Maybe for someone who is always used to A/C or central heating.

For someone who has experience with such weather and has adapted to it, it's not a big deal.

I wouldn't presume to tell other people how they should feel, but giving them a head's up that it may be miserable if they're not ready for it is wise.

Tokyo had a few days this last august with lethal wet bulb temperatures. I assume Delhi would be similar.

Winter in Montreal just needs the right clothing, but then you’re not packing light. A proper winter coat, gloves, boots, etc. will need way more space than exists in that tiny backpack.

This depends on the person. Looking at this past febuary it had a min of -4F.

We had similar in AR back in 21 and I was outside in a tshirt or if more than 10 minutes the thinnest windbreaker ever. (Single layer of plastic and compresses to a baseball size or so.) I might go to a hoody at -20 but not sure even then.

I agree with that.

I've spent a few weeks in Tokyo and Kyoto mid summer (though less extreme I guess than this summer) and you can "manage"--in the sense that you can limit activities during the hottest parts of the day or just in general--but I don't really recommend picking visits at those times unless you have some specific reason to.

Montreal in winter on the other hand is fine. But, as you say, you need the right clothing which can be reasonably compact but isn't going to fit in tiny luggage. (And activities will be at least somewhat different from in summer.)

I'm a fairly compact traveler in general (just carry-on usually) and you can get off with a lot in temperate to warm climates in urban locations where you don't need to dress up. But I also don't like to pack only those things that I'm sure I need. For example, I have a little kit bag of miscellaneous stuff I mostly don't need but am sometimes glad I have.

You can buy the right clothing in Montreal. Since the stores in Montreal sell to people in Montreal, the right clothing will be cheap and easy to find.

I didn't plan it, but I did this once in Bergen, Norway. Showed up and immediately got soaked by the rain (I think I had a pathetic little umbrella). Noticed that most people outside seemed okay with the rain and had nice rain jackets. Found a store, bought a nice rain jacket. It comes in handy now when my kid wