• Up until this year I had never been on a cruise before. 
• I decided to take my 10-year-old son over Spring break. 
• The cruise desperately needed some TLC and we lost power twice. 

Until this year, I'd never been on a cruise — and I swore I never would. As someone anxious in general, I had plenty of reservations. What if there was a norovirus outbreak? What if I got seasick? What if the ship hit an iceberg, sinking like the Titanic? But as I brainstormed potential Spring break destinations with my 10-year-old, I reconsidered.

As a single mom, I don't love navigating new places alone, and organizing a weeklong vacation felt overwhelming. Setting sail on a fun-packed cruise ship where everything was pre-planned was the perfect solution.

I booked a five-night Key West and Bahamas cruise through Celebrity, leaving from Miami. To avoid feeling trapped, I chose a stateroom with a veranda. We could sit outside in the salty ocean air and enjoy the stunning views.

Our pitstop in South Beach

To keep things stress-free, I bookended our trip with a full day and night in South Beach. Neither of us had been there, and the day before our cruise, I splurged on The Miami Beach Edition. The 5-star property, with private beach access, ocean-facing pools, and an on-site ice rink and bowling alley, did not disappoint.

We chose Estiatorio Milos for Easter dinner, a Greek seafood restaurant where fish flown in fresh from the Mediterranean are displayed. The experience included a chef visiting our table to discuss the day's offerings. Our trip was off to an incredible start.

Our cruise experience wasn't great

Boarding our cruise ship, the Celebrity Summit, went smoothly, and we went right to our stateroom, which appeared as advertised. On the balcony, we watched the sunlight dance on the water's surface. I relaxed, letting my worries slip away.

But when I went inside and opened the bathroom door, the musty smell of mildew overwhelmed me. During that night's shower, I discovered why as the water collected in a pool at my feet. From then on, we wore our flip-flops and showered fast.

We made our first port and explored the delightful city of Key West. But our boat couldn't dock the next day due to high winds, so we missed our second destination, Bimini, Bahamas. Disappointed, we explored the boat, looking for fun diversions. But other than gambling and drinking, there wasn't much to do.

The pool was rusty and dirty, and the "arcade" consisted of two Xboxes in a small room. The ship, built in 2001 and refurbished in 2016, desperately needed some TLC. Chipped tile, stained carpets, and broken faucets were a few of its glaring issues. My son checked out the gift shops while I grabbed a coffee. A salesperson put a $2,000 watch on his wrist, encouraging him to make the purchase. Luckily, he knew better.

We even lost power

During a several-hour power outage, our imaginations took over. We discussed the possibility of onboard pirates — zero communication from the crew didn't help. At one point, dark sludge crept up through our shower drain, and our toilet stopped working. When the power came back on, the $270 Wi-Fi didn't, and it remained spotty for the rest of the voyage.

The ship went black again during dinner the next day. The staff served our meal in the dark like nothing was amiss. At that point, we wanted off. The next day, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas, where we played in the ocean. I let my son take me on a Jet Ski ride, which was the highlight of his trip.

The following morning was debarkation day. We couldn't get off the boat fast enough.

We enjoyed another beautiful day at South Beach, sinking our toes in white sand beaches and exploring the outdoor Lincoln Road Mall.

Though our cruise experience was probably an outlier, I won't chance it again. But South Beach? We're in love.

• A California millennial began secretly working multiple remote jobs to save for retirement.
• He earned over $100,000 in 2023 and said he might be able to retire by age 50. 
• He shared why he decided to not look for a new job when his second role came to an end this year. 

Adrian, a California-based data analyst in his 30s, began secretly working multiple remote jobs in July 2023. For a while, it was well worth it.

Last year, he earned about $110,000 across his two jobs, according to documents viewed by Business Insider. Thanks to this overemployment, he believes he'll be in a financial position to retire in the next five to 10 years and move somewhere abroad with a lower cost of living than the US.

But by the time Adrian's contract for his second job came to an end in March, a big part of him was relieved, he said. He has little desire to be overemployed again.

"I did make a lot more money than I've ever made before, I think it was a smart idea, and it was kind of fun to tell friends about — but life is better now," said Adrian. His identity is known to BI, but he asked to use a pseudonym because of his fear of professional repercussions.

Adrian is among the Americans who have worked multiple jobs — often in secret — to boost their incomes. BI has interviewed roughly 20 of these job jugglers, many of whom work in the IT and tech industries and use the extra money to pay off student debt, save for retirement, and afford vacations and weight-loss drugs. While some companies may be OK with their workers having a second job, doing so without approval could have negative repercussions.

Recently, however, intense competition for remote roles, return-to-office mandates, and burnout have made the overemployment lifestyle unsustainable.

Adrian shared how and why he first became overemployed, his top advice for making it work, and why he's happy to be back to only one job.

Retirement fears led to overemployment

While some Americans are struggling to save for retirement, Adrian is among those who have taken unique earnings and savings measures to retire early.

Last year, when a recruiter messaged him on LinkedIn about a remote, full-time, contract role, he decided to hear them out.

As he went through the interview process, Adrian realized he might be able to balance both roles. He asked for the highest end of the new job's pay range: $70 an hour.

"If I was going to take something on the side I wanted to be sure it would be worth it," he said.

