When I was a kid, we mostly took two types of vacation trips, both in the summer: Either we went camping or we went to the beach.
Looking back, one of those vacations made sense: In the heat of summer, going up to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains for cooler temperatures was a welcome reprieve. But why, in the hottest months, would we choose to go to the hottest place: the beach?
I never questioned this as a kid. Of course you go to the beach in the summer. When else would you go to the beach?
But as an adult I now know the secret to vacations: In the cold of winter, go to a sunny hot place (e.g., our Cayman Island trip a few years ago or Universal Studios last year). In the heat of summer, go to a cooler climate (e.g., our Norway trip last year or Iceland last week).
I truly cannot express how much more this has made me appreciate vacations. I say this as a homebody who is perfectly fine working 7 days a week in St. Louis with my cat and never leaving. But St. Louis is a humid 100 degrees in the summer and an icy 20 degrees in the winter. Escaping those temperatures once or twice a year is a huge mental health asset.
It’s for that reason that I was happy to deal with a little rain in Iceland, as it was a delight to walk around on 50- and 60-degree days. Most of our days were clear and sunny (except, unfortunately, the afternoon of the eclipse, which was very foggy). In fact, even when we had by far the worst weather–a 40-degree windy downpour in Torshavn, Faroe Islands–I was perfectly happy to walk around in my raincoat.
Also, colder climates make for great places to explore hot springs, as we did in both Japan and Iceland. You almost want the air temperature to be distinctly different than the hot spring temperature–the contrast is part of the appeal.
This is, I believe, a major secret for vacations. What do you think? Have you had a revelation that has made vacations significantly more appealing to you?
My “revelation” if it can be called that, is being able to fully disconnect from work and focus on the vacation itself.
I often travel to my home country (New Zealand) or take a cruise, so “sorry – spotty wifi” whether true or not 😉 works as a reason not to take a laptop.
The other thing that makes vacations appealing is to be doing something completely different from just going to the same ol’ beach or cabin. As you experienced … hot springs (Bok, Japan), local cuisine (Oy, chocolate), maybe even gamers. The unfortunate part is that you’re likely to be experiencing that along with 10,000 other tourists at the same time.
I sometimes wonder what it’s like for a tour bus driver to be cracking the same corny jokes multiple times a day, or more importantly, for the locals who have to put up with the sometimes obnoxious visitors 24/7. My brother lives in a town of 4,000 people, and when a 5,000 passenger cruise ship unloads, people swarm the town, even wandering into his architect office as if it was an ‘attraction’.
I like those revelations, Andy. I’m also a fan of doing something different/memorable (and being respectful of the people who live and work there).