Recently I was kindly invited by Malaysian Meanders to take part in the Capture the Seasons [booked.net] photo essay series. The idea is that you are supposed to share photos that remind you of each season but instead of just posting photos I’ve decided to add some seasonal travel tips that I’ve gathered along the way.
I know it’s Spring Break when…
I have hard travel dates, only have a 1 or 2 week window, and am facing high prices or airfares and hotel rates no matter where I look in North America. Sometimes I try to plan a road trip to avoid peak airfares and I try to stay with family and friends whenever I can. Despite paying high airfares lately we’ve been staying with family in Hong Kong where half-term break never seems to conflict with our dates. One thing you should do in Hong Kong any time of year is to visit the Flower Market [discoverhongkong.com].
I know it’s Summer when…
I have lots of travel flexibility but have to schedule my holidays to avoid overlap with work colleagues and everywhere that isn’t too hot and humid charges peak prices. Road trips and camping are good ideas and sometimes there are really good last minute deals for hotels and airfares. The flexibility means that we will usually do a big trip to Europe or Hawaii when we can afford it, but one of my favorite ‘local’ destinations is the surf town of Tofino on Vancouver Island [tofino-bc.com].
I know it’s Autumn when…
The weather starts to turn cold and I start to see deals on airfare so dream of going somewhere warm again. The kids are back in school but they’re still young enough to pull out for a week or two if a really good deal presents itself. We’re always careful not to pull them too early in the school year because we once came back from vacation a couple of weeks late for the start of the school year and the kids missed out on some key early social structuring.
The fall is a perfect time to go to Disneyland and Disney World especially between US Thanksgiving (which is a full month after Canadian Thanksgiving) and Christmas. Our friends south of the 49th parallel tend to travel on Thanksgiving and not again until Christmas so that in-between period has fewer people in the parks. As an extra bonus, all the holiday decorations are up and rides are not usually in scheduled maintenance windows either!
I know it’s Winter when…
The airports are full of stressed out people trying to get to or from a family gathering. Flights through eastern Canada or the US will almost certainly be delayed due to weather and all of my airplane photos look like this:
My best tip for Christmas travel? Don’t do it if you can avoid it. If you can’t avoid it give yourself plenty of time, don’t snack on candy canes at the airport, and bring plenty of books and movies for while you wait. Oh, and make sure to have a few paper books in case you get stuck on the tarmac in electronics-off mode for a few hours (or days…….)
Technically I’m supposed to invite a bunch of other bloggers to join in but I really don’t know who has done this yet and who hasn’t. If you’re interested just let me know in the comments and I’ll add a link to your blog as a future participant. Volunteers include:
- Jan from Budget Travel Talk
This post was shared with Travel Photo Thursday hosted by Budget Travelers Sandbox.
Nice pictures. That summer one of the surf is my favorite. Somehow, I never associated Vancouver with surfing. I wish my kids were still young enough to miss school. Enjoy it while you can.
Lovely pictures 🙂
Great pictures and tips. I love to travel in Spring and the flower market in Hong kong would be a great start to a trip!
I love your summer Tofino picture too. I haven’t been in 5 years and feel way overdue especially when I see such great off season special rates.
I have never lived in a place where I could experience all four seasons. In fact, I have only seen snow about two or three times when visiting New England, Iceland, London, and Boston around Christmas time. All short trips, however (the week along or less).
I’ve never even really seen the orange foliage on the full swing…
That’s what happens when you live in Puerto Rico, Florida or the Middle East all your life! 😛 I thoroughly enjoyed your little stories and photos, though. It’s always nice to read when other people describe the seasons, since I’m not able to do that 😉
– Maria Alexandra
Thanks for your kind words! If you search for Capture the Seasons you’ll find some really amazing shots of fall and winter. I have some nice ones from around Vancouver but they aren’t really travel themed so I didn’t include them in this post. I’ll see if I can figure out a way to tie them into the theme.
My very first business trip out of University was to Chicago with a colleague from Sao Paulo who had never seen snow before. On our second day when it snowed he stood in the parking lot of the hotel for over an hour just staring into the sky. It was the first time that I’d seen that kind of wonder and amazement on the face of an adult!
I love spring because of all the beautiful colors that come to life! Beautiful orchids.
Love your spring and summer photos.
You’re right about Christmas travel. Best to go early and plan for delays.
All of your shots are gorgeous. I love the HK flower market. Easy to get “lost” there for a couple of hours with the camera. I’m from Canada’s East coast and have only traveled home for Christmas once since leaving, and If I can help it, never again. Air travel is a nightmare.
Great shots! I love how different seasons bring specific sights and memories to different people.
Nice photos illustrating the story.
What a creative twist on the Capture the Seasons! The pictures are great but I loved your tips! For holiday travel, we’ve traveled on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day (after opening presents of course) and found it not to be so bad and cheaper.
We live in far north queensland in Australia. Our four seasons are summer summer summer and winter. However I have travelled places that have seasons. I am interested in contributing.
Travelling with the seasons, just perfect. Nice photos. Have travelled on Christmas Day and yes we took our time and got a great price.
We have just published a highlights post featuring the best photos so far, check it out here http://blog.booked.net/2012/11/02/more-highlights-from-capture-the-seasons/