Mark Johanson | Bloomberg News (TNS)

Glittering salt flats. Sky-poking volcanoes. Teal lagoons painted pink with flamingos. These are the wonders that await guests traveling to the resort town of San Pedro de Atacama — an oasis amid the greater Atacama Desert of northern Chile, which is the driest (non-polar) place on Earth.

The 51-room Our Habitas Atacama, which opened on Sept. 15, is shaking things up as the most recent opening in a destination that rarely sees them. “The timing for Habitas is bang-on because the Atacama is red-hot right now,” says Harry Hastings, founder of bespoke travel company Plan South America. He says it’s one of his best-selling destinations.

What sets the property apart, Hastings says, is not just the design and culinary ambitions but something far simpler: With starting rates from $300 per night, it’s the only luxurious hotel in the area that isn’t priced on an all-inclusive basis. It gives travelers rates far lower than those of such competitors as Awasi, Nayara and Explora, which can charge $1,000 nightly per person.

Anyone who’s flown on a budget airline knows that unbundled rates can add up fast — particularly when the point of coming to a desert is to get out and explore it, perhaps by horseback riding across towering sand dunes, hiking through geysers, or quad biking across the Valley of the Moon. Still, Hastings says he’s been recommending the property to clients who want the freedom to explore the desert at their own pace.

The Atacama outpost is the latest landing spot for Our Habitas, a company born out of Burning Man whose ethos revolves around sustainable design, cultural experiences, and community empowerment. The company’s first outpost in South America, it exemplifies the brand’s quick-fire ascent: Our Habitas has grown since 2016 from a single boho-chic hotel in Tulum, Mexico, to 11 locations across four continents. (Recently, the brand raised eyebrows by announcing a $400 million expansion in Saudi Arabia, where it is building a circuit of at least four individual lodges.)

Chief Executive Officer Oliver Ripley says that a notable aspect of the property, a conversion of the former Altiplanico Hotel, is how it preserved the sturdy adobe bones while upgrading its interiors—a combo that was intended to lower the carbon footprint (and cost) of building the new lodge.

When seeking expansion opportunities for Our Habitas, Ripley says, “There is always an emphasis on discovery, adventure (and) nature.” In the Atacama, he found them all, thanks to the destination’s strong Atacameño identity and otherworldly landscapes in which NASA tests instruments for use on Mars.

On the streets of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. (Dmitry Chulov/Dreamstime/TNS)

Here’s a look at some of the most unique features at the new Our Habitas property, from a steamy sweat lodge to its hyperlocal desert cuisine.

Local design touches abound

Setting foot inside the property’s 51 rooms is meant to feel like entering a traditional Atacama home, with thick clay walls made of temperature-controlling adobe and grass roofs lined in brea, a native flowering plant. Pottery and wall tapestries come from Atacameño artisans who live in neighboring ayllus (Indigenous-run communities), while the sturdy wood furnishings come from Chilean craftspeople in the nation’s forested south.

Upcycled materials are a design feature

In refurbishing, Our Habitas made a point of “reusing and relocating existing elements of the hotel in new and exciting ways,” says Ripley. That’s why you’ll find the steel security gate from the former Altiplanico serving as the base of the new bar. Similarly, bricks from an exterior wall now tile the restaurant, and clay sun blockers once used to shade the parking area act as roofing for the wellness zone.

The spa highlights Atacameno practices

A highlight at the Atacama property is the clay sweat lodge, or temazcal, which is common among Indigenous groups of the Americas. Users set forth their intentions for the experience as a trained guide from the Indigenous community of Collasuyo pours herb-infused water atop fiery volcanic stones, heating the dome-like lodge with increasing levels of steam. The idea is to detoxify your body and remove stress in your mind. Additional wellness treatments inspired by Indigenous practices include a holistic Willka Kuti massage named after an Indigenous Amyara solstice celebratio, which uses using energizing coca leaf oil. Another is a Maqui Facial, which employs the endemic maqui berry, which is rich in antioxidants. Chakra alignments and Andes-inspired meditation sessions round out the lengthy wellness menu whose rates run from $100 (for a 60-minute Maqui Facial) to $170 (for a 90-minute Willka Kuti massage).

