7 wonders world petra jordan ancient (45 of 47)

In the year that I spent traveling around the world as Business Insider's international correspondent, I visited over 20 countries and had countless adventures.
I decided it would be fun to highlight the best adventure I had in each country, from off-roading in the desert in Inner Mongolia to visiting one of the seven wonders of the world in Jordan and partying all night in Seoul, South Korea.
While I hate travel bucket lists, I hope that sharing my favorite recent adventures may provide some inspiration for both travel junkies and those looking to take their first trip abroad.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

I'll be honest: I hate bucket lists.

To me, they take what should be a freeing experience of discovery and turn it into an endless checklist where you're constantly feeling inadequate in the face of the things you haven't done.

I prefer traveling with less of a plan. I pick a country beforehand, and maybe a few destinations within, and trust that I'll encounter amazing people, sights, and adventures along the way as long as I say yes.

When I left to travel as Business Insider's international correspondent a year ago, I approached the trip the same way.

From China to Russia to Israel, I have found myself in the middle of more adventures than I can remember. There's been off-roading in the desert in Inner Mongolia, visiting one of the seven wonders of the world in Jordan, and partying all night in Seoul, to name a few.

With my world tour completed and twenty countries visited, I decided it was time to pinpoint my favorite adventure in each place.

Perhaps you'll find some inspiration for your next trip abroad.

DON'T MISS: I visited the glittering Greek island of Mykonos, the summer destination of choice for billionaires — and it's a very different experience if you aren't swimming in money

The trip started off with a bang in Hong Kong, where I attended Art Basel Hong Kong, the premier art fair in Asia for millionaire and billionaire collectors to buy and sell art. The fair peaked with an elaborate soiree organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

The star-studded party was held at Hong Kong's Jumbo Kingdom, the world's largest floating restaurant and featured a mix of celebrities, art world big shots, artists, collectors, and — thanks to a last-minute invite — yours truly.

The party's experiential theme evoking 1930s-era Hong Kong was designed by Burning Man veteran Jason Swamy, a cofounder of artist collective Robot Heart. Some attendees, however, found the allusions to opium bars and Asian courtesans to be tone-deaf.

After Hong Kong, I headed to China, where I spent a whirlwind five weeks traversing from Shanghai and Beijing to far-flung cities on the ancient Silk Road. In Inner Mongolia, I befriended a group of Chinese adrenaline-junkies who were part of an off-roading club.

The off-roaders invited me to join them on a two-day tour through the desert. They'd already been driving for nearly a week, but they couldn't get enough of racing over massive sand dunes and camping in Mongolian camps in the middle of nowhere.

The adventure was not without its dangers. A number of times the jeeps got stuck crested over a sand dune and another jeep had to tow the others out. And, that's to say nothing of how we were chased by park rangers because foreigners are only supposed to go in to the desert with official tour guides, not a local off-road driving club.

Next, I headed to Bali, Indonesia to decompress. The city of Ubud has been well-known as a spiritual and mystical center to Balinese for centuries — Ubud means "medicine" — and over the last several decades for new agey tourists.

It may sound hokey, but I did a full-day spiritual retreat that included yoga, "ecstatic dance," a cacao ceremony, and workshops of "authentic relating." I was very skeptical before going in. By the time it was over, I had cried twice.

The retreat ended with a dance party and a sound healing ritual. Located on a beautiful estate outside Ubud, the retreat felt otherworldly. There was no need for alcohol at this party; everyone was already buzzing.

In Singapore, I spent several days trying as much Singaporean food as I could manage to fit in my stomach. Singaporean food is known for being a tasty mix of Chinese, Indian, and Malay cuisines. It may not look pretty, but these are flavors you've likely never tasted before. It is the most interesting and unique cuisine I've ever had.

The best places to try Singaporean cuisine (and a shortcut to understanding the city-state's culture) is in "hawker centers." Built in the 1950s and 1960s to make street-food more sanitary, while preserving the local food culture, hawker centers are large open-air complexes of food stalls where Singaporeans eat every day. There are dozens of centers across the city, each specializing in different dishes and cuisines.

