#Microblog Monday 474: Winter Travel
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For the last ten or so years, we’ve been tied to the school calendar, needing to tuck travel either into the time between Christmas and New Year or wait until summer. When the kids were in early elementary school, we pulled them out of school for trips, but they stopped wanting to do that because catching up was so difficult on the other end.
This was our first year released from the school schedule. We have a long winter and spring break, and it was much better than summer. No crowds. No lines. The weather was fine — we could sit outside drinking hot chocolate.
Winter travel may be risky with cold temperatures or snow, but summer travel can also be risky with extreme heat or closures. (We’ve seen temperatures so high that the road melted.) We walked straight into places we’ve stood in long lines for in the past. We’re now Team Winter/Spring Travel, all the way.
What about you?
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4 comments
I haven’t travelled much of anywhere lately at any time…! but I do like travelling in the fall, once kids are back in school. It’s often less crowded then, and depending on where you’re travelling to, the weather can still be pretty decent, and you might be able to see some lovely fall colours.
We traveled for the first time during “spring break” last year which is really still winter where we live. We have done road trips within our region and climate before but this was my kids’ first time on a plane and we flew south. For the locals, it was still much too cold for ocean visits or pool afternoons but for us midwesterners, it felt tropical and we loved it. Can’t wait to do it again.
Winter travel all the way!!! My parents and I went to Italy one December break and stood before the David one afternoon, just us and a masterpiece. So sublime. And they had heaters at the cafes in the plazas/piazzas. I think living in NYC made me love walkable cities rain or shine. I wish one of the twins could do a six-week summer study abroad one summer, if that’s an option, and you could get a rental and work remotely. Or they could get a small summer grant to research Hawaiian or Tahitian culture or social justice organizations, e.g.….our school was pretty flexible about project proposals and did not require any publications or deliverables. Just dreaming!
This has definitely been one of the highlights of a No Kidding life! I’m with you all the way, both because I don’t like the heat, and I don’t like crowds, and travelling in the off-season is just so much easier. Not to mention cheaper – usually. I wrote this – describing myself as a “delicate flower” temperature-wise – a while ago on A Separate Life. https://aseparatelife.wordpress.com/2023/05/01/travel-as-a-delicate-flower/
The only downside of autumn/spring travel has been finding some of the gelato shops closed in Italy!