Toes in the sand, blue water, champagne in hand…this is the dream.
When people think of Winter travel, their first thought is usually traveling home for the holidays. Approximately 100 million Americans travel for the Winter holidays! If you’re one of them, you know all about the stress and holiday drama. With limited vacation time, I was one of these travelers trekking halfway across the country to see family for what was cut to a mere 30 hour trip after severe delays. Though there are many pleasures that come from traveling home for the holidays, there’s no denying it is best summarized as stressful.
In addition to being overwhelmed by the stress of holiday travel, the Winters of 2014 and 2015 were particularly brutal in the Northeast. After 9 years of living in NYC I finally bought one of those gigantic puffy winter coats which looks and feels like you’re walking around in a sleeping bag. Last Winter I escaped for ONE night to Florida. This Winter, I knew I needed more. My goal was a monthly weekend getaway somewhere warm and on a BUDGET!
January & February Weekends
Jan 1 – 3 EXPENSIVE!!! People are returning from their holiday trips this weekend. Flights are more than double!! I worked some OT instead!
Jan 8 – 10 GO GO GO!! Everyone is just getting back from holiday travels and too tired for a trip this weekend. If you didn’t have to travel to see family, GO NOW!! It is the perfect time to relax and refresh after the not so restful holiday break! We chose the lovely Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL. It was a quick two day trip, but we made the most of it. Lunch and dinner out, a quick trip to Miami, hours on the beach, and an underwater photo shoot!My roundtrip NYC –> FLL flight was under $200!!
See…no one else on the beach, except for my travel buddies!
Jan 15-18 NO NO NO!! Holiday Weekend! Resorts will be full and prices high! I don’t even get MLK day off!!
Jan 22-24 YELLOW LIGHT! This isn’t the worst weekend for travel, but some travelers will have extended their MLK day trip for the week, and it will be a little busier than usual.
Jan 29 – 31 GO GO GO!! Another great weekend for weekend travel!
A cool underwater shot from my Polaroid Cube!
Feb 5 – 7 GO GO GO!! Not a football fan? Another optimal travel weekend is Super Bowl Weekend, to a destination where the Super Bowl is not taking place. Book your return flight during the Super Bowl. Just be prepared for some grumpy passengers who accidentally booked this flight and are missing the game! I did this unintentionally one year. Fortunately I wasn’t invested in the game. The men who must have accidentally booked this weekend were glued to the TV in the airport sports bar until seconds before last call. They missed most of the game and finally figured out why their flights were so cheap!
You can doing yoga on the beach while everyone else is prepping cheese dip and wings!
Feb 12 – 15 NO NO NO!! President’s Day weekend, and the start of Winter break for some school districts. Be prepared for the crowds and higher prices. The most common week for a Winter break is the week of President’s Day. The NYC DOE observes this week off (did you know it started as a way to save money on heating? If they shut the schools down for a week during the coldest part of winter, they would save money on heating costs).
Feb 19 – 21 EXPENSIVE!! Our Winter breakers are still enjoying their time off and will be heading back this weekend. Places will be a little more crowded and travel a little more expensive.
Feb 26 – 28 A GREAT CHOICE! Just don’t photobomb my pics, because this is when I’ll be traveling next.
Did I mention peace…and privacy? There’s nothing better than an empty beach!
Hopefully these tips help you find great savings and plan a peaceful weekend winter getaway to a warm destination! If not this year, it is never too soon to star thinking about next year. We’ve already broken all of our New Year’s resolutions anyway, right?
Until next time….
Where are you headed this Winter?