A few years ago, Adrian would never have made a career decision that was so focused on maximizing his income.

He always believed, "If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life." He never worried much about his financial future or how much money he was making. It's this philosophy that led him to pursue an "amazingly enjoyable" job — one in an entirely different industry than his current role — that he said paid less than $40,000 a year.

"I didn't really care about making money because I never really thought about retirement," he said. "I just kind of assumed that you work until you're old, then you retire, and it somehow just works out."

But a few years ago, Adrian said he experienced a personal "transformation" that led him to begin prioritizing his financial health and future.

"I would never actually be able to retire by working my old job," he said. "But I never really thought about that, and I did love the life I was living."

He started by looking for a different career path. He went to graduate school, and after a roughly yearlong job search that nearly exhausted his savings, he landed the job he still has now.

Next, he started saving whatever money he could. He and his wife took up house and pet-sitting for a year, which he said allowed him to avoid paying rent as they bounced from home to home every month or so. He also began maxing out his 401(k) and Roth IRA, investing in low-cost index funds, and trying to live in low-cost-of-living areas while keeping his "high-cost-of-living area salaries."

When the opportunity to work multiple jobs came last year, it was just another way he could improve his finances.

What to look for in a second job — and why he's happy to no longer be overemployed

Adrian said that his second employer knew he had a primary job but "didn't care," in part because they were happy with the quality of his work. He never told his primary employer that he took on a second gig, but he doesn't think they would have cared either because he was a "top performer."

Adrian said that before taking on a second job, one should be "very comfortable" with one's main role.

"You need to be comfortable enough with your first job that you feel like you actually have extra time to accomplish other work," he said. He added that it's helpful if both jobs are flexible, independent, and don't have many meetings.

It's also important to make sure you're prepared to have your personal life impacted by your extra workload, he said. This is perhaps the biggest part of job juggling he wasn't fully prepared for — and why he hasn't looked to replace his second job ever since his contract came to an end in March.

While his workload varied, Adrian said he often worked more than 40 hours a week across the two jobs, including on some evenings and weekends. It was manageable, but it began to take a toll.

"Too stressful, too much time away from my partner, can't get outside or go to yoga — not worth it," he said of his overemployment. "I made a bunch of money this past year, but my goals for 2024 are not to maximize my income."

Instead, Adrian said he wants to prioritize his health, social ties, his partner, and "having fun." While he's still much more focused on his finances than he used to be, he said working a second job eventually proved to be a bridge too far.

Even without the extra income coming in, Adrian said he's still in the position to potentially retire before age 50. While he wouldn't rule out pursuing a second job again someday, he said the workload would have to be quite low. For now, he's happy to just have one job again.

"The reduction in stress and time commitments is well worth it," he said.

Are you working multiple remote jobs at the same time and willing to provide details about your pay and schedule? Are you a manager who has experience with overemployed employees? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.

• Cracker Barrel's CEO recently said that the chain is "not as relevant" as it used to be.
• The restaurant chain is well-known for its vintage decorations and store full of kitsch.
• I went to a Cracker Barrel outside of Washington, DC, to see what's going on.

Cracker Barrel restaurants are at a crossroads — literally and figuratively.

You'll often find the chain right off freeway exits. For decades, that's made them appealing to people making long drives searching for a hot, sit-down meal and a break from the road.

But that strategy hasn't worked well over the last few years.

"We're just not as relevant as we once were," CEO Julie Masino told investors on a call last month.

Masino added that the chain is "refreshing and refining" several aspects of its operations, from marketing to the atmosphere in its restaurants.

So far, that's included offering dinner specials in the late afternoon to appeal to diners who want to eat earlier.

Cracker Barrel is also testing a new layout for its locations that is "lighter, brighter, fresher and cleaner," Masino said. The layout includes bookcases instead of the chain's traditional momento-covered dividers. The company has also added booths to its seating options.

But for now, most of its stores still have the old-timey decor and wooden seats that many people associate with the brand.

To better understand what eating at Cracker Barrel is like these days, I visited one of the brand's restaurants in northern Virginia, outside Washington, DC. Here's what I found.

I visited this Cracker Barrel restaurant in Sterling, Virginia.

This particular Cracker Barrel location is just north of Washington Dulles International Airport. It's also near the intersection of multiple major highways and freeways.

One of the first things I saw were these rocking chairs on the patio outside.

The chairs were for sale — buying one of them will set you back $240. Of course, you can also try them out if you have to wait to get a table at the restaurant.

I didn't have to wait to get seated.

I visited this restaurant on a Monday at 9:30 a.m. I didn't have to wait for a table since the restaurant was only about half full.

The vintage decor immediately caught my attention.

My table was right next to one of these dividers, so I had plenty of time to admire its decorations.

Some decorations seemed to nod to the DC region where the restaurant is located.

This antique ad for "White House"-brand melons was an obvious nod to Washington, DC, about a 40-minute drive from this restaurant.

Overall, though, I was confused about whom this sort of decor is supposed to appeal to.

I love antiques, but as a millennial, none of the decorations are nostalgic for me. Many seemed to be from the 1930s or 1940s, meaning that they wouldn't mean anything to the vast majority of patrons, including baby boomers.

I was also confused by this light fixture hanging above my table.

This light was designed to look like a lantern but had a modern light bulb attached to the bottom.

