There you are: Sitting on the beach in a beautiful seaside town when suddenly the weather turns for the worse and your sunny vacation has turned into seemingly endless days of wet, gray slosh. Vacation ruined, right? Wrong. A kink in your plans can turn a vacation into an exploration. (Trust me, I’ve been in Cancun during the rainy season.)
Remember that little café you saw just off the beach? Try ducking in there for an espresso or to experience other local fare. Do some people-watching. Find out where to grab an umbrella and get back out on the town.
How about visiting the local museum? Almost every town has a museum of some sort – even if it only tells the history of the town. What better way to really get to know the place you’re visiting?
Or, better yet, talk to the locals. What do they do when it rains? Where do they like to hang out? What are their recommendations? The people who live in your vacation spot know the off-the-beaten path places most visitors miss – and where daily life happens. A little stumbling around and chatting can make you new friends and put you in places the vast majority of vacationers miss out on because they’ve only taken the opportunity to swim, surf and sun themselves (not that there’s anything wrong with that either!).
Instead of ruining your vacation, a little (or a lot of) rain could be just the thing to make your trip memorable – by getting you off the beach and into the cafes, museums and other interesting places that make up the real fabric of your vacation spot. Rain gives you the perfect excuse to turn your vacation into an exploration. Grab the opportunity by the horns.
Contributed by William Pate