{"country":{"title":"Samoa","name":"Samoa","slug":"samoa","flag":"🇼🇸","subtitle":"","summary":"","prose":["We had a short but wonderful stay in Samoa, which reminded us a lot of Hawaii. We relaxed at the hotel, enjoyed the beautiful pool and facilities, and spent time walking through nearby neighborhoods. One evening, we walked to an incredible Italian restaurant opened by an Italian expat. Along the way, we watched locals prepare for rugby practice, play rugby, and then casually walk home afterward as if it were just another part of daily life.","We even got trained by a Samoan rugby pro named Etu in the hotel gym. He cracked our backs back into alignment, and it became an experience we definitely won’t forget."],"pop":"222k","lang":"Samoan, English","adv":1,"vis":0.16,"rar":93,"daysOnGround":4,"mapsUrl":"https://maps.app.goo.gl/Nxw1FYMAtJ2BpGKg9","countedDate":"13 Aug 2025","countryNo":125,"firstArrival":{"date":"2025-08-11","airport":"APW","from":"NAN","carrier":"FJI","num":"253","duration":"2h 33m"},"hero":"1755379834203-W6H9WKZVTG2CWABMG2WG/maxandhailey_travel_samoa+-+11.jpeg","art":"samoa"},"ui":{"words":{"signoffTop":"Feiloa'i","signoffEm":"mulimuli ane.","signoffGloss":"Until next time."},"copy":{"recap":"Three easy nights at Taumeasina Island Resort, in a country that reminded us a lot of Hawaii. We relaxed by the pool, walked the nearby neighborhoods, and one evening strolled to Giordano's, an incredible Italian restaurant opened by an Italian expat, passing locals who played rugby and then walked home as if it were just another part of daily life. In the hotel gym, a Samoan rugby pro named Etu trained us and cracked our backs into alignment. We definitely won't forget it."},"facts":[{"idx":"30 Dec 2011","h":"The day that never happened","p":"Samoa hopped west across the International Date Line at the end of 2011 — the country went to bed on 29 December and woke up on the 31st. December 30th, 2011 simply never happened here.","chip":null},{"idx":"First light","h":"Among the first to see tomorrow","p":"Since the dateline hop, Samoa is among the very first places on Earth to greet each new day — sunrise arrives here while most of the world is still on yesterday.","chip":null},{"idx":"Tusitala","h":"Stevenson's last chapter","p":"Robert Louis Stevenson spent his final years in Samoa, where he was named Tusitala — 'teller of tales' — and when he died in 1894, villagers carried him to a grave at the top of Mount Vaea.","chip":null},{"idx":"'Tatau'","h":"Where 'tattoo' comes from","p":"The English word 'tattoo' traces to the Polynesian tatau — and in Samoa the pe'a, an intricate waist-to-knee tattoo, is still hand-tapped with traditional combs over days of ceremony.","chip":null},{"idx":"30 m down","h":"A giant's plunge pool","p":"To Sua — roughly 'the big swimming hole' — is a collapsed lava tube some 30 metres deep, filled with clear seawater and reached by a 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