I lived in Minnesota for ten years before moving to California, so I have a pretty solid idea of what the holidays are like in the harsh cold as well as more temperate climates. Holidays in colder parts of the world are magical, especially when you’re a kid. Christmas lights look especially ethereal when they’re wrapped around a snow-covered house. Building snowmen and sledding before coming home to a warm living room that smells like a pine tree and sugar cookies is just the best. And I think we can all remember being way too excited at the holiday parade to even notice the arctic winds chilling our naïve little bodies.
As tenured adults though, we know better. With no one to take care of us or make us hot chocolate from scratch, the holidays can be a little more cruel in colder parts of the country. Not to say that a winter wonderland isn’t fantastic in its own way, but a warm holiday isn’t too shabby, either. In fact, I could very well argue that it totally trumps a frigid one. Here are 11 reasons why you should totally book a trip somewhere warm for an even merrier holiday vacation:
1. You may not have a snowy Christmas, but you can totally go outside in a t-shirt and shorts
A white Christmas might be super dreamy, but so is lounging in the backyard with a skirt on, drinking a chilled mimosa like it's nothing. Yeah, the southwest may not have natural pine trees, but we can import ‘em. *siiiip*
2. You don’t have to keep track of your heavy coat while you do holiday shopping
One of the most annoying aspects of doing anything ever during winter in Minnesota was dealing with your many layers protective clothing as soon as you stepped inside a building with a heater. I remember at school, we had to arrive at least 20 minutes early so the entire class could shuffle their snowsuits and boots off before settling into our desks. The same goes with shopping, except you don’t have a cubby at the mall.
3. You don’t have to push a shopping cart full of holiday dinner food through slush and ice
This is just the worst. Why can’t shopping carts have ice-proof wheels? Why do I have to come up with everything myself?
4. You can do something during the holidays besides stay inside, which is nice
Your options as an adult living in the Midwest during winter are pretty unimaginative. You could go to a bar that has a heater, or go to the mall (hey, at least that’s indoors). But the fun essentially stops there. In a warm city, you can go to the beach or the lake; You could actually go for a run without slipping on a pair of long undies first; You can chill outside without developing a runny nose! It's awesome.
5. Everyone wants to visit you for the holidays
It feels awesome when people want to visit you, even though you know they’re probably mostly excited about the weather than seeing you. (You’ll settle for being second best in this case.)
6. You can attain a natural tan while your cold climate friends are getting pasty white
No tanning beds for you! But be safe and wear sunscreen, because cancer isn’t OK.
7. You can enjoy an iced peppermint mocha without feeling your bones freeze
And that’s important.
8. It’s socially acceptable to wear a summer dress
Not that I’m telling you what you can and cannot do, but wearing a sundress in 10 degree weather doesn't seem like the best plan. But it's not at all unusual to be caught wearing a neon yellow sun dress to Target in December when you live in a warm city. Your clothing options are way, way more versatile.
9. You don’t have to deal with traveling and car woes
I didn’t drive in Minnesota because I was a child and that would be highly illegal, but I did remember my parents getting stuck in snow banks and trying to fix the car when the engine froze. For some reason, these incidents grew exponentially whenever you had somewhere to be during the holidays, because Murphy’s Law, or whatever. Cars fair much better in sunny weather (ew, sorry for the wretched rhyme).
10. But also, you don't have bad weather as a convenient excuse for being late
Weather is a fickle little punk, and you can’t count on it being on your side when you want it to. When things are freezing—or better yet for excuse-making purposes, snowy—you have an easy way to account for tardiness even if the real reason you're late is that you just couldn't force yourself to get out of the hot, wonderful shower. But when you live in a place with warm, easy weather, all you can do is try to call it being “fashionably late” which is admittedly annoying.
11. Let's face it: it never snows on Christmas anyway
A white Christmas is totally a myth. The holidays are always just gross, grey, and slushy, if anything. So you might as well be somewhere warm and awesome.
Images: thejbird/Flickr; Giphy(6)
