 years ago, and I was going to play Ted, the son, that Logan Marshall-Green plays.

I got close to doing it a few times. I'm happy that it took long enough for me to age out of that part and to have to confront myself playing Marty because it's not a role that I've ever played before. It forced me to do certain things that I haven't been forced to do before. And I really enjoyed that challenge. So today it's Marty.

On my deathbed? I don't know… I don't know what it's going to be.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

• Chris Jereza left his well-paid job at Lyft after three months and became a barista. 
• He has explored different paths, including vlogging for BuzzFeed and working as a software engineer. 
• The 25-year-old shared what he's learned along the way with Business Insider.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Chris Jereza, 25, a former software engineer at Lyft. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his identity, former employment, and earnings.

I studied computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, but didn't graduate because I got offered a job at Lyft, one of five companies I'd interned with.

Lyft was one of my dream companies to work for. I received a pretty good offer — an annual salary of $130,000 and a $50,000 sign-on bonus — so I decided to go straight into full-time employment.

A common Gen Z mentality is to think that college is a scam and that you need to learn by doing. I actually have no principles against college. If I feel like I need to return, I will; I just haven't had a reason to.

I ended up working at Lyft for about three months but left to get treatment for a severe medical condition. It was pretty life-altering; I got to reflect and start from scratch. I was no longer bound to this continuous career trajectory of being an engineer.

Over the years, I've gotten better at not attaching myself to a storyline I play in my head about how my life is supposed to go. I just want to make sure I'm doing something meaningful and important to me every moment, every month, every year.

I'm grateful for the break

There was actually a gap of several months between leaving Lyft and starting as a barista. During that period, I did some vlogging for BuzzFeed, but I no longer felt like I needed to sprint and get ahead in engineering. I was very grateful that I had enough of a financial buffer from my internships and from working at Lyft.

Most people can't abandon their main career and then work a minimum-wage job, but I knew I had this privilege, so I decided to explore my options.

Leaving Lyft gave me the time to figure out my values, what I care about, and what I want to do with my time. Then I realized that I wanted to do something crafty, and I like coffee, so why not learn how to create latte art? So, I became a barista earning $15.25 an hour.

The coffee shop I worked for was an artisanal café owned by a wholesome older Korean lady who roasted and selected coffee. This motivated me to learn more about coffee, so I explored the difference between where beans came from, brewing methods, and recipes.

In my spare time, I created content as a YouTuber, which allowed me to hone my filming and editing skills and explore other interests.

What I've learned along the way is that I'm a big fan of trying as many different things as possible, figuring out what I like, and then over time converging on something that really suits me, rather than picking something and trying to stick with it.

I still worry about where my career is going

At times, I think I'm constantly starting from scratch and that other people are further into their careers because they just stuck with it. It's natural to worry. But I practice mindfulness, try to cultivate self-awareness and realize that much of this pressure is compared to others and culturally conditioned into me.

But really, it shouldn't matter because, in a practical sense, I'm doing fine, and everything works out every time I take risks.

Another thing that I learned through that experience is that some people are hesitant to take what they consider to be a step down with a job like that because they're worried about being judged. But I didn't even mention my background when I was a barista. No one really cared, and it didn't come up.

Dealing with having a medical condition has taught me that there must be something outside work that determines the quality of my life experience. It made me question what makes me feel like I'm doing well. As a barista, my attention was occupied by something I felt was inherently satisfying — making a beverage for someone, doing something crafty, and slicing an avocado nicely.

It doesn't have to have some crazy purpose for me to enjoy it, and being a barista was really satisfying.

After six months, I left the barista job to work for BuzzFeed, where I helped with social media and blogging before I was laid off when the company cut jobs in 2023. Now I'm working as an engineer at a healthcare tech startup, which I think really suits me.

Do you have a tech career story to share? Contact this reporter at jmann@businessinsider.com

• Biden and Trump diverge sharply on climate policy as the 2024 election nears.
• Republicans are emphasizing fossil fuels; Democrats push renewable energy.
• Despite rising climate concern, voters prioritize other issues, surveys show.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump couldn't be farther apart when it comes to climate action.

