Bad weather is something we humans have made up. It’s a bad way to start the day, giving clouds, strong winds or rain an unnecessary negative connotation. Normally, bad weather is thrown out there for anything that isn’t sunshine and a warm breeze.
This bad weather measurement is specially emphasized while travelling or during weekends and holidays. This is why summer exists and almost everyone squeezes their long vacations during this period. But when defining bad weather we forget about so many things.
Sure, nobody wants to spend two weeks under soaking rain, missing one sunset after another. That is, however, a rare thing. Bad weather is part of the natural cycle, it’s part of who we are and why we are here. Without bad weather we would be living in a desert. Our crops wouldn’t grow, our land couldn’t be rich and green and wonderful.
Instead of bad weather, we should be thinking about what the weather actually is: rain can be nice, it can cool a hellish day in Southeast Asia or, in the form of snow, announce a good skiing day in the Alps. Why hate the cold? Isn’t it nice to wear a fuzzy sweater and lit up a bonfire, isn’t cool to play in a thick layer of snow?
Bad weather, sometimes, will even give you some extra holidays because you can’t actually leave the house or commute to work. Bad weather is the one that unfortunately kills human beings and destroys natural wonders, and normally this kind of extreme weather falls under the category of a natural disaster. But still, this is something that escapes our control.
When travelling, a lot of people can’t stand a single drop of rain. Without that rain, though, they couldn’t enjoy those white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. Without rain they couldn’t explore jungles and forests. Rain is a source of life, and we’re the ones living it.
We should be thanking bad weather, embrace it and just think that a rainy day is a rainy day, as good and valid as a sunny day. Hot, warm or windy, all conditions allow us to do different stuff. Staying home, or having some intimate time in an improvised shelter with a complete stranger might be more enjoyable than a routine ‘good weather’ day.
So, whenever you’re travelling or want to visit a country, don’t get too tied up because of the colour of the sky or the mercury sign in the thermometer. If I just moved around according to that I’ve would have missed the beauties of Bali –it was rainy season, yet it didn’t rain for a single day– or the awesomeness of Ireland’s ice cold winter. Sometimes you need a week of dark skies to appreciate that very first clear sunrise on your trip.
This is what exactly happened the past week in Vietnam. The central area was flooded because of the rain, and although at times it felt like too much, looking backwards from my new shiny and red hot retreat in Mui Ne, the rains of Ninh Binh, Hue and Hoi An didn’t look so bad. They were refreshing and a part of my trip, they allowed me to meet awesome partners and enjoy longer coffee breaks, books, art galleries and surf sessions under the rain.
The best solution for bad weather is to stop defining it as such a thing. Then it will feel better.
P.S. Oh, and this ‘bad weather’ thing allowed me to write this digression while listening to Bad Decisions, from Two Door Cinema Club, in loop. It’s not so easy to get off time while travelling, so rain can ease them into your plans.