Winter Blues

Whenever I hit the 4th or 5th month of winter I begin to get cabin fever and crave the sun, sand, and beaches of pretty much anywhere warmer. When living in the Midwest if you are lucky, work travels can take you to the West Coast or somewhere down South, so you can at least get a taste of sun and warm(er) weather to rejuvenate your soul while you brace yourself for the remainder of winter. If you are very lucky you can afford a long weekend or few days away in Florida or Mexico.

Living in Denmark during the winter isn't that much different than living in the Midwest. On average, the weather is milder and not as cold in the Winter, but the lack of sun definitely sucks the life out of you. The Midwest may be cold, but at least it has sun! So when I attempted to find a quick trip or long weekend getaway to Greece or Italy or Spain or anywhere with a bit more sun this time of year, I was shocked to find how limited you are when living in Denmark. 

First of all, there is no such thing as a 4 day weekend trip in Europe (at least of the beach vacation kind). It's a one week trip minimum, which is enforced by the charter vacation offers available. You could probably do a 4 day weekend in a city in Italy or Spain, or do a ski holiday for that amount of time (which most Europeans do). However, sand and surf options are limited, most likely due to airline restrictions.

Secondly, Greece appropriate weather (my preferred destination) doesn't begin until May. This makes me wonder if it is tied to the vacation scheme in Denmark (which is on a May-May timeframe). Anyway, if you want sand and sun now, it's either Thailand, Egypt, the Canary Islands, or some other 4+ hour flight away. That's all fine and dandy because the typical European has more vacation than the average American. However, when you are an expat living in Europe and have used up all your vacation time on transatlantic flights back home, that limits the options considerably.

So, I will wait patiently for May to take my beach vacation to Greece as the chance of Summer actually hitting Denmark by then is slim to none. That's where the difference really lies between the two countries in terms of weather. In the Midwest you can count on three solid months of true Summer weather. I'm talking 80+ F or 25+ C. In Denmark you're lucky if you get a couple weeks, unfortunately.