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Successful power couples that stay together have these 8 things in common

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mark zuckerberg priscilla chan

From Google cofounder Sergey Brin's split from 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki to SpaceX founder Elon Musk's second divorce from actress Talulah Riley, the separation of several high-powered couples could signal that extreme career success comes at the expense of relationship success. 

But relationship experts say this doesn't always ring true. You can have a successful marriage and balance high-powered careers — it just takes work.

Dr. Mike McNulty, a Master Certified Gottman Therapist, says maintaining a marital friendship, romance, and intimacy, managing ongoing conflict that is inevitable in marriage, and creating and maintaining a meaningful relationship is more challenging for partners with successful careers because they have less time to do so.

He says these couples are at more risk when the connection to the career becomes primary, and the commitment to and trust in the relationship becomes questionable. "Having a spouse addicted to work can feel like as much of a betrayal as extramarital affair to the other spouse," McNulty says.

But as research psychologist and couples counselor John Gottman explains in his book "What Makes Love Last," 40 years of research shows that trust and commitment are crucial to holding relationships together. "When both partners have a strong commitment to a relationship, this leads to a strong sense of trust, which makes love last," McNulty explains.

Here's how some of the most successful married couples keep their relationships strong:

SEE ALSO: Marriage under the spotlight — why successful people get divorced

DON'T MISS: 7 ways being married influences your success

They prioritize spending time together

Handel Group co-president and life coach Laurie Gerber says shared experiences are key.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, for example, drew up a relationship agreement with his then-girlfriend and now-wife Priscilla Chan when she moved to Palo Alto, California, several years ago. In it, he agreed to take her on a date once a week and spend 100 minutes of alone time each week with her outside the office or his apartment.

McNulty says creating rituals can help. "Rituals are more formal ways of connecting and ensure spouses reserve time for one another or their families and make specific plans to do the things they want to do," he explains.

Whether it's a weekly date night or a trip for just the immediate family, he says busy, successful partners have to be more careful with their time to make sure they connect with one another and enjoy the things that define or give meaning to their relationships.



Their time is spent doing good

Gerber says it also helps if power couples spend time doing things outside of the ego.

Last year Zuckerberg and Chan launched the philanthropic LLC the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative together, and Bill and Melinda Gates have overseen their own foundation together since 2000. 

"People dedicated to making the world better or with a spiritual side seem to have more chance of success in partnership because they aren't depending on external factors only to feel good," she says.



They listen and empathize

"Make time every day to talk with your spouse, in person or by phone, about one another's lives," McNulty says, noting that texting is often not enough.

"Focus on the stressful things or events that are important to your spouse. Listen. Help your spouse express his or her feelings. Empathize. Show support. Don't problem solve or fix. Most of us just want to be heard," he explains.

According to McNulty, Gottman's research shows that this kind of conversation is the one common thing that all successful couples do after marriage therapy.

In The Gottman Method of Couple Therapy, he says this kind of conversation is called a "stress reducing conversation." "Successful, busy couples' relationships will suffer if they fail to find a way to have this type of conversation on a regular basis," McNulty says.



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Neiman Marcus is selling a pork roast that costs $410

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Neiman Marcus, the upscale department store known for its annual "Fantasy Gifts" guide for the ultra-wealthy, is selling some luxury premade food items — and they're pretty over the top.

There's a stuffed pork crown roast, for example, that retails for $410 plus an additional $32 for shipping. Already fully cooked and frozen, the roast weighs approximately 12 pounds and can serve up to 24 people. It comes with three pounds of dried cherry and roasted pecan dressing.

Also on offer is a set of four seven-ounce chicken pot pies that are on sale for $75, plus $15.50 for shipping. Or if you're in the mood for tamales, you can order a pack of six dozen of them for $92, in addition to an $18 delivery fee. 

Neiman Marcus is known for its upscale products, but these are certainly some of the most luxurious frozen foods we've ever seen. A representative for the store told Business Insider that it has offered pre-made food for more than 20 years, and the pork roast is one of its best sellers.

Neiman Marcus ships perishable items directly from its vendors to customers, and this kind of delivery is not available on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, or holidays. If you need to cancel an order, you'll have to let them know at least four days before your delivery date. 

