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Democracy

'It's all a lie': Woman who returned from Europe shares why life is much harder in the U.S.

Why work harder for a lower quality of life?

via Kayleigh Donahue/TikTok and Zeeshan Kundi/Pexels

Kayleigh Donahue explains the differences between the U.S. and Europe.

American-born TikTok user Kayleigh Donahue is going viral on the platform because of her unflinching take on why it was a mistake for her to move back to the U.S. after spending 4 years in Ireland.

She now lives in the Boston area. Kayleigh moved back to the U.S. from Ireland to make more money, but that didn’t go as planned. Even though she got paid more, the cost of living was so much higher that she saved less money than she did in Ireland. She also missed the generous number of vacation days she got in Europe as compared to America.

@kayshaynee
popping off always #americanabroad #usavseurope #movingabroad #livingabroad #europevsamerica #fyp

“Basically, I really got sucked into the American Dream way of living when I was abroad, which is funny because I loved living abroad,” Kayleigh said. “But you know, making more money, that’s enticing. Good job, that’s enticing. It’s not true. It used to be. It definitely used to be. You could come here and make a ton of money, make a great life for yourself. But the younger generation today, in this country — screwed. It’s literally all a lie that is sold to you. It’s such a struggle, and the older generation doesn’t seem to see how much of a struggle it is for the younger generation here.”

In the end, who wants to work harder for a lower quality of life?

“Needless to say, I will most likely be moving back to Europe where 20-plus days of paid vacation a year is literally the law, and I will make less money, but somehow, you know, the cost of living is lower there and I can save more,” Kayleigh concluded the video.

This article originally appeared in January.

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europe

Pop Culture

British man in U.S. explains why Americans aren’t 'well-traveled’ and it’s so true

“I don’t think people really understand the size and scale of America.”

Glacier National Park (Michael Kirsh/Unsplash), Badlands (Jéan Béller/Unsplash), Key West (Meriç Dağlı/Unsplash)

All three of these places are in the continental United States.

Americans are known for many things, some of which are mostly true (we do tend to be open and friendly, though not all of us are) and some of which are exaggerated stereotypes (we're not all obsessed with guns, though some of us are).

But one stereotype that isn't exaggerated is that Americans aren't as "well-traveled" as our friends across the pond—at least not in the international sense. The United States has an overall level of wealth that enables many citizens to travel to other countries, but Americans are less likely to be traveled internationally than Europeans—a reality that might make some assume Americans just aren't compelled to travel as much.

However, as Joshua Cauldwell, a man from the United Kingdom staying in the U.S. explains, it's a misnomer that Americans aren't well-traveled.

"Brit in America here," he begins in response to a video about Europeans complaining that Americans aren't well-traveled and can't point out Switzerland on a map.

"I now know why Americans aren't 'well-traveled,'" Cauldwell says. "Trust me, they are well-traveled, but there's a reason why. I've spent many months in America like actively trying to get to as many states as possible in America, and I haven't even scratched the surface. American's don't need to venture outside America because America is that big. Americans go on vacation in America."

Cauldwell goes on to explain that in the U.K. you can get to France, Germany or Amsterdam in about 45 minutes.

"I just don't think Europeans are clued upon how big America really is," he says.

Watch:

See on Instagram

He's not wrong. A lot of Americans don't have passports, even if they travel a lot. The U.S. has 50 different states—more states than Europe has countries—that are comparable in size to European nations. And the geographic diversity between those states is is mind-boggling.

Compare the Olympic Rainforest in Washington to The Badlands in South Dakota and they look like different planets. You can travel around the U.S. and experience mountains, deserts, plains, deciduous forests, coniferous forests, saguaro cactus forests, oceans, lakes that feel like oceans, rolling hills, glaciers, swamps, canyons, palm trees on tropical white sand beaches, moss-covered trees on ocean cliff sides and more. There are 63 official National Parks and 429 total National Park Sites (federally protected places of historical or geographical significance, which include the National Parks) in the U.S., so even just trying to go see all of those places alone could take the better part of a lifetime, even for an avid traveler.

