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As a brutal heat wave cooks the West in the run-up to Labor Day, California’s power grid manager is calling on electric vehicle owners to avoid charging at peak times. The request is part of a broader effort to keep the state’s grid up and running, while locals crank their air conditioners to outlast a streak of blazing-hot days.

Through at least September 2the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is asking residents to conserve energy by “setting thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, if health permits, avoiding use of major appliances and turning off unnecessary lights” from 4 to 9 pm Pacific. “They should also avoid charging electric vehicles” during that time frame, added the nonprofit, which oversees California’s grid and energy market.

CAISO cautioned in a separate notes that it may issue further calls to safeguard electricity “through the Labor Day weekend,” in response to triple-digit forecasts. The

(CNN) — Shoulder season is almost here, when travel transitions from peak crowds and prices to something — hopefully — a little more mellow. Join us for our roundup of weekly travel news as well as tips for where to travel in late 2022.

Seasons in the sun

In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word “glamping.” The word is a portmanteau or a combination of two words — glamorous and camping. The vacation trend made its way from a humorous mashup to a full industry.

There are glamping publications, blogs and membership associations. There is even a glamping summit. The Glamping Show Summit is a trade event that hosts industry executives, suppliers and operators.

So what is this industry and how did it evolve? Here’s what you need to know about glamping and if it’s the right vacation experience for you.

What is glamping?

Glamping is a luxury camping experience in which campers spend time in semi-indoor locations as opposed to the normal tent or sleeping bag. Glamping typically offers the indoor amenities that regular camping lacks: beds, electricity and indoor plumbing.

Glamping has many different looks, including airstreams, barns, cabins, huts, cottages and treehouses. Glamping.com

Shoulder season: the time between July peaks and the holiday rush, when the kids return to school and parents return to the office after summer breaks. This represents the perfect time to find fun places to go, especially for an unttached Gen Z set.

If you’ve got the itch to go, this is the time to strap on backpacks. Post escalating prices during travel peaks, the US Travel Association’s index indicates lodging rates fell 3.3% in August. And according to an August 1 post from travel-booking app Hopper, domestic airfare will drop 25% this fall compared to May highs.

The question is where do you go? Well, Pinterest has your answer via The Manual. The social app collected trending travel data to reveal spikes in Pins pertaining to international travel, packing hacks, and less traveled destinations. Scrolling and pinned data shows that travelers are taking to the platform to find

BEIJING (AP) — China has locked down 65 million of its citizens under tough COVID-19 restrictions and is discouraging domestic travel during upcoming national holidays.

Across the country, 33 cities including seven provincial capitals are under full or partial lockdown covering more than 65 million people, according to a tally published late Sunday by the Chinese business magazine Caixin.

It said that outbreaks have been reported in 103 cities, the highest since the early days of the pandemic in early 2020.

Despite a relatively low number of infections, authorities have adhered to a “zero-COVID” policy requiring lockdowns, quarantines and the confining of people suspected of being in close contact with any confirmed case.

China recorded 1,552 new cases in the latest 24-hour period across a nation of 1.4 billion people, the National Health Commission reported Monday.

Most of the 21 million people in the southwestern city of Chengdu are confined