The menu included lots of breakfast options.

My waiter told me that Grandma's Sampler Breakfast is his location's most popular breakfast order. But I wanted to try Cracker Barrel's fried chicken, so I opted for Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast instead. I also added an order of the Biscuit Beignets and a drip coffee.

I was surprised by the range of drinks that you can order at Cracker Barrel.

If it had been a weekend, maybe I would have ordered a mimosa or a glass of wine.

My breakfast showed up about 15 minutes after I ordered.

Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast includes a piece of fried chicken covered in gravy, two eggs, hash browns, as well as two biscuits with gravy.

The fried chicken wasn't anything special.

Maybe it was because I went out for soul food the weekend before, but this fried chicken seemed average. The breading wasn't very crispy, probably thanks to the gravy that was smothered on top.

The biscuits and gravy were also average.

I'm used to biscuits served with the gravy on top, but at Cracker Barrel, they come separated — which confused me — with the gravy in its own little container and not much room to pour it out.

I had to dip the biscuits in a cup of gravy.

The biscuits reminded me of the ones you buy in a cardboard tube and twist to open. The gravy, meanwhile, didn't taste very fresh.

After a bite of biscuit on its own, I started dipping it in the gravy, which felt wrong.

The biscuit beignets were my favorite part of this visit to Cracker Barrel.

My server didn't put in the order for the beignets until my breakfast came, but that worked out fine since they came out fresh from the fryer right as I finished my main meal.

They were fresh and tasty, especially considering they use the same dough as Cracker Barrel's biscuits.

Lots of foods taste better fried; the same was true for the biscuit beignets. These are made out of the same dough as Cracker Barrel's buttermilk biscuits, the restaurant says on its website. It just cuts them into smaller pieces, fries them, and coats them with cinnamon sugar.

Overall, this Cracker Barrel breakfast was fine, but not memorable.

The food tasted okay, but the textures weren't always right. The hash browns, for instance, were soggy.

I felt that breakfast would've been at least as good, and potentially better, if I had gone to Denny's or IHOP.

With breakfast finished, I headed to the Cracker Barrel store.

Old-fashioned snacks were a major offering at Cracker Barrel's "Old Country Store." Like the vintage ads and knick-knacks in the restaurant, they harkened back to the early 20th century.

You can also buy some of the same foods that are served in the restaurant.

If you were a big fan of what you ate at Cracker Barrel's restaurant, you could buy some to make at home.

And if you need a skillet to cook your at-home meal, the store has you covered.

Some of the cast iron skillets were made by Lodge specifically for Cracker Barrel.

Cracker Barrel's store sells a lot more than food and cooking supplies, though.

The more I looked around the store, the more confused I was about what the unifying theme was.

There was beach-themed home decor, even though this Cracker Barrel is far from the ocean.

This selection of items would've been right at home in a TJ Maxx, though the prices were much higher than you'd likely encounter at that store.

It was also an odd mix of items for a Cracker Barrel located hours away from the nearest beach.

There was also a surprising selection of vinyl records for sale.

Lots of music memorabilia was on offer, such as this vinyl of Journey's greatest hits.

The old-time, vaguely rural decorations also continued in the store.

You couldn't buy them, but the various old ads and farm tools contributed to a cluttered feel in the store.

Overall, I definitely saw what Cracker Barrel's CEO was talking about.

With mediocre food, lots of very old decorations, and an eclectic store, I was confused about what Cracker Barrel is trying to be. There was lots to look at, eat, and buy, but none seemed worth returning for.

I won't be coming back until Cracker Barrel rolls out some big changes.

I'm not sure that replacing the partitions with bookshelves will be enough. But it's clear that the Cracker Barrel restaurant and store I visited needs an update.

There were so many examples of attractions that trade on nostalgia. In order for that to work, the attraction needs to offer something that people recognize — consider a ride at Disneyland modeled after your favorite childhood movie, for example.

It felt like Cracker Barrel was trying to remind patrons of a bygone era. But I'm just not sure that it's resonating with enough people anymore.

Do you work at Cracker Barrel or another restaurant chain and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

• A severe housing shortage has made both buying and renting increasingly unaffordable.
• But those lucky enough to own a home are struggling, too. 
• Harvard report finds cost-burdened homeowners rose by three million from 2019 to 2022.

You may have heard it's a terrible time to buy or rent a home. A severe shortage of housing, high mortgage interest rates, and strong demand from a growing number of new households have made it increasingly unaffordable to put a roof over your head.

The only group that seems to be faring well through this housing crisis are homeowners who locked in low-interest mortgages before rates began soaring two years ago. The average rate for mortgages that homeowners currently hold is just about 4%, while the current 30-year interest rate for those who want to buy a house now is around 7%, according to a new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies on the state of US housing.

"Having locked in fixed rates with lower monthly payments, homeowners as a whole are paying less on housing debt service as a percentage of income than at any time since 1980," the report found.

As home prices soar, property owners are sitting on historic levels of home equity. The average homeowner's equity has soared by $28,000 just over the past year — growing to an average of about $305,000, according to Corelogic.

But even many of those lucky homeowners are increasingly struggling with the rising costs of home insurance premiums, home repairs, and property taxes. And they can't afford to move.