One of my favorite Singaporean dishes was rojak, a traditional fruit and vegetable salad. There are different types of rojak with Chinese, Indian, or Malay flavors, but the basic idea is that you select what you want in your salad and, depending on the items, they might fry them up or serve them fresh with sauces.

When I headed to South Korea, I knew I had to sample Seoul's famous nightlife scene. I met star Seoul-based YouTubers Alfred "Haeppy" Leung and Alexander "Xander" Varley of WeFancy, who agreed to take me out in Gangnam, the insanely wealthy neighborhood known for all-night parties, plastic surgery clinics, and high-end real estate. The night, of course, started with lots of soju and fried chicken.

Check out WeFancy on YouTube here»

After drinking and eating more than our fill, we headed to a nearby hookah bar in Gangnam, where Varley and Leung explained Seoul's wild party scene. Many of the top clubs in Korea are owned by K-Pop celebrities and are just about impossible to get into unless you know someone. Thankfully, I knew someone. Or, rather, they did.

We headed to Arena, one of the hottest clubs in Seoul, around 3 a.m. After Leung and Varley sweet-talked the bouncer, we danced until sunrise. The scene was like something out of a movie — packed to the gills and champagne bottles popping, as if it was everyone's birthday. The partying lived up to the hype. The hangover did, too.

I headed to Russia in June to attend the 2018 World Cup, but the best thing I saw in the country was something I didn't plan for: St. Petersburg's "White Nights." The city is so far north that towards the end of June there are around 22 hours of sunlight each day. This photo was taken a bit past midnight.

The White Nights peak with the Scarlet Sails festival. It's the biggest night of the year in St. Petersburg. Everyone comes out to the banks of the Neva River to watch a grand display of fireworks, a water show, music, and the sailing of a replica 1700s-era boat with red sails.

Everyone from children to teenagers to grandparents was in the streets of St. Petersburg celebrating. Just after 1 a.m., it became clear why it is called White Nights.

Visiting Masada, an ancient fortress built atop a mountain plateau near the Dead Sea, is the highlight of many travelers' trips to Israel. There is something undeniably powerful about waking up at 4 a.m. and hiking up a mountain in absolute darkness.

After about an hour or so of very strenuous hiking, I reached the fortress just as the sun was rising. The entire complex, a stunning set of ruins, was enveloped in golden light.

The fortress overlooks the Dead Sea. Walking through the fortress once occupied by King Herod at sunrise, it becomes apparent why the location was so attractive to the king, both from a defensive position and as a place to relax.

While visiting Israel, I felt it very important to see the Palestinian territories. I visited Hebron, the biggest city in the Palestinian West Bank and a place that some call a microcosm of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The city is divided into a Jewish and a Palestinian-controlled sector.

I visited Hebron on a "dual narrative" tour. Half the tour was guided by Eliyahu McLean, an Israeli Jew, and the other half was guided by Mohammed Al-Mohtaseb, a Palestinian from Hebron. Each told their side of the conflict in Hebron. At the center of their contesting narratives is the site known as the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims and the Tomb of the Patriarchs to Jews.

The experience was something like "Israel-Palestine 101." I was deeply affected by the conflicting narratives of both sides, the many painful events suffered in Hebron, and the way in which the city feels a military camp with checkpoints, jeeps, and platoons spread across the city.

In Jordan, I fulfilled one of the few things I've actually put on my internal bucket list: visiting the ancient Nabatean city of Petra. Ever since seeing the rose-red sandstone facades featured in Indiana Jones as a child, I knew I had to go.

The archaeological site, now considered one of the seven wonders of the world, was as magnificent as I imagined it. Al Khazna, or the Treasury, is the first structure you see upon entering the city. At 150 feet tall and around 100 feet wide, it is the masterpiece of Petra.

The tour in Jordan was made even more epic because, after leaving Petra, I spent the night in Wadi Rum, a desert valley in Jordan. It has played the part of Mars and distant planets in countless movies, including "The Martian," "Star Wars: Rogue One," "Prometheus," and Red Planet."