Dishes tend to tell a story

The onsite restaurant Almas (“souls,” in Spanish) has an “earth-to-table” approach that tries to share the history of the Atacama through flavor, using as many endemic ingredients as possible. Several dishes feature native herbs, including a red quinoa risotto with salty cachiyuyo leaves or the fresh razor clams from the Atacama coast, sprinkled with minty and citrusy rica-rica. (It adds a great punch to pisco sours, too.) Others showcase local cooking techniques, like the lamb chop baked in a traditional clay oven. Chef Guillermo Riviera Reyes’s menu features kalamata-like olives from the nearby Azapa Valley; plates sprinkled with a prized, high-altitude oregano from Socoroma; salad dressings based around the hazelnut-like legume chañar; and a flan made with the tamarind-shaped pods of the algarrobo trees that tower above the property.

Excursions reveal unearthly sights

Our Habitas is rare among San Pedro’s upmarket hotels in that it does not include guided adventures in its (much lower) room rates. Guests choose à la carte among a lengthy list of excursions (from $100-275 per person), including hikes and scenic drives up to the high-altitude plateau, or Altiplano, at the border with Bolivia and Argentina. Here, in parks such as Los Flamencos National Reserve, travelers find flamingo-filled lakes, blinding-white salt flats and lagoons so saline that swimmers bob on the surface like human ice cubes. Further north is the famed El Tatio complex: The largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere is filled with gurgling mud puddles, sputtering fountains and prismatic pools.

Cultural experiences are free

Although the hotel isn’t all-inclusive, some wellness activities (like yoga classes) and most of the cultural programming come without further charge — all part of the hotel’s plan to “emphasize the importance of experience,” says Ripley. Sound baths and movement classes help visitors tune in to the environment and tune out unnecessary noise. By night, the Atacama sky — studied by astronomers the world over due to its almost complete lack of cloud cover, moisture or light pollution — offers priceless spectacle. Local Atacameno musicians regularly play Andean music (think panpipes and flutes) in the evenings. Workshops on ceramics or medicinal plants give guests a greater appreciation for local arts and traditional wisdom, though they are conducted by a staff that includes just two Indigenous members. (Ripley and hotel staff declined to discuss the extent to which the Indigenous community helped shape the cultural programming; the programs are generally offered multiple times a week.)

The location combines village life with arresting vistas

The hotel’s location on the edge of San Pedro (population 5,000, about the size of Moab, Utah) makes it easy to explore village museums, cafes and craft markets by foot — the main plaza is merely a 12-minute walk down dusty roads — while also enjoying serene desert views that properties in town can’t offer. “I think you’ve got the best of both worlds,” says Hastings. “There’s easy access to town and easy access to get out of it.”

The grounds are meant for walking

Outdoor pathways wind through the property past native vegetation, including spiky cacti, feathery foxtail grasses and a newly planted herb garden. Ripley says this “encourages guests to wander around and take different daily routes to explore and discover new corners.” The ultimate goal, he adds, is “total immersion into the natural world.” Still, plenty of space is designed for connecting and communing with fellow guests.

Cocktails by the pool come with a view Guests kick back in loungers under the scorching sun with pisco cocktails and sauvignon blancs or semillons from Chilean valleys with cooler climates, such as Itata or Casablanca, as they tan by an L-shaped pool overlooking a bushy tapestry of desert flora. The poolside menu features such light plates as ceviches or lamb-filled empanadas.

The rooms have personality The hotel includes four distinct room types, all designed to sooth sun-weary eyes with cooling earth tones. The Pioneer Studio (from $300) is the smallest and sleeps two in a plush, king-sized bed. The Adventure Room (from $345) is slightly larger, with an additional lounge chair. The Explorer Suite (from $360) is nearly double the size of the Pioneer Studio and includes a desk area useful for remote work. The Trekker Villa (from $450) is the largest option; its private terrace comes in handy after sundown as the Milky Way flickers in the inky sky. Standout room features include wood-carved floor lamps with hand-woven shades and outdoor rain showers that are ideal for washing away the dust of the desert.

