The Right Time At The Right Place

By Lisa Harvey

I’m lying on the beach in southern Italy in a bikini. I’ve built a wall of sand to try and block the wind coming in from the ocean, but I still am covered with goosebumps. It’s my spring break in April of 2010 and I went as far south as possible to try and catch some heat, but to no avail.

I’ve made the right place, wrong time mistake while traveling a significant amount, and wanted to bring it to your attention. For example – southern Italy in April is beautiful, but not hot in any sense of the word. The town of Ostuni, Puglia, usually a beach town, is deserted. The beaches are cold, and though it’s beautiful, this is not the beach holiday I was planning.

When flying over to study abroad, your head is full of images of beaches and cities and mountains – but we see them all in their prime season – whether that is snow or sand or tropical weather. What we need to look at, however, is the planning it takes to hit all of these places in the right time, or at least close to it.

On this current day of September, there may be wonderful flights to Morocco, but the temperature would burn skin in under two minutes. Heading up to Germany at the end of the semester, and you’ll wish that you brought layers of fur coats and insulated sleeping bags. This planning is seen through the blogs many Bus2alps guides posted in the past few weeks with ideal travel schedules that’d make sure the weather is good for each adventure taken. And sometimes, because of this, you can go and see and enjoy the places (such as greece in winter – it’ll still be beautiful, you’ll just need a jacket) but you may want to save them for your next journey…maybe even spring break.

The next year, instead of southern Italy in April, I headed over from America to meet my friend and so I didn’t ruin her break, we flew to Morocco for perfect 70 and 80 degree weather, and I came back with a tan anyone would surely be jealous of.

Before you book, check the average temperatures, talk to those that have already been there, and think of what you’re really traveling for – is it the beach on the Amalfi Coast you’re really after, or just seeing the beauty of it in general?

If you’re looking at traveling everywhere in a semester, you may run into some weather that isn’t ideal for the location. But if you plan carefully, especially with the help of bus2alps guides, you’ll be sure to enjoy your travels, and also save some for the excuse that you’ll have to return!

Bus2alps is a student travel operator that offers day, weekend and fall/spring break trips throughout Europe.  If you’re looking to travel to the right place at the right time, please feel free to take a look at our website or get in touch with a Bus2alps representative in your city.

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