TODAY Show team travels to the Ends of the Earth

by Kelly Amabile on

About this time tomorrow, the ever-adventurous TODAY Show team will take part in a historic first-ever live simultaneous broadcast from the top, bottom and middle of the earth’s surface. As part of NBC’s “Green Is Universal” initiative, the news anchors have been dispatched to the Ends of the Earth to report on climate extremes, wildlife and the limits of human exploration. It’s the very first time that a TV network has linked locations live around the entire circumference of the planet in a single program.

So, of course, you’re wondering, Where in the World is Matt Lauer going to be? It’s no surprise this time — he’s headed to the Arctic, and will broadcast from the Greenland ice sheet. Ann Curry is in Antarctica, and will be broadcasting from the McMurdo Research Station and other extreme locations. And weather guru Al Roker will travel to the Equator and broadcast from the middle of an endangered cloud forest in Mindo, Ecuador. Meredith Vieira picked the shortest straw — she gets to “connect the global dots” from the studio back in New York.

Matt’s yearly whirlwind adventures always leave me wondering why? But at least this team-effort groundbreaking expedition is grounded with the goal of green.

Mexico Named Best Place To Retire

by Martha Edwards on
Been to Mexico? I have a few times and I love it. It’s not just the hot weather and the gorgeous beaches — Mexico is a really friendly, vibrant place with a lot of energy and culture. At least what I’ve seen of it. Anyway, I digress. The point of this post is to write about how Mexico was named the best place to retire by an annual retirement index in International Living magazine. It used to be that Panama held this coveted title, but housing prices have since sky-rocketed — I hope this doesn’t happen to Mexico too!


Want to see what all the fuss is about? Check out our Travel Guide for Mexico. Not interested in Mexico? Learn more about Australia or South Africa.

What are some other great places to retire? Ecuador, Italy, Australia, Malta, Spain, South Africa, Malaysia, France and Thailand all made the list. The US came in at #19, while the UK ranked at the very bottom.

I couldn’t find a copy of the whole list — I wonder if my native Canada made the cut? There are definitely some retirement-worthy places here too. But given the choice between Mexico and the prairie winters, you know which one I’m going with.

(Of course, there are plenty of great places in the U.S. to retire. Check out Money & Finance’s great retirement spots in the U.S. and decide if any of them are for you.)

%Gallery-8079%