6 Ways To Enjoy Bad Weather

You research for months, compiling every place you want to visit. You save up over the year, opting out of brunch with your friends to save that money away to cross off another bucket list item. You save up your vacation days, and finally get enough to take that week long trip to your dream destination. You can hardly contain your excitement as the days get closer. Once you finally arrive, you check the forecast for the upcoming week.

Rain.

Every freaking day.

Suddenly there’s a cloud over you, and you can’t help but panic about the trip. It’s easy to get lost in your thoughts, and question cancelling the trip altogether. Don’t let your mind take you down that path. There’s ways to get around the pre-trip anxiety, and to deal in the moment when things just aren’t going as planned.

1. Don’t check the weather.

The biggest mistakes I’ve made before many trips is checking the weather. I knew I was going to go on the trip, rain or shine. So why did I even check? A week before my trip to Banff, I looked up the forecast and it was like 70% chances of rain for the entire week! However, when we got there we had beautiful sunny days for all except a couple days. The mountains are especially unpredictable, and scattered showers aren’t uncommon.

Save yourself the negative thoughts and just don’t check.

Yea, it totally looks like 70% rain right here.

2. Embrace water-based activities.

Pick things that you’ll get wet doing anyways. When it was raining in Jasper, we just decided to go rafting, and then pay a visit to the hot springs. We’re gonna get soaked anyways, so why not do it in the rain? It was something none of us had planned on doing, and was certainly a memorable experience!

3. Change your mindset.

None of us can change the weather, but we can change how we view it. When I visited Goa, it was the start of monsoon season and rained pretty much the entire time. Sure, we couldn’t go to the crazy beach parties they through there. However, we got to experience a version of Goa that most people never see. With the monsoon came beautiful lush green landscapes, and almost no crowds. There weren’t many tourists around, so we got to wander around to our hearts content, and go to do everything a lot cheaper! I was disappointed at first, but now I’m so glad that this is when I went to Goa.

We definitely wouldn’t have gotten this amazing waterfall and greenery during the dry season.

4. Explore the local food scene.

When the outside world is just too terrible, stay in! Use the opportunity to really dig deep into the local food scene. Food is something I cherish, but I never really make a point to go to a bunch of different restaurants when I travel. Whenever the rain comes in, it forces me to try everything I wanted to, but initially didn’t have enough time to! In Jasper, I never would have tried all the breweries in the area had it not been for the rain. In Luang Prabang, I never would have embarked on a croissant crawl (it’s really a thing to try and find the best croissant in the city) had it not been for gloomy skies. These are some of my best memories, and it all happened when I was forced to be flexible.

5. Do ALL the inside activities.

I usually hate doing inside activities. Especially when I’m planning trips to national parks. Unfortunately, sometimes the conditions are just not good for hiking. This recently happened while I was at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We got some hiking done in the morning, but by afternoon it was absolutely pouring. No good sunsets were in our future. However, we decided to spend the evening hanging around Gatlinburg and doing ALL of the touristy things. We played mini-golf, went in a mirror maze, and tried cotton candy wine (it was terrible lol). It wasn’t what I was expecting to do at all, but I honestly had so much fun doing it!

Seriously, how cool is this?!?!

6. Be flexible.

This is pretty much a combination of the first four points. All you need to combat the rain is a positive mind, and the ability to remain flexible. It might suck at first, but if you just roll with the punches and take control of your vacation, I guarantee you will have an amazing time.

I swear it wasn’t snowing at the beginning of the hike…

-nina

Bruce Peninsula – Lion’s Head, Ontario

Summer is here, and I feel guilty for every second I spend that’s not outside, enjoying this gorgeous weather. Instead of hanging around Detroit this weekend, I decided to head off to the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario.

The Bruce Peninsula is flanked by the Georgian Bay to the east, and Lake Huron to the west. It’s a designated UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, and once you enter you can absolutely see why. The blue waters of the Georgian Bay make you feel like you’re in the Caribbean (the temperature quickly brings your mind back to Canada), and the forests and cliffs along the water feel like a whole other world.

Admiring the blue waters of the Georgian Bay.

For accommodation, we decided to get an Airbnb in Wiarton, which is at the base of the Bruce Peninsula. From there, you can make your way up to the numerous National and Provincial Parks along the Peninsula. If I could do it again, I would stay somewhere in the middle. It takes around an hour to drive from Wiarton to the tip of the peninsula (Tobermory), which meant we couldn’t do as much as we wanted to on Sunday.

We decided to spend our Saturday up in Lion’s Head. This is a small town that has an access point to the Bruce Trail. The Bruce Trail runs along the Georgian Bay all the way up the peninsula. Lion’s Head is a great place to get a feel for the trail with a 10-mile loop that goes along the coast, and comes back in through the forest.

The trail was absolutely beautiful. We started off going through the forest first. The trees were tall, and so wonderfully green. We started off this way so we could save the best for last. After about an hour in the forest, we broke out and were able to catch a first glimpse of the Georgian Bay. As we walked along the coast, the views kept getting better and better from the multitude of lookout points. Seriously, it felt like every 100 feet there was another cliff to stand on and admire the water. We walked for another few hours along the coast, and eventually made it back to the car.

The start of our hike led us through this beautiful forest. Beware of the bugs, however!

One of the many pit stops we took along the Bruce trail. It was hard to resist those views!

Cliffs everywhere! 

The loop itself takes around 6 hours to finish, and the trail head is located on Moore street in Lion’s Head. It’s not very difficult (minimal elevation gain), but you definitely spend a lot of time admiring the views. The rocks can get slippery, so make sure to bring shoes with good grips! There were also so many bugs in the forest, and we instantly regretted not bringing bug spray. There’s nowhere to stop and refill water bottles along the way, so make sure you bring enough to last you the six hours. I would also recommend long pants, as there was so much poison ivy along the path.

Once you’re done, make sure to head over to Marydale’s Family Restaurant in Lion’s Head. The food is delicious, and the service is amazing!

If you want to spend some time exploring Lion’s Head, they have kayaks available for rent to go into the Georgian Bay, and  beach that you can relax on. They also have a lighthouse to see, and an observation deck. Lion’s Head is a dark sky reserve, so if you’re out at night and want to see the stars (including the Milky way), I would definitely check it out. We didn’t have the opportunity to go because it was cloudy, but we’ll be there next time!

This lighthouse is in the town of Lion’s head. It’s a small town, but definitely worth it to explore!

I would highly recommend this trail in the Bruce Peninsula! It’s a beautiful way to spend the day, and so so so worth the drive.

-nina