Lower-income, older people, and people of color are among the most vulnerable. Their options for moving or downsizing are increasingly limited with high mortgage rates and a scarcity of smaller, accessible homes.

The number of cost-burdened homeowners — those who spent more than 30% of their income on housing and utilities — rose by about three million people between 2019 and 2022. Most of this increase was among those who make less than $30,000 a year. A full 30% of Black and 28% of Hispanic homeowners are cost-burdened, compared to 21% of white homeowners, the Harvard report found.

"The all-in monthly costs of the median-priced home in the US are the highest since these data were first collected more than 30 years ago," the Harvard report found.

Insurance costs have risen dramatically in communities across the country — a result both of increasingly severe climate issues, including flooding and fires, and the elevated cost of home construction and repairs. Nationally, average home insurance premiums rose by 21% between May 2022 and May 2023, Policygenius found.

"Even if they're not paying a lot on the mortgage or property taxes, the maintenance, both in costs and labor, are often quite a burden on these households," Jenny Schuetz, an expert in urban economics and housing policy at the Brookings Institution, told Business Insider earlier this year.

• Having work friends has perks for workers and employers alike.
• Gallup's Ben Wigert said people's best friends at work "create a sense of trust, belonging, and connection."
• From work acquaintances to "work spouses," connections have changed amid hybrid and remote work.

Back in the pre-pandemic, full-time office era, Erin Mantz, 54, often had someone at work she could trust, commiserate with, count on, and have fun with — her "work spouse."

"It's not like a dating app," Mantz said. "I wasn't actively out there being like, 'Who can I pick?' It just sort of happened organically."

But now Mantz doesn't have a work spouse at Zeno Group where she's the vice president of employee engagement. While working a hybrid model could be a reason, Mantz speculated it also could be because she's part of an older generation "in a company that skews probably younger," working from a smaller office than many of her coworkers, or because of her level at the company.

With the rise of remote and hybrid work following the pandemic, work relationships have forever changed. Experts told BI that while workers tend to value more flexibility in the workplace — which remote and hybrid work allow — younger workers might gravitate toward in-person roles in the hopes doing so will facilitate social connections and deeper relationships. If they can't, they'll be more likely to experience loneliness.

A lack of work friends can be bad news for workers and employers. Ben Wigert, director of research for Gallup's workplace management practice, said in a written statement that people's best friends at work "create a sense of trust, belonging, and connection."

"Humans need each other and collaborate more effectively when they have real relationships," Wigert said. "If you're worried that a friendship will prevent people from being candid and productive, you have bigger underlying problems on your team. Great teams will attest who you work with makes all the difference."

Wigert noted "disruptive changes from where we work to the pace of work, how we serve our customers, rampant turnover, and a lot of restructuring." It could mean that employees and employers alike need to go the extra mile to build up that camaraderie. Mantz found that it's up to each person to reach out, chat with people, and make an effort to get to know them better.

"Because in this world, this hybrid world — and even if you're not a remote worker, but maybe your company has offices all over the country or all over the world — you're not going to organically be sitting next to someone where you can just chat," Mantz said. "So I think you have to push yourself a little bit to be a little bit more outgoing and interested in people."

How workplace connections have changed

With remote work, developing a work-spouse relationship is much more difficult due to limited in-person interactions.

Vicki Salemi, career expert for job-search site Monster, said in a written statement that this type of connection may be less close when working remotely full-time compared to when working a hybrid model or always working from an office.

"Plus, part of the work spouse relationship involves having that person to have your back, navigate office politics together and more and when you're remote, there are fewer opportunities to interact in person with social dynamics of the office," Salemi said.

Julianna Pillemer, an assistant professor of management and organization at New York University, told BI that the rise of remote work meant we are losing out on the key places that often facilitate closer relationships.

"This might look like the water cooler, the photocopier room, the break room, the hallway where people gather, any space that's just kind of like where people serendipitously bump into each other," she said. "That has traditionally been really important for fostering personal connections between employees."

Still, Pillemer said, relationships aren't all lost with remote work. Connecting through online interfaces like Zoom can allow coworkers to see each other's living spaces and pets, which can often be more intimate than a water cooler chat. The issue often arises when virtual social events end up being a mandatory, overplanned burden; it's not the same as spontaneously deciding to get drinks after work.

"A reason why I think Zoom happy hours backfired so hard is people don't want to feel forced," Pillemer said. "It's mandatory fun."

While some might discount water cooler chats as shallow small talk, Pillemer also noted it could help spark professional development. If a person is frequently in the office and actively looking to connect with others, they might be considered first for a promotion or a big project over someone who is fully remote.

Wigert noted that work best friends, work spouses, and similarly strong work connections can lead to being "more engaged, productive, and committed to their organization."

What work friendships and spouses look like for younger and older workers

Another challenge with the modern workplace is differing demands among generations. Joseph Fuller, a professor at Harvard's Business School and co-leader of the school's Managing the Future of Work Initiative, told BI that while older workers tend to be "a product of routine" and are more comfortable with the pre-pandemic fully in-person work schedule, younger workers are used to the flexibility of the workplace and are less likely to give that up.

But still, Fuller said, "If you are working hybrid a lot, you're not forming friendships, you're not broadening your personal network, you're not meeting people to socialize with, date, whatever else. And so you see in 20-somethings, in a lot of industries, an actual desire to go to the office."