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Manny Lagos is taking another position at Minnesota United, and the St. Paul native will be further from the Loons’ to-be-determined new sporting hierarchy.

Lagos was MNUFC’s first Sporting Director for its MLS expansion, starting in 2017, and he went on to a higher managerial role as the club’s new Chief Soccer Officer after the 2019 season. Now, Lagos will be the club’s first Chief Development Officer and Senior Technical Advisor.

The club said Lagos will work with “commercial and business development opportunities” for MNUFC and “fan/community engagement initiatives.” He will continue to provide “input and advice to the club on soccer-related matters.”

“Manny brings expertise and passion to all of these areas and this role will allow us to benefit more fully from all that he can do for our club and our community,” MNUFC CEO Shari Ballard said in a statement.

Ballard is leading the ongoing hiring process for a new general manager and head coach after firing manager Adrian Heath and Technical Director Mark Watson on Oct. 5.

When Lagos left his Sporting Director role after the 2019 season, Heath assumed a bigger role in the front office, going from head coach to a managerial role. Watson was promoted from assistant coach to a front-office role under Heath at that time.

When Lagos became Chief Soccer Officer, he took an increased focus on MNUFC’s youth academy and the club’s second team (MNUFC2) and less of a role in first-team management decisions.

How this role change for Lagos factors in with the new sporting leaders remains to be seen.

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By Sam Kemmis | NerdWallet

As someone who cares about my environmental impact and spending as little money as possible, life is full of fraught decisions.

Should I buy organic milk even though it’s twice as expensive? Or choose an electric car for $40,000 rather than a friend’s run-down Corolla for $3,000?

Should I make eye contact with the person on the street raising money to fight climate change or awkwardly pretend to be on a phone call?

The point is that my aversion to spending money often means I’m cutting corners environmentally. Yet when it comes to air travel, these preferences aren’t in conflict. In fact, reducing one’s travel carbon footprint can actually mean spending less on airfare.

The only downside: It means flying with airlines that pack you in (and treat you) like sardines.

The high cost of legroom

Flying burns a lot of fossil fuels — there’s no way around that fact. If the entire commercial aviation industry were a country, it would rank sixth (between Japan and Germany) in total emissions, according to an October 2019 report from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.

But not all means of traveling by air have the same impact. More expensive seats, such as premium economy, business class and first class, burn more fuel per passenger than the sardine-like conditions at the back of the plane.

How much more? A lot.

Flying in first class on a widebody jet creates a carbon footprint nine times larger than flying in economy, according to a report from the World Bank’s Environment and Energy Team, Development Research Group.

That’s the first bit of good news for cheap, environmentally conscious travelers like me. You can save money and shrink your carbon footprint at the same time by choosing economy fares.

And that’s not all. Because not only does what cabin you fly in matter, but so does the plane’s layout.

Enter budget airlines

Imagine two types of bus: One that carries 50 passengers and one that carries 25. Assuming the fuel consumption is roughly similar for both, which bus would be more efficient in terms of gas burned per passenger mile?

Obviously, the more packed bus is more efficient.

Yet we often overlook the parallel with air travel. Some Boeing 737s, operated by low-cost airlines, carry far more passengers than the same 737s operated by airlines with first- and business–class seats, simply because they lack a first-class cabin.

That’s why budget airlines Frontier and Spirit ranked best regarding carbon dioxide emissions per seat mile (in grams) in a 2022 analysis by IBA, an aviation consulting firm.

In fact, the report specifically cites the high density (i.e., sardine-like) seating of Frontier’s aircraft as a major reason why the airline ranked so well.

Another reason budget airlines are dark-horse climate winners: They offer several nonstop flights.

For example, the new low-cost airline Zipair offers four routes from the U.S. directly to Tokyo. Flying direct in this way reduces emissions simply because it covers less distance and burns less fuel.

Flying direct often means paying more, but these low-cost airlines have turned that logic upside down. That means you can spend less, emit less and spend less time in the air.

So what’s the catch?