SEE ALSO: 30 iconic American hotel bars everyone should have a drink at

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Meet the 94-year-old park ranger who works full-time and never wants to retire

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At 94, Betty Reid Soskin is something of a celebrity.

The park ranger assigned to the Rosie the Riveter-World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California, writes frequently on her blog, has her own Wikipedia page, and has been interviewed by numerous media outlets.

She's become so popular, she says, that the park's tour audiences have doubled, tours are now booked months ahead, and the park has added tours to keep up.

There's no question why Soskin is such a celebrity: She's seen it all and has lived "lots and lots of lives," as she tells NPR.

Soskin served as a clerk in an all-black trade union during World War II, became a political activist and noted songwriter during the civil-rights movement, and now interprets her wartime experience through her stories.

But she is not simply the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service — Soskin helped shape what the park has become, first as a consultant and later as an interpretive park ranger, and she's even been honored by President Barack Obama for her service.

Soskin works five days a week, about five hours a day, and occasionally works extra hours. Most Wednesdays and Fridays, Soskin will spend the day answering emails and requests from her desk at headquarters in downtown Richmond. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays she'll work at the Visitor Education Center and give two or three presentations in its small theater.

Some days she'll conduct bus tours through the sites that make up the national park or give presentations.

Last year, Soskin gave Business Insider a glimpse into her life, and she had a lot to say:

SEE ALSO: 'You're at war': I went inside the new TSA Academy, where officers learn to detect bombs, spot weapons, and find out why failure isn't an option

How did you get started at the National Park Service?

I entered as a state employee at the planning stages of an emerging national park in 2000. One of the scattered sites was the Ford Assembly Plant, which was designed by Albert Kahn and constructed upon state-owned land.

That means that, as a field representative for a member of the California State Assembly, there was a seat at the planning table because that important iconic building had been constructed on state-owned land. It was built on air rights. That placed me at the planning table, which eventually morphed into the role of a consultant to the National Park Service, which then evolved into a contract worker paid for by the Rosie Trust. I resigned my position with the State in 2003.



What were early influences on your career?

When one has lived through nine decades before entering the park service, holding many roles — wife, mother, artist, caretaker, merchant, administrative aide, field representative for a member of the state legislature, administrator for a research project for the UC Berkeley psychology department, chief of staff for a city councilman for the City of Berkeley — all added color to my current career and influences my work in every way.



What skills are most useful to have to be a park ranger?

That would be dependent upon the field in which one is assigned. Since the National Park Service rangers cover the full spectrum of career opportunities — from botany, marine biology, and forestry to communications and graphic design — the required skills would reflect a variety of areas.

If one is in interpretation, people skills are surely a premium, and enough imagination and research abilities to enable one to communicate the themes of any particular park site.

I must admit, though, that I'm not a trained interpreter, and what skills I may process came in with me — having been acquired long before I discovered the park service.

Becoming an interpreter, however, allowed me to be able to identify and hone what skills I brought with me into a more marketable shape, but there is little that is newly acquired. That probably has to do with my age, and the extraordinary opportunity I experienced by being hired as an interpretive ranger at the age of 85. The fact that I came in as a primary source for the period being celebrated and memorialized — 1941 to 1945 — was surely a given.



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This 'head hammock' could take airplane naps to a new level

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If you've ever traveled for a long period, this has probably happened to you: You wake up from a nap, and you have a horrible kink in your neck.

A new travel pillow called the Nod Pod aims to help you avoid that nap-induced neck pain.

The Nod Pod is basically like a hammock for your head. Featuring a memory-foam pillow, it keeps your neck and head in line with your torso, which is the position you often sleep in at night. It also keeps your head from falling forward or leaning left or right.

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The Nod Pod works on all types of seats, according to the creators, from planes seats to car seats to office chairs. To set it up, all you need to do is hook the two ends of the bungee cord to the back of the seat.

The Kickstarter campaign, which launched in July, has garnered over $245,000. Estimated delivery for the $32 product is in November.

This is not the first odd-looking travel pillow to raise big money on Kickstarter. Woolip, a large pillow that you place your face and arms in, raised over $277,000 in May. Another, called the FaceCradle, launched a campaign on August 17 and has raised over $415,000.

Although you will look a little silly wearing all of these, a sound nap on your next flight might be worth it.