Mantz finds the pros of having a work spouse outweigh the cons and said while it depends on the company and work culture, she thinks people in younger or older generations relative to Gen X don't really have this connection.

"I see a lot of the younger generations having a lot of really great, positive, friendly working relationships with people at the office," Mantz said. "A lot of folks who they work with, they would even call friends, but I think Gen X felt a need to really form alliances. So, while it was important to be friendly with everyone, I think we were a bit more cynical."

If you're new to the workplace and don't want to feel lonely in the workplace or just hoping to make some friends at work, Mantz suggested looking into company offerings, such as mentorship programs or even workplace book clubs. Mantz also advised people to reach out to people outside their generation.

"I think that that's a really important thing to do and not discount, well, that person doesn't seem like me, so I'm not going to make an effort if you will, because it really is a lot about forming relationships and alliances," Mantz said. "Kindness and interest go a long way, and I don't think that changes across the generations."

What is your experience with work friendships, work spouses, and loneliness at work? Reach out to these reporters to share at mhoff@businessinsider.com and asheffey@businessinsider.com.

• When I was younger, I was competitive and ran marathons. I also cycled and enjoyed rock climbing.
• As I've gotten older, I've let go of the need to prove myself. 
• Now, I focus on getting movement in different ways, including paddleboarding and yoga. 

In 1987, I ran the Big Sur Marathon, whose inspired pitch, "Run Along the Edge of the Western World," was irresistible. It was my personal best of the three marathons I had run at the time, clocking in at 3:56.

Running races was typical for me in my 30s when I was highly competitive, achievement-oriented, and needed to prove myself.

I focused on running, cycling, and rock climbing when I was younger

My husband Barry and I also bicycle-toured for years in Europe. I remember how fun it was one year in the Pyrenees, cycling in and out of France and Spain, climbing up to one pass, enjoying the breathtaking views, then zipping down to a charming village. The only trouble was that after our glorious descent, we'd face yet another hill to climb. We cycled uphill and down for two weeks straight. I'm glad that era is over!

Same with climbing Mt. Shasta in northern California, where, as I trudged up the intimidatingly steep icy slope in ill-fitting borrowed crampons, I seriously wondered if I might fall off the face of the earth. "I think I'll pass on Everest," I said to the other hikers when I reached the summit. Their laughter was the best part of the whole climb.

And I'll never forget the women's rock climbing class taught by a lithe, silver-haired woman named Annie. We were climbing a rock face above McCabe's Beach in Marin County. About halfway up the rock, I glanced behind and noticed we were the only clothed humans in sight. A bunch of nude men were playing volleyball and waving at us. Later, we realized it was not only a nude beach, but a gay hangout, because we couldn't see any other women besides ourselves.

Now I have a very different approach to fitness

During my 60s and 70s, I developed a radically different set of priorities. First, I do whatever I can to avoid falling. Three broken joints are more than enough. The first is a seriously compromised ankle from an excruciating landing while skydiving near Mt. Rainier 40 years ago. After my surgery, the orthopedist told me, "I put together everything I could recognize."

Thirty years later, another surgeon said that based on my X-rays, he assumed I'd be on crutches, but because I was so active, my ankle was pretty healthy, despite virtually no cartilage. "But no more running!" he added.

The other two falls were less traumatic. I fractured my pinky when I fell while running down a trail and my wrist when my Teva sandal got caught in a sidewalk crack.

Despite my active lifestyle, I have osteopenia, so I do strengthening yoga, weight-bearing exercises, and the Alexander technique, a mind-body modality that promotes good posture.

I still do hard things

The fact that I'm no longer competitive doesn't mean I'm just lying around. I subscribe to the message of a popular book titled "Do Hard Things." If I'm cycling up a hill, I tell myself, "Don't give up til your legs do!" Or if I feel like heading home while on my stand-up paddleboard, I'll say, "Come on, girl! You're not done yet!"

I spend more time in the water

I used to do most of my movement on land. But in recent years, I switched from running to open-water swimming, which morphed into paddleboarding, now one of my favorite fitness activities. It feels more like a spiritual practice than a form of conditioning, though.

I wander around Humboldt Bay, two blocks from our apartment in Eureka, California, and greet the seals (who look skeptically at this strange vertical being), admire herons, and, during high tide, paddle through an otherworldly slough with tiny crisscrossing waterways. Water is the ideal place to be when "the world is too much with us," as Wordsworth said.

Above all, I keep moving

If I had any advice to offer, it's this: do whatever it takes to keep moving. For myself, I increasingly want to be active outside, preferably in places of natural beauty. One exception is wandering for hours (alright, an hour!) along the over 3,000 windy, souk-like alleys in Guanajuato, the Mexican city where Barry and I live part time. I love these streets so much that I take people on tours.

Like the centenarians whose lifestyle I emulate, I avoid "exercise," which is a modern concept: artificial, timed, and structured. Instead I do what the body longs to do, which is navigate my environment on foot. Heading to the library, the bank, or yoga class, I stride along, singing childhood songs like "I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger" and "I Love to Go A-Wandering." Walking relaxes me when I'm tense, focuses me when distracted, and wakes me up when lethargic.

After all, what is a brisk walk but following in the steps of the ancients, joining the long line of bipeds before us, who headed outside, putting one foot in front of the other? The timeless practice of walking steadies and sustains me.

