As lockdowns ease, are re-instated, and then ease up again, there's a lot of uncertainty floating around. But, as many offices extend remote employment plans and universities announce virtual classes through the remainder of 2020, it does seem certain that we'll be spending more time at home this fall. Which begs the question: why not do so from the comforts of a cozy cabin?
If you're in need of a change of scenery after who-even-knows-how-many days spent in quarantine, then try some quainter quarters with open nature access to help remedy those life-on-lockdown blues. Since we're not the first to come up with the idea of an extended escape (and we certainly won't be the last), you'll want to start planning your autumn stay away in advance. To help: We lined up 13 of Airbnb's most beautiful cabin rentals available starting in September, so you can beat the telecommuting crowd and book your work-from-forest retreat.
Ahead, find everything from spacious loft-like setups just right for solo getaways to larger properties that can accommodate a fuller quarantine crew.
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"Perfect for a couple or solo traveler, The Loft is an easy and open space that evokes the playfulness and creativity of a treehouse. A cathedral ceiling, light-filled dormer, original art, and custom accents inspire the imagination. Located on the 3rd floor, the room includes a kitchenette and dining area with a private bathroom and shower located at the base of the stairs."
Location: Catskill, New York Sleeps: 2 Price Per Night: $90 Price Per Month: $1,323 Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb.
"The house is simple, open, and cozy. Enjoy coffee on the porch or the patio, a warm fire in the fire pit, or relax in the living room with exposed ceilings."
Location: Jefferson, New Jersey Sleeps: 4 Price Per Night: $68 Price Per Month: $2,158
"You’ll love our place because of the high ceilings, the rural location, the coziness, and its sense of place in nature. Our place is great for couples and solo adventurers who enjoy their privacy, who want to get away from it all but be close enough to a more 'country-urban' vibe. There is a deck for sunning, quite a large front and backyard, a great kitchen for meals at home, and a forest to explore and miles of trails to mountain bike or hike."
Location: Rochester, Vermont Sleeps: 2 Price Per Night: $135 Price Per Month: $3,915
"This redwood cabin is the perfect hideaway located in exclusive Ojai, California. Tucked down a private drive near the beautiful Ojai Meadows Preserve in the heart of Meiners Oaks Neighborhood (a hipster/hippie enclave)."
Location: Ojai, California Sleeps: 3 Price Per Night: $95 Price Per Month: $2,280Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb.
"Explore and roam thousands of acres, with a stunning hand-crafted off-the-grid log cabin as your home base. The two-story authentic log cabin sits partway up a mountain with updrafts, sunsets, and winds coming in at times... Artisan features include a burl banister and stairs, birds-eye trim, log-supported windows in gable, inlaid walnut-hardwood floors, birds-eye kitchen, McCormick rails & porch, and stained glass."
Location: Big Bay, Michigan Sleeps: 8 Price Per Night: $175 Price Per Month: $3,807
"We welcome you with a tradition of Southern hospitality, modern conveniences, and an unmatched setting amidst the beauty of Asheville. This urbane retreat where city folks could tap into their inner adventurer."
Location: Asheville, North Carolina Sleeps: 2 Price Per Night: $72 Price Per Month: $2,162 Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb.
"Welcome to the Sky River Cabin. Our modern riverfront cabin in Skykomish has super high ceilings with tons of natural sunlight. It’s outfitted with luxury furnishings - 3 queen beds with memory foam toppers, leather sectional couch, full dining table, Smart TV, and more. Only about 15 minutes from Stevens Pass and just seconds to the great local restaurants in the historic town of Skykomish."
Location: Skykomish, Washington Sleeps: 6 Price Per Night: $1175 Price Per Month: $3,654Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb.
"This 645 square foot cabin is adorable and so comfortable. I can never decide which seat to curl up on. You feel on top of the water from inside and completely connected to the lake and surrounding hills. The cabin was built in the '40s and has a retro and modern feel. Swim off the dock in shallow, clear water. [There are also] tons of good restaurants in Meredith and nearby towns."
Location: New Hampton, New Hampshire Sleeps: 4 Price Per Night: $153 Price Per Month: $2,250
"Rancho Relaxo is a thoughtfully designed and bespoke built A-frame with an open floor plan on the edge of the Mt. Hood National Forest. It is the perfect getaway for groups of friends, couples looking to spend a romantic weekend in the woods, those seeking some solitude, skiers, outdoor enthusiasts, artists, and families."