— (@)

In other words, he's right. There's so much to travel to and see in the U.S., it's not necessary to leave the country to have many unique, interesting and beautiful travel holidays. That's not to say Americans shouldn't travel to other countries simply because there's so much to see at home, of course. There's arguably more cultural diversity throughout the U.S. than many people realize, but it's not the same as going to another country. Certainly, there's value in experiencing the cultural richness that comes with traveling internationally.

But for Europeans, traveling internationally is much easier, more affordable and more accessible than it is for Americans. The U.S. is only about 4% smaller than the entirety of Europe, so it's a bit silly to say that Americans aren't "well-traveled" if they've not visited multiple countries. Distance and convenience-wise, traveling around the U.S. is similar to traveling around Europe, and well…it's just nice to see it acknowledged by someone from outside the country.

You can follow Joshua Cauldwell's American adventures on Instagram.

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travel

Modern Families

My family just flew to three European countries and home again for $149 per person total

Here's how we traveled from the U.S. to London, Athens and Vienna and back again for less than the cost of one domestic flight.

Photo courtesy of Annie Reneau

My husband and kids sitting on Ted Lasso's bench in Richmond, U.K.

Our family of five just got back from a nearly 3-week European vacation—three different cities in three different countries—and we only paid $149 cash per person for all of our flights combined.

It sounds too good to be true, but it's not. It sounds like there's got to be a catch, and there is, but not like you might think.

Welcome to the world of travel hacking, where if you learn to play the points and miles game well, you can take vacations you (or at least I) never thought possible.

I started learning about the points and miles game in the fall of 2021 via the 10xTravel free course, and I started playing in earnest myself in February of 2022. As a result, in the past year and a half, our family has taken multiple flights and stayed at multiple hotels within the United States—including some schmancy resorts—for free or very close to free. (Certain taxes and fees on flights have to be paid in cash, so there's no such thing as a 100% free flight.) But this trip to Europe was our first foray into international travel with points.

Four people standing in front of a lit up tree

My family enjoyed the Rathaus Christkindlmarket in Vienna.

Photo courtesy of Annie Reneau

The one "catch" to travel hacking? It's a complicated, strategic long game that takes time and effort to learn. But it's totally worth it. The basic gist is that you maximize credit card sign-up bonuses to accumulate transferable credit card points or loyalty points/miles with hotels and airlines, all without spending any more money than you normally would. Then you learn how to redeem those points for travel, which makes them way more valuable than simply getting cash back.

I wrote an overview of how the game works in a previous article (which you can read here), but I figured a real-life example is the best illustration.

For this trip to Europe, I transferred 362,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card points to United Airlines. (My husband and I have accumulated over 1.2 million points and miles in the past year and a half, so this trip was barely a third of our points.) That's what all of our flights to, from and around Europe cost, plus one more flight paid for with Southwest points to get all the way home. The taxes and fees for all flights came out to $149 for each of us.

three young people in front of the temple of poseidon

The Temple of Poseidon was a favorite of the whole family.

Photo courtesy of Annie Reneau

Our original itinerary was actually US > London > Athens > Tel Aviv > US, but obviously the Israel plans changed when the war began. We switched from Tel Aviv to Vienna for our music-loving kids just a couple of weeks before we departed. The flight from Vienna back to the US cost fewer points than the Tel Aviv to US flight, which made it so our added Athens to Vienna flight was covered by points we'd already spent. (We'd originally booked a one-way cash flight from Athens to Tel Aviv. That got refunded when the flight was canceled.) And thanks to United's Excursionist Perk, our London to Athens leg also cost us zero points—we only paid taxes.

So what you see here are the fees we paid out of pocket for three flights—Spokane to London, London to Athens, and Vienna to Chicago (where we stopped to see family and friends for a few days on our way home). The Oct 15 "date of purchase" was actually the date we changed our Tel Aviv flight to Vienna—we purchased the original tickets months ago.

As you can see, the fees for these flights were $112 per person:

Fees for flights from Spokane to London, London to Athens, and Vienna to Chicago

Screenshot via Annie Reneau

Here are the taxes and fees for the Athens to Vienna leg we added after the Israel changes, which were $31.40 per person:

Taxes and fees for flight from Athens to Vienna.