SEE ALSO: 35 photos that will make you grateful for your commute

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I've used a meditation app loved by Wall Streeters and Olympic athletes daily for the past 8 months, and now I can't imagine my life without it

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Over the past eight months, I've had fun being the obnoxious guy who tells everyone he meditates every day. 

Ever since I decided to try out the guided-meditation app Headspace last December after hearing about it on Tim Ferriss' podcast, I've been much more aware of my thoughts and emotions, and with a few exceptions (including a rough day at the airport) I've been much calmer and more collected in times of stress.

I've dealt with occasionally intense anxiety since I was 11 years old, so that's an accomplishment.

Headspace isn't a hippy-dippy placebo; it's a straightforward teacher that helps you learn the basics of breathing and visualization associated with secular meditation.

The company reports it has 8.5 million active users, and this includes Wall Streeters, Olympic athletes, and celebrity executives like Arianna Huffington and Richard Branson. Companies like Goldman Sachs and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have bought package subscriptions for employees. The app is free to download, but a subscription unlocks full access to all of its lessons.

After using it for so long, I've gotten to a point where it's become an essential part of my daily routine. Below, I'll break down what it's like to use.

SEE ALSO: I followed Barack Obama's morning routine for a week, and it taught me a valuable lesson about mental toughness

Headspace was founded by Rich Pierson, left, and Andy Puddicombe in 2012. Puddicombe was formally trained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk during a 10-year excursion in his 20s. Headspace's lessons are secularized versions of exercises Puddicombe studied.



Puddicombe is your Headspace teacher. He appears periodically in video tutorials to give you a bit of extra insight. I've become very familiar with his English-accented voice!



When you begin Headspace, you have access to the 30-day Foundation pack, which introduces you to the basics of guided meditation.

After going through the first 30 days, you can access the rest of the exercises through a subscription.

I signed up for the year subscription, which now goes for $96, though you may find some promo codes floating around for a discount.

It's certainly not cheap, but if you take it as $8 a month, it's worth it for a daily user.



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Starbucks is trying a new initiative to stop wasting so much food

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Baristas at every Starbucks in the US collectively trash thousands of sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, and cookies at the end of each day.

In March, the coffee chain announced that it would start donating that unsold food to those in need. The program, called FoodShare, is a partnership between Starbucks and the nonprofits Food Donation Connection (FDC) and Feeding America and aims to combat hunger and food waste.

As of August 25, Starbucks has donated more than 300,000 meals to local food banks. About 1,800 locations currently participate, but the company says it will onboard all of its 7,600 US stores by 2019.

Every day, members from the FDC pick up Starbucks' surplus food, put it in refrigerated vans, and redistribute it to food pantries.

Starbucks estimates that the program will provide 5 million ready-made meals to charities in its first year. The company hopes to deliver 50 million meals by 2021. 

Starbucks

The FDC is the largest hunger-relief nonprofit in the US and already works with chains like Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell, the Cheesecake Factory, and Chipotle. The latter two companies donate food from all of their stores nationwide.

The new program is just one of many efforts geared towards minimizing America's food waste. Other larger wholesalers, like Target, Sam's Club, and Walmart, donate millions pounds of food to pantries in partnership with Feeding America.

Governments around the world are also trying to fight the problem. In February, the French parliament introduced a bill that forces the country's supermarkets to donate all of their unsold food to charity. 

The US throws out approximately 40% of its food, with about 15% of it coming from cafés and restaurants. Globally, we waste about 2.7 trillion pounds of food a year.

"This food is going to make a difference, whether it’s a child not going hungry for the night or a family that’s able to enjoy a protein plate that they would not have otherwise been able to afford at Starbucks," Kienan McFadden, a Starbucks store manager, said in a statement. "Rescuing food in this way from being thrown away will change lives."

SEE ALSO: Exfoliating soaps and body washes might be banned worldwide

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NOW WATCH: How to make a Pumpkin Spice Latte that tastes better than Starbucks

Why hitting the snooze button is the worst thing you can do in the morning

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When the alarm goes off in the morning, a common reaction is to hit the snooze button so that you can get a few extra minutes of sleep. It turns out this causes more harm than good. These are the scientifically proven consequences of hitting the snooze button.

