One of our favorite stories of the year continues to unfold. We told you before about Samoa’s plan to jump the international dateline by “skipping” December 30, 2011.

The mind-bending move will align Samoa, which lies just 20 miles from the seemingly arbitrary International Date Line, with the calendar dates of nearby Australia and New Zealand.

The jarring change is intended to simplify Samoa’s business transactions with its neighbor nations and has lots of support among the working population. However, not everyone is happy about the move (and we’re not just talking about Samoans with December 30 birthdays).

Tourism folks in Samoa have for years pitched the island nation as the last place on Earth to see the sunset. The virtual time travel will do away with that distinction and instead make Samoa the first place to see the sunrise.

While it’s still a nice distinction, it doesn’t carry the same weight romantically, they argue. Many are worried about losing appeal among prospective honeymooners.

Despite the tourism outcry, Samoa is set to time travel in a little under two days as scheduled. Here’s hoping they don’t blow out their Flux Capacitor.

Source: USA Today

CC Flickr photo credit: NeilsPhotography