Trump has said he'd "drill, baby, drill" for fossil fuels that are causing the climate crisis, an issue that isn't mentioned once in the platform adopted by the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee. Trump and his pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, are both climate deniers. By contrast, the Democrats unveiled a platform that said it would build on the Biden administration's unprecedented spending on renewable energy and the green workforce while cracking down on the oil-and-gas industry.

A lot is at stake for the planet this election. America emits more greenhouse gases than any country except China, and leading climate scientists say it needs to slash greenhouse-gas emissions in half this decade if there's any chance of keeping global temperatures below catastrophic levels. Meanwhile, 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, fueling extreme heat that's killed dozens already this year as well as Hurricane Beryl in parts of the Caribbean and Texas.

But will it matter in November?

In a survey of 1,031 US adults, including 896 registered voters, taken from April 25 to May 4, about 62% of the registered voters said they would prefer a candidate who supports climate action. But when pollsters asked registered voters to indicate how important various issues were to them, global warming ranked 19th out of 28 issues Issues like free and fair elections, abortion, and healthcare were the top priorities for respondents. Plus, most respondents said they hadn't heard about Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.

The survey suggests that while concern about the climate crisis is on the rise in the US, other issues are top of mind for voters this year, Edward Maibach, the director of the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, told Business Insider. The center conducted the survey with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

Maibach added that most Democrats, along with moderate and younger Republicans, want the US to do something about the climate crisis. But Republicans are very unlikely to factor the issue into their voting decisions, and the most conservative wing of the GOP has grown more opposed to renewable energy and electric vehicles over the past few years.

"Plenty of conservative Republicans in recent years have thought that moving the country towards a clean-energy future was a good idea for reasons totally unrelated to climate change," Maibach said. "Now they are increasingly moving away from that position, in large part because of what the elites and media pundits in their part are telling them."

The findings are similar to those of the Pew Research Center. A 2023 survey indicated that Republicans prioritized developing fossil fuels more than they did renewable sources like wind and solar. That's a change from 2020, when a majority of Republicans in a Pew poll said renewable energy should be prioritized over oil, gas, and coal.

There was one caveat: A majority of Republicans ages 18 to 29 in the 2023 survey said the country should focus on renewables. The findings are based on Pew's annual surveys of a nationally representative sample of more than 10,000 US adults.

Meanwhile, Americans are increasingly unlikely to say they would buy an electric vehicle. Pew, in a separate survey from May of more than 8,600 adults, found that 29% said they would consider purchasing an EV — down 9 percentage points over the past year. The share of Americans who said EVs are better for the environment than gas vehicles also dropped by 20 percentage points from 2021, largely due to Republicans.

The majority of Americans support climate action

Maibach said the shift among Republicans shouldn't distract from the fact that the majority of Americans support many of Biden's climate policies. These include implementing tax breaks for people who buy solar panels and energy-efficient vehicles and appliances; providing funding for transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels by 2050; cracking down on methane emissions from the oil-and-gas industry; and paying farmers to adopt practices that store more carbon in the soil.

Trump and GOP leaders, on the other hand, have said they would roll back many of those policies. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign's national press secretary, argued that America was "caving to the radical demands of environmental extremists at home while begging" its adversaries to produce oil for us abroad, "creating the worst inflation crisis in generations."

While Biden has enacted the most sweeping climate policies in US history, the country has simultaneously become the world's largest exporter of natural gas, and crude-oil production has set records for six years in a row. American oil-and-gas companies also earned record profits in 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which scrambled global energy markets.

Maibach said it was distressing that conservative leaders and media pundits went negative on renewable energy and EVs, especially because investing in them is key to making America economically competitive with China, which dominates supply chains for green technology like solar panels, batteries, and critical minerals.

But Alec Tyson, an associate director of research at Pew, told Business Insider that in such a polarized political climate, a candidate's stance on any one issue won't be enough to sway voters anyway.

"We saw no change in Biden's ratings on climate before and after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, including among Democrats," Tyson said. "What that suggests is in this polarized environment where many folks have strong feelings about either Joe Biden or Donald Trump, it's very hard to change attitudes based on a single policy or issue."

