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Hello all–

Today’s the longest day of the year, so I hope you’re somewhere sunny and having fun. I’m currently in Cincinnati, The Queen City, for our It’s Still a Big World series. I’ve been to a lot of mid-size American cities over the last few years and I’ve got to say, there’s really something special at work here.

We lead off this week with our longtime aviation journalist Clive Irving. If any of you have flown at all the past few months, you’ve likely had a hellish experience—cancelled, delayed, and overbooked flights, long security lines, and overall disarray. While a lot of that is out of your control, Clive reports that there is one thing you do have control over, and it’s worth paying attention to.

With only nine days left in June, we’re left with only nine more days celebrating Pride. New York City Pride is this coming weekend, and whether you’re taking part or not I think you’ll enjoy this transportive excerpt from a new book on the history of Fire Island, and its pivotal role in gay culture. It takes us to the party that is considered to be the greatest of the disco era.

Finally, many of you who interact with me on social media expressed horror that I was going to Ft. Lauderdale a couple months ago, but I was positively charmed by this unassuming Floridian city. Part of that charm, no doubt, stemmed from being a guest of its brand new Four Seasons. I covered the hotel for our Room Key series, and it was everything one hopes and imagines a Four Seasons to be.

–William O’Connor, Travel Editor

Flying to Europe This Summer Could Be Hell

The airlines won’t tell you, but now, more than ever, the most important decision you take for your well-being is not the choice of seat but the choice of airplane.

Fire Island’s Party to End All Parties Was Peak Disco

It had everybody from the era’s biggest DJs to Calvin Klein. This now iconic euphoric moment of excess was all for... a fire truck.

This New Hotel Might Stop the Fort Lauderdale Shade

Often overlooked in favor of Miami or Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale is one of America’s most laid-back destinations. And now it has a brand new Four Seasons.

The Best Florida Theme Parks Are Its Outdoors

Long before theme parks and slick club scenes, Florida’s outdoors was the main attraction. Today, it still provides the best sights.

—Elizabeth Warkentin extols the joys of finding the wrong landmark in the Australian Outback. 

727 Airplane Jungle Fuselage, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica: A lot of people make their way to Costa Rica for vacation, but only a few of them can say that they spent their nights suspended 50 feet in the air sleeping in a converted Boeing 727. This plane is one of the most special holiday homes that we’ve seen in a while, and it earns bonus points (can you say “overachiever”?) for its location above the Manuel Antonio National Park. As if you needed any other excuse to jet off to Costa Rica, it also gives you at least the veneer (a very, very thin veneer) of sustainability. Sure you drove to the airport, got in a plane, and flew hundreds of miles to reach your holiday destination, but at least your lodgings have been repurposed out of what would have been transportation trash, right?

Is there anything like watching a summer sunset with a boozy tropical beverage in hand from the deck of your own private plane? No—no, there is not.

Book Your Stay: 727 Airplane Jungle Fuselage, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica: $645/night via Costa Rican Vacations

Don’t miss previous OMG, I Want to Rent This House posts, which spotlight the most spectacular and unique homes that you can actually stay in.  Check out the full archives. 

Travel to This Lakeside City Full of Surprises with this Book

It’s a place that almost defies logic–a sleepy midsize city on a lake that somehow became a global center for finance, politics, and watchmaking. That beautiful city is Geneva, which is the subject of a new book from Assouline, Geneva: At the Heart of the World that is the latest selection for our series on gorgeous new travel-related coffee table books, Just Booked.

The book is perhaps the richest in Assouline’s recent run of destination-focused books, at least as far as historic content. Flipping through its pages, one can read in depth about Geneva’s central role in the Reformation, its surprising counter-cultural enclaves, and how it came to play an outsize role in the financial world.

Don’t miss our other selections for our series on gorgeous travel-related coffee table books, Just Booked.

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