Weed Smuggling is Still Alive and Well

As easy as it is to buy weed legally in so many places now, I would have thought that trying to smuggle huge amounts of it would be a thing of the past. But no. First, Sri Lanka arrested 22 Buddhist monks who were transporting 5 kilos each in suitcases. Then in Mexico, a drug-sniffing dog led police to 1,278 kilos of marijuana hidden in a shipment of eggs in a truck. The smugglers weren’t too bright: the truck didn’t have any license tags. (May be paywalled—Mexico News Daily.)

Good Books for Language Comprehension

My spoken Spanish is not where I’d like it to be since I’m working all day in English and only use it when I’m out, but my reading comprehension is good because of fiction books I load onto my Kindle that are meant for intermediate learners. These try to get you in the habit of not stopping to look up every word you don’t know, but reading at a normal pace to understand most of what’s happening. Then there’s a summary and a vocabulary list at the end of each chapter. I’ve read ones like this (a backpacker travel story) from Lingo Mastery and ones like this from Olly Richards (short stories) that I would recommend. You can find similar ones in other languages.

Abandoned Suitcases at Hotels and Airports

I have often left articles of clothing or shoes behind at a hotel to lighten my load or make room. According to this trend report from Christopher Elliott though, high bag fees—especially surprise ones at the gate—are causing a lot of travelers to leave their whole suitcase behind. Sometimes with their contents still in them. Hotels in Japan are putting up signs that you could be charged for leaving one behind. “The abandoned luggage issue isn’t just about saving a few bucks on a checked bag,” says Zackaria Saadioui, founder of Prked, a peer-to-peer airport parking marketplace. “It’s a sign of fee fatigue.”

How Much Will Spirit Be Missed?

Speaking of extra fees being the entire business model, RIP Spirit Airlines. I last flew them back in the early 2010s and haven’t ever met anyone who professed to be a fan. I have been worried though that their long-expected departure from the market would give other airlines an excuse to raise prices on their routes. But their shrinkage over the past few years during two bankruptcies has made them mostly irrelevant in the overall market. In May 2024, Spirit operated 3.4% of all domestic flights. This month, that number was around 1.1%. Roughly 1 in 91 routes. So you’ll probably pay more if you’re in their former hub of Ft. Lauderdale, but otherwise you can just hop on Allegiant, Frontier, Breeze, or another alternative that’s still holding down fares.

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A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

05/14/26