Weather or Not: Coping With the Elements on Trips

I think of myself as an optimist, but when it comes to travel, I always plan for the worst--the worst weather, that is. As every traveler knows, bad weather happens. But it doesn’t have to spoil your vacation.

Over the years I’ve been buffeted by heavy fog, frigid cold, dismal rains, hailstorms, threatening winds, sandstorms and blizzards. Forget the weather, I tell myself, and get out and do something fun, or at least educational.

With seasons changing--summer yielding to fall in the Northern Hemisphere, winter to spring in the southern--weather may become more unpredictable in many places. Visitors to Hawaii sometimes are forced to endure endless drizzle. I’ve vacationed in ski resorts that have suffered too little snow and too much.

That’s right, too much snow. The flakes already were falling heavily when I arrived in the Austrian resort village of St. Anton, and they kept cascading for nearly the entire two weeks I was there. For a time, the ever-mounting drifts closed the railway and all the roads into and out of town. In the relentless snow, only the best skiers maneuvered with any grace on the slopes; the rest of us floundered. When the trains started running again, I decided to take a cosmopolitan weekend break from my misery in nearby Munich.

As a savvy traveler, you can--and should--find out in advance what kind of weather to expect at your destination. Is it the rainy or the dry season? How cold or hot can it get? When do the hurricanes hit? But often it’s a matter of luck.

My wife and I had an opportunity to visit Vienna and Prague in the Czech Republic in February a few years ago. We expected frigid temperatures, but we were surprised by a warm and comforting sun. Early flowers were in bloom, and we were able to shed our jackets and explore in sweaters. On a return winter visit to Vienna a year ago, we encountered the deeply bitter cold we had been spared the time before.

This January, we headed for southern New Mexico on what we had planned as a warm-weather escape. Before our departure, I checked the paper daily for the temperatures there. Southern New Mexico seemed to be enjoying mild, sunny days in the mid-60s, normal for the season. So we arrived at the end of a snowstorm that marked the beginning of one of the region’s nastiest weeks of winter weather in years. We stuck out the week.

The nature of travel today is such that these miscalculations often cannot be avoided. Airline tickets are booked weeks in advance to take advantage of air-fare sales, and they cannot be changed without penalty. Working couples must take into account each other’s work schedules and maybe school holiday periods when organizing a trip. Off season is often the cheapest time to go. When planning any vacation, give some thought to what to do if your luck turns bad.

Among the considerations:

* Your choice of destinations often can determine whether you will face weather hassles. Rain and ice can be unpleasant intrusions on New England’s ski slopes, but they are much less likely in the Rocky Mountains.

Unwelcome as they are, rain, snow, fog or cold shouldn’t hamper your enjoyment of a big city. The rain poured daily on our last trip to Venice, but we shook it off and kept on the move. When the sun broke through the clouds briefly one afternoon, we quickly grabbed a gondola ride.

* Pay attention to the seasons. Phoenix is delightfully temperate in winter--ideal for a golf or tennis vacation. But the summer sun is brutal, and August’s so-called “monsoon” rains turn the region into a steam bath. Lodgings are cheaper in the Caribbean in the summer into fall, which is also the hurricane season. But the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are well out of the customary storm path.

* Pick an interesting destination, so you will have options if the weather doesn’t cooperate. A few years back, heavy wind and snow drove me off the ski slopes of California’s Lake Tahoe area. So I slipped across to the convenient gaming tables of Nevada. I ended up a $20 winner.

* Pack for the worst. I almost always stuff an umbrella into my suitcase. When I know wet weather is a possibility, I’ll also include waterproof shoes or boots--even if it means switching to a larger suitcase to fit them in. Venice in the rain is much lovelier when you can keep your feet dry and warm.

* Take along a good guidebook (or at least visit the tourist information office), a cheap investment if it salvages an expensive vacation. A guide will list alternative activities about which you may not otherwise be aware. Crummy skiing conditions at Maine’s Sugarloaf resort a couple of winters ago prompted me to take a day off the slopes. Thanks to a guide I had packed along, I learned about the fascinating little Stanley Museum in nearby Kingfield. The museum celebrates the twin Stanley brothers, Francis E. and Freelan O., who invented the Stanley Steamer automobile.

On a bitterly cold ski day, I’m likely to opt for cross-country skiing. Once in Stowe, Vt., high winds and heavy snow closed both downhill and cross-country facilities. To get some exercise, I took a long walk along the resort’s nearly empty main road. In frosty Vienna, Sandy and I kept warm by ducking regularly into the city’s coffeehouses and pastry shops.

* Indulge yourself. If you are lucky enough to have booked yourself into a spiffy resort, sign up for a massage, go for a swim in the heated pool, soak in the hot tub--or all of the above.

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Christopher Reynolds is on vacation.