Start Planning your Summer Vacation Now!

Got the winter and/or post-holiday blahs? Suffering from seasonal affective disorder? (a condition whereby you get depressed primarily due to the lack of natural light…I would think this hits Alaskans pretty hard this time of year). Got a bad case of cabin fever? Stuck in the doldrums?  Whatever you call it, this time of year can cause even the happiest person to go through severe bouts of malaise and apathy. However, there is a way to fight back and it’s called planning for your upcoming summer vacation.

In the immortal words of Bob Marley (who was from perpetually warm and sunny Jamaica by the way), “Ever little thing is gonna be alright.” As the Earth makes its way around the sun, January gives way to the most hated (and shortest) month of the year…February, which means spring is right around the corner which means increased amounts of daylight, baseball, and the pending summer. But sometimes, in the middle of winter, with its endless steel gray skies, snow squalls, wind chills, iced-over windshields, and bulky coats, we forget that summer is, in fact, on its way. There is, however, one sure way to remind us of the approaching summer and that’s to begin planning for your summer vacation in the height of winter.

There are a number of benefits to performing this sometimes overlooked activity. If you start the process now, you should be able to book exactly where you want, when you want due to the fact that your calendar is only on its first page and most people haven’t given thought to their summer vacation. But most importantly, its gets you thinking of summer, tan lines, sunshine, outdoor dining, sunshine, beaches, and did I mention sunshine? Anticipating the summer holiday should help blast away the winter blues.

Here’s my last bit of advice…as you plan your summer vacation in the midst of winter, crank the heat, don some beachwear, get a tropical scene for your computer’s wallpaper, blast the aforementioned Marley or other “warm” music, enjoy an over-sized and fruity cocktail, and encourage your friends and/or family to join you in this small, but significant break from the icy and seemingly perpetual grip of Old Man Winter.