Winter is just beginning to lower its heavy hand over most of North America. Long gray days, icy roads, and blowing snow will grab ahold of our collective mood and lower us into a vitamin D deficit of epic proportions. Lack of sunshine and the hard, painful effects of the cold air wear us out and grind us down, seemingly sucking the energy out of us at an astounding pace. We are grumpier, more tired, and some of us clinically depressed.
Then there it is, in a magazine, on the TV, on the internet. Long golden sandy beaches, rolling waves caressing the shores under the green puffs of coconut fronds. Warm sunlight dances on the windswept surfaces of crystal clear waters, and here you sit, looking out the window at gray sodden skies, drizzling and spitting near freezing water and the brown, dead, hunching landscape that surrounds you. What are you going to do, how can you get out of the dark of winter and into the warm grasp of the sun?
Be impulsive
Life is worth living, so go live it. Make the arrangements, take some time off, and fly. Unexpected vacations are the best. When you don’t have a chance to set expectations, you can keep the bar low about what you anticipate the time to be like and maybe see the glass more full than empty on your trip. Surprising your loved ones can be an amazing experience too. Call their workplace and arrange for them to have time off, pack their bags for them, wake them up and whisk them off to the airport and the beach.
Research and go
Take some time and look for a bargain or deal. Look at your schedule and compare it to times that certain resorts or airlines offer big deals to travelers. Take your time and find out the best locations for sun while it’s winter in your home. Challenge your sense of the average and step into the unknown. Try out an all new location, look for places that are trying to draw in new visitors. Being daring and brave in your choice can add even more to your trip, especially if it is a total win.
Cruise
Check out cruise deals during your winter for great ways to escape the burdens of winter. Allowing yourself to be pampered and cared for can help pull you out of the doldrums of the long dark nights. Be careful about over consuming alcohol as you are battling the depressing effects of the long winter, you may end up lighting a bonfire you didn’t expect, and you may need help putting it out when you go back to the real, day to day grind of the everyday. Don’t let it overwhelm you, though, let go a little and enjoy all the abundance that cruising offers you.
However you choose to get away to the sun, let go a little and enjoy the experience. You need this, and so does your body. Soak up all the vitamin D you possibly can and dive back into winter like you are on a mission. Before you know it, you’ll be seeing the familiar flowers of spring poking out from beneath the leaves of autumn.