🪙 Goodbye old friend | Bulletin #141

This week: behind the scenes of an iconic Thanksgiving celebration 🦃

November 19, 2025

Festival International de Ballons📍 Château-d'Oex, Switzerland 📸 Dominik Gehl

Tomorrow, November 21st, marks the anniversary of a moment when humanity truly reached new heights. In 1783, two men lifted off over Paris in the world’s first untethered hot-air balloon - a paper-and-silk wonder that carried them into the sky with nothing holding them back… no strings attached.

THIS WEEK IN AWA AWESOMENESS

🎁 Get your AWA merch now!
🤏 Shop smol
🦃 Behind the scenes: The Thanksgiving Day Parade
🪙 Goodbye to the penny

BEFORE DECEMBER 6TH

Black Friday, Shmack Shmiday. We’ve got 15% off all products in our shop, now all the way through December 20th! Get your Holiday shopping done early, AWA-style ☃️ Use code BLACKFRIDAYISFAKE on your next order!

P.S. if you’re looking to receive AWA goodies before Xmas, please place your orders before December 20th if you live in the US of A, and December 6th if you live anywhere else in the world. (We’re a Tiny Team and only have paws to help pack orders 🐾) Merry all the things!

In Case You Missed It

‘Tis the season to shop small! Consider taking a peek at a few of our favorite Community shops. Have one we missed? Let us know!

👕 Coolest merch ever
📜 Prints from Boston
🪆 Our fav spot for knick knacks
👀 We heard this makes a great gift

Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade 📍 New York, New York, USA 📸 New York Times

HOW THANKSGIVING TOOK FLIGHT

Before Snoopy soared above Manhattan and millions tuned in from home, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade had a much wilder cast — including real zoo animals marching the full route. But that’s only the first surprise in this century-long tradition.

Iglesia de Uayma 📍 Uayma, Yucatán, Mexico 📸 Christien Michaels

KALEIDOSCOPE OF CULTURES

A kaleidoscopic church in the Yucatán hides a past far older—and far more turbulent—than its freshly restored façade suggests. Once burned to ruins and left for 140 years, its revival uncovered a story that mixes Spanish power, Mayan resilience… and one stunning secret worth wandering for…S

46 MILLION

Americans gobble down more than 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving Day, and a whopping 96% of Americans enjoy their leftovers the day after! Talk about a meal so good it inspires seconds, and thirds, and fourths… for days to come.

300 BILLION

The final penny was minted last week - truly the end of an era. Fun fact: the most-reproduced artwork in history is widely considered to be the tiny profile of Abraham Lincoln on that very coin. With more than 300 billion pennies minted, it kinda makes… well, cents. Nostalgic Americans may miss the little copper icon, but its retirement marks an ironic moment of lasting change.

Win an AWA Tote Bag – tote-ally the perfect prize to carry the goodies you find while Adventuring. Happy searching!