The cheapest flight out of Israel was to Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean also known for its long history of division and strife. Ever since a coup in 1974 and a subsequent invasion by Turkey, the island has been divided into the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The island is astoundingly beautiful. I decided to rent a car and do a road trip to traverse both sides of the island.

About 3,600 square miles in size, Cyprus has tons of different geographical features from natural ports to mountains, valleys, and rock formations that make driving the island a pleasure. Kyrenia Harbor, on the Northern Cyprus side, is one of the oldest sites on the island.

Driving Cyprus not only gives you a window into the many landscapes of the island, but also the many cultures that have developed there. The capital, Nicosia, is a divided city, but it is easily visited. The old city looks like what I imagine a city in the Ottoman Empire looking like.

Before I went to Greece, I thought the best thing I would do in the country was party in Mykonos. I was very wrong. After escaping crowded Mykonos, I went to Tinos, an island 30 minutes away by ferry, and found a breathtaking landscape, untouched beaches, and historic Greek villages built into the mountainsides. I rented a car and did a day trip across the island.

For those looking for a taste of classic Cycladic life, Tinos may well be paradise. During my drive, I stopped in Volax, a village of 51 people (51!) built among a unique geological formation of giant round rocks.

Driving in Tinos, you feel lost in time. I could have sworn that the day I spent driving around the island lasted a week. But maybe that's because I was terrified as I whipped up and down the mountains from village to village on the seemingly endless one-lane roads.

After Greece came a spontaneous trip to Bulgaria to visit some Bulgarian friends I had met in Bali. They had told me to meet them in Sozopol on the coast of the Black Sea. During the summer, the capital of Sofia empties and everyone heads to the beach.

The vibe is like a Bulgarian Jersey Shore. It's probably not a place you would end up at unless you knew a Bulgarian, but it's a ton of fun. There are clubs and bars all along the beach where people party day and night. It's not uncommon for people to arrive at the beach bar Bash on Friday night and not leave the bar until Sunday, sleeping in the sand when they get tired.

Due to zoning restrictions, there aren't really hotels on the beach. Instead, the beach is lined with campsites, RVs, trailers, and tents. It makes for one big communal party. I "glamped" in one of these tent-huts.

If you drive a bit away from Sozopol down the coast, you can easily find beaches that are practically empty. Veleka Beach in Tsarevo is known for having the Black Sea on one side and the Veleka River on the other. You can swim on both sides.

After Bulgaria, I hopped a flight to Portugal. It was August, so peak beach season for a country known for having some of the best beaches in the world. I rented a car to explore them.

Over the course of a week, I drove all over The Algarve, the southern region popular for beach holidays, and Alentejo, a region known for its many wild and hidden beaches. Like this one.

My favorite beaches were the wild ones in Alentejo. The small submerged rocks teem with sea life. But the Atlantic Ocean water is brisk, even during the summer.

Ibiza has a reputation as one of the top places to party in the world, so I had to give it a try. I stopped by for the end-of-summer "closing" parties.

The part of the island that I really loved, however, was the vast and quiet countryside on the north of Ibiza.

There's nothing quite like a riding a motorbike down the small winding streets of the Ibizan countryside. The island is dotted with hippie villages that date back to the 1960s and 1970s, when artists, writers, and other bohemians moved to the island.

The last leg of my trip started in the United Arab Emirates. After spending close to two weeks in Dubai, I took a day trip to Abu Dhabi to wake up at dawn and watch falconers train their falcons. Falconry has a central role in Emirati culture, where nomads have long used falcons to hunt for food.

It was fascinating to watch the complex way that the falconers train their falcons to race at hundreds of miles an hour, using both modern and ancient techniques.

While most people visit Egypt to visit the Pyramids, I found the most fascinating sights in the country to be the abundance of ancient Egyptian ruins, burial sites, temples, and hieroglyphs in the south.

