Just a few hours’ drive from the Belarus capital of Minsk, many villagers still live off the land. Nearly 80% of the country’s 9.5 million citizens live in urban areas, but for the rest, being close to nature can outweigh the hardships of country life. Here: Boys play in the Stviga River on a hot summer day near the village of Pogost, Belarus, August 16, 2017. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Jerry Dennehy from Tralee Co Kerry with his horses Mutt and Jeff at the Under 40 Horse Ploughing Class on the first day of the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co. Laois on September 20, 2022. (Photo by Tom Honan for The Irish Times)

Members of Team Japan compete in the Artistic Swimming Team Acrobatic Final on day four of the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A on July 17, 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Sir Argus, centre, with Brian Hayes up, jumps the first during the Guinness Beginners Steeplechase, alongside eventual winner Mars Harper, right, with Sam Ewing up, during day four of the Galway Races Summer Festival at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland on August 3, 2023. (Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile)

Costumed attendees participate in the Dragon Con Parade, during the annual science fiction, pop culture and fantasy convention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 02 September 2023. Thousands of attendees, some costumed, crowd downtown Atlanta for the annual Labor Day Weekend gathering. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA/EFE)

Vendor Nyurgusun Starostina, 47, poses for a picture at an open-air market on a frosty day in Yakutsk, Russia, December 5, 2023. Temperatures in parts of the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia and located in the northeastern part of Siberia, went below minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit) on December 5. (Photo by Roman Kutukov/Reuters)

Macaques huddle together for warmth at a hot spring in Nagano, Japan in the last decade of December 2023. Known as snow monkeys, the animals soak in the 40°C water every day during cold weather, spending their bathtime grooming, snoozing and playing on visitors’ camera tripods. (Photo by David Lazar/Animal News Agency)

Bathers brave the cold waters of the North Sea as they take part in the annual Boxing Day dip at Redcar Beach on December 26, 2023 in Redcar, England. The event attracts hundreds of people each year, with many wearing fancy dress, who take to the water to help raise money for a number of charities. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)