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Meet the private-jet startup backed by Jay Z and the Saudi royal family

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Private jet JetSmarter

Private jets are expensive to charter, often costing thousands of pounds. Right now they're mainly used by the ultrarich to get around, but a growing number of apps are trying to reduce the cost.

One of the most prominent private-jet startups is JetSmarter, which uses a membership model and something called "empty legs" to reduce the cost of flying on a private jet.

Business Insider went to the private-jet terminal at Luton airport to meet the company.

Luton has a little-known section that's kept separate from the normal terminals. If you can afford to charter a private jet then you drive into the airport using a dedicated entrance, sit in a VIP lounge, and then drive your fancy car straight up to the jet and fly off to somewhere nice.

Paul Grusevich, JetSmarter's head of global expansion, sits in the corner of the private-jet lounge. He has an indistinct accent that you only get by living all over the world, and the sunglasses to match. We walk through the plush lounge and jump into a car that drives us to a small private jet that's available to JetSmarter customers.

JetSmarter works by buying up "empty legs" from private-jet operators. An empty leg is when a private jet returns from a trip to its home airport, or if it's repositioning to prepare to pick up more passengers. Those flights don't have any passengers — just the pilots and crew.

The company buys empty legs in bulk and offers them to paying members free. It says it gets a "vast" discount on the prices of empty legs but declined to give an approximate amount. Grusevich says it results in a "win-win" scenario for operators as they're able to make money from flights that were, well, empty.

People pay a yearly fee to join one of JetSmarter's three different membership tiers, and that gets them access to the private-jet booking system. The least expensive tier, "access," costs $4,000 (£3,000) a year and has a $2,000 (£1,500) joining fee. It grants you access (funnily enough) to JetSmarter's app, which lets customers book "empty leg" flights free.

Private jet lounge

The next tier up is "smart," which lets you book seats on jets chartered by JetSmarter that run regularly scheduled flights, and also lets you charter your own jet. That costs $10,000 (£7,500) per year with a $5,000 (£3,777) initiation fee.

And the most expensive tier is "sophisticated." It costs $40,000 (£30,200) a year with a $5,000 initiation fee but gives you $20,000 (£15,100) of flight credits. Sophisticated membership lets you make four outstanding reservations and you can book seats for other people, even if you're not on the flight.

JetSmarter doesn't make money from individual flights, Grusevich explains. Instead it's all about the membership fees. That helps the company overcome the low margins in the private-jet industry, which has seen several companies shut down. The New York Times reported earlier this year on the death of companies like Blackjet and Beacon, which aimed to make private-jet flights cheaper.

Grusevich, however, sees JetSmarter as very different to other companies that offer similar services. "I would argue that we do not have any direct competitors because there are services out there that only sell empty legs, there are services out there that only give shuttles, there are services out there that only give charters. There is no service that only gives all three," he argues. "Plus we also have a 24-hour concierge service through the app. It’s like a WhatsApp service."

When asked how many people actually use JetSmarter, Grusevich says that it transported a total of 20,000 people last year (which includes people who had seats booked for them by JetSmarter members) and it had 800,000 downloads and people registering through the app.

AirbusScroll through the app and you'll see a list of all the types of aircraft you can hire. There's everything from a helicopter to get you to the city (JetSmarter offers free chopper rides for some routes on Fridays) and an Airbus passenger plane.

Do people actually charter an entire Airbus through JetSmarter? Grusevich explains that yes, they do: "We sometimes have a CEO of a company become a member and he’s using it for himself. He likes the service so much that when he takes his company on a big outing somewhere, they get an Airbus."

JetSmarter doesn't make any extra money if you charter an Airbus through its app, as it pays the fees for chartering the flight. It's an expensive way of doing business, but the company has some impressive investors. Rapper Jay Z is a backer, as is the Saudi royal family and Twitter's director of product strategy Wayne Chang.

Grusevich says that 90% of the company's investors used the service before investing. And what's it like working with the Saudi royal family? He says they're very helpful: "We reach out to them more often that they reach out to us if we have a cultural question or we ask for a recommendation for a PR company to work with that they’re well acquainted with. That’s the level of involvement, and they’re happy to help."

As well as high-profile investors, JetSmarter has some well-known clients. Kim Kardashian tweeted about it to her millions of followers, which Grusevich says overloaded the company's servers for a while because of the interest it received. But the stunt backfired when it led to headlines like, "Kim Kardashian mocked after telling fans to download private jet app" and "The Kardashians slammed for not disclosing relationships to companies they hype on Instagram."