• Companies often want to signal they're growing or to let overworked employees think help is coming.
• But three in 10 companies have fake job listings, according to a Resume Builder survey.
• Fake listings can undermine trust — but sometimes lead to real interviews and employment. 

That job you applied for might be a mirage.

Companies often post bogus roles to ease employees' concerns about being overworked and signal that the organization is growing, said Resume Builder, which recently found three in 10 employers have fake job listings.

Resume Builder, which offers résumé templates, surveyed nearly 650 hiring managers in May and found nearly seven in 10 said it was "morally acceptable" to post fake jobs. Hiring managers credited the move with increasing revenue, morale, and how much workers get done.

Yet, Stacie Haller, Resume Builder's chief career advisor, told Business Insider that the practice could — no surprise — undermine confidence among existing and would-be employees.

"The last people you want to be sharing fake information to your staff is the HR people," she said.

The prominence of sham listings highlights the challenges many people, particularly desk workers in industries like tech, face in finding jobs. The overall labor market remains strong, but it's not a game of workers' choice like it was a few years ago when more employers were fighting for people.

Everybody's doing it

Haller said it's long been common for staffing firms to fish for talent with dummy listings. That way, when a client calls needing workers, the agency has people ready to go.

But now, Haller said, companies beyond staffing firms appear to be adopting the practice, which can frustrate job seekers and erode trust with workers.

The listings spanned entry-level positions to executive roles, according to the survey.

The reasons for listing fake jobs included signaling that the employer was willing to hire from outside the organization. Yet about six in 10 respondents also said companies wanted to make overworked employees think help was on the way — and that they could be replaced.

"Some people are saying, 'Well, it increased productivity.' And I'm thinking, 'Well, does it do it out of fear?'" Haller said.

She said it's a stretch to think that ghost listings would do a lot to boost morale among workers by making them believe the organization was growing.

About six in 10 hiring managers said the intent was to scoop up résumés for when a role opens. Haller said there's no issue collecting the information, provided employers are upfront about it.

"Why not be honest?" she said.

Haller said employers that dangle fake listings risk hurting themselves by undermining their reputations.

One reason is simply that companies often get caught. Two-thirds of hiring managers said those they meant to dupe, including workers, investors, and job seekers, figured out they were being hoodwinked.

Fake listings can lead to real jobs

About seven in 10 of the fake jobs were on a company website or LinkedIn, according to the survey. And, yet, despite all the shenanigans, many fake listings often lead to real interviews — and even employment.

Four in 10 hiring managers said they always contacted workers who applied for made-up jobs. Forty-five percent said they sometimes contacted those job seekers. Among companies that contacted applicants, 85% report interviewing the person.

"A lot of them are getting contacted and interviewed at some point, so it's not necessarily a black box," Haller said.

How you can spot a sham listing

Haller said it's best to try to determine who posted a job. Going to the hiring manager on LinkedIn or to someone you know at the company is often a better route than applying cold, anyway, she said. And look when the job was listed.

"If it was five months ago, and it's still up there, it's fake," she said.

Of course, not every unanswered job submission indicates that a listing isn't real. Sometimes, the problem isn't the worker but the CV, Haller said.

"It's easy to say, 'I sent out 500 résumés and got nothing.' And then I look at the résumé and they have an AOL address, and it's 20 pages, and I have no idea what they want to do. So, 'No, you're not getting a response,'" she said.

Haller lamented fictional aspects to any part of the job equation.

"'People lie on their résumés. So what?' That's horrifying. Hiring managers lie to hire people. 'Oh, we have great benefits, and you'll get promoted.' And it's a lie. None of this is acceptable," she said.

Haller is optimistic that Gen Z workers, who are expected to outnumber full-time boomers in the labor force in 2024, will demand change because surveys indicate many young people share an interest in preserving their mental health and in employers being open with their people.

"The new generation coming up isn't going to stand for this," she said.

That's a good thing, Haller said. "Anytime I see the word 'fake' in any part of the hiring process, it's alarming."

• Angela Babin, 62, struggles to live on $1,104 a month in Social Security and $28 in SNAP. 
• Her experience highlights a growing crisis, as many older adults don't have enough retirement savings. 
• More than half of Americans over 65 have an annual income of $30,000 or less, per the Census Bureau.

Angela Babin lives in a mobile home in Houma, Louisiana — about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.

Her heating and electricity haven't worked very well since Hurricane Ida swept through the area three years ago, and she has to boil all her water on the stove to be able to drink or use it. It makes her nervous: she has arthritis and she's worried she could burn herself trying to move a still-bubbling pot.

Babin, 62, lives alone. She has for years, ever since her mother and brother died. The three of them used to live together, with Babin as their caregiver. They were the only family she had left, she said.

Now, Babin is kept company by her two cats and two dogs, who "mean the world" to her. She lives on her Social Security income, which she first started receiving in 2008 after she had to retire early for medical reasons. According to documents reviewed by Business Insider, the check comes out to $1,104 a month.

Even with the Social Security check and some SNAP food benefits, Babin said it's difficult to afford groceries. She rarely has any new clothes and hasn't been able to afford a haircut in years.

"I have to survive," she said. "I have no choice."

