There’re many things you should take into account while checking conditions for your holiday season. This is my travel guide for surviving the weather in any possible travel destination. (Don’t blame me if I give bad tips…)

Research the long-term travel weather statistics

Most people check only the forecast for their travel dates while the more “experienced travelers” search for last year’s weather during their trip’s time. Both are good ways to prepare yourself for the adventure and you should learn to do them always before booking any flights. (There’s a huge difference between visiting places for a beach holiday in winter and in summer.) However, I’m more thorough than most people. Let me explain. I have lived my whole life in Finland and so the unpredictable weather conditions are my specialty. They may promise us hot summer days for the next week but then it ends up snowing. You never know.

This is why long-term weather statistics are my best friends. Just google your destination and weather statistics. You should get average temperatures from several past years. What has been the highest temperature? What about the lowest? Now you know all the possibilities. It’s time to start packing.

Clothes with many usages for travelers

Packing is never an easy project. My secret is packing clothes that I can use in many different ways. Okay, think normal jeans with not too skinny legs. When it’s chilly weather you can use them normally – no problems and you will keep yourself warm. But then you get to the travel destination and it’s super hot every day – not even close to jeans weather. What can you do? Roll the legs of your jeans and change them to stylish capri pants. This same rule goes for many other clothes:

• Huge scarf changes to blanket that makes your airplane experience luxurious.
• You can use top on its own or under hoodies.
• Dresses aren’t just for hot days! Put leggings under your favorite dress and you will be ready to survive chilly evenings.
• Roll the sleeves of your shirt and survive surprising sunny days.
• Pack pajamas that you can turn to trendy daytime clothes in an emergency.

Sun is warm, shades are cold even when you travel

You may have seen sketches of goths running from shadow to shadow so they wouldn’t get roasted in the sun because of the black clothes. It may seem funny but totally usable tactic for all travelers who are in trouble with the weather. When you are feeling cold, search for sunny spots. Even in Finnish winter, we all know that standing in sunlight is much better than hiding in the shadows. Winter sun on your skin is one of the best feelings in this world! But same goes for summer and shades. When you are feeling too hot, just stand under a tree or run from one shadow to another one. You will look stupid but hey who cares!

Traveling isn’t just about the temperatures

Temperatures and weather are of course important parts of the conditions in your travel destination. But the humidity level will also affect your holiday. Warm weather isn’t always nice and soothing. I remember experiencing extremely humidity for the first time during my trip to Tokyo. It was hard to breathe and you got tired quickly. Not nice travel weather even if the temperatures weren’t too high for me. So, when you pick travel destination for the nice hot weather, remember to check their humidity levels. I wouldn’t recommend traveling to a destination with a too high humidity percentage. You will literally die if you aren’t used to it.

Travelers are all different! Where are you from?

What kind of weather are you used to? It’s important. Believe me! I’m from Finland and we don’t usually get over 30°C at summer time. When I travel somewhere with hot temperatures, I’m dead. When we were in Rome with my mum, it was like a torture. We couldn’t be outside for longer than a few hours because it was so hot. And when I say hot I mean like 33°C. We met other Finns on our way to Colosseum and they were having the same problems as us. The hot temperatures just don’t work out for us northern citizens.

Same goes the other way around. I will forever remember a few occasions I have been in a hostel and had heated conversation about the current weather. While in Japan I got odd looks from the locals and concerned questions from the hostel receptionist. All this because I went outside wearing a light top when it was in their opinion autumn weather (come on it was like 20 Celcius!) This same happened while in Iceland. We northern citizens were wearing only light clothes and autumn gear while everyone else was dying of the cold weather. 

Not every tourist attraction can be seen around the year

The last but not the least of these points I want to share with you doesn’t have anything to do with you as a traveler. Some attractions are weather-related. Maybe the best example of this are ice and snow. It’s hard to see snow castles or igloos if it’s not cold enough weather. This isn’t the only thing. It was really windy when I visited New York and the Statue of Liberty so I couldn’t go to the most famous spot: the torch. In Iceland, we didn’t see Northern Lights because the solar wind forecast wasn’t on our side. These’re just some examples so if you are going somewhere just to see one attraction, remember to check it’s availability at that time of the year.

Do you have any funny stories regarding weather during your travels? Or did I forget some important tricks you would recommend for everyone? Like always all comments are more than welcome.

With love,
Lost Viivi