No such thing as a free soda

Low-cost airlines might be more environmentally friendly on the whole, and their fares can be cheaper on the surface, but actually saving money with them can be challenging. That’s because they generate much of their revenue through add-on fees on top of the base fare.

Expect to pay for everything from a can of soda to the opportunity to select your own seat. In fact, the cost of a flight with an airline like Spirit can quickly balloon past the cost of the same flight with a traditional carrier if you’re not careful.

That’s where stoicism comes in. Yeah, you’re paying and emitting less, but only because you’re giving up on “frills” like legroom and free drinks. That might be fine for a two-hour flight, but it will test even the steeliest nerves for a trans-Pacific one.

The trick is to pay for only the frills you actually care about. Budget airlines will try to push countless add-ons during checkout, from bundles to trip cancellation protection.

Some of these might be important to you, others less so. Being ruthless in turning down the latter is the only way to keep these costs low, and keep budget airline travel something you will want to continue doing in the future.

I like to treat this add-on fee system like a game that I’m winning by refusing to bite on needless add-ons. The fact that I’m reducing my carbon footprint while saving money is just the cherry on top.

 

The article Ask a Travel Nerd: Environmentally Friendly Air Travel for Cheap Stoics originally appeared on NerdWallet.

Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, Katheryn Houghton | (TNS) KFF Health News

LAS VEGAS — When Andria Peterson began working as a clinical pharmacist in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units at St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nevada, in 2009, she witnessed the devastating effects the opioid crisis had on the hospital’s youngest patients.

She recalled vividly one baby who stayed in the NICU for 90 days with neonatal abstinence syndrome, a form of withdrawal, because his mother had used substances while pregnant.

The mother came in every day, Peterson said. She took three buses to get to the hospital to see her baby. Peterson watched her sing to him some days and read to him on others.

“I saw in the NICU the love that she had for that baby,” Peterson said. “When it came down to it, she lost custody.”

At the time, Peterson said, she felt more could be done to help people like that mother. That’s why, in 2018, she founded Empowered, a program that provides services for pregnant and postpartum women who have a history of opioid or stimulant use or are currently using drugs.

The program helps about 100 women at any given time, Peterson said. Pregnancy often motivates people to seek treatment for substance use, she said. Yet significant barriers stand in the way of those who want care, even as national rates of fatal drug overdoses during and shortly after pregnancy continue to rise. In addition to the risk of overdose, substance use during pregnancy can result in premature birth, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome.

A federal initiative seeking to combat those overdoses is distributing millions of dollars to states to help fund and expand programs like Empowered. Six states will receive grant funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to increase access to treatment during and after pregnancy. The Nevada Health and Human Services Department is distributing the state’s portion of that funding, about $900,000 annually for up to three years, to help the Empowered program expand into northern Nevada, including by establishing an office in Reno and sending mobile staff into nearby rural communities.

Other states are trying to spread the federal funds to maximize reach. State officials in Montana have awarded their state’s latest $900,000 grant to a handful of organizations since first receiving a pool of funding in 2020. Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, and South Carolina will also receive $900,000 each.

Officials hope the financial boosts will help tamp down the rise in overdoses.

Deaths from drug overdoses hit record highs in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More recent preliminary data shows that the rates of fatal drug overdoses have continued to rise since.

Deaths in pregnant and postpartum people have also increased. Homicides, suicides and drug overdoses are the leading causes of pregnancy-related death.

Fatal overdoses among pregnant and postpartum people increased by approximately 81% from 2017 to 2020, according to a 2022 study. Of 7,642 reported deaths related to pregnancy during those years, 1,249 were overdoses. Rates of pregnancy-related opioid overdose deaths had already more than doubled from 2007 to 2016.

Meanwhile, mothers and mothers-to-be in rural parts of the country, some of the hardest hit by the opioid crisis, face greater barriers to care because of fewer treatment facilities specializing in pregnant and postpartum people in their communities and fewer providers who can prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction.

Data distinguishing the rates of overdose mortality among pregnant and postpartum people in urban and rural areas is hard to come by, but studies have found higher rates of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome in rural parts of the country. Women in rural areas also died at higher rates from drug overdoses in 2020 compared with women in urban areas, while the overall rate and the rate among men were greater in urban areas.

