How do your travels change with the seasons?

The seasons are changing, and for so many people a new season is a trigger for travel. Leaf-peeping, skiing, winter sun, road trips, summer sun. However, seasonal travel seems to be absent from the world of vagabonding. Maybe because it’s “cliche”, maybe because it implies doing the same thing as everyone else, or having your agenda dictated by something outside of your control. I’m wondering — do you do any seasonal travel, and if so, how and where?

Been trying to figure out how seasonal travel fits with a vagabonding approach to travel. There’s the famous “shoulder season” travel, which promises good weather, cheap rates, and low crowds during the almost-off-season. Interestingly, to reap these benefits you have to pay more attention to the seasons than the average seasonal traveler.

There’s in-season traveling with the seasons as a secondary motivation. I’ve noticed a few blogs of RTW backpackers who plan to visit Southeast Asia in December, January, and February. Though I doubt they’re traveling solely for paradise weather, the conditions seem to still be a factor in their itineraries.

Then there’s the commitment to straight-up off-season travel. There’s a last-survivor-on-Earth solitude to tramping around shuttered beach towns, a meditative rhythm to the monsoon, and a we’re-all-in-it-together lunacy that descends upon sun-baked destinations during the hottest week of the summer. Plus, most travelers agree that residents are more welcoming during the lean months.

So what do you think? Booking a trip this fall because it’s fall? Or will you be ignoring the seasons and choosing your adventures based on something bigger than the rocking of the planet?

Photo by Simon Pais via Flickr.