What are the best Snowbird destinations? The destination you decide to visit to overwinter to avoid what is often a horrid Canadian winter will be subject to many personal perspectives. The issues on this page are pertaining to all potential locations and we hope the information will help decide the best Snowbird destinations for you based on considering your own circumstances.
What are the important criteria for all to consider? Using the information on this page and once you have narrowed down the potential destination list for your Snowbird overwintering, then you apply your own additional criteria to further narrow the list to suit you. Ultimately then you will have the best snowbird destination for you and yours.
Here are some of the snowbird destination things you typically will have to consider.
- The Financial Cost
- Overall Historical Weather at that locale
- The Language(s) Spoken
- Can Culture Shock be expected
- Overall Snowbird Security
The Financial Cost
Can you afford to travel where you would like to spend your Snowbird time?
Each of us have their own financial situation and have a certain amount of money available to spend on other than just survival. Things to be considered about the financial cost on your Snowbird destination include:
- travel cost to and from the Snowbird destination
- costs to travel home should an emergency occur there while you are away
- cost of travel health insurance (a must have)
- any other expenses when travelling – wheelchair, special transport, special services required etc.
- real cost when exchange is taken into account
Another thing we always consider about a Snowbird destination is the weather.
Overall Historical Weather at the destination of choice
For us the paramount issue about the best Snowbird destination is the overall weather patterns.
When the snowy blows of a Canadian winter come roaring down from the North like a herd of wapiti, that lousy weather can affect the weather in your Snowbird location as well.
Certainly, in the last few years, winter clippers and – what’s that other term? Oh yes, polar vortexes – have driven unusual cold right down into Northern Florida, frozen many of the other gulf states, and forced folks over-wintering in parts of Texas to wear snow coats. That’s something Snowbirds do not want to do.
Here is more about considering the overall weather when selecting a snowbird destination.
What’s next? Well, one of the things we always consider is the language spoken?
Language(s) Spoken at your Snowbird destination
Do you speak many languages? In particular, do you speak the local language of your snowbird destination?
Going on holiday for a week or two to a foreign land and not speaking the local language is sort of fun. Part of the charm of a foreign land is making your way there… for a short time. That becomes wearisome when trying to communicate with locals for everyting when the stay is over a number of months.
Be mindful. This needs to be considered when selecting your snowbird destination.
Here is more information about how language affects your Snowbird destination.
Culture shock – how it can affect your choice of lacation
There are things about visiting a foreign land that make staying there difficult. More on Snowbird Culture Shock here.
Snowbird Security at home and away
Here are things to consider about this.