Celebrities aren't usually paid to promote JetSmarter, Grusevich says. Instead they're usually offered to try the service. That's all part of JetSmarter's strategy for appealing to people around the world who can afford to fly on private jets.

Before expanding to a new market, JetSmarter buys flight data and examines it to see which routes are popular. It also translates its app to the local language and looks at how many downloads it has had already.

The company then hosts and sponsors events that will cater toward people who can afford to join. But even then, JetSmarter is selective about who it wants to be seen using its service. "You have to be very careful. Just because someone is famous doesn’t mean they’re good for our product," Grusevich says.

Don't people hate having to share private jets with other people? It certainly doesn't seem very private, and the tiny jet I was sat in on the tarmac with Grusevich wasn't much more spacious than a normal town car. "It’s a country club in the sky. It’s people who can afford a membership that get to [join]. People actually like talking to each other and getting to know each other. They make friends. Some people — very few actually — in the United States they buy memberships just to network."

Despite its failed competitors, more companies are trying to compete with JetSmarter. There's Victor and Jetwise, and Uber regularly runs promotions for helicopter rides and trips on a private jet. What if it decides to introduce private jets as a service alongside cars? Grusevich says, "Bring it on!"

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The 23 best colleges in the Northeast

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One of the biggest decisions someone can make is where they go to college. That's why Business Insider recently released its annual list of 50 best colleges in America.

But there's also another factor that's important when it comes to choosing a school: location. So we narrowed the list down to shine a light on the best colleges the Northeast has to offer.

For the ranking, we decided to shy away from a school's reputation and selectivity and focused on the overall college experience for students and how well-prepared they are for the future. We looked at data made available by the government for post-graduate earnings as well as graduation rate. We then looked to Niche, a company that compiles research on schools, to find information about the student-life experience at each school. You can read more about the methodology here.

Scroll down to find out the 23 best schools in the Northeast.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best colleges in America

DON'T MISS: The 50 best law schools in America

23. Villanova University

Location: Villanova, Pennsylvania

Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $73,700

Average SAT score: 1316

Student life score: B+

Villanova University is a Catholic Augustinian university located west of Philadelphia. Inspired by the tagline, “Ignite change. Go Nova,” students are encouraged to take part in helping the community outside the classroom — students provide nearly 250,000 hours of community service annually. The school also offers 45 majors among its four colleges and the student-faculty ratio is 12:1, which allows undergraduates to really get to know their professors.



22. Babson College

Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts

Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $85,500

Average SAT score: 1258

Student life score: B+

A leader in entrepreneurial education, Babson College equips students with the skills to innovate, experiment, and lead in the business world and beyond. The private college has produced numerous successful entrepreneurs in its nearly 100-year history, including Arthur Blank, the cofounder and former president of Home Depot who is the eponym of the college's on-campus entrepreneurship hub.



21. Hamilton College

Location: Clinton, New York

Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $57,300

Average SAT score: 1384

Student life score: A

Hamilton College takes its name from founding father Alexander Hamilton, who served as one of the school's original trustees in 1793 when he was the US secretary of the Treasury. More than 200 years later, Hamilton is still going strong: One year after graduation, at least 91% of the class of 2014 had secured a full-time job or internship or were enrolled in graduate school. For those who entered the workforce, employers included companies such as General Electric, Amazon, and The New York Times.



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What it's like to have a long layover in the number 2 airport in the world

Netscape's billionaire cofounder Jim Clark is selling his Florida mansion for a whopping $137 million

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Silicon Valley legend Jim Clark made it big when Netscape, the web browser company he founded with Marc Andreessen, went public in 1995. The IPO made Clark a very rich man, with a net worth that is now estimated to be as much as $1.9 billion.

Clark also became quite the property mogul, acquiring homes in New York City, upstate New York, and the Hamptons. He also owns a home in Palm Beach, Florida, which he just listed for sale for $137 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The palatial estate has 10 bedrooms, 13 full bathrooms, and more than 68,000 square feet of space. Let's take a look inside.

SEE ALSO: Look inside Tom Ford's estate that includes an entire movie set and is rumored to be worth $75 million

Clark's sprawling family estate is called Il Palmetto, and it's located in Palm Beach, Florida.



