While parents of little kids might encourage their youngins to write letters to Santa Claus around this time of year, pet parents can send their furry friends’ holiday wishes to Chewy Claus. The campaign from pet brand Chewy asks animal owners to submit wishlists to this portal through Dec. 20, and for every letter submitted, the company will donate 1 pound of food to nonprofits — up to 600,000 pounds. And the letters themselves aren’t for naught: Some lucky pets will be selected to actually receive the items on their lists.
There’s no shortage of advice about how to make new friends in adulthood, which is particularly important given that Americans are facing a “loneliness epidemic.” Today, we’ve got another tip to keep up your social sleeves: Join group fitness classes. Whether you’re into tai chi, yoga, or Zumba, workout classes check off multiple factors that research shows help bridge meaningful connections between strangers, Mikala Jamison reports for The Atlantic. Those include bringing people together in the same place, at the same time, on multiple occasions, and over shared experiences or interests. “Automatically, when you walk into a fitness class, you likely are sharing the idea that ‘We like to exercise,’ or ‘We like to do this particular kind of exercise,’” said athlete psychotherapist Stephanie Roth Goldberg. “It breaks the ice differently than standing in a bar or at someone’s house.” Simply attending classes won’t automatically bring you your new bestie, though, so what do you do once you’ve signed up and showed up? “If you’ve been going to the same class for a while and start seeing the same people, don’t pretend like you’ve never interacted before,” advised Danielle Friedman, a journalist and the author of Let’s Get Physical. However it goes, remember the wise words Barbra Streisand once sang, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
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New Trail Allows Travelers to Explore Europe’s Lesser-Known Gems on 2 Wheels
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Grab your helmet! The Dinaric Alps, a mountain range in southern Europe, are home to a new 3,400-mile bike trail called the Trans Dinarica — and it’s the first cycling route to link all eight countries of the Western Balkans. Stretching from Slovenia to Albania, the path offers access to some of the continent’s most remote and under-the-radar gems. Picture: postcard-worthy villages, pristine lakes, uncrowded parks, and quirky monuments. But traversing the lesser-known sites is only part of the lure. The route also connects a “patchwork of cultures,” the BBC reports. Decades after Yugoslavia broke up into six different states, the formerly war-torn region is now full of neighbors from different backgrounds and religions living among one another. In this sense, the pathway isn’t only special for visitors but also for locals. “I hope that Trans Dinarica can connect the region in a new way,” Jan Klavora, one of the creators, told the outlet. Check out the new route’s sweeping views.
Culture
Startup Helps Homebuyers Build Equity, “Brick by Brick”
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You don’t need us to tell you the challenges of buying a home these days. But we will tell you about a startup working to make the dream of homebuying a reality for more people. Ownify, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, connects buyers with investors, so the buyers pay 2% down and an investor group covers the rest. The buyers then make monthly payments to the investor to build their equity “brick by brick,”Fast Company previously reported. The goal is that, by the five-year mark, they’ll have enough equity to sell and then qualify for a regular mortgage to buy the house at the current market rate, without any competitors in the mix. This smaller-chunk payment strategy comes with the perk of flexibility and control, according to Ownify founder Frank Rohde. “You have the ability to build equity in the home,” he said. “But you don’t have this large mortgage balance that potentially drags you down or creates this proportionate payment burden on a monthly basis.” The company is set to expand beyond Raleigh, to Nashville, Denver, and then potentially part of California. “Eventually I want to scale this to really be across the country,” Rohde said.
In Other News
A free at-home test increased colon cancer screenings threefold, per a new study (read more)
Scientists are using sunlight to convert hard-to-recycle black plastics into reusable materials (read more)
Coming into the world at 2.7 pounds, a pudu fawn was born in Argentina, sparking hope for the rare species (read more)
An AI tool shows what future flooding could look like to help residents prepare for storms (read more)
Gold coins worth over $1 million have been recovered after they were stolen from a shipwreck (read more)
Something We Love
A Thing or Two With Claire and Erica Mondays can be hard, and A Thing or Two can help. The weekly newsletter — brightening Mondays since 2012 — delivers 10 finds that founders Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo are excited about right now, from recipes to books to beauty products. It hits the perfect balance of fun, informative, and unexpected. And if you get hooked, you can get more Claire and Erica by tuning into their podcast of the same name.*
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Inspiring Story
Happy endings all around
When Emily Roberts and Dylan McCay rescued an abandoned and injured dog on the side of the road, they quickly learned she needed surgery. Without skipping a beat, they emptied their wedding fund to help the pup, who has since fully recovered and moved in with them. “It felt like a miracle,” Roberts said. To top it off, the GoFundMe the couple set up to help with the remaining costs raised over $47,000, so they can have that wedding after all.
Photo of the Day
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“Don’t fight winter — embrace it!” That’s a message from the Department of the Interior, and we cosign it. Especially when you consider that winter brings these dark skies to Alaska’s Denali National Park, allowing such “prime viewing” of the northern lights.
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