Screenshot via Annie Reneau

Finally, to get back to Spokane from Chicago, we booked flights on Southwest. We have a ton of Southwest Rapid Rewards points accumulated from playing the game as well as two Southwest Companion Passes, which means two of our kids traveled with us for free (only paid fees on their flights—no points needed). So we paid 14,345 Southwest points x 3 (43,035 points total) and the fees were just $5.60 each, which brings us to our grand total of $149 per person.

We paid $5.60 each for our flight from Chicago to Spokane on Southwest.

Screenshot via Annie Reneau

To reiterate, we didn't pay anything beyond our normal spending for the points we used to get these flights. We just strategically utilized new credit cards for all of our expenses every few months. Accumulating points is actually the simpler part of the game. Figuring how to find the best redemption deals for the points is where it gets complicated and the real work comes in.

It's not like I just went on the United website, put in our dates and destinations, transferred the points and got the tickets. I spent many hours poring over different airline websites and different city combinations and dates to see where the best deals were. (We weren't tied to particular cities or dates other than our religious pilgrimage to Haifa, which didn't end up happening anyway.) It took a lot of time to find these tickets for the price we did, but again, totally worth it to save thousands of dollars.

Our whole family at the tip of mainland Greece at sunset.

Photo courtesy of Annie Reneau

If there weren't as many of us, we could also have gotten hotels on points, but with a family of five it was more affordable to book Airbnbs where we were Europe. So it's not like this vacation cost us nothing—we still had accommodations, public transportation, a car rental in Greece for exploring outside of Athens for a few days, food (pretty cheap in Greece, more expensive in the U.K. and Austria), and any museums, attractions and events we enjoyed.

But getting the flights for a song enabled us to do the rest. The cash price for the exact same flight itinerary would have cost between $6,000 and $9,000 for the whole family, especially since most of our flights were direct and at desirable times. Even if we were to see the 362,500 Chase points we used for their straight cash back value ($3,625), we still got a good deal. But those points didn't cost us anything. And our family got to take the trip of a lifetime. Travel hacking for the win.

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Education

Germany's most famous castle isn't a real castle. It's an elaborate 'work of fan fiction.'

Though it looks medieval, it was built in the 19th century by an eccentric "fairy tale king" who spent much of his life constructing his own elaborate fantasy world.

Public Domain

Neuschwanstein Castle sits atop a rock ledge in the Bavarian Alps.

Even if you haven't heard of Neuschwanstein Castle, there's a good chance you've at least seen pictures of it. Set atop a tree-covered rock ledge in the Bavarian Alps, the picturesque castle looks like it was conjured straight out of a fairy tale. In fact, it served as inspiration for Disney Imagineers as they designed "Sleeping Beauty's Castle" in Disneyland, and it's regularly named the top castle to visit in Germany.

There are estimated to be around 25,000 castles in Germany, but Neuschwanstein is unique among them. Most notably, it's not a real castle and never was. While it bears the look and feel of a well-preserved medieval castle, it was actually built in the 19th century, and rather than serving as a fortress, it served as the fantasy castle of an eccentric king obsessed with Richard Wagner's operas and medieval mythology.

Ludwig II came to the Bavarian throne in 1864 at age 18 with no experience in government or politics. Two years later, Prussia conquered Austria and Bavaria, and Ludwig's powerful status as king was greatly diminished. Not that he was particularly interested in governance anyway; he was more drawn to the romantic idea of having his own kingdom.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "The king worshiped the theatre and the opera, and henceforth concerned himself almost exclusively with his artistic endeavors, developing an extravagant mania for building in the Bavarian mountains that he loved." He essentially spent much of his reign constructing an elaborate fantasy world in which he could be the king he imagined himself to be.

Hence the idea for Neuschwanstein Castle, which Ludwig wished to be built "in the authentic style of the old German knights' castles." The foundation for the structure was laid in 1869, but it took until 1892 for the 65,000 sq. ft. "castle" to be completed. Ludwig himself would only ever see it as an incomplete building site, as he drowned himself in a lake in 1886, a few days after being declared insane. (Though his death was officially ruled suicide by drowning, some sources point to some mystery surrounding his death, as the psychiatrist who diagnosed him also drowned at the same time.)

