I heard on the news the other night that there were extreme heat travel warnings in Thailand, with a feels-like index of 54 degrees Celsius! Good grief. Then I remembered. April is mid-summer in the country that has only three seasons which are known as hot, hotter, and hottest. April is, for me anyway, miserable in Bangkok. It is hot, and very very humid. Steamy, but not in a good way. Dripping. I wilt. There’s a reason that a celebration at this time of year involves throwing water on each other. It’s the only way to cool down. Sure, when we lived there for three years we acclimatised. But that’s not possible on a short visit. The good thing is that I know I will never willingly go to Thailand in April again! Yes, part of the joy of visiting Thailand is the heat. But there are limits. Air-conditioning just doesn’t cut it in a great country you want to get out and explore and experience. Fortunately, the temperature abates once the rains start in May or June.
I usually plan the timing of our travel carefully. We don’t have kids, so are not tied to school or public holidays, otherwise known as the “high” seasons. We get to avoid the crowds, which is good, because New Zealand has a low population, and we’re not used to them, except after a rugby game or big concert! We usually have long enough to see our destination, or we plan accordingly and don’t try to do too much. We have always planned in advance, given employers plenty of notice, and therefore have never had leave declined. And we avoid extremes in temperature. We live in Wellington, with its very temperate climate, never too hot or never too cold. Extremes are too, well, extreme for us.
Due to unavoidable timing we were in the Middle East in June. 42 degrees C in Jordan climbing 1000 steps at Petra was a bit much for me. We then flew to Italy, to spend the whole month of July in Rome. So did the rest of the world, it seemed. Heat and crowds – not a great combination! That was when I drew up a spreadsheet about which countries to visit and when! More importantly, it covers when NOT to go. That doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. On our last overseas trip, we ended up in Vietnam in June, as a stopover after a great trip to Japan and Korea. There was a heatwave. Even the locals were struggling. Sitting under a palm tree was bearable only at the end of the day. Even the swimming pool and sea were too hot to be refreshing. Vietnam in June equals dumb idea! New rule established – avoid a lot of places in their peak summer months. On top of that list is Australia. Years ago a family event saw us in Melbourne one January, coping with a 40 degree plus day. (We learned from the locals – go to the mall where it is air-conditioned). We have a quandary this year. My older sister and her daughters (two of whom live in Australia) and their families are getting together for Christmas, and we are invited to join them. I would love to, but seriously the heat. I am still thinking about it. South Africa too, is to be avoided in mid-summer, though we have friends who visit there almost every Christmas. They cope with the heat better than we do.
Likewise, the US and Canada in the middle of winter. I’ve been in eastern Europe and the UK around Christmas, and it was very manageable. But I’ve also been in Ohio in February, when it was minus 12C/10F, which is a ridiculous temperature if you ask me! Plus, we’ve never driven in snow, and wouldn’t know how. Washington DC was steamy in July. So if I’m going to the mid-west or east coast, I’m going to be going in a small window of reasonable temperatures, if I can manage it. Spring and autumn! Same goes for much of Europe.
For that reason, we seem to do a lot of travel in May/June, or September/October. My husband’s birthday is in May, so that’s a good reason to visit northern hemisphere places in May rather than the northern autumn. The temperatures were perfect in France and Spain in May. Iceland, on the other hand, was frigid most of the time we were outside, but it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? It’s in the name. That’s why we went in May. Norway on the same trip was cool, but not as windy and cold. Pretty perfect, with appropriate clothes, and we fell in love with cool climate travelling there. It’s going to be our new norm, I think. I hope.
How about you? What is your favourite climate to travel in?
I need you to be my travel agent!! But I am for several more years tied to the kids’ school calendar. I know I will be sad when they leave but the upside will absolutely be planning vacations during the school year and staying put in the summer!
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If you think -12C is ridiculous, you need to visit Winnipeg in January! 😉 lol
Once their kids were out of school (which limited travel time to July & August), most of dh’s aunts & uncles would travel back to Italy in September, which apparently is a much nicer time of year to be there.
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Ha! No thanks. Who would go to Winnipeg in January? lol The Italians we spoke to in July and August waxed lyrical about September in the south. We were in Puglia then, and it was gorgeous then. The light was amazing.
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