In particular, the city of Luxor is home to the Valley of the Kings, a valley of over 60 rock-cut royal tombs filled with colorful hieroglyphs and cave paintings, the temple of Karnak, a complex built over the course of 1,500 years, and dozens of other tombs, temples, and statues.

When I got to Morocco, I knew that I needed to visit Erg Chebbi, possibly the most iconic way to see the Sahara Desert. Erg Chebbi is one of Morocco's many ergs, or seas of sand dunes. It is often used for films because of its stunning expanse of iconic fire-orange sand dunes.

The sunrise and sunset were unforgettable, as was shivering under the star-filled sky late into the night. But the thing I will most remember is trading songs with the company of Berbers who hosted us.

After Morocco, I flew into Lagos, Nigeria for two weeks of meetings with entrepreneurs. Learning about how the tech industry is changing the country was fascinating, but after ten days in office buildings, I needed to get to nature. The best place to see Nigeria's nature, without venturing out fo the city, is the Lekki Conservation Centre, a 193-acre nature reserve filled with jungle, monkeys, crocodiles, and various birds.

Source: Lekki Conservation Centre

It's also one of the best places to see how Lagosians relax and blow off steam. There is a large family park attached with picnic areas, floor games, and a canopy walkway. The suya, or traditional Nigerian barbecue, served up at the barbecue joints in the park tasted incredible.

I didn't get a ton of time in Kenya, but what time I did have I spent exploring Nairobi and the surrounding areas. I loved visiting the Giraffe Centre. For $10, I was able to feed giraffes and learn about the center's conservation and breeding efforts.

Feeding the giraffes was a blast. As one of the caretakers explained, giraffes spend sixteen to twenty hours per day eating — and they consume as much as 75 pounds of food. You don't have to be worried about how many pellets you are feeding them: They have a nearly insatiable appetite.

It is perhaps fitting that the most mind-blowing experience I had traveling occurred last. In Tanzania, I went on safari for five days to the Serengeti; Ngorongoro, a 3,202-square-mile conservation area with a volcanic crater filled with wildlife; and Tarangire, a national park typically filled with thousands of migrating elephants.

While seeing lions, giraffes, and elephants up close was cool, it was nothing compared to witnessing the Great Wildebeest Migration — 1.5 million wildebeest traveling across Tanzania's grasslands to give birth. The ground shook as they stampeded past us.

It was a strange, fascinating, exhilarating, and exhausting trip. And these adventures only scratch the surface of what I did, and what you could do, in these countries. I find that the more I travel, learn, and experience new worlds, the more I want to do it. I suppose that's the beauty of it.

costco wine 6

Costco wines have quite a fan base — just ask everyone who contributes to and follows Costco Wine Blog.
Business Insider spoke to blog founder Andrew Cullen and reviewer Erin Reyes about the mistakes Costco members can avoid when shopping for wine.
They advised members to always sample the wine before buying a huge case and to always dig around in the bins.
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Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Costco wines have a reputation for being high-quality and high-value.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't a few subtle pitfalls that come with the territory. Play your cards wrong, and you could end up with a bulk-sized case of wine that you can't stomach.

Fortunately, there are certain strategies you can employ to avoid such a fate. Business Insider spoke to Costco Wine Blog founder and editor Andrew Cullen and contributing reviewer Erin Reyes to get their thoughts on all there is to know about Costco wine.

Here are their top tips for mistakes to avoid in the wine section at Costco:

DON'T MISS: Costco sells millions of pumpkin pies every year — and the recipe has apparently been the same since 1987

Don't expect unlimited options.

Cullen and Reyes agree that Costco has a great selection of vino, with especially good coverage of California and other domestic US wines.

But you shouldn't think of the warehouse chain as your one-stop shop for the exact, specific wine that's on your mind.

"Costco is almost like a curated wine collection for you," Cullen told Business Insider. "You're not going to go there and find whatever bottle you may be looking for. If you're looking for a Chardonnay, you're going to have to buy whatever Chardonnay is there."

Reyes recommended calling ahead if you've got a particular wine in mind, to make sure it's in stock.

Don't be intimidated by the more expensive options.

Costco is famous for its value-oriented approach. And Reyes and Cullen both say that the chain boasts quality wines for good prices.

But Cullen said that you shouldn't be afraid to occasionally splurge on a more expensive wine.

"I think it's a great place to buy more expensive wine," he said. "The average price savings that you're getting — it's magnified as you spend more."

He gave the example of the 2013 vintage of the Joseph Phelps Insignia. Cullen said the wine could go for around $225 at most retailers, but Costco members could pick it up for around $199. Cullen happened to get an especially killer deal on the wine.

"I was able to get that for $179, which is a pretty good deal," he said.

Don't be afraid to dig around.

You might feel a bit silly tearing through the wine bins like you're searching for your dropped keys. And Cullen said that he feels that people think he's "weird" when he starts digging around in the wine section of the warehouse.

But he doesn't let that stop him, and for good reason. Cullen said that different vintages are often mixed up in the bins together. If you forgo rooting around, you risk missing out on the best vintage.

"Don't just grab the first bottle," Reyes told Business Insider. She said that while vintage might not matter as much for lower-end wines, for high-ticket bottles it's far more crucial.

Cullen also recommended checking beneath the wooden racks, where you might find a forgotten bottle of an otherwise sold-out wine.

Either way, it's a mistake to leave the warehouse without doing a thorough investigation of the available bottles.

Don't assume a certain type of wine will be around forever ...

Even beloved Costco products might be here today and gone tomorrow. The chain's wine section is no different.

"Sometimes, there are unique wines that are hard to find that will just show up and then they're gone," Reyes said. "And then they never come back again, so that's kind of intriguing."

"If you see it and you really want it, you'd better buy it right away, because it might not be there when you come back," Cullen said. "That is the Costco way, and that definitely applies to wine."

... but don't write off any products, either.

Cullen and Reyes both check back at their local Costcos relatively frequently, to check out the new products. Sometimes, they're surprised to see an old favorite return.

"Wine will disappear and then they'll randomly come back three months later," Cullen said. "You're like, 'Whoa, look what's back.' People love that."

Don't buy a whole case before sampling the wine.

Costco is famous for selling its products in bulk. That's why Reyes recommends purchasing a bottle of a new wine before springing for an entire case.

Because while it might be tempting to purchase a case-load of wine when it's on rebate or when you've enjoyed previous vintages, you never know.

"If you do like it, come back before the rebate expires," she said. "And if you like the new vintage the same, go ahead and buy your case."

Don't be afraid to try new things.

Cullen said that when he's shopping for wine at Costco, he tries to avoid constantly grabbing the same things over and over again.

"Don't be afraid to try something new," Cullen said. "Don't just say, 'I love Chardonnay, I'm only going to stick with Chardonnay.' You might be missing out."

Don't go it alone.

Costco members actually have a few resources at their disposal when it comes to purchasing wine at the warehouse.

Some Costcos employ a resident wine advisor to help members with selecting the perfect bottle of red, white, rosé, or bubbly.

"They have no vested interest in promoting a certain wine," Reyes said. "Their goal is just to increase the wine sales. They're good resources. They have all the insider info without an ulterior motive."

Cullen added that the Costco Wine Blog's forums are also a good space for sharing tips and making and receiving wine recommendations.

"It's such a good community of people," he said. "There's virtually no haters. It's 99% positive people on the same mission. That's made it more fun."

channing tatum

Newly single Channing Tatum is reportedly on Raya, along with other celebrities and creatives.
Raya is known as the celebrity dating app for the rich and famous, but it also bills itself as a networking app.
Getting into Raya involves having your application approved by an anonymous committee — it helps if you're successful, attractive, and know people.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Channing Tatum is single again, and he's already reportedly swiping for love.

But you won't find him on Tinder, Hinge, or any other common dating apps; like many other single celebrities, Tatum is reportedly on dating app Raya, several media publications reported over the weekend.