The tragedy of Ludwig's final years stands in sharp contrast to the extravagant beauty of the castle he created, which The Cultural Tutor referred to as "the world's biggest work of fan fiction."

\u201cNeuschwanstein Castle in Germany is one of the world's most famous and beautiful castles.\n\nBut it isn't a real castle: it has central heating, hot water, flushing toilets, telephones, and elevators.\n\nBecause Neuschwanstein is actually the world's biggest work of fan fiction...\u201d
— The Cultural Tutor (@The Cultural Tutor) 1679202293

The Throne Room serves as a symbol of how Ludwig saw kingship. The grand hall was built in the style of a Byzantine church, pointing to how Ludwig saw kings as being intermediaries between God and the world.

The throne room in Neuschwanstein Castle.

Public Domain

Where fan fiction comes in is in how much of the castle is an artistic shrine to Wagner's operas. In many rooms, the walls are covered in paintings depicting the German legends as told in Wagner's works, such as his 1845 "Tannhäuser" opera and his 1859 "Tristan and Isolde."

The Tannhauser story depicted in paintings

Snapshots of the Past

Bedroom depicting the Tristan story

Public Domain

In Neuschwanstein's early stages, Ludwig wrote to Wagner describing his vision for the castle, telling the composer he looked forward to moving in and having Wagner come visit:

"There will be several cosy, habitable guest rooms with a splendid view of the noble Säuling, the mountains of Tyrol and far across the plain; you know the revered guest I would like to accommodate there; the location is one of the most beautiful to be found, holy and unapproachable, a worthy temple for the divine friend who has brought salvation and true blessing to the world."

Ultimately, Ludwig and Wagner's friendship would be complicated by money, differing artistic visions and Ludwig's clear romantic feelings for Wagner, but if it weren't for Ludwig's support, Wagner would likely never have risen to the fame he ultimately enjoyed.

The "mad king" may have had some issues ranging from quirky to concerning, but he can fairly be credited with the making of Richard Wagner, as well as creating an architectural masterpiece that millions of people from around the globe travel to enjoy.

Check out the gorgeous Neuschwanstein Castle from all angles here:

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interesting history

Planet

'Wally' the wandering walrus won't stop stealing people's boats. So now he's getting his own.

Buitengebieden/Twitter, Sailing Sv Caledonia/YouTube

Imagine you're out enjoying a nice float on a boat nowhere near the Arctic, when you spot a ginormous Arctic walrus hoisting himself out of the water and onto a boat nearby.

What do you do, besides pull out your camera and take a video?

That's Wally the walrus, as he's come to be known, and that boat is somewhere along the coast of the British Isles. The juvenile Arctic walrus was first spotted in March and has been seen along the coast of Western Europe as far south as Spain, according to the BBC, but appears to be making his way back north, hopefully to his home habitat. He's doing alright, but there's one problem: He's been making himself at home on people's boats along the way and, unsurprisingly considering his size, sinking some of them.

Walruses live much of their life swimming around in the water, but they need surfaces to rest on. Up in the Arctic, they'll lounge on floating pieces of ice, but down in the sea waters surrounding the British Isles, Wally keeps trying to park his massive self on sea vessels that don't belong to him.

I have been fortunate over the years to have enjoyed many memorable wildlife scenes....\n\nBut,\na #Walrus - climbing into a boat - in #Ardmore, Co. Waterford is....\nWell, definitely the most unexpected in a lifetime spent watching wildlife!\n@RTECountryWide @RTENationwide @NatureRTEpic.twitter.com/WjyTd4WXtV
— Wicklow Nature (@Wicklow Nature) 1628097473

According to the Irish Examiner, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) in the UK provided a floating pontoon for Wally during the six weeks he spent in the Isles of Scilly this summer. Now that he's hanging off the coast of Ireland, Seal Rescue Ireland (SRI) has secured an unused pontoon for Wally's use and scented it using towels from a boat that he'd recently utilized (and sunk).

SRI is working with other wildlife groups to try to help keep Wally safe as he makes his way back to wherever he came from.

"We have never done this before so there are lots of learnings as we go," SRI executive director Melanie Croce told the Irish Examiner.