Location: Rhododendron, Oregon Sleeps: 4 Price Per Night: $165 Price Per Week*: $1,130
*This listing does not currently have availability for a month-long booking.Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb.
"The Red House is surrounded by acres of beautiful forest and is close to 12 conservation areas with hiking trails. Minutes to antiquing, Kripalu Yoga Center, Norman Rockwell Museum, The Mount, Tanglewood, skiing, Shakespeare & Co. You’ll love my place because of peace, quiet and seclusion. The Red House is good for couples, solo adventurers, and families. Relax by the woodstove, in the sunroom, or explore nearby Spencertown, Chatham, or West Stockbridge. Many ski slopes nearby & a small lake!"
Location: Chatham, New York Sleeps: 7 Price Per Night: $149 Price Per Month: $2,705Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb.
"The Rose of Sharon tiny house/cottage is tucked into a grove of hemlock pine situated on a quiet wildlife pond. Peaceful, cozy, off-the-beaten-path accommodations, surrounded by protected woodland and a unique, forested location yet only a 5-minute drive from the interstate."
Location: Sharon, Vermont Sleeps: 2 Price Per Night: $203 Price Per Month: $6,071
"We have a two-bedroom, one-bath cabin in the heart of the George Washington National Forest in Lost River, WV. We're roughly 115 miles outside of Washington, DC. Note that our family has been staying in Unit B (next door) so we will be next door during your stay. This allows for social distancing as all communication is via text."
Location: Lost River, West Virginia Sleeps: 4 Price Per Night: $195 Price Per Month: $3,393 Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb.
Our favorite muse for workout style delivers again in this matching sports bra and leggings set! Alessandra Ambrosio always knows how to personalize her casual looks, so those basic black yoga separates get the star (sweater) treatment, plus a layered necklace, aviator sunglasses, and a covetable
The best part about today's look is each piece can be mixed and matched so many ways. Wear the necklace with a dress or a t-shirt and jeans. Pair the espadrilles with a summer dress or shorts. Whatever your plans, we think you'll love today's add-to-cart picks!
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/Shutterstock (10443091ap) Simone Biles of United States of America competing in balance beam for women during the 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart, Germany Day 10 – 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Stuttgart, USA – 13 Oct 2019
When she first learned about Larry Nassar’s abuse, “It didn’t feel like real life,” Biles told interviewer Abby Aguirre. She describes refusing to talk about the case with her family and going through periods of anxiety without understanding why.
After she moved out of her parents’ house, her mental health took a turn for the worse. “I was very depressed,” Biles said. “At one point I slept so much because, for me, it was the closest thing to death without harming myself. It was an escape from all of my thoughts, from the world, from what I was dealing with. It was a really dark time.”
One of the things that was so insidious about Nassar’s abuse was that he disguised it as medical treatments, so much so that some athletes’ parents were in the room when the abuse was taking place without realizing what was going on. In the Vogue interview, Biles was candid about not believing she was really a victim at first. “I felt like I wasn’t abused, because it wasn’t to the same extent as the other girls,” Biles said. She also described being afraid of letting down the public, who saw her as “perfect” and “America’s sweetheart,” by coming forward about her abuse.
Ultimately, though, hearing teammates such as Maggie Nichols come forward about their own experiences with Nassar helped her come to terms with hers. “I was reading Maggie’s coverage and it just hit me,” Biles said. “I was like, I’ve had the same treatments. I remember googling, like, sexually abused.”
In January 2018, Biles posted a statement on social media identifying herself as a victim of abuse. To Vogue, she described the experience as cathartic. She also said she hoped that sharing her story would help other survivors feel safer coming forward.
Biles has continued to be critical of USAG and USOPC, and in the interview said, “We can’t feel comfortable promoting our sport if we fear that something might happen like this again because they’re not doing their part.” The gymnast’s discomfort with USAG made the postponement of the Olympics — to July 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic — even more painful, since it means she has to deal with the organization for another year, Aguirre wrote. But as of now, she’s still planning on competing.