• Russia has pulled its last Black Sea Fleet warship from Crimea, per a Ukrainian navy spokesperson.
• The retreat exposes the emptiness of Russia's red lines and nuclear threats, a Ukraine expert said.
• Peter Dickinson said it shows that when confronted with opposition, Putin will likely back down.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet's "humiliating" retreat from Crimea has exposed the emptiness of the country's red lines, according to a military observer.

Peter Dickinson, the editor of the Atlantic Council's UkraineAlert online publication and chief editor of Business Ukraine Magazine, made the analysis in an Atlantic Council blog post on Tuesday.

"The Russian Navy's readiness to retreat from its supposedly sacred home ports in Crimea has made a mockery of Moscow's so-called red lines and exposed the emptiness of Putin's nuclear threats," he said.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has used its Sevastopol Naval Base as the primary headquarters for the Black Sea Fleet.

But Dmitry Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said in a Facebook post earlier this week that Russia had pulled its last Black Sea Fleet warship out of Crimea.

"Remember this day," he wrote.

The Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also said in a Telegram post on Tuesday that there were no longer any Russian naval ships left in the waters.

Ukraine has heavily targeted Russia's Black Sea Fleet, using aerial drones, sea drones, and anti-ship missiles.

Earlier this year, Ukraine's military claimed to have destroyed a third of the fleet, and in March, the UK's Ministry of Defence declared the Black Sea Fleet "functionally inactive."

According to Dickinson, Russia's reaction to the "mounting setbacks" in the Black Sea challenges the Western narrative that a "cornered and beaten" President Vladimir Putin could resort to the "most extreme measures," including the use of nuclear weapons.

"In fact, he has responded to the humiliating defeat of the Black Sea Fleet by quietly ordering his remaining warships to retreat," Dickinson wrote.

Some in the West have voiced concerns that Russia could escalate the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders, or even use nuclear weapons on the battlefield, if its red lines were crossed.

It's a concern that has played a central role in how much and what kind of military aid is being given to Ukraine.

Recently, there have been worries among some Ukrainian allies about how Russia could respond to them lifting restrictions on weapons they've supplied being used to hit targets inside Russia itself.

But Dickinson said the overwhelming evidence from what has happened in the Black Sea confirms that "when confronted by resolute opposition, Putin is far more likely to back down than escalate."

"The West's fear of escalation is Putin's most effective weapon," he added. "It allows him to limit the military aid reaching Kyiv, while also preventing Ukraine from striking back against Russia."

This, he said, "is slowly but surely setting the stage for inevitable Russian victory in a long war of attrition."

• F1 Arcade, an F1 racing simulator experience, is coming to Washington DC and Las Vegas by 2025.
• Netflix's "Drive to Survive" series has boosted Formula 1's US popularity.
• I tested F1 Arcade in London to see what all the fuss was about.

F1 Arcade, a restaurant and bar that houses e-sport racing game machines meant to mimic the Formula 1 driving experience, is one of the latest ways the sport is being monetized after Netflix's hit series "Formula 1: Drive to Survive."

The Arcade — backed by Formula 1 and Liberty Media — has been open since 2022 in the UK and, after launching a branch in Boston in April, is now expanding further in the US.

This month, it was announced that F1 Arcade had completed a $130 million fundraising round to enable it to open another branch in Washington DC this fall and a flagship site in Las Vegas in 2025.

The announcement comes just months after the release of the sixth season of the 2019 Netflix hit series "Formula 1: Drive to Survive."

The hugely popular series has been credited with helping Formula 1 break into the US market, where the sport had largely been overshadowed by NASCAR and IndyCar.

I visited the F1 Arcade in London to see if the venue is worth it for die-hard racing fans.

The arcade is located in the heart of central London.

Games were priced at £15.95 ($20) for three races or £25.95 ($34) for five races. I thought this was expensive, given that each race only lasted six minutes.

I was excited to get on a simulator and start racing. The venue houses 60 machines at five different skill levels.

But first I had to order a cocktail. The most popular was the "Passion and Glory" which is made with Ferarri Trento Brut, the official sparkling wine of Formula 1.