The estate was built in the 1930s in the Italian Renaissance style.



Clark bought the property for $11 million in 1999 and spent four years renovating it.



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This abandoned Disney water park has been rotting for 15 years

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When Disney River Country opened in 1976, visitors flocked to Orange County, Florida to ride the winding slides and traverse the wooden bridges.

The park closed down 25 years later. After leaving the park empty and abandoned for 15 years, Disney is finally draining River Country's 330,000-gallon pool.

As the Orlando Sentinel reports, the Upstream Plunge pool will be filled with cement, since standing water can attract mosquitoes — a growing concern due to the Zika virus. Disney says the work is not related to Zika, and doesn't have any plans to re-open the long-closed park, the rest of which is still decaying.

A Cleveland-based photographer who works under the pseudonym Seph Lawless documented the abandoned park in his photo series "Dismaland." (This is also the name of Banksy's 2015 art exhibition, a fake apocalyptic theme park near Bristol, England.)

Lawless captured ghostly portraits of the once-busy attraction. Take a look.

SEE ALSO: The National Park Service turns 100 today — and Obama just protected 87,000 acres of Maine land

River Country in Orange County, Florida was Walt Disney World's first water park.



It is only one of two Disney parks, along with Discovery Island in Orange County, to close permanently. Both parks were left to deteriorate.



Lawless took about 150 photos of the decaying park, he tells Business Insider.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

21 photos of the most impressive free food at Google

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For Google's 57,100 employees, free food is just one more perk of working at the tech giant.

But for the rest of us, the food is beyond our wildest lunchtime dreams. Banana cheesecake, lobster for lunch, poké bowls, food from one of Google's on-campus food trucks — the list goes on and on. 

Back in 2008, when Google was at just 19,000 employees, the company was serving 40,000 meals each day, the kitchen was staffed with 675 workers, and Google was spending $80 million every year on food costs. Eight years later, Google's food team staffs more than 185 cafes globally and serves over 108,000 meals each day, with about 30 cafes at the Mountain View Googleplex headquarters alone.

And it all looks delicious.

We combed through Instagram for some of the most impressive Google food out there. From London to L.A., Googlers sure are eating well. 

SEE ALSO: Google's latest free lunch option is a fleet of 20 fancy food trucks — and the food looks incredible

Googlers in London can make their own breakfast bowls. This UK-based employee made one with quinoa, oats, almond milk, fresh fruit, coconut blossom nectar, and chocolate.

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Here's a vegan take on a poké bowl made with beets and seaweed at Google New York.

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A pastry chef in San Francisco made Ben & Jerry's Phish Food-inspired cupcakes for Google employees: Chocolate cupcakes, marshmallow filling, and salted caramel buttercream frosting topped with a gummy bear, caramel corn, and chocolate sprinkles.

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I consumed nothing but fast food for a week, and it was the easiest and cheapest diet plan I've ever tried

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When I told friends I was eating nothing but fast food for a week, most immediately thought of the (in)famous Morgan Spurlock documentary "Super Size Me."

No, I would respond. I'm eating healthy.

As fast-food chains increasingly try to appeal to health-conscious Americans, supposedly nutritious items are popping up on menus more and more.

From KFC's grilled chicken to McDonald's (shockingly caloric) kale salad, massive restaurant chains want to signal to customers that nutrition and fast food can go hand in hand.

If these chains want to compete with the new wave of healthier fast-casual alternatives, they're going to have to prove they can become daily go-tos for nutrition-savvy millennials.

So I decided to see for myself how the chains, and my stomach, held up after a week of eating only at fast-food restaurants.

My first and most important rule was that I could eat only at fast-food chains. (I would consume at least three meals a day.)

That means no health-food-obsessed fast casuals like Sweetgreen or Chipotle. It's all about chains best known for burgers, fries, and fried chicken 24/7. (The one exception: I could drink alcohol.)

My secondary rule: I must try and eat as healthy as possible at these fast-food restaurants. My definition of health was pretty general. My meals should to add up to less than the FDA's daily recommended limit in calories, fat, and sodium, while providing me with enough protein to fill me up.

The challenge would last for one work week, from Monday to Friday.



I started off the week at a familiar breakfast destination: Dunkin' Donuts.