For Biles, Nichols, and other survivors of Nassar’s abuse to speak out against him and the people and organizations that were complicit is awe-inspiringly brave. But it’s also wrong to expect them to be solely responsible for pushing for accountability and change. Biles’s story illustrates how damaging sexual abuse can be. Unless they do the work required to uncover why it was allowed to go on for so long and to ensure something like this never happens again, the USAG and USOPC are placing a heavy and unacceptable burden on the backs of Nassar’s victims.
Early in the article, Aguirre describes attending a talk Biles was giving, during which she was asked whether she felt “obligated to stand up when something bad is going on in society.”
“Personally, for me, I don’t think of it as an obligation,” Biles responded, according to Aguirre. “I think of it as an honor to speak for the less fortunate and for the voiceless. I also feel like it gives them power.”
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call theRAINN Sexual Assault Hotlineat 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
If you are thinking about suicide, please call theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or the Suicide Crisis Line at 1-800-784-2433.
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A demonstrator wearing a protective mask holds a Follow The Money sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, July 9, 2020. The court cleared a New York grand jury to get President Donald Trump’s financial records while blocking for now House subpoenas that might have led to their public release before the election. Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images
On its last decision day of 2020, the Supreme Court has delivered a 7-2 decision in favor of allowing subpoenas for President Donald Trump’s tax returns and financial records to proceed, forcing Trump to relinquish his tax returns to circuit courts. This also means the highest court in the land has rejected Trump’s claims that he has “absolute” immunity in a New York state criminal investigation, making clear that he can be investigated while holding office.
The court’s other big decision today was McGirt v. Oklahoma, in which the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of verifying that half the state of Oklahoma is legally Indian reservation land in terms of the criminal justice system. According to theNew York Times, this vote could reshape the way criminal justice works in eastern Oklahoma by preventing state authorities from prosecuting Indigenous people.
While both of these decisions came as welcome — but real — surprises to leftists, they were representative of the ways that this session of the Supreme Court has been full of shocks, a true mixed bag of progressive and conservative votes. Since early June, the Supreme Court has released a number of landmark decisions — from the future of the DACA program to ones involving contraceptive rights.
In many — though definitely not all —of these cases, reliably right-wing justices have voted with the left. There are also cases of liberal justices like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Elena Kagan voting with the conservative justices, as Ginsberg did by siding with the energy company in the case about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and Kagan did by supporting the decision to allow employers to opt out of birth control coverage on “moral” grounds. Now, as dozens of cases have been postponed due to coronavirus, it’s nearly impossible to gauge what the Supreme Court will decide next.
In June, in an outcome that shocked many — but especially members of the LGBTQ+ community — the majority-conservative Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling staying that federal civil rights law also protects LGBTQ+ workers from discrimination. This ruling will affect approximately 1 million transgender workers and 7.1 million lesbian, gay and bisexual workers.
The majority opinion written by Trump-appointed justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote: “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”
In other progressive victories, the court first blocked a Louisiana abortion law that could have shut down almost all clinics in the state, with George W. Bush-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the left — despite his prior support for a similar law in Texas. Then, the Supreme Court prevented the Trump Administration from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which serves to protect hundreds of thousands of immigrants from deportation.
Some of these decisions were unexpected because of which of the conservative justices, whether Gorsuch or Roberts, crossed idealogical lines. Others were shocking because they seem so internally contradictory. How does one judicial body protect abortion rights in Louisiana one week, and destroy access to birth control on “moral grounds” the next?
It’s not only progressives who have been surprised by things like the LGBTQ+ decision and DACA decision — they also took President Trump and right-wing pundits off-guard, with Trump called some of the recent decisions “horrible and politically charged,” saying that they’re “shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.” The president also noted that conservatives are worried about losing 2nd Amendment rights and “everything else.” Trump tweeted all this soon after the Supreme Court ruled against undoing DACA.
Still, even if you think the current Supreme Court is a confusing mess, just wait, because there’s a good chance things will get even more chaotic. With a second Trump term now less and less certain, conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are allegedly considering announcing their retirements, which would potentially give Trump the power to appoint two new, young, ultra-conservative justices to the court.
There would undoubtedly be pushback from Democrats (remember when Obama wasn’t allowed to appoint a new justice in the last year of his presidency?), but if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s this: Everything that’s strange and bad, will only get stranger and worse.
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