Comments on: 9 Reasons to Postpone Your Holiday Vacation

By: Katherine Douglass

Katherine Douglass — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 21:38:13 +0000

I travelled to London and Oxford over New Years, and found many of the same problems you did in your travels. We had real issues with getting theater tickets: performances were sold out and there were no performances at all on New Years Eve or Day. Restaurants were crowded and staff were frazzled. I wouldn’t choose that week to travel again.

By: Kelly Rogers

Kelly Rogers — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:00:46 +0000

I noticed that around Christmas there’s always a long line to everything, even the queue to go inside a boat. And many people would choose to stay in the lower deck even if their ticket specifically indicated that they had a reserved upper deck. Oh well.

By: Charles Kosman

Charles Kosman — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:54:51 +0000

In reply to Corey – Costa Rica Vacation Expert.

Corey, that pretty much applies to most places around the globe. When we flew into Costa Rica New Year’s Eve a couple years ago, San Jose was aglow with fireworks and revelers. It was a loud, chaotic night and we didn’t get to sleep until late, late that night. In the morning we woke to find the streets deserted and almost every storefront closed up. With everything shut down and no one about, we definitely didn’t feel the good vibes that Costa Rica is known for.

Even on January 2nd it was quite slow and it wasn’t until the 3rd that life slowly got back to normal. It was a completely different place with a completely different feel. Everyone was smiling and friendly and the city came alive. If we had only spent those first few days in the city before moving on we would have had a completely false (and negative) impression of a great little city.

This is a very common occurrence around the holidays. Unless you’re simply on a holiday to enjoy simple sand and warmth, locals and local life is what gives a place it’s unique flavor. Without it, why bother traveling at all?

Thanks for the comment!

By: Corey - Costa Rica Vacation Expert

Corey - Costa Rica Vacation Expert — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:58:26 +0000

Thanks for this post. I couldn’t agree with you more. I have lived as an expat in Costa Rica for over seven years, and although the influx of travelers over the holidays and peak seasons is essential for people to sustain living in our small tourist town, I find it unbearable to go out in public during these times. Prices are extremely inflated, and you meet less of the locals that actually give any tourist destination its charm. I have learned that it is still possible to negotiate and get good deals as I have done this with several friends who have visited in peak times. If anyone is ever interested in visiting Costa Rica, I highly suggest coming in non-peak seasons, as it will give you a real prospective on how it is to live in a quite little paradise.

Thanks for the article.

Corey

By: Charles Kosman

Charles Kosman — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:45:22 +0000

In reply to Zubi Travel. Great points! I like the idea of being a local traveler over the holidays. Pushing your big trip back a few weeks can save you big money and you'll probably enjoy yourself that much more.

By: Zubi Travel

Zubi Travel — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:38:00 +0000

Great post. And the reasons are in the correct order, especially the price can be much higher during the holidays.
On the other hand most people have some days off during the winter holidays so they will travel anyway.
Bottom line: choose a place near you, do a city break but push the distant and exotic vacation on more convenient dates.

By: Charles Kosman

Charles Kosman — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 06:42:57 +0000

In reply to Just One Boomer (Suzanne).

Suzanne, we’ve flown from Winnipeg to Calgary (and vice versa) Christmas day twice. It’s actually a great day to fly. People are festive, airports are empty and it’s actually the cheapest day to fly in that two week window.

This post is more directed to people going on holidays rather than visiting family. It’s for all those people that think Christmas break is the perfect time of the year to travel someplace else (preferably tropical) and enjoy themselves. I know that if I was only going to spend a week or two of the year somewhere distant and exotic on vacation I would push it back a few weeks when I could get so much more out of it.

Of course, that’s just my opinion. I do also love being away for Christmas so… 😉

By: Just One Boomer (Suzanne)

Just One Boomer (Suzanne) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 04:55:02 +0000

Oddly enough, we’ve found that Christmas day itself is actually a good day to fly — not drive. Our children used to fly to Boston from Philadelphia every year on Christmas Day to visit their aunt. (Admittedly, this was some years ago. Our sons are now 28 and 25.) The airport would be eerily quiet. However, every year, US Airways (US Air in those days–or “US Dare” 😉 would cancel their flight because they had their regular hourly flight schedule, but they would consolidate flights because there were so few passengers. Actually, come to think of it, we had some relatives fly to Philly from Chicago to visit us on Christmas Day last year with no problems. I think a lot of people want to be with their extended family on Christmas morning, so they try to get there before Christmas day itself. I’m too tired to Google this at 11:54 PM on Friday night. Maybe tomorrow.
Happy New Year and Happy Trails.