In Nevada, a 2022 maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity report found that most of the state’s pregnancy-related deaths, 78%, happened in Clark County, home to Las Vegas and two-thirds of the state’s population. However, the state’s rural counties had the highest pregnancy-related death rate — 179.5 per 100,000 live births — while Clark County’s was 123 per 100,000 live births.

Empowered staff prepare a tote bag full of baby diapers and wipes for a client. (Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez/KFF Heath News/TNS)

During a recent event hosted by Empowered, four mothers recounted their struggles with addiction while pregnant. “It was never my intention to actually have a drug addiction,” said a mother named Amani. “I’ve always wanted to get out of the cycle of relapsing and drug usage.”

Amani, who asked to be identified only by her first name for fear of stigma associated with using drugs while pregnant or after giving birth, said she found the support she needed to treat her addiction in 2021. That’s when she began seeking help at Empowered.

Substance use while pregnant or postpartum is “incredibly stigmatizing,” said Emilie Bruzelius, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and author of a study of trends in drug overdose mortality during and after pregnancy. The stigma and fear of interacting with child welfare or law enforcement agencies prevents people from seeking help, she said.

A Rand Corporation study found that states with punitive policies toward mothers with substance use disorders have more cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Nevada was among them.

Researchers have found that, in addition to facing fear of punishment, many women don’t have access to treatment during and after pregnancy because few outpatient centers specialize in treating mothers.

Both Nevada and Montana had fewer than one treatment facility with specialized programs for pregnant and postpartum women per 1,000 reproductive-age women with substance use disorders, with Montana ranking in the lowest quintile.

One Health, a community health center covering Montana’s sprawling southeastern plains, is using the newly awarded federal money to train peer support specialists as doulas, professionals specialized in childbirth who can provide support throughout pregnancy and after.

Megkian Doyle, who directs the center’s community-based work, said in one case a survivor of sex trafficking who was drugged by her abusers worked with a recovery doula to prepare for the potential triggers of being exposed to medical workers or needing an IV. In another, a mom in stable recovery from addiction was able to keep her baby when hospital staffers called child protective services because she already had a safety plan with her doula and the agency.

After birth, recovery doulas visit families daily for two weeks, “the window when overdose, relapse, and suicide is happening,” Doyle said. The workers, in their peer support role, can continue helping clients for years.

While doula care, rarely covered by insurance, is unaffordable for many, Medicaid typically covers peer support care. As of late September, 37 states and Washington, D.C., had extended Medicaid benefits to cover care for 12 months postpartum. Montana and Nevada have approved plans to do so. Health centers in similarly rural states have taken note. The program’s latest cohort of recovery doulas includes five peer support specialists from Utah.

With its trauma-informed approach, the Nevada-based Empowered program takes a different tack.

Empowered has an incentive program that includes “shopping” in its store for women’s and babies’ clothing, shoes, and more. (Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez/KFF Heath News/TNS)

The program focuses on meeting its participants’ most pressing need, which varies depending on the person. Some people need help getting government-issued identification so they can access other social services, including aid from food pantries, said Peterson, the founder and executive director. Others may need safe housing above all.

Empowered is not abstinence-based, meaning its participants do not lose access to services if they relapse or use substances while seeking help. Because some participants may be actively using drugs, the Empowered office is also a distribution site for the overdose reversal medication naloxone and test strips that detect fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that has contributed to jumps in fatal overdose rates in recent years. The program’s staff also provide education about the effects drugs have on an unborn baby during pregnancy.

Being able to be honest with Empowered staff made a difference for Amani.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tripped and fallen but tried to get back up and fallen again,” she said.

The goal is not only to stabilize participants’ lives but to make them resilient — whatever that may look like for each individual. For many, that includes having stable housing, food security, job security, and custody of their children.

To her, Amani said, the Empowered program means love, support, and not being alone.

“I wouldn’t be here, literally, without them,” she said.

___

(KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.)

©2023 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.