There are a lot of things you don’t want to do in an airport, but who would have thought flip flops would be so inadvisable.

When it comes to traveling, it can be a bit of a hassle going though airports. Most people aren’t getting that VIP treatment so have to deal with long lines, loads of people and nowhere to plug in their charger.

People often tell you to dress for comfort when you fly. Makes sense.

However, a former secret service agent has advised against bringing that comfort to your feet in the form of flip flops.

And it is for a very simple reason that you probably didn’t even consider last time you did it.

The former agent, who goes by the handle @texascrimetravelers, took to TikTok last year to issue his warning.

It might feel comfortable but the flip flops aren’t a great pic according to this TikToker (Getty Stock Image)

“Here’s one thing I would never do. I would never wear flip flops in an airport.” he said.

“I know it’s a hassle of going through TSA to take the shoes off and have to put shoes back on, and it’s easy just to kick kick off flip flops and put them back on.

“But if there was ever an emergency that you had to evacuate the airport quickly or even exit the aircraft quickly, you don’t want to be stuck in flip flops when you’re trying to hustle.

“One time we were flying back to the United States, and our plane had to make an emergency landing in Brazil.

“Of course, the airport wasn’t ready for us, so they landed us at this runway on the outskirts of the airport.

The reasoning actually makes a lot of sense (TikTok/texascrimetravelers)

“And of course, out there, there’s no jet bridge, so we had to exit the aircraft by its own stairs and walk to the terminal, which seemed about a mile.

“We walked across not only the runway, but we had to walk between airfield and the fields were muddy. It was cold. It was rainy.”

He added: “And I just don’t think if you had flip flops on, you would have been able to make it to the airport.”

So there you have it.

His words of wisdom aren’t the only piece of sensible travel advice.

Experts have been pleading with holidaymakers to heed their warning that, despite how tempting it might be to snuggle into bed after a long day of travelling, a quick and easy bed bug check after arriving at the hotel could save days and months of further stress.

TikTok users are racing to download a new app, RedNote, ahead of the proposed US TikTok ban.

Time is ticking if one of our favorite social media platforms is to be saved, as the US plans on banning the video app as soon as Sunday (January 19) this week.

In April last year, the US Congress passed a bipartisan bill to prohibit TikTok unless it secures a new owner.

Federal officials argued the platform poses a ‘national security threat’ on an ‘immense depth’ due to its supposed links with China.

The RedNote app has shot to the top spot on the app store (Cheng Xin/Getty Images)

It is feared US users’ data could be being shared unlawfully with the Communist government.

However, TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, refute the allegations and are in the midst of challenging the rule in the Supreme Court by highlighting its First Amendment Rights.

But justices threw out the argument on Friday and appeared to side more favorably with the US government.

Justice Elena Kagan said the law is only targeted at the foreign corporation, ‘which doesn’t have First Amendment rights’, while Chief Justice John Roberts added: “They’re not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying the Chinese have to stop controlling TikTok’, reports The Independent.”

President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in a matter of days on January 20, tried to ban TikTok in 2020, but has since sought to delay it.

Content creators argue banning TikTok could jeopardize their financial security (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Creators, businesses, influencers, and other users of the app have argued that the ban would decimate the lucrative creator economy that depends on it.

But frantic with worry about a TikTok-less future, thousands of US users have stumbled across what could be suitable alternatives if, or rather when, the dreaded dawn comes.

A free Chinese short-form video app called Xiaohongshu, or RedNote in English, has shot to the top of the Apple App store as of Monday, followed by Lemon8, also owned by TikTok and ByteDance, as users look to migrate across.

The app functions as a cross between Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, and has more than 300 million monthly active users, according to The Independent, which still falls below the figures seen on TikTok.

RedNote, based in Shanghai, was founded in 2013 and was valued at $17 billion after raising funds from Chinese investors, with now more than $900 million raised in funding and 2,000 employees, reports CNBC.

The app could be banned as soon as Sunday in the US (Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

And many TikTokers appear to be a fan of the alternative already.

One Georgian TikToker who goes by the username allieusyaps said: “They’re trying to ban TikTok and that’s ok”, before explaining to his 200,000 followers that ‘we on that RedNote baby’.

“Look, I might not have a job in the next week”, he continued, “but we about to learn Mandarin baby!

“RedNote is already lit. I ain’t never s*** like that. The content they got over there is really different.

“So yeah, the great migration is here.”

Another TikToker, itsjustheavita, said the alternative could be even better for influencers as ‘Chinese brands have more money than American brands’.

“Let’s get our bag y’all. To the Red Note app it is. Goodbye”, she added.

President Joe Biden has expressed his intentions to sign off a bill that would ban TikTok in the US.

America has long had concerns about the video sharing app, which is used by 150 million people each month – making it the country with the largest TikTok audience.

In fact, calls to ban the social media platform from the States dates back years.

In 2022, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner, Brendan Carr, urged tech companies to remove TikTok from their American app stores.

And on Friday (March 8), President Biden told reporters if a bill came to pass, he’d ‘sign it’.

But what is Congress’ issue with the seemingly harmless platform?

According to Carr, the app ‘harvests swaths of sensitive data’ that’s then supposedly accessed in Beijing.

The developers behind TikTok – ByteDance – are partly owned by the Chinese state and have previously been criticised for its ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has been one of the main causes of concern for the US Government.

There are fears that China will use the data to its advantage for ‘espionage’.

As well as fears US users’ data are being used by the Chinese, lawmakers are worried that China controls the apps algorithms to push propaganda or misinformation.

TikTok has previously denied that it shares information with the Chinese government.

Previous attempts to ban TikTok fell through, but efforts have recently been renewed in the wake of the new ‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act’ being put forward.

cottonbro studio/Pexels

Part of the 12-page document explains that it was created ‘to protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok and any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd. or an entity under the control of ByteDance Ltd.’

As to what ByteDance can do to stop TikTok being banned in the US, it will need to ‘change it’s basic ownership structure’.

Rep. Mike Gallagher said: “TikTok can continue to survive, people can continue to do all the dumb dance videos they want on the platform, friends and all that stuff.

“But the basic ownership structure has to change.”

Basically, the US wants ByteDance to be sold off so it no longer has ties to the Chinese Government.

Who they want it to be purchased by hasn’t be specified, however.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The newly proposed bill hasn’t been well received in China.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a statement: “This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it.

“This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”

The bill is slated to get a vote on the House floor next week.

A doctor has revealed some gross reasons why you might want to rethink sleeping naked.

While some of us might choose traditional pyjamas, or an old t-shirt, others instead opt to simply strip off entirely when heading to bed for the night.

As Marilyn Monroe is often quoted as saying when asked: “What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.”

But despite the effortless charm and barely-contained seduction behind the iconic quote, a doctor has sadly ruined the practice with a reason why you might want to avoid sleeping au naturel.

Do you ever sleep naked? (Getty Stock Image)

It should probably come as little surprise to most of you that us human beings are a little bit gross.

Every one of us is constantly excreting, shedding, and losing all manner of bits and fluids from our body at any one time.

Needless to say, this does not cease when we are drifting off to the land of nod.

But according to Dr Anthony Youn on TikTok there is one thing specifically which means you might want to keep your pants on in bed.

Specifically, this is sleep-farting.

In a video posted to the social media platform he explained that humans do often blow the butt-bugle in our sleep.

You always fart out tiny particles of poop, as illustrated above. (TikTok/@doctoryoun)

And no matter how clean your bum is, whenever you let forth a bottom burp a small amount faecal matter escapes as well.

Dr Youn explained: “The average person passes gas 15-25 times a day and this can happen while you are sleeping, and a scientific study proved that every time you pass gas you are spraying a tiny amount of fecal material.”

He added: “This is true even if it’s not a real shart. The same study showed that your tighty whities will catch all of these particles.

“So for the sake of your bed partner, please sleep with your underwear on.”

While you might not be fully sh*tting the bed with each one-gun-salute, unless you’re very unlucky, every time you play the trouser tuba it does mean tiny flecks of poo make it out.

But, the doctor explained, wearing underwear in bed could be the sarcophagus to your butt-Chernobyl and keep the toxic waste contained.

Of course, if you are still dead set on sleeping in the buff despite the faecal fallout from your nocturnal trumpeting, then that’s very much your choice.

All the same, it would probably be a good idea to wash your sheets a little more often, just to be safe.