Now, you might be wondering: What is Raya? Launched in February 2015, Raya is a private, elite, members-only app for "dating, networking, and making new friends," according to its website.

But it's unofficially known as the celebrity dating app for the rich and famous. Cara Delevigne, Drew Barrymore, Amy Schumer, Ben Affleck, John Mayer, Kelly Osbourne, Joe Jonas, and Trevor Noah have all reportedly been spotted on it.

Vogue writer Karley Sciortino called Raya "the Soho House" and "the you can't sit with us" of dating apps. "The consensus seems to be: Why go to a party that lets everyone in, when you could go to the party that accepts only a select few?" she wrote.

How to get into Raya

As with most exclusive services, getting on Raya is hard — and that's because it's supposed to be hard. Most articles say you need to have it all: success, money, good looks, thousands of Instagram followers, and the right connections.

But Raya founder Daniel Gendelman told Kevin Roose of The New York Times that you don't need to be an attractive Instagram star and that flaunting wealth is a "red flag." Raya aims to "curate digital dinner parties" full of interesting and passionate people, he said, adding that he envisions it as a meeting place for influential people to create projects.

An algorithm and an anonymous global committee of 500 people determines members based on their application, which requires referrals. To win over the committee, you need to stand out as a creative; be known for or be an expert in something; and share a common bond with the Raya community, according to Raya's website.

You also need to be kinda, sorta special: The committee looks "for that hard to describe 'something extra,' — NASA scientists, cancer researchers, poets, painters," the website reads. Having a lens on the world that "would make the Raya conversation more interesting" is important, and this can often be assessed through one's Instagram, blogs, or websites.

Only 8% of applicants are approved, and there are 100,000 people on the waiting list to get into Raya's community of 10,000 members, reported Roose. The website doesn't reveal numbers or much detail about the company outside of its values and application process, which is all conveyed in a lofty, mysterious tone.

How to use Raya

If accepted into Raya, things look a little different than your common dating apps.

Instead of showing local users in your area, Raya shows you global users across the world. It also displays profiles as slideshows of images against a soundtrack of your choice. Unlike most dating apps, you also need to pay: Membership is $7.99 a month, but that's barely pocket change for most members.

And don't even think about screenshotting a convo or profile to send to your bestie — Raya prohibits that behavior, according to Ginny Hogan, who wrote about her Raya experience for Elite Daily. If you take one, Raya knows, and sends a warning message.

"To go on Raya is to enter a strange and alluring world filled with thirsty elites, a place where fame is measured in Instagram followers and humble-bragging is a high art," wrote Roose.

Whether or not that's a good thing depends on who you are. A female member told Roose that Raya members were "better behaved and more classy" than on other common dating apps. But a male member, a filmmaker, told Sciortino that Raya "attracts the wrong people" and is a "social-climbing app;" he said some of his flirtations turned out to be people just looking for work.

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Cory Muscara

Cory Muscara is a mindfulness teacher, a frequent guest of the "Ten Percent Happier Podcast" with Dan Harris, and a professor whose online meditations have been heard more than 10 million times in over 50 countries. As a young man in his early 20s, he spent time ordained as a Buddhist monk in Burma in 2012. He has taught mindfulness-based leadership at Columbia University, and currently serves as an instructor of positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his graduate work.
The following is an excerpt from his book, "Stop Missing Your Life: How to be Deeply Present in an Un-Present World."
In it, he describes a workshop where he encouraged hundreds of Fortune 100 executives to sit silently and listen to a bell ring three times. This exercise is meant to help people focus on the present moment.
The exercise lead to a lot of the executives feeling calmer and less consumed by their thoughts.
Muscara argues that it's important to be intentional about our thoughts and where we direct our attention, as this can help us combat worries, fears, and negative thinking.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Within the first 10 minutes of any workshop, I do an exercise to help people connect with the power of focus. I ring a bell and ask the audience to pay attention to the sound, which has a long, deep resonance.