Babin's experience mirrors others BI has heard. A growing number of older adults in the US are facing a retirement crisis, as limited or nonexistent savings accounts require many to depend on Social Security — a federal fund that could start shrinking by 2030.

Peak boomers, the latest cohort of older adults under 65 to retire, are especially vulnerable to these retirement challenges. The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey found that more than half of Americans over 65 have an annual income of $30,000 or less.

Babin said she "never in a million years" thought she would be in this financial situation.

Babin's mobile home needs repairs, but she struggles with daily expenses

About 16 years ago, Babin and her husband divorced. She lost most of her assets in the settlement and was forced to stop work and start collecting Social Security around that time due to complications from diabetes. She has no remaining savings.

Like the millions of other older Americans living on a fixed Social Security income, Babin said it's difficult to get by.

When Hurricane Ida hit southeastern Louisiana in 2021, the mobile home Babin owns was badly damaged. The repairs are expensive and she hasn't been able to get much of it fixed since the storm. That's why her hot water doesn't work, she said.

Babin also worries about having enough to eat. She said she receives $28 a month in SNAP benefits, but that's barely enough to cover bread, milk, and coffee. Occasionally, Babin visits food pantries, but she said the food is often spoiled, or she can't eat the items available due to her diabetes.

For healthcare, Babin is enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare, which covers most of her healthcare and insulin costs. She has a car, but typically only drives to essential places like the doctor's office because she can barely afford gas.

ADDED:It's especially difficult for single people and older adults to qualify for assistance. Many US safety nets are set up for families with young, dependent children.

Babin, for example, Babin can't access programs like WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and some tax credits because she lives alone. And, even though her Social Security income is close enough to the poverty line to qualify for SNAP, the support she receives is limited — and it can't help cover her other expenses.

With limited options for help, Babin she feels stuck.

"I don't want to be rich, I just need to be comfortable," she said. "I just want to know that I can have food when I need it and a nice roof over my head."

Are you living paycheck to paycheck or on Social Security? Are you open to sharing how you spend your money? If so, reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.

• Ukraine is trapped in a strategy that favors Russia, a Ukrainian security expert argues.
• Without a grand strategy for victory, the most that Ukraine can do is try to hold on.
• "The lack of a strategy for victory will turn this war into a war of attrition," Oleksandr Danylyuk told BI.

Ukraine is caught in a strategic trap. It barely has the strength to keep Russia from making major advances, yet it is not strong enough to eject Russian forces from the territory it held prior to the 2022 invasion. The result is a war of attrition that Ukraine can't win.

The solution? Build up Ukrainian military power and compel Russia to agree to peace, argues a Ukrainian security expert. But that can't happen unless Ukraine devises a grand strategy that extends beyond mere survival that's characterized much of the war in 2024 as Russia exploited the long delay of US arms support.

"The lack of a strategy for victory will turn this war into a war of attrition for Ukraine, which completely coincides with Russian interests," Oleksandr Danylyuk told Business Insider.

Danylyuk dismisses the notion that even with Western aid, Ukraine can match Russia in the sheer numbers of military power like tanks, artillery and troops. "Trying to win a war with Russia at the expense of only a symmetrical mass increase is a flawed strategy, given that Russia has a larger number of [military-age] human reserves (about 30 million people in Russia, compared to about 8 million people in Ukraine), significant stockpiles of weapons and military equipment inherited from the USSR or built by 2022, as well as a developed defense-industrial complex and a powerful mining industry that satisfies its needs for a significant amount of strategic materials," he wrote in an essay for the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank.

That leaves improving the quality of Ukraine's military. But this involves more than better weapons and tactics. Danylyuk argues that political mobilization is just as important, a view that seems reminiscent of the 19th Century German military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz, who envisioned a nation's war effort as a trinity comprised of the people, government and military.

"The political effectiveness of a military organization consists of its ability to receive financial support, the provision of weapons and military equipment, and the replenishment of human forces in the volume and quality necessary to eliminate existing threats," Danylyuk wrote. However, "the political effectiveness of the [Armed Forces of Ukraine] remains insufficient, as Ukraine's defense needs are currently only partially met."

Danylyuk blames Western restrictions on the types of weapons being supplied, and how they can be used. The US and Europe have long imposed restraints on using long-range weapons, such as ATACMS long-range guided rockets, to hit targets deep inside Russia. Only recently has the Biden administration begun to relax that policy. Easy victories with Western weapons have failed to materialize as the war has dug in. It's also clear that even with robust EU and US support, Ukraine is still at a disadvantage against the Russian war machine in a years-long fight.

Danylyuk also worries that political divergences between Ukraine and its allies are undermining Ukrainian military effectiveness. Ukraine's current government wants to liberate all occupied territory, which is "undeniably fair and rational, but it ignores the fact that the liberation of territory does not necessarily mean the end of the war," he wrote. On the other hand, US and European desires for a negotiated settlement "will be viewed by Russia as a tactical respite which can be used to restore and build capabilities and plan a new phase of aggression."

In other words, Russia could exploit a peace deal to rebuild its battered forces before launching another invasion of Ukrainian lands.

The result is that the Ukrainian military isn't sure what kind of war to prepare for. "The AFU are in an extremely difficult situation, as the political leaderships of both Ukraine and its partner countries see these goals in different ways, which negatively affects the ability of the AFU to develop and implement a military strategy aimed at achieving them," wrote Danylyuk.

