No bed, no problem.
A California woman is going viral after revealing why she deliberately spent the night sleeping on the floor of San Francisco airport rather than booking a hotel.
Santeon Brown, 29, booked a spontaneous $20 flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco and, after arriving at night, decided to sleep at the airport rather than pay for a hotel.
She documented her airport stay in a TikTok video posted Oct. 15.
“I just stayed here overnight,” Brown said in the clip filmed inside San Francisco International Airport. “I didn’t get stuck, I planned it, and it was a good decision and a good time.”
Brown, a Los Angeles-based actor and nanny, said saving money was a major factor in her decision, particularly since she needed somewhere to sleep for just a few hours.
“We got in at night, so it didn’t make sense to spend money on a hotel just to sleep,” she explained in the clip.
She also said staying inside the airport felt safer than venturing into an unfamiliar city after dark, especially for passengers who had already passed through the TSA checkpoint.
“Everyone’s been vetted, you know no one has any weapons or anything crazy,” she said.
Brown admitted she was surprised by the response to her video, which has received 725,000 views.
“Some people thought it was insane or dirty, but there were also people that were very excited about it, or like, ‘Oh, I haven’t thought of this,’” she told People Tuesday.
Brown, an avid camper who has slept in airports multiple times, said she came prepared, bringing a sleeping pad, a sheet and her bonnet to make the night more comfortable.
“I feel like people sleep in the airport all the time; I just feel what’s crazy about it is that I planned it,” she told the outlet. “So I had my little pad and my bonnet and a sheet, like, I was ready to do it.”
Brown said airport sleeping can actually “feel nicer” than spending the night in her car or on free Bureau of Land Management land.
Although she has no access to a shower, she uses a public bathroom to brush her teeth, wash her face and freshen up with baby wipes.
Her advice for would-be airport sleepers is to pack light and bring familiar bedtime essentials.
“Think through what your bedtime routine is,” she said. “I like to be cozy and warm, so I made sure I had a cozy sheet.”
Airport sleeping can be more comfortable than that, however.
In July, TikTok users reported that several international airports, including Perth Airport in Australia and Singapore Changi Airport, offer sleeping pods to help travelers beat jet lag during layovers.
Meanwhile, Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport was ranked North America’s most sleep-friendly airport in 2024, based on factors including massage chairs, lounges, benches without armrests and 24-hour food outlets.
