Throughout the week, our team shares articles they’ve stumbled upon that may interest our readers, even if they might not otherwise merit a full post. Here are some of the posts we found interesting this week: We’ll learn about the smallest Caribbean island, hear the story of a YouTuber dying for a refund, and take a look at the best US airports to get stuck in.
I haven’t done a whole lot of travel in the Caribbean, but it certainly has some appeal now that I’m US-based instead of globally-based, and I’m always amazed at how many Caribbean islands I’ve never heard of before. When I visited Guadeloupe a few years ago, I’d never heard of it before a friend suggested the destination for an upcoming trip. (Sidenote: it was lovely.) Sint Eustatius (or “Statia” as it may be more commonly called) is another Caribbean island that’s never made my radar, but sounds just as lovely. It’s only five miles long and two miles wide, with half of the island dedicated to parkland. This article describes it as “deliberately underdeveloped” and “pure”. Instead of white sand beaches and bustling tourism, you’ll get gray, ashen beaches, but you’ll also get an ancient volcano, coral reefs, and ~200 shipwrecks. If you’re a diver, chances are this island is already on your radar. If you’ve been to this tiny little piece of the Caribbean, let us know in the comments what you thought, and perhaps more importantly, where you stayed. Again, the challenge with these more off-beat, remote, or small destinations is, of course, a lack of points hotel options. Searching their high season of November through April, I found at least 17 Airbnbs ranging from $200/2-nights to…drum roll… $1300/2-nights.
Man Declared Himself Dead to Get $50 Refund From Airline
Nothing says 2025 like a YouTube influencer joining forces with an Italian commune to declare himself dead for a $50 refund and a few million views, am I right? Max Fosh was disappointed to discover that there was no way to get a refund after canceling his $50 flight, unless he was dead. After researching the official definition of “dead” according to the (unnamed) airline’s terms and conditions, he determined that all he really needed was a death certificate. As if this isn’t all odd enough, he discovered the Principality of Seborga, a commune in Italy that considers itself independent. His plight (and viewership) hit a chord with the princess of Seborga, and she agreed to give him a death certificate “for entertainment and content purposes” primarily. You would think that was the hard part. You would also think that he might have consulted his lawyer about all of this before going to any trouble, but alas, it wasn’t until after he held a fake funeral with a few hired attendees, and after the airline agreed to send him a refund, that his lawyer informed him this whole scheme would technically be classified as fraud in the UK (where he lives) were he to accept the refund. Alas, he had to settle for just the 2.5 million views and leave the $50 behind.
5 best airports in the US to get stuck in during layovers
No one plans on getting stuck at the airport. (Well…some of us may have intentionally spent the night in a handful of airports to avoid expensive transit and expensive hotels in our grungey broke backpacker days…but that’s different.) Since none of us really plan for delays and overnights at the airport, this article isn’t necessarily useful per se, but I did find it interesting that at least 2 airports (MSP and LAX) have programs with animals on call to help calm anxious travelers, and one airport (ATL) has a full outdoor dog park! PDX has a “forest walk”, which I had a very hard time imagining, and which felt a bit underwhelming once I got around to googling pictures. This list would be a lot more feature-rich, I think, if it included airports from around the world. I’d be curious to hear from readers about their favorite airports across the world. Stephen’s various adventures in the Changi Airport in Singapore come to mind, for example.
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That AOL article is badly written and smells like AI content. I’m sure a real person out there has written a much better article you can share!
Changi in Singapore is indeed spectacular. We visited all the gardens (there are quite a few) and liked the butterfly and cactus gardens the best. And, of course, the rain vortex is stunning. I have also read there are hawker stalls outside security if you know where to find them. (Apparently you look for signs to the employee canteen.)
We flew into the tiny airport in Fort Smith, AR, a few years ago and it was quite amazing. Gorgeous bathrooms and the gate seating consists of full size sofas and upholstered wingback chairs. I think Delta stopped flying there but American still has a few flights. I don’t suppose an actual layover is really possible.
BNA has live music in Concourse C! (Sometimes in other places but almost always in C)