Recently, I was running a workshop for a big Fortune 100 company. There were over 200 executives in the room, all suffering withdrawal from being off of their phones for the last three minutes, and I was going to put them through my meditation exercise whether they wanted to do it or not.

The instructions were simple: I'll ring the bells three times. If you'd like to close your eyes, you may. All you need to do is bring your full attention to the sound of the bell until it dissolves back into silence.

Everyone looked around at each other like I had just asked them to get naked and hold hands.

"Don't worry, it will be easy," I assured them. "And it will only take about a minute."

They adjusted their posture, as if reviewing the catalog in their mind for how you're supposed to sit when you do weird hippie stuff like this. Some closed their eyes; some kept them open.

I rang the bells once, and the sound ran for about 15 seconds.

The room got quieter.

I rang the bells again, and everyone continued to listen for the sound to soften into silence.

More people now had their eyes closed. I could feel something shifting.

I rang the bells a third time, letting the sound run its 15 seconds and watched as the group settled into it.

After the last bell faded into silence, you could hear a pin drop. The room was still. And it appeared that everyone had their eyes closed.

In a gentle tone of voice, I invited them to open their eyes again.

They stayed quiet.

"So ... how was that?" I asked.

"I liked the quiet," one woman said. "I think that's a new experience for all of us ... at least at work. I didn't want it to end."

"Yeah," I responded. "So, you get a taste for just how much we're consumed by the noise of our lives."

"What else did people notice?" I asked.

A man raised his hand. "In the silence between the bells, I noticed a lot of other sounds in the room, especially the ticking of the clock. I was surprised I was able to hear that."

"Very cool," I said. "So, even though we raised awareness around one thing, in this case the bells, it enhanced our awareness of other, more subtle things."

Anything else?

There was a pause.

Eventually, one last woman chimed in. "I just feel so calm. I'm usually caught in my thoughts and worries, and when I was listening to the bells, most of that fell away."

The whole room seemed to nod in agreement.

I've done this exercise more than 500 times, and there are usually common themes in people's responses, but the one response that always comes up is an increased sense of calm.

It could be that the bells are very pleasant to listen to, or that the room is quiet, or that they're not immersed in emails — but it seems that when we make the intention to pay deeper attention to one thing (in this case, the bells), we're less prone to falling into the dominating stream of thoughts and stimuli that typically consume our attention and create extra agitation.

StopMissingYourLife_HC

You know those thoughts, right? The judgments, the worries, the rumination, the thoughts about the future and the past. Not only do they create agitation and stress, these pesky little critters become the filter through which we experience our life.

Some skeptics might think that I'm suggesting we clear our minds of thoughts, never think about the future or the past, and just focus on what is happening right now, all the time, in every moment.

Eh, not quite. If that were the case — or if it was even possible — I'm not sure how we would get anything done. We should spend time thinking about the future — planning our goals and scheduling out our day — and time reflecting on our past — what we need to improve and what went well that we want to remember. Both of those domains, the future and the past, heavily inform how we live our life in the present moment.

However, in my own life, I've noticed that my mind can go into the future and the past without me asking it to. And it's not always helpful. It often leads to extra stress, extra worry, and extra judgment about things that have very little to do with the reality of what is happening right now.

So, this is not about clearing thoughts from our mind; rather, it's about developing an awareness of what is going on in our minds — Where does our attention go, moment to moment? What does our mind reflect on when we're not aware of it? — and then being more intentional about where and how we direct our attention.

A thought can be a powerful and positive force in our lives, leading to creativity, planning, and problem solving; a thought can also be meaningless neurotic chatter. We want the ability to leverage the former and not be swept away by the latter.

But, Cory, I don't want to constantly monitor myself. I want to be free and spontaneous!

The kind of freedom I'm talking about is not being trapped in the unconscious pattern of reactivity. It's about seeing what our usual impulse is in the moment and then being able to choose to follow it or respond differently.

I believe this sentiment is best captured in this quote: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth, freedom, and happiness."