I tried both "Rookie" and "Elite" modesm, the easiest and most difficult race settings. "Elite" mode threw me around in the seat a lot, which was a lot of fun, especially because it's difficult not to spin out on the corners.

The simulators are immersive, with multiple high-resolution screens offering different angles on the race. The surround sound makes it feel like you're really on the track.

I was surprised at how similar the machines felt to driving a car with accelerator and brake pedals. Staff told me that the simulators can adapt to in-game weather conditions, such as the feel of a slick track on a rainy day.

I really enjoyed the races, but the three-race package was short.

After I had completed my races, the only option I had — other than purchasing more — was to order lunch. The menu is designed to offer "high-end comfort food."

I ordered the truffle mac-and-cheese croquettes for £9 ($12), fried halloumi with a green sweet chili sauce also for £9 ($12), and miso mushroom tacos for £8.50 ($11).

The truffle mac-and-cheese croquettes were definitely my favorite. They were crispy, without too much truffle, and didn't feel heavy.

The quality of the food was very good, but it wasn't cheap. The bill came to £48.93 ($63) with service charge.

I think that F1 Arcade is quite expensive for what it is.

Although the races were a lot of fun, and the simulators were worth the hype, I found that there wasn't a lot to do once you were finished.

For visitors who are willing to pay more, you can earn enough "Arcadian" points to gain access to other Formula 1-themed games, including one that tests your reaction speed.

However, for guests on any kind of budget, paying for food, drink, and three races might not be worth the trip.

The simulators and the mac-and-cheese croquettes were great, but because the actual racing time was so short, I wouldn't hurry back.

• A 60-year-old says she's essentially been aging in reverse for about the past four years.
• One "biological age" test she recently did said her body is 35.
• She enjoys hiking, raving, hormone therapy, and fasting.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tina Woods, a 60-year-old healthcare entrepreneur and the CEO of Business for Health in London. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I just turned 60, and I've never felt better.

I've got the strength of an ox, dance moves to rave all night, and I radiate renewed joy for my marriage and my job.

I made a conscious decision to change the way I live a few years back. I was in the midst of quitting the corporate world, watching my kids enter adulthood, and starting hormone replacement therapy. I decided this would be a good time to embark on a very simple — but remarkably effective — longevity quest.

It all started when I was researching my 2020 book, "Live Longer with AI," and I began seeking out the advice of longevity experts all over the world. At that point, longevity science was still pretty fringe, so there were a lot of fairly out-there characters I spoke to who wanted to live forever and who touted radical life extension as something within our grasp.

But even among the most die-hard immortalists I spoke with for the book, I started to notice a trend. Most of the stuff they were actually doing day in and day out to stay young is pretty simple and cheap. It usually involves some form of caloric restriction, a healthy diet composed of lots of plants, decent exercise, and good sleep. In short, the basics. Stuff your grandmother could have recommended.

I reduced my 'biological age' by 10 years — here's what that means

Tests I took on my 60th birthday this spring suggest my brain is aging like that of a 35-year-old, my heart health is mid-40s, and so is my metabolism.

It's amazing to realize that in just four years, I've reduced one key measure of biological aging by a decade — my GlycanAge has plummeted from 46 to 35, while I've aged from 56 to 60. (The GlycanAge test is a finger prick that's meant to track the level of chronic inflammation in your body, which directly predicts a lot of age-associated decline.)

It drives me crazy when people wear these kinds of one-off "biological age" stats like some sort of badge of honor. As if any of the new tests being used for aging are definitive or validated.

I find that what they can do is help provide an overall snapshot of our health. Taken together, along with daily data from my smartwatch and various apps I use to track my health over time, my GlycanAge provides a single datapoint that goes hand in hand with how I feel, which is fantastic.

If I hadn't been doing research for my book, and meeting with experts offering to let me try out all this longevity medicine tech for free, I probably wouldn't have ever paid for a biological age test. It costs hundreds of dollars just for one. Do I really need a test to tell me that I have never felt this good? Regular checkups, blood tests, and scans at the doctor are one thing, but I wouldn't pay 300 pounds just to brag about a biological age result. (Though it is cool to see.)

4 simple changes I made to stave off aging

• Supplements: I do take some supplements, but I don't expect them to perform miracles.

