• I spent six weeks traveling solo across New Zealand from Auckland down to Queenstown.
• Despite being a seasoned traveler, I still made mistakes like staying in the wrong city too long.
• I should’ve booked fewer excursions and looked up where to sit for better views on my bus routes.

Even after traveling the world solo for 10 years, I still make mistakes when visiting new destinations.

Before my first trip to New Zealand, I felt prepared: I had years of travel experience, solid research skills, an innate understanding of Polynesian culture from my roots in Hawaii, and even a local contact in Auckland.

But from common slip-ups like miscalculating timing to bigger missteps like booking non-refundable tickets for weather-dependent activities, I managed to get plenty wrong along the way.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes I made during my six weeks in New Zealand — and how you can hopefully avoid them.

Splurging on a camper van without plans to spend enough time on the road

My first adventure in New Zealand was booking a camper van and taking it to a music festival in Northland.

It was cool to have a van, but I wish I’d planned more time on the road instead of leaving it parked at the festival for most of my rental period.

If I’d had a few extra days, I would have driven up to Cape Reinga to see the point where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet. Doing this also would’ve helped the cost feel more worthwhile, since the rental wasn’t cheap.

Not closely checking hours and schedules when planning excursions

I packed my itinerary with excursions, but didn’t plan all of them well.

For example, my day trip to Waiheke Island was cut short because I arrived too late, not realizing that “island time” meant shops and wineries closed around 5 p.m.— even earlier than I’m used to back home on Maui.

By the time my late-afternoon ferry arrived, I didn’t have enough time to visit a vineyard or properly explore the downtown area. It felt silly to visit an island known for its wine and not actually taste any.

Staying too long in the wrong city

I decided to linger in the town of Rotorua since it had so many unique activities nearby: a Maori cultural experience, New Zealand’s original geothermal spa, a redwood tree walk, and the Hobbiton movie set tour.

When I stepped off the bus, I expected to see a bustling tourist spot. Instead, I thought Rotorua felt like a ghost town — one with a pungent sulphur smell that only worsened at night.

When I got to my next destination, Taupo, I immediately wished I’d booked more time there. It had the same lakeside charm but with more life, fresher-smelling air, and more affordable food — including tons of options for my keto diet.

Not researching which side of the bus to sit on

New Zealand is renowned for its stunning scenery, but some bus routes have better views on a particular side.

Before each ride, I wish I’d looked into which side offered the best vantage points instead of realizing halfway through that I was on the wrong one.

Booking a round trip on the TranzAlpine train route

I was eager to experience the TranzAlpine journey through New Zealand’s Southern Alps — it’s celebrated as one of the most scenic train rides in the world.

The views were wonderful, but I’m not sure doing a round trip on the train was the best, most interesting use of my time.

Later, I realized it would have made more sense to get off in Greymouth and continue by bus down the West Coast to Queenstown.

That alternative route would have taken more time and required an overnight stay, but it would have given me a richer, more novel experience than simply looping back to Christchurch.

Trying to schedule celestial sights

I planned stays in Lake Tekapo and Te Anau hoping to glimpse the aurora australis, or southern lights, but canceled both due to cloudy forecasts that would have made aurora chasing impossible.

After rerouting, I also canceled a hot pool and stargazing experience I’d confidently booked as non-refundable, which meant losing that money.

To fill this gap in my itinerary, I stayed longer in Queenstown, where I never expected to see the aurora because of light pollution. Ironically, that’s exactly where I captured photos of the cosmic phenomenon.

All that said, next time I travel, I probably wouldn’t book non-refundable excursions that are so contingent on weather.

Overcommitting, canceling plans, and changing my itinerary too many times

Whether it was because of weather, logistical mishaps, or my health, I ended up rescheduling and canceling a lot of excursions throughout my journey.

This included stays in several cities, a trip on the Coastal Pacific train route, a whale-watching flight, and more.

By the end of my trip, I realized I’d simply overcommitted myself.

If I’d had more days in New Zealand, maybe things would’ve been different. However, I could’ve benefitted from narrowing down my plans off the bat to focus on what I truly wanted while creating more time for spontaneity.

That said, I’m grateful I gave myself the flexibility to back out of plans that no longer aligned without guilt or regret.

• Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, has been missing since Sunday.
• Authorities said they believe the 84-year-old was taken against her will.
• The sheriff’s office said detectives are working with the family to identify cameras outside Guthrie’s home.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since Sunday, and authorities in Tucson, Arizona, are investigating her disappearance.

Chris Nanos, the sheriff of Pima County, told NBC Nightly News on Monday that officials believe she was “taken out of her home against her will.”

On Wednesday morning, the sheriff’s office told Business Insider that Nancy’s home was “equipped with several cameras,” and that detectives are working with the family and coordinating with the relevant camera companies to see what footage is available.

Nanos said Guthrie’s family had told him the elderly woman was on “vital” medications, and it could be fatal if she did not take them every 24 hours. Her family reported her missing around noon on Sunday.

He added that she has limited mobility and could not walk “50 yards” on her own.

Here’s what to know.

Who is Nancy Guthrie?