Without a grand strategy for victory, the most that Ukraine can do is hold its own, Danylyuk told Business Insider. "The planning of individual operations, the assessment and provision of the needs of the AFU, the development of training programs and preparation, and the introduction of new tactical techniques can at best support Ukraine's ability to conduct the war, but not to win it."

There are too many competing visions of Ukrainian victory, he argues. These include retaking all lost Ukrainian territory, threatening Russia's hold on Crimea to force it into negotiations, punishing Russian industry and exports to try to force Russians to reconsider the war's costs, or exacting such a heavy toll that Russian leaders are compelled to withdraw similar to the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan.

Danylyuk does fault Ukraine for some military mistakes, such as failure to adequately prepare and train for the failed counteroffensive against well-entrenched Russian forces in summer 2023. But he considers tactical improvements to be at the bottom of Ukraine's to-do list.

The West can boost Ukrainian military power by focusing on weapons that have already proven devastating against Russian vulnerabilities, according to Danylyuk. This includes cheap naval drones that have sunk numerous Russian warships and driven Russia's Black Sea Fleet from the Ukrainian coast, as well as giving Ukraine more Western aircraft and air-to-air missiles to contest Russian airpower.

Interestingly, Danylyuk blames the West for failing to adapt its equipment to the lessons of the Ukraine war. "This concerns, first of all, their ability to quickly improve military equipment not only because Ukraine needs it, but also because the security of the partners themselves depends on its improvement. The current pace of this improvement is completely unsatisfactory, and the approaches to identifying and eliminating the shortcomings of such systems require a complete revision."

Danylyuk's analysis does leave some questions unanswered. For example, as the Germans discovered on the Eastern Front in World War II, quality doesn't always triumph over quantity. And as Ukraine's failed 2023 counteroffensive demonstrated, achieving decisive battlefield success is no easy matter. With Russian society mobilized for total war, and with Moscow able to procure resources from allies such as China, North Korea and Iran, Russia's ability to wage a long war is considerable.

Also, choosing a grand strategy is easier said than done. For example, the Ukrainian government vows to liberate all occupied territory, including the Crimean peninsula and eastern Ukraine which Russia has annexed. Some critics say this is unrealistic, and Ukraine will have to accept some loss of territory.

Whatever strategy Kyiv chooses, Danylyuk argues, it can't be the status quo.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

• I recently went on my first cruise with my parents, sister, and grandmother. 
• I'd never been on a cruise before and was surprised that there were things for all of us to enjoy.
• We all had a good time and I'll treasure the memories we made together. 

Until last month, I had never been on a cruise. Neither had my parents or my sister, but my grandmother — my nan — often travels by cruise ship, so we decided to join her on a cruise.

We decided on a trip to the Norwegian fjords, which we all wanted to see, and traveled on the 5,206-capacity Iona — the UK's largest cruise ship until 2022.

It was the first time we'd all gone on vacation as a family of five. My 16-year-old sister, me at 25, my parents — both 50 — and my nan, who is 72 — were there.

The environment took some adjusting

The cruise took us a couple of days to get used to. The idea of being at sea felt almost claustrophobic when compared to the pedestrian-friendly city vacations I'm used to, and my nan didn't adjust to the sheer number of children (and the noise) on board at first, because she's used to going on cruises when children are at school.

But we gradually found a rhythm. My family are early risers, but I don't usually eat breakfast, so I'd wake up with them, have a coffee in bed, and then head to the gym while they went to get food. If we were spending a day in a port, we'd enjoy a few hours exploring, probably getting a coffee or some lunch, before heading back on the ship for the rest of the day.

There were plenty of places on the ship where I could spend some time by myself, too. There was an adults-only area on one of the top decks, so as we were blessed with surprisingly good weather, I'd go up there, order a beer or a cocktail, and read my book in the sun. I also enjoyed spending time in one of the quieter bars on the ship. I bought the WiFi package largely so I could keep in touch with my girlfriend and keep an eye on emails, but it also allowed me to kill some time scrolling social media or checking the soccer news.

It was good to spend more time with my family

I was a little nervous about spending so much time with my family. Apart from a short trip to Madrid with my dad last year, it was the first trip I'd taken with my parents and sister in two years, and the first with my nan since 2015.

It wasn't always easy to go without the space I'm used to — and to go longer than usual without seeing my girlfriend — but the trade-off of seeing more of my family was worth it. The trip was only for a week, and it was good to spend time with both of my parents, as well as my sister, who, at 16, is getting older and looking toward university. I liked spending more time with my nan, too, particularly now that she's in her 70s and is still in good health.

Now that we're back, I find myself missing the trip. While there are aspects of being on a cruise that I don't necessarily love — the bars and restaurants can start to feel a bit samey after a while, for example — there was a lot that I enjoyed.

The places we visited were unforgettable, too. From riding the Skylift in the village of Loen and taking in the picturesque surroundings to visiting the coolest coffee shop in Stavanger, one of Norway's biggest cities, there were some great destinations I probably would never have visited had we not decided to go for the cruise.

I always associated cruises with retired couples and families with young children, but I found plenty to do as someone in their 20s, particularly because I wanted a relaxing vacation. And being able to spend time with my family made it all the more memorable.