There's one obvious "healthy" option on the menu: the Egg White Flatbread, which has been recommended as one of the 11 healthiest fast-food breakfast items around. It's a little high in sodium (610 grams) but also high in protein (15 grams).

If you eat the flatbread while it's hot, it's actually tasty and pretty hearty. However, the longer you wait, the more disturbing the congealed egg white and cheese appear. I pair the flatbread with a coffee and head to work.



Lunch at Wendy's revealed just how gross grilled chicken could get.

After finding a reasonably healthy breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, I was optimistic about what Wendy's would serve up for lunch. I'm generally a fan of the chain, and the Asian Cashew Chicken Salad fit all my qualifications (again, high sodium but low calorie and otherwise healthy), so I ordered it with high hopes.

These hopes were not met.

First, let me say the salad was not without its merits. The fire-roasted edamame was delicious. The dressing was nice. The cashews were spicy. But the grilled chicken was irredeemable.

At first, I ignored the floppy texture of the chicken. However, the more of the meat I ate, the more alien it seemed. It wasn't the taste — it was the strange consistency that seems unique to some fast-food chicken used to top salads.

I didn't finish the dish.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

9 items you shouldn't buy at Costco

10 travel gadgets for a stress-free trip

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Everyone loves being on vacation, but few (if any) can honestly say they like the experience of simply getting there.

Thankfully, it's a lot easier to travel today than it was just a few years prior. Having the right travel gadgets on hand can really improve any trip, both when you're en route and arrive somewhere unfamiliar.

Scroll down for our selection of innovative, high-tech products that can make your next travel experience more bearable.

SEE ALSO: 3 ridiculous airline rules that people hate

Let's start where everyone begins when prepping for a trip: Packing. If you're looking for a good suitcase, it's worth trying the COWAROBOT.

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The COWAROBOT is the very first suitcase that can automatically follow you around. You can keep your hands free to handle your ticket and passport while the suitcase rolls beside you at 4.5 miles per hour. You can even charge your devices using the bag's USB ports.

The suitcase can keep up with you on a single charge for 12.5 miles, and it can handle slopes with up to a 15 degree incline or decline. It comes with a bracelet that can be used to lock and unlock the bag, as well as to summon it from distances up to 164 feet away. You can also see where the bag is via a corresponding app.

And don't worry, it can fit in a plane's overhead compartment. You can order it off Indiegogo for a November arrival.



If you want to get really crazy with your luggage selection, you can also try out the first rideable suitcase.

That's right, you can actually ride the Modobag. It can travel 8 miles per hour and can roll on for eight miles on a single charge. It also comes with a separate laptop compartment and USB ports for charging your devices.

It may seem a bit silly to ride your suitcase, but it actually looks handy if you're nursing an injury or, you know, just want to have a little fun in the airport. You can order it on Indiegogo for a January 2017 delivery.



Once you finish packing your suitcase, it's a good idea to check its weight so you're not scrambling last minute at the airport. The ProInt luggage scale is a good option for a weight read in advance.

Simply hang your bag on the hook and see its weight in both kilograms and pounds. It's really that simple. And the best part is it's small so you can take it with you for another weight read when you're returning home.

You can buy it on Amazon for $14.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A 31-year-old who's been abroad for 5 years explains what everyone gets wrong about long-term travel

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A month before her 26th birthday, Nina Ragusa landed in Bangkok, Thailand.

About five years later, Ragusa has only been back to the US twice.

"It's funny, the live-abroad lifestyle looks so easy when you're on the outside. You just see the bikini with a karst mountain background picture or the perfectly timed sunset photo," Ragusa told Business Insider.

But the realities of living and traveling abroad for an extended period of time are a little different.

When asked what people get wrong about long-term travel, she wrote in an email, people tend to think "you have to be rich, you have to know the language, you have to be with someone else, you can only take short vacations, not live there ..."

However, she's managed to sustain herself for five years without being a fluent speaker of multiple languages, without a trust fund, and mostly by herself.

When she's traveling, she said, in a typical day, "I attempt to get around in another language, I buy my food from the markets, get around on interesting modes of transportation, meet new people, experience the culture, see something breathtaking, amazing, and/or incredible, have a beer, and wake up to do the same the next day."

