“I hate winter but this heat is ruining my life.”

It seems there is no “ideal climate” for me in this world.

I despise winter. I hate snow. I hate rain, overcast skies, and the chaos that comes with the cold weather in Newfoundland.

NOOOOOO

In actuality, it’s not even THAT bad. For some reason, the rest of Canada thinks we live in the arctic. Calgary received 20 cm of snow this week, and we likely won’t see any until late December. Our winters are wet and miserable, but the temperature rarely drops below minus 10. But if you’re a Newfoundlander, it’s your God-given right to bitch about the weather. Too hot, too cold, too rainy. TOO MUCH EVERYTHING.

But then I moved to Montreal, into an apartment without air conditioning. Over a busy restaurant on Saint-Laurent.

At least Montrealers make the most of it, because apparently their bodies are impenetrable by intense heat.

Nothing prepared me for that heat. NOTHING. It was like constantly being suffocated by the devil’s ass. I had nothing for relief except a dirty old fan that literally ROARED and blew dust into my eyes until they became so irritated, I developed an eye infection.

I was sticky all the time. I woke every morning in agony, unable to get out of bed because I was too warm. One morning I lay there on my mattress, crying for HOURS because I was so miserable, I couldn’t even drag myself to the shower. I scratched one line of text into my travel journal: “I hate winter but this heat is ruining my life.”

Nobody looks good when rivulets of sweat are cascading down their chest like waterfalls.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT? Not even the Dominican Republic made me so miserable.

Seriously, I want to know.

So when I came back to Newfoundland where a cool breeze (raging hurricane) constantly blows off the ocean, I had never felt so relieved in my life. Is there anywhere in the world where I can find that happy medium? Tell me. Tell me now.

At least I know how to wear it.

  • October 25 2012

    San Diego! Year-round springtime, or so they say. I spent a bunch of time there last winter and it’s the next stop on our itinerary this fall/winter as well. Yay Spring!

    I also hate extremes in either direction. I spent most of my summer chasing fall temperatures by picking countries like Scotland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany for most of my wanderings. I think that’s the answer for me: chase fall and spring. Keep movin’.

    • November 04 2012
      Wandertooth

      Personally, I love the heat. I lived in Taiwan for a few years, and rarely had to wear proper shoes – flip flops were my footwear of choice. I think what I like most about heat is it typically means I’m somewhere tropical – a Montreal summer would probably kill me, but Thailand? Yes, please.

  • October 25 2012

    Candice, Have you ever been to San Francisco? I swear it has the perfect climate. Never hot, never cold. It’s always somewhere between light jacket and t-shirt weather. You only need one wardrobe! I am like you, and find myself in agony in any kind of extreme temperatures. That never happened when I lived in SF…

  • October 25 2012

    One option is to just keep moving and migrate with the weather. ;)

  • October 25 2012

    Vancouver Island … not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter.

  • October 25 2012

    I totally agree with Melissa’s comment to migrate with the weather. Some people constantly chase summer for the beaches, some chase winter for skiing and such (personally I think they’re crazy, but that’s cause I’m like you and I also despise winter). I say chase late spring or early fall. I found the weather in Seattle when I was there to be great, but I was only there for a week in September so I probably don’t have an accurate depiction of what the weather is really like.

  • October 25 2012

    I have a solution: San Diego!!!

  • October 25 2012
    Bigdaz

    Adelaide South Australia mid 30’s in the summer but dry no humidity. A cold day in winter 15. Surrounded by vineyards and some of the best wine in the world. Simply brilliant!

  • October 26 2012

    Halifax! Mild winters, cool summers. How can you complain.

  • October 26 2012
    Ashley of Ashley Abroad

    San Francisco! It’s never really that hot or that cold.

  • October 26 2012

    OMG no AC!?! I would have died. It’s still in the 80’s here, can’t wait for some cooler days!

  • October 27 2012
    Brendon of Nerd Travels

    Ya Montreal in the summer is brutal I spent a summer with no a/c on the Plateau and was dying and I’d just come from Brisbane in Australia. Doesn’t help that all the buildings are designed to keep heat in not out unlike Australia :D

  • October 28 2012

    I’m not too impressed with the snow in Calgary right now – it feels more like Christmas than Halloween. But then I hate extreme heat so I think I just need to embrace it.

  • October 28 2012

    When you find out, please let me know!! I did well in Vancouver for the most part, after 13 years in Saskatchewan being miserable with the extreme heat in the summer and the arctic winters. Now that I’m on a Caribbean island I’m back to sweating my balls off nonstop….but when I see people from back home posting shit about snow, I think I’d rather sweat. Some days I feel like I could pay a lot of money for a breeze though :)

  • October 29 2012
    Katie Hammel

    San Francisco. I grew up in Michigan and then lived in Chicago for 5 years; both have freezing cold (negative -10F) winters and boiling summers and I just couldn’t take it anymore, so I moved to SF where out average year round temperature is 57 degrees. In the last year the coldest I have seen is about 53 and the hottest was 82 (there have been maybe 10 days above 80 this year). In January I wore a t-shirt and picnicked outside and in July I was wearing jeans and boots and light sweaters. It’s pretty much my idea of heaven in terms of weather.

  • October 29 2012

    Go to Ecuador, it is Spring all year round.

  • October 29 2012
    Charlie

    You should have stayed for a Montreal winter. When it get down to – 25 C and cold for 5 months straight, you learn to love those sweaty summer days! Even without AC!

  • October 31 2012
    Susan

    I am SO with you. Well, okay, except I don’t hate winter but I can’t take heat. I remember how I felt in Thailand, and even the water coming out of the cold tap was the same temperature as the air. Finally had to break down and get an air-conditioned room. I am a WIMP when it comes to heat.

  • November 05 2012

    Winter can be nice if its not too cold. Winter here is not that bad and that is why people love visiting Australia. I personally don’t like it when it is too hot or too cold.

  • November 10 2012

    I felt your pain in Colombia – the heat turned me into a miserable, sweaty, grouchy monster (while the locals who were used to it were wearing long sleeves!). But I bitch about winter too. Haha.

  • November 12 2012

    For me, Newfoundland is my happy medium. Except when there’s no snow at Christmas. At that point, St John’s makes me cry.
    No one believes me that the weather was part of the appeal when making this move… but Ottawa summers were often over 30 with wicked humidity… and then the winters were often below -20, bordering on -30, with wicked windchills… I like that St John’s has a much narrower window ;)

    (and, hey, this year we are the LAST provincial capital in the whole country to go below 0 degrees! ;D )

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