winter in USA
Confessions of a Revised Cold Weather Hater
Several years ago I wrote an article confessing how much I hate cold weather and how that came about.
My confession came up when I was looking ahead to when I would some day explore Europe. After all, I am on a mission to visit every country on the globe. Clearly I will somehow have to manage to deal with cold weather, probably a lot of cold weather.
Fast forward to 2019…now, to be exact…
Here I am in Varna, Bulgaria. In November and December, dealing with daytime high temperatures of just 10 C / 50 F and, on some days, a high of only 5 C / 40 F and night-time temps that sometimes dip below zero. It’s getting cold enough to leave frost on rooftops some nights, which I can see in morning looking out my bedroom window!
Eee, gads! This situation seems utterly preposterous to me after spending nearly two decades almost entirely in the tropics, greatly enjoying the heat and sun.
But here I am. And I’m actually ok, much to my surprise.
As I explained in my original article, I didn’t always hate cold…
I grew up in the USA, perfectly happy with a four-season climate and actually greatly enjoying playing in snow. Building snowmen, sled riding, making snow angels, having snowball fights and taking walks in beautiful snowy forests.
My body’s strong aversion to cold happened much later. It was the result of living in Kyoto, Japan for six years without any indoor heating.
Every year in winter in Japan, temperatures drop low enough to snow for several months per year, just like in the USA. But the Japanese don’t traditionally heat their houses! Nor their stores, restaurants, schools or any other buildings.
So when I moved to Kyoto, I suddenly, unexpectedly found myself baring through five months a year in cold weather without the wonderful warm indoor heating I grew up with.
My little Japanese clay/paper/wood house was cold inside. The school where I taught English was cold inside. The stores and restaurants were cold inside.
My poor body was struggling so hard, expending so much energy to just stay warm enough, that it was exhausting. And I eventually ended up with an extremely bad case of bronchitis…which then became chronic for the following 20 years.
Hiking on a snow field in Japan’s Northern Alps
That’s when my body rebelled against cold and came to thrive on tropical heat, sun and humidity. For nearly 20 years after living in Kyoto, my body only wanted to stay in hot temperatures of 25-35 C / 75-95 F. I absolutely loved it!
Gradually over the years I gingerly, skeptically ventured out into cold-ish climates.
I hiked the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal in late 2001. I explored the northern Indian Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh & Utterakand in late 2013.
I traveled around New Zealand for six months in every season except winter in 2014-2015. I explored central Mexico’s highlands for several months in 2017.
I found the same experience in all those countries that I did in Japan – no indoor heating, despite the low outdoor temperatures. Sometimes they light a fire in a fireplace or use a small space heater. Sometimes not. But they certainly do not use indoor central heating or radiators or any other built-in heating system.
It’s COLD here in New Zealand!
In all those situations I managed to deal with the cold. But I wouldn’t exactly say I was perfectly comfortable. Or that I enjoyed the temperatures. It was more a matter of tolerating things, managing to survive it.
But this year in Europe, as the season began passing from autumn into winter temperatures in late October, November and into December, an absolutely wonderful thing happened…
Indoor heating kicked in! Suddenly the hostels and hotels I stayed at were warm inside! Restaurants, stores, cafes and even buses became warm inside!
After all my experiences traveling & living in cold seasons in various countries around the globe that don’t use indoor heating, I was really taken by surprise. IT was a wonderful surprise.
And suddenly I was ok with the cold weather outside! Even 10 C / 50 F! Even 5 C / 40 F! Even gazing at frosted rooftops from my bedroom window.
I suddenly re-discovered the experiences of cold weather from my childhood in the USA. And I realized again (as I’d recognized while living in Japan) what a huge difference indoor heating makes. In fact, it makes all the difference for me in terms of dealing with cold weather.
I can see now that when I can stay warm indoors, without my body having to struggle to keep up my core body temperature, that I’m perfectly fine with cold outdoor temperatures!
In fact, to my utter surprise, I now find that cold crisp air actually feels quite refreshing when I venture outside after being perfectly warm & toasty indoors at my beautiful boutique accommodation in Varna, Bulgaria. I can say that with indoor heating I actually like the cold outdoor temperatures!
I honestly never thought I would ever actually enjoy cold again in my life. But here I am!
Indoor heating makes all the difference in the world. That was the missing ingredient for me to not just tolerate or manage to deal with cold, but to actually enjoy it.
What a wonderful discovery!
In fact, I’m so comfortable and confident with cold weather this year that I have astoundingly decided – chosen – to take a skiing vacation for Christmas!
BAnsko ski lift – photo by CharlieOnTravel on Flickr CC
I discovered Bansko from a hotel review assignment back in August. I loved Bansko so much that I kept it in the back of my mind as a place to return to, preferably in colder months when I might be able to see snow on the mountains.
The day I booked my room in Bansko, I could not believe how incredibly excited I was about my upcoming Christmas ski vacation. I was nearly bursting at the seams. I called my mom, my dad, my closest friends to tell the them the unbelievable and exciting news (They all know how much I hate cold).
I am thrilled to finally get to see snow again. Thinking it over, I realize that the last time I saw snow was briefly in 2009 when my brother and I drove down to Florida from West Virginia in late December.
But the last time I actually was in snow, playing and hiking, was all the way back in December, 2001-January 2002 in Pennsylvania. That makes 18 years since I enjoyed snow activities! That is a long time.
This year I will soon be gazing at heavily-snow-clad mountains in Bansko. There’s already snow in Bansko, as I write! They’ve had at least two heavy snow falls recently. And ski season officialy begins in mid-December.
I plan not only to gaze at the snowy mountains. I plan to go hiking in snowy forests, to make a snow angel somewhere, to build a snowman and perhaps even have a snowball fight with someone!
Bansko Ski Lift – photo by CharlieOnTravel at Flickr CC
And last, but not least, I plan to go skiing! eek!
I have not been skiing since high school days! So it’s been a few decades…well, all of my adult life, to be exact.
But I used to ski a lot. For several years my family had seasonal ski passes and went out to the ski resorts nearly every weekend in winter. My dad, brothers and I all had our own ski sets, ski suits, goggles, etc.
I was also a member of my high school ski club, though I only ever took one trip with them. It was a night skiing session, which actually resulted in me becoming a day-time, warm sunny weather only skiier. Lol
But once upon a time, I did love skiing!
So let’s see how I like it this year.
I’ll be sure to let you know!
Meanwhile, I am staying toasty warm and very happy in my beautiful boutique hostel in Varna, Bulgaria – a five-week stay that lasts until Dec. 19th, when I take a train to Sofia then on to Bansko for my exciting Christmas week ski vacation.
And this also bodes well to my future travels in Europe’s most northerly countries, to getting a chance to witness the amazing Northern Lights, to viewing snow-clad castles and to enjoying other winter activities.
I might now even call myself a reformed-cold-weather-hater.
===============================================================
You might also enjoy-
My original Confessions of a Cold-Weather Hater
Dreaming of Viewing the Northern Lights
================================================================
Hi! I'm Lash, an American nomadic world traveler who's been traveling solo since 1998. I’m passionate about traveling the world nomadically and then sharing it all with you. I hope to inspire you to travel the world, to entertain you with tales from the road, and to help you reach your travel dreams. Welcome! 