"We would like to be able to let him to continue his natural behaviors but when word gets out about his location, a situation arises where we have to intervene.

"We only step in when human interactions with him threaten to disturb him. Our priority is the animal's welfare."

Boaters are asked to stay 100-500m away from Wally and not to publicly announce sighting locations until the designated floating vessel can be deployed for him.

Wally the walrus climbs on our boat in the isles of scillywww.youtube.com

Too many people congregating to see him could interfere with Wally's ability to go where he needs to go in addition to causing him unnecessary distress.

Wally has wandered thousands of miles and still has a long way to go if he's going to make it home. Poor Wally doesn't mean to be a nuisance—he just gets tuckered out and needs somewhere to lay his weary head.

Good for the wildlife protectors for figuring out a way to give the big guy a resting spot and for advising everyone to let Wally find his way without human interference.

Wally the Walrus tour of Europe continues (8) (Isles of Scilly) - ITV News - 6th July 2021www.youtube.com

Good luck, Wally. Hope you find your way home soon.

From Your Site Articles

An ad telling people to visit the 'G-spot of Europe' sparked controversy. Now it's actually boosting tourism.

No reward comes without risk - or in the case of Vilnius - risqué. The capitol city of Lithuania has a population of 570,000 and regularly makes lists as an underrated and inexpensive European destination. Lonely Planet called it a "hidden gem" of Europe. In 2016, it was rated the third cheapest destination for a bachelor party in Europe by FairFX. And you've probably never heard of it. In August of 2018, the city started running racy ads to increase tourism, calling it the "G-spot of Europe." The ad features a woman grabbing a map of Europe, clutching the spot where Vilnius is located. "Nobody knows where it is, but when you find it – it's amazing," reads the caption.

VILNIUS - THE G-SPOT OF EUROPEyoutu.be

The sexy ads were conceived by students. "As for the insight, we realized that it's true from our experiences abroad when we kept getting blank looks after telling people we're from Vilnius," Jurgis Ramanauskas, who worked on the idea, told The Drum. "Also, we've noticed that foreigners who came to our city or even decided to stay here were very satisfied with their experience. And of course, the seed for all of it was laid out in the brief."

VILNIUS - THE G-SPOT OF EUROPE (3)youtu.be

The ads were published on International Orgasm Day, coincidentally a month before the Pope was scheduled to visit the predominantly Catholic country. Lithuanian priests were offended over the ad, and the bishop of Vilnius said the ads present the city as a "sex tourism city." The Prime Minister of Lithuania had no problems with the racy ad itself, but wanted the city to wait until after the Pope's visit to launch their campaign. It did not.

RELATED: Magnificent solar-powered 'supertrees' are the highlight of Singapore's new 250-acre eco-tourism project

After the ads went up, the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority only received one complaint. It rejected the complaint, saying the ad was not "exploitative or degrading" and "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offense." John Oliver even praised the idea on "Last Week Tonight," saying, "If other destinations are smart they will follow Lithuania's lead, and come up with their own adults-only tourism slogans."

John Oliver talks About Vilnius G-Spot campaignyoutu.be

Despite the controversy, the image of a woman in ecstasy made people come – to Vilnius. The ad reached an audience of 600 million people, appearing in over 1,000 media publications. 100,000 people visited the campaign's equally cheeky website, vilniusgspot.com. Google searches for the city tripled as people attempted to find Europe's G-spot.

RELATED: Instagram cracks down on these adorable travel selfies

Tourism for Vilnius also increased. In the year since the ads have been out, tourism has been up by 12.5%. Visitors from Germany and the U.K., the primary markets for the campaign, saw a spike, with an increase of travelers up by 37.8% and 20.5% respectively.

The ads also won best destination campaign for a city at the International Travel and Tourism Awards, beating out Dallas/Ft. Worth. As they say, sex sells, and apparently it wins awards, too.

You gotta love a city (and an ad campaign) that doesn't take itself too seriously. Who's up for a trip to Vilnius?

From Your Site Articles

Why you can't build European-style apartments in the U.S. - Upworthy ›

Germany has become a focal point for the immigration debate in Europe.