The older Guthrie lived alone in her home in Tucson, Arizona. In a missing person report shared on X by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, she is described as a 5-foot-5-inch-tall woman with brown hair and blue eyes.

She has appeared on “Today” numerous times, including when Savannah called her on air in 2012 to wish her a happy 70th birthday.

In 2022, for her 80th birthday, Savannah paid tribute to her mom on the show, calling her “a truth teller, whether you really want to hear the truth or not. She’s quick and she’s smart, she’s well-read, she’s curious about everything.”

She was last seen at her home outside of Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of January 31 after her family dropped her off. She lives alone but has house staff.

The next day, Sunday, February 1, a friend called the family concerned when Nancy wasn’t present for Sunday service at her church.

After an hour of searching the home and property, the family called 911. Authorities say her cell phone and car were left behind.

What do police think happened to her?

The Sheriff’s office said in an X update on Tuesday evening that it was investigating reports of a ransom note for Guthrie.

The FBI is also involved in the investigation.

“The FBI is doing everything in our power to bring Nancy Guthrie home to her family,” Jon Edwards, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Tucson, said in a statement at a press conference on Tuesday.

Edwards said the FBI is downloading and analyzing cell phones, obtaining cell tower information, and conducting interviews.

Authorities have been conducting a search using drones, a helicopter, an airplane, search-and-rescue dogs, and volunteers. Nanos also said that they have been investigating “hundreds of leads.”

They said they don’t know if Nancy was targeted because of her famous daughter and are not aware of any threats to Savannah.

What has Savannah Guthrie said?

On Tuesday, Savannah posted an image on her Instagram that read “Please Pray” with the following caption:

we believe in prayer. we believe in voices raised in unison, in love, in hope. we believe in goodness. we believe in humanity. above all, we believe in Him.

thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant. raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment.

we need you.

“He will keep in perfect peace those whose hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” a verse of Isaiah for all time for all of us.

Bring her home.

Savannah has been an anchor on NBC’s morning show “Today” since 2012. Born in Australia, she and her family moved to Tucson when she was a child. She joined NBC in 2007, and in her time there before “Today,” she was a White House correspondent and anchored “NBC Nightly News.” According to Forbes, she was the twelfth-highest paid TV host of 2025, earning an estimated salary of $24 million.

The host has not appeared on “Today” since her mother’s disappearance. She was set to be part of NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage in Italy this month, but an NBC spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that she will no longer be attending.

• Both Polymarket and Kalshi announced free grocery stunts in NYC.
• Kalshi launched a $50 grocery giveaway at an East Village grocery store on Tuesday.
• Polymarket says it’s doing its own pop-up, calling it “New York’s first free grocery market,” for 5 days starting Feb. 12 at noon.

Free groceries, courtesy of your favorite prediction market.

That’s the stunt that both Kalshi and Polymarket are attempting to pull off in New York City, in an apparent nod to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to open city-run grocery stores.

Kalshi’s offering arrived first, offering shoppers up to $50 worth of free groceries at Westside Market, a grocery store in Manhattan’s East Village on Tuesday.

Business Insider attended the event and found a long line.

The promotion runs from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET at Westside Market on 84 3rd Ave.

But Polymarket says it’s going even bigger, opening its own grocery store in the city next week — “New York’s first free grocery store” — for a limited time.

“The Polymarket is fully stocked. No purchase required. We’re open to all New Yorkers,” the company said. “Free groceries. Free markets. Built for the people who power New York. We’ll see you at The Polymarket’s grand opening next week.”

The address has yet to be announced by the company, but Polymarket says the store will be open from Thursday, February 12 at noon until Sunday, February 15.

The prediction market also says it donated $1 million to Food Bank for New York City.

“The activation is the result of months of planning — from securing permits and building out a dedicated retail space to coordinating logistics and nonprofit partnerships — and represents a direct investment in the city where Polymarket was founded and scaled,” reads a release from the prediction market platform.

Kalshi and Polymarket have exploded in popularity over the last year and a half, and the giveaways are likely to raise the companies’ profiles and brand recognition even further.

Both prediction markets have moved to partner with media organizations. Polymarket partnered with the Golden Globes and Dow Jones, while Kalshi has struck deals with CNN and CNBC.

Prediction markets have also faced greater scrutiny from lawmakers, especially after an anonymous Polymarket trader made hundreds of thousands of dollars off a well-timed bet on former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s political future, sparking concerns about insider trading.

That’s led some prediction markets to push back, with Kalshi emphasizing that it has rules against insider trading and supports efforts to regulate the practice.

Update, February 3, 2026 — This story has been updated to clarify Food Bank of New York’s involvement with the Polymarket initiative.

• Longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger is stepping down early from his role, making room for his successor.
• Iger’s decision to relinquish his role comes after he unretired and returned as CEO.
• Disney’s board chairman said Iger’s move gives the company “a completely clean start.”

Bob Iger loves Disney even more than he loves being its CEO.

That was the message from Disney board chairman James Gorman on Tuesday, as the company announced that Josh D’Amaro would succeed Iger in the CEO slot.

