TRAVEL
Icy poles anyone? It was rather a shock, albeit a first world problem. Swanning around the Mediterranean in late May, the temperatures were not yet too hot to fry but rather gently enveloped me within a wispy warmth. And then I arrived back in Sydney to find that winter had truly arrived, and the central heating was not working - to devastating effect in an open plan glass and tile house... Of course it’s fixable, but I think it was the unplanned aspect that threw me. Like you, I too holiday in the winter, however it is totally different when you are choosing to embrace the cold. An increasingly practical choice that is being taken up by many. What we now know is that certain European hotspots are so hot that they have become seriously overcrowded, possibly unpleasant - and often unwelcoming towards tourists. One of our small group, among a group of six seeking directions on how to find a restaurant in Venice, was told to “.... off to your own country”. All this after experiencing a city which by day, resembled Circular Quay on New Year’s Eve or during Vivid. And who can blame the residents? Mass scale tourism has definitely become a double-edged sword for residents and travellers alike. I appreciate my profession is part of the wider problem airfares that are cheaper than they have ever been, gigantic ships which resemble mini-cities, and an expectation by many that an annual overseas jaunt is as normal as a daily shower. However, given that people are not going to stop travelling, how can we help spread the load? Travelling in the colder months is a good start. Not only will you find the locals less frazzled, but you’ll queue less and enjoy yourself more. Consider the magnificent Sagrada Familia, the Vatican, Notre Dame, the Guggenheim, MOMA and any other building with significant merit within and without – the intrinsic beauty is impossible to appreciate when you are shoulder-toshoulder with thousands of others. Winter offers an escape from that pressure and some places, eg. Barcelona, are not even cold but feel more similar to springtime in Sydney. Why not consider going somewhere that is still on trend but not yet super trendy? Lyon or Marseille instead of Paris; Seville instead of Barcelona; Slovenia rather than Croatia; Kuelap instead of Machu Picchu? There are myriad smaller scale towns
and cities just begging to be better appreciated and isn’t the beauty of travel learning to experience all that is wonderful in our world? Your budget will benefit too since travel during the shoulder or low seasons is invariably much less expensive. You can afford to stay away longer, or stay better, taking advantage of deals to entice offseason travel. Alas, where your budget won’t magically increase is when you travel to or near either pole, for cold is what they do best. For now at least, Antarctica is still the dream of many and will remain a dream for most despite all the new-build exploration vessels coming online. It is unlikely to ever suffer from mass tourism since cost will always be a major discriminator, but the smarties will still go sooner rather than later, just in case... Ditto the Arctic, the Northwest Passage, the Russian Far East, Iceland (in the winter), Japan’s Hokkaido (away from the ski fields) and all those very cool places.
Despite global warming, they may be just tolerable in ‘summer’, are freezing cold and in parts inaccessible in winter but this just serves to make them more attractive to those in the know. Summer days are fantastically long but very uncrowded, while winter is the perfect time to search out the northern lights and luxuriate in the warmth and ambience of a raging log fire! While suggesting I am simply moving the problem elsewhere is a valid concern - it is not my objective. We do need to take the stress off seriously overburdened tourist destinations and consider alternatives that hopefully can learn from others’ mistakes and develop their tourist industry with consideration for all stakeholders – the locals, the environment and the tourists. It can be done and at Trendsetter, we’re happy to provide new options for you to consider. TRAVEL
Adrienne Witteman, Managing Director, Trendsetter Travel & Cruise Centre.
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LANE COVE MARKET SQUARE 9427 6666
LONGUEVILLE 9428 5900
www.trendsettertravel.com.au THE VILLAGE OBSERVER I NO. 275 I JULY 2018 I 21
