BACK TO THE FUTURE

As Samoa leaps forward in time, here's some of my most recent articles about the Polynesian country's time-traveling ways.

The World's Last Sundowner Cocktail

Travelgirl magazine, December 2011
Just 20 miles east of the International Date Line, Samoa has been the sunset’s final outpost for 119 years. Raise a rum-filled coconut there and toast the era’s end, as the nation shifts time zones and loses its sundowner status.

SAMOA: Back to the Future 

Waving goodbye to the last sunset on earth

Hemispheres, December 2011
For years, tourists flocked here to toast the twilight with rum-filled coconut drinks; some even came for second helpings of special birthdays or anniversaries (arrive from, say, Tonga, and it’ll be nearly a day before you left). Soon, though, Samoa will trade away that last sunset, hoping to better align its workweek with trading partners in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.