The European nation has opened its doors to asylum-seekers and refugees looking for a safe haven. Recently, Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to accept 10,000 U.N. refugees into the country; between January and July 2017, Germany reportedly accepted approximately 117,000 asylum seekers.

What happens to asylum seekers who are turned away? Unfortunately, if they appeal the decision regarding their rejected asylum applications and are denied, they risk deportation. According to Germany's Office of Immigration and Refugees, the country has rejected 210,000 asylum seekers.

But several German pilots have been preventing asylum seekers from being deported in a truly "Hail Mary" fashion.

Throughout all of 2017, these pilots refused to fly planes set to deport 222 Afghan asylum seekers. The stand down from these flights comes from a controversial European Union decision to designate Afghanistan as a "safe country of origin." The designation resulted in many Afghan nationals losing their asylum status.

Out of all the flights that refused to take off, 85 were operated by Lufthansa (or its subsidiary Eurowing). Most of these flights were scheduled to take off in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, where, according to Quartz, the #WelcomeUnited campaign often holds their pro-refugee protests.

Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivias/AFP/Getty Images.

These pilots risk being punished with disciplinary measures for refusing to fly on moral grounds. However, it should be noted that some had other reasons for refusing to take off. For instance, they could cite "security reasons" for not flying a plane. "If [a pilot] has the impression that flight safety could be affected, he must refuse the transport of a passenger," Lufthansa spokesperson Michael Lamberty said in a statement to the German press.

Unlike the U.S., Germany's federal government is barred from conducting and enforcing deportation, meaning that deportation is the responsibility of the local and state governments. Therefore, these protests add more obstacles to the successful deportation of asylum seekers.

Pilots refusing to fly deportation flights are just one example of activists and airline companies pushing back against deportations.

In July, Swedish activist Elin Errson made headlines for live-streaming her refusal to sit down because an Afghan man on the flight was about to be deported.

"I want him to get off the plane because he is not safe in Afghanistan," Errson said in her live-stream. "I am trying to change my country's rules. I don't like them. It is not right to send people to hell."

— (@)

In 2013, immigration activists chained themselves to courthouses to prevent jail sentences for undocumented immigrants. More recently, others have chained themselves to tires to physically block buses from carrying out deportations.

Airline companies are also taking part. For example, in June 2018, Virgin Atlantic Airlines announced they will no longer help deport immigrants. American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and United Airlines have also publicly announced their refusal to deport immigrant children in response to President Trump's family separation policy. In addition to these, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Alaskan Airlines all have released public statements criticizing the U.S. immigration policy.

Let's hope other airlines take notice and join the good fight.

europe

'It's all a lie': Woman who returned from Europe shares why life is much harder in the U.S.

Why work harder for a lower quality of life?

British man in U.S. explains why Americans aren’t 'well-traveled’ and it’s so true

“I don’t think people really understand the size and scale of America.”

My family just flew to three European countries and home again for $149 per person total

Here's how we traveled from the U.S. to London, Athens and Vienna and back again for less than the cost of one domestic flight.

Germany's most famous castle isn't a real castle. It's an elaborate 'work of fan fiction.'

Though it looks medieval, it was built in the 19th century by an eccentric "fairy tale king" who spent much of his life constructing his own elaborate fantasy world.

'Wally' the wandering walrus won't stop stealing people's boats. So now he's getting his own.

An ad telling people to visit the 'G-spot of Europe' sparked controversy. Now it's actually boosting tourism.

RELATED: Magnificent solar-powered 'supertrees' are the highlight of Singapore's new 250-acre eco-tourism project

RELATED: Instagram cracks down on these adorable travel selfies

These German pilots stopped the deportation of over 200 asylum seekers on their flights.

Germany has become a focal point for the immigration debate in Europe.

But several German pilots have been preventing asylum seekers from being deported in a truly "Hail Mary" fashion.

Pilots refusing to fly deportation flights are just one example of activists and airline companies pushing back against deportations.

Woman who was pressured to quit her job to raise stepdaughter's baby makes a bold decision

Comedian's viral video perfectly nails how each generation arrives at someone's house

Emily Ratajkowski explains why women are 'obsessed' with Pete Davidson

5 things that made us smile this week

Man attempts to rescue stray kitten and quickly discovers he got more than he bargained for