The ability to respond in that space between something happening and our response to it is where we find freedom. It's where we can show ourselves a little more compassion when we're beating ourselves up. It's where we can decide to be a little less impulsive when we're about to say (or text) something we shouldn't. And when it comes right down to it, it's where we start to make meaningful changes in our life.

Excerpted from the book "Stop Missing Your Life: How to be Deeply Present in an Un-Present World" by Cory Muscara. Copyright (c) Cory Muscara by Da Capo Lifelong Books. Reprinted with permission of Hachette Book Group, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

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Sling is one of the most affordable cord-cutting services on the market, offering two packages— Orange and Blue— with 30+ channels starting at $30 a month or combined for $45 a month.
Orange offers the Disney Channel and ESPN, while Blue offers a slate of Fox channels, NBC, Bravo, and Discovery. Both Orange and Blue offer CNN, TBS, Food Network, and BBC America.
You can also add on multi-channel packages like Sports Extras, Kids Extras, or News Extras starting at $5 a month. Premium add-ons like Showtime, Starz, and Epix are also available for an additional monthly charge.
Here's a complete breakdown of the channels offered on each Sling package.

If you're hoping to get the most bang for your buck once you cut the cord with your cable subscription, Sling is one of the most affordable streaming services on the market.

The service has two packages with over 30 channels starting at just $30 a month. Though you may make some compromises in the user interface department — it's not as pretty or as intuitive as some other streaming services out there — the amount of channels offered is just as good as its competitors.

But Sling's website makes it a bit difficult to compare services and ensure you'll be getting the channels you're after, so we've broken down exactly what you'll get with each package and all the add-ons you can include to enhance your channel offerings.

The two main packages — Sling Orange and Sling Blue— offer 30+ channels for $30 a month, or $45 combined

Sling's two main offerings are Sling Orange and Sling Blue, each available to stream for $30 a month. For the most part, the channels offered largely overlap, but there are a few key differences that might cause you to choose one over the other.

Disney and ESPN are included with Sling Orange. You don't get them with Sling Blue, but in their place, you'll get a slate of Fox-owned channels including FX, FXX, FOX SPORTS 1 and 2, and National Geographic, Bravo, TLC, and Discovery. Blue also comes with NBC and its local affiliates, but only if you live in select markets — more on that later. The channels that overlap on both Orange and Blue include standouts like Food Network, Lifetime, CNN, and the History Channel.

If you're keeping up with the newest season of "It's Always Sunny…" on FXX, but you absolutely can't live without "SportsCenter" on ESPN, you might want to combine the two packages for $45 a month, giving you access to all 50+ channels Sling offers over the two services.

Sling Orange doesn't offer any local channels at all, so if you're hoping to catch your local nightly news, Sling Blue is the way to go. Blue offers local channels from NBC and Fox, but only in select cities. If you live in any of the following Designated Market Areas, you'll have access to your local NBC and Fox affiliates: New York; Philadelphia; Chicago; Boston; Washington, DC; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale; Hartford/New Haven; Dallas/ Ft. Worth; Los Angeles; San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose; and San Diego.

If you live outside those regions and you're really attached to your locals, you'll have to find another way to access those networks.

There are plenty of add-ons starting at $5 a month if you're looking for specific genres or channels

If you want to further enhance your channel selection, Sling offers a slate of genre-based add-ons starting at $5 a month. Each add-on like Kids Extras, Sports Extras, Lifestyle Extras, and more offers a mini-bundle of channels for an additional charge. Sling offers seven of these mini-bundles, which they'll package together and throw in 50 hours of DVR service for just $20 a month, a $20 savings compared to buying them separately.

Though HBO is no longer offered, there are still several premium add-ons you may want to tack onto your service. For $10 a month, you'll get a slate of nine Showtime channels — perfect if you want to stay up to date with the new season of "The L Word: Generation Q." Sling also offers a Starz package for $9 a month and an EPIX package for $5 a month.

If you're using Sling a la carte, the monthly charges per add-on can increase your rates pretty quickly, but if you're happy with its baseline Orange or Blue offerings, Sling is incredibly cost-efficient.