  Like a lot of longevity-seekers, I make sure to pop some vitamin D every day, and then there's B12, omega-3s, and collagen for my joints — which are definitely not what they used to be, I'd probably rate them my oldest body part, biologically speaking.

  A bone scan I did as part of my recent longevity workup in Poland has proved to be diagnostically useful, and has convinced me to start supplementing a bit of calcium as well. I do enjoy eating Swiss cheese on my non-fasting days, and I also try to prioritize proteins like chicken and fish in my diet, as well as lots of plants. I make a mean lentil soup, and I snack on seeds and nuts, generally avoiding ultra-processed foods.

• Caloric restriction: Four days a week I stick to only eating one meal a day, and — though it's still somewhat controversial — I'm convinced this is one of the big keys to healthy aging. It was a conversation with geneticist and longevity doctor Nir Barzilai in New York that really pushed me over the edge on this idea, as he explained how, mechanistically, it makes sense that a little caloric restriction, and specifically, some fasted time each day, might be good for human longevity. (We already know this is great for flies, worms, and mice, and there is enough anecdotal evidence of a benefit in people that many longevity scientists already practice some form of caloric restriction or fasting themselves.)

• VO2 max: I also hold a religious devotion to exercise — I enjoy Zumba class twice a week, plus strength training at home in the cellar (my "gym") and YouTube videos for some conditioning. My VO2 max, a key measure of heart health and fitness, is off the charts!

  

  All this regular training keeps me fit as a fiddle and ready to rave all night with my husband at some of London's grooviest clubs. Being on the dance floor absolutely electrifies me, and it has also rekindled aspects of my relationship with my husband which I'd lost during early menopause, bringing us closer together in a funny sort of way. I feel like music is my lifeblood. I even DJ now — I recently turned tables at the world's first longevity rave (held at a vegan cafe, of course).

• HRT: One of the most pharmacological ways I've changed my biological age since I started this journey is hormone replacement therapy for menopause. It's been an eye-opening experience. I'd always been pretty fit and relatively healthy, but I noticed during menopause that I was starting to gain some weight, and I felt just generally kind of low-energy, not like myself. Low sex drive, urinary issues. Yuk, I thought. This is a bit boring.

  My doctor suggested I try HRT — I started with a patch version, but that didn't work very well. My current regimen is a few pumps of estradiol gel, which is rubbed into the skin, plus progesterone capsules and a tiny bit of testosterone gel I take off-label (I monitor my hormone levels very closely with regular blood tests, and make sure my testosterone sachets are brand name, not sourced from a dodgy online pharmacy.) It took a while for me to find the dose that worked well for me, but now I absolutely love it, and I'm convinced that it's played a big part in my recent biological age reduction (along with eating healthier, losing about 20 pounds, finding my joy, and everything else!) I was initially worried that the testosterone might hurt my heart health, or mess with my cholesterol levels, but I'm pleased to report everything seems to be going really well.

Joy is a key component of my longevity

I do hope that more effort is placed on measuring how happiness and optimism can change our lives and help improve our longevity. There's already been some study of how big stressors and health events — like a pregnancy — can temporarily speed up biological aging. And we know that happier, more optimistic people tend to live longer.

Scientific studies on flies, worms, and mice won't ever give us better insights into how happiness, purpose, and joy affect human health. I'm looking forward to seeing how we might better study this in people, gathering biological age data that will illuminate the simple, low-cost things we can all do to live more fruitful and, yes, longer lives.

I know the longevity Blue Zones have gotten a lot of attention as beacons of healthy aging, and a lot of the techniques their backers espouse do make sense. But I'd like more solid, scientific data to inform what the rest of us can do moving forward to make the most of our days, in a relatively cheap and simple way.

It's amazing to see the impact of all this basic stuff: nutrition, fitness, purpose, joy. I'm not getting any IV blood transfusions, stem cell treatments or any of that other biohacking stuff that costs an arm and a leg, I'm doing all of this pretty low-cost. I'm now convinced that hope and happiness will outdo any pill when it comes to improving biological aging. That's just my opinion for now, but it's based on what I've seen in myself.