Coolcations: The Rise of Travelers Seeking Cooler Climates Amid Global Heatwaves

Somewhere beyond the sizzle of asphalt and the shimmer of too-hot city streets, I found a new kind of summer. It wasn’t poolside glamour or Mediterranean heatwaves. It was something far quieter, steadier, and deeply refreshing. Welcome to the age of coolcations—a movement among wanderers who chart their journeys by thermometer, fleeing the record-breaking furnace for slices of calm where breath billows in the morning air.

“It’s not about escaping the heat; it’s about rediscovering the world in a different key—where the chill carries stories and the forests hum with ancient quiet.”

Heatwaves Rewriting the Map

The summer of 2023 hit hard. Europe’s olive groves withered under drought, American cities glimmered under relentless sun, and friends everywhere swapped tales of sweating through sunblock and sleepless nights. As a cultural explorer and adventure blogger, I’ve always believed in the transformative power of travel—but how we think about escape is shifting. The world’s hottest summers are now rewriting the map for those with wanderlust in their veins.

Instead of the usual pilgrimage to beaches already boiling at noon, I watched as travel feeds lit up with portraits of misty Scottish highlands, Icelandic fjords, and the emerald forests of Canada’s Pacific coast. Suddenly,
cool destinations—once considered alternative or offbeat—became the new gold standard for adventure, wellness, and perspective.

My Coolcation: A Tale from the Fjords

Last August, as Paris sweltered under 40°C, I boarded a tiny plane bound for Tromsø, the “Gateway to the Arctic.” The descent revealed a landscape as blue and endless as any tropical sea, edged by snowy mountaintops and midnight sun. There, in the Norwegian summer, the brightest hours stretched almost endlessly—but with light gentle enough to soothe frayed spirits.

Glockenspiels chimed faintly from harborside cottages. Puffins arced over cold sapphire water. Instead of the drone of air conditioners, the wind sang through tall grass, cool on my cheeks. At night, wrapped in a wool blanket, I watched the aurora tease the horizon—green fire against night’s deep navy—grateful for moments that felt out of time.

“Coolcations aren’t just about temperature. They awaken the senses, slow your heartbeat, and carve space for wonder.”

Why We’re Choosing the Chill

The numbers don’t lie. Searches for places like the Faroe Islands, Canada’s Yukon, and Patagonia have surged. But the reasons are as personal as they are practical. A chilly breeze is more than relief; it’s permission to move at a gentler pace, to walk for hours without sweat pooling behind your knees, to sleep deeply—the way we did as children.

Even more, coolcations offer an antidote to the digital overload of modern life. In remote, brisk lands, I found a rare quiet—where WiFi faltered and days unspooled without agendas. There, hiking through mossy woods or standing at the lip of a glacier, the world felt wilder, almost sacred.

The Wonder of Cold-World Cultures

As I traveled farther north with each trip, I noticed something remarkable: the cultures shaped by cold are imbued with a singular intimacy. Meals are longer, meant to warm not just the body but the soul. Stories stretch over candlelight and cardamom coffee. Even celebrations—like Iceland’s Midsummer bonfires or Scotland’s Highland Games—thrum with a different kind of energy, one that delights in the rare, golden warmth of sun or laughter.

Embracing the chill, I discovered, isn’t about isolation. It’s about reconnecting—with the land, with stillness, and with the people you meet in the quieter corners of the world.

Where to Coolcation Next?

The beauty of coolcations is that you don’t need to travel to the ends of the earth to feel their magic. Find a highland just outside your city; chase mist in early mornings or trace rivers that tumble down from snowy peaks. Or, if the world calls—and your boots are ready—answer it in the wilds of Alaska, in the velvet twilight of Swedish Lapland, or beneath the emerald forests of Tasmania’s west coast.

As global temperatures climb, the contours of adventure are changing. Yet in every coolcation—every breath of cold wind, every mountain sunrise, every story shared by fireside—there’s a quiet revolution. We are learning to cherish what we once fled from; to seek presence, not just pleasure; to pause and listen to the planet’s wild, shimmering lullaby.