Iger will step down on March 18, more than nine months before his contract expires, to make room for incoming CEO D’Amaro and soon-to-be president Dana Walden. After D’Amaro takes charge, Iger will remain a strategic advisor and board member through the end of the year.

Iger’s decision to leave early may seem surprising, given his past efforts to hold onto or take back power. Gorman said on Tuesday that he believes Iger’s call was very much in character for the man who made Disney into the media powerhouse it is today.

“Bob came to the point where he had developed the talent. And he said, ‘This is for me to step aside now,'” Gorman said on CNBC on Tuesday morning.

“Yes, he could technically be CEO through the end of his contract,” Gorman said of Iger. “That wasn’t the aspiration. The aspiration was to get the company ready and to get the talent ready, not worrying about what the contract says.”

Gorman said that Iger had two mandates when he returned to Disney in late 2022: improve the company’s financial and strategic positioning while dealing with challenges, and develop talent and leadership to ensure at least another decade of growth.

Just over three years later, Iger has made the case that Disney is in much better shape than when he replaced former CEO Bob Chapek — even though Wall Street has been lukewarm about the stock. Disney shares have risen about 12% since Iger took over in late 2022, compared to a gain of over 70% for US stocks broadly.

Disney’s parks are profit machines, its streaming business has gone from billion-dollar losses to the black, and top TV network ESPN has fully embraced streaming. Iger has also tried to lead Disney into the future by reaching a deal with OpenAI that could bring AI-generated video to Disney+, though it’s unclear whether Disney’s AI efforts will pay off.

Those accomplishments, along with the development of D’Amaro and Walden, are why Gorman said Iger was ready to step aside early.

“He just felt earlier in the year was better to do it,” Gorman said of Iger. “He said, ‘They’re ready, why not?’ And I thought it was incredibly selfless of him. And it was the right thing for Disney. And honestly, it’s going to be the right thing for Josh, Dana, Alan [Bergman], Jimmy [Pitaro], and the rest of the team.”

Iger’s voluntary renunciation of the CEO position feels like a departure from the past, when he declined to step aside for potential successors, like former operating chief Tom Staggs, and then made a dramatic comeback to retake the helm from Chapek, the heir he had chosen.

“Bob was not interested in remaining as a chair or cochair,” Gorman said on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. “We needed a completely clean start here, which is what we are having. He will be there to support and mentor, and we have the right structure for the future.”

Among the many challenges NATO soldiers face in the unforgiving Arctic environment, frozen weapons pose a serious risk. Extreme cold can cause firearms to malfunction, leaving soldiers vulnerable. At the same time, overheating weapons can create additional complications, forcing troops to carefully manage their equipment in harsh conditions.

• A US Navy F-35 shot down an Iranian drone that was flying toward an American aircraft carrier.
• The Tuesday incident comes as the US has built up a large naval presence in the Middle East.
• Tensions have been running high between the Trump administration and Iran.

A US Navy F-35 stealth fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone on Tuesday that was flying toward an American aircraft carrier with “unclear intent,” the US military told Business Insider.

The incident, which occurred over the Arabian Sea, comes as the US has positioned nearly a dozen warships in the Middle East and amid heightened tensions between the Trump administration and Iran.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was transiting international waters roughly 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast “when an Iranian Shahed-139 drone unnecessarily maneuvered toward the ship,” said US Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins.

“The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters,” Hawkins said in a statement.

An F-35C fighter jet attached to the Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone “in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board,” Hawkins said, adding that no US service members were harmed and no American equipment was damaged.

It’s unclear if the Iranian drone was armed.

Several hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces “harassed” an American-flagged merchant vessel transiting international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, Hawkins said.

“Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” Hawkins said.

A Navy destroyer operating in the area immediately responded to the incident to escort the Stena with support from the US Air Force. “The situation de-escalated as a result,” Hawkins said, “and the US-flagged tanker is proceeding safely.”

The US has surged various military assets into the Middle East in recent weeks, including air defense systems, combat aircraft, and warships, with President Donald Trump threatening to strike Iran again if it does not agree to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

Iranian leadership warned that any US military action, which Trump initially suggested in response to Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month, would trigger a regional war.

Among the forces that have entered the Middle East is the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which consists of the aircraft carrier and dozens of embarked fighter jets, as well as three destroyers carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles, among other weapons.

At least six other Navy warships are operating in the region, with two more in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

“A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose,” Trump said last week, calling it a “larger fleet” than the one he sent to Venezuela ahead of the raid to capture Nicolás Maduro.

The two incidents on Tuesday occurred just several days after the US military urged the IRGC to avoid any “unsafe and unprofessional behavior” near American forces during a series of naval drills that were set to begin on Sunday but appear to have been called off.

Central Command forces “are operating at the highest levels of professionalism and ensuring the safety of US personnel, ships, and aircraft in the Middle East,” Hawkins said.

“Continued Iranian harassment and threats in international waters and airspace will not be tolerated. Iran’s unnecessary aggression near US forces, regional partners, and commercial vessels increases risks of collision, miscalculation, and regional destabilization,” he added.

US and Iranian officials are scheduled to meet later this week for negotiations, though it’s unclear whether Tuesday’s incidents will disrupt the diplomacy.