However, to support this lifestyle, "work is inevitable, despite what story the photo might portray. This life isn't always easy to maintain. It's a constant flow of challenges that you have to overcome, but it's worth every drop of sweat, tears, and beers."

 

 on

 

In Rishikesh, India.

Ragusa arrived in Bangkok in May 2011 with $6,000 in her pocket — thanks to two years of saving — and with a newly minted TEFL certification she'd gotten in the US, certifying her to teach English. She was able to get a teaching job north of the city within days, and ended up teaching for two semesters.

In 2012, she picked up two unexpected jobs: teaching English online, and freelance writing. "Because I fell into those two jobs accidentally, I learned that even if you're not sure how something is going to go down, if you keep searching, take risks on what you go for, and make a solid effort, you can really make something happen," she said.

Now, Ragusa is based in Australia, where she's working as a bartender and in a surf shop to save up more cash for a camper van trip across the continent.

"Everyone wants to know how I'm able to do this, but ironically, I never had a clue myself how to live this life," she said. "Through my initial travels, I met people and inquired, I researched endlessly, I took risks, I leaped before looking a few times, and I’ve failed miserably along the way."

SEE ALSO: A 31-year-old who's been traveling the world for 5 years explains how she affords it

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Here's how America's 100-year-old National Park Service keeps things running

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When the National Park Service was created in 1916, it ushered in a new way for people to interact with and experience nature. Today, 100 years later, the parks have maintained their historical, natural wonder. And yet they've also been brought into the 21st century with the help of strategic partnerships.

As one of these trusted partners, Aramark provides everyday innovations, service, and people to keep the experience of visiting these natural, national treasures up and running smoothly. From food to transportation to helping support the preservation of the land, Aramark knows there is no detail too small. After all, the smallest details can have the biggest effect.

Explore other National Park stories at Aramark.com/Explore.

This post is sponsored by Aramark.

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These are the 2 most ominous threats facing hotels, according to the CEO of a trendy chain

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standard hotel high line

The hotel industry is undergoing a sea change.

In April, shareholders voted to approve a deal for Marriott International to pay about $12.4 billion to acquire Starwood Hotels, effectively creating the biggest hotel company in the world.

Traditional hotel groups are coming up with new strategies to combat the rise of new travel technologies and alternative accommodations.

And according to Amar Lalvani, CEO and managing partner of Standard International, those new technologies are what's driving some of the biggest changes in the industry today.

"At the very minimum, it's creating a supply problem," Lalvani told Business Insider of alternative accommodations like Airbnb. "But for now, we think the consumer still thinks of hotels first. Once this new generation thinks of Airbnb first, then hotels, then the industry will have a bigger problem."

Standard International operates five hotels in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, in addition to several properties with the Texas-based Bunkhouse Group. The Standard hotels are especially known for their dining and nightlife options — at the High Line in New York, for example, the Standard has both a popular happy hour spot in its Biergarten and a glamorous rooftop bar with Le Bain.

The hotel also recently announced a partnership with Casper to create what they call "Sleep-In Cinema," a night when guests can take in classic movies from Casper mattresses.

"We double down on what we do well, which is communal spaces and entertainment," Lalvani said. Airbnb and other services like it, Lalvani said, are too distributed a network to be able to offer the same experience."

top of the standard

Another big challenge facing the hotel industry: online travel agencies.

Both Expedia and Priceline have grown in value and led a number of acquisitions in the online-booking space in recent years, but the cuts they take in the form of commission makes them serious threats to hotels.

"We're combating that with innovation and by knowing our customers," Lalvani said.

Standard International just introduced a new feature called Standard Time that allows guests to choose their own check-in and check-out times across all five of its properties. Once the hotel knows when guests will be checking in and out, it can use that information to schedule housekeeping and make more arrival options available to other customers.

Earlier this year, it released a new app, called One Night Standard, that makes the most of the properties' unused rooms. After 3 p.m., anyone can log onto the app and see what rooms are available for that night.

"We found that those people were some of our most loyal customers," Lalvani said. It seemed that many of the app's users were people who lived locally but maybe wanted to have a spontaneous stay at the hotel for a special occasion or a late night at work. "What we're seeing is a merging of the hotel and tech worlds."

SEE ALSO: Go inside Antarctica's only luxury camp, where tours to the South Pole will set you back $72,000

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