In recent travels, I’ve found myself exploring a region when it’s the most opportune time to. What I mean by this, is I travel when I can take advantage of the best seasonal time to visit. When all the most exciting events are happening or when the weather is at its best. People call this “seasonal travel” and this movement in traveling has slowly gained popularity. With seasonal travel, more people are conscious about seasonal events, festivals, unique weather phenomenons, and becoming acquainted with something a place is famous for.
What are the benefits?
This fall I needed a place in the United States to travel to but a place that would be a perfect fall destinations. Some place that really showed its true beauty. So I choose New England because the area is known to have the best fall experience in the US and I’ve never been there. Leaves changing color, beautiful fall weather in beautiful small New England towns, and local fall festivities. I could have gone to New England in a different season but fall captured the essence of what New England is all about, making it the perfect time to travel.
You could say that by choosing the best time to visit, the experience became that much better. A true benefit. It made my trip more exciting and I felt more connected with everything around me. I felt happier to be there and inspired to film, write and travel more often. It felt like this was prime time to visit and I was enjoying something not very many people enjoy. It’s best described as a destination that is most special and most important time to be there, a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is the importance of seasonal travel and why we all should practice it more.
What are some tips?
Seasonal Travel usually heightens a travelers experience because they bring in authentic culture, history, food, more tourists and much more locals. In essence it’s the best time of year to fully experience a destination. Here are some guidelines to maximize your experience.
Research
First research is key when you’re looking to do something depending on which season. And that’s the point. Most of these events only happen during a particular season or once a year. And the tricky part is that sometimes these events depend on a multiple things like weather and can very when they happen, so timing is everything!
However some events are planned every year and you can count a more festive atmosphere. Below I have listed some different festivals and events that happen around the world.
Book Early
It’s necessary to book early because usually it’s packed and many travelers are visiting. Obviously this can cause an increase in price for food, hotels and airfare.
Be Flexible
Make sure you have a back-up to your back-up because as we all know, traveling doesn’t always end up exactly how we think it will go. Be flexible with the type of Seasonal Travel and keep your plans open. For watching leaves change in New England, my boyfriend and I were flexible with where we needed to drive to see the leaves changing at their peak.
Downsides
The only downsides I see to Seasonal Travel is that it can be more expensive and there are more tourists to deal with. This can be annoying but most of the time it’s still worth it.
Important World Events
Remember that Seasonal Travel depends on which hemisphere you’re traveling in. Flip the southern hemisphere seasons with the northern hemisphere seasons. Most of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere!
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Spring
Cherry blossoms blooming in Japan or Washington DC
Tulip flowers in Holland
Songkran Water Festival in Thailan
Walpurgis Night in Europe
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Summer
La Tomatina in Spain
Migrating whales in Alaska or Hawaii (winter in Hawaii)
Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain
Traveling to Arctic to Antarctica
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Fall
Dia de Muertos in Mexico
Changing of the leaves in New England
Diwali in southwestern Asia
Oktoberfest in Germany
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Winter
Holi in India
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, USA
Snow and Ice Festival in Harbin
Carnevale in Venice
Carnaval in Brazil
Christmas in Europe
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There are many more events to list but these are just some suggestions to help you get started. Perhaps I’ll do a post that will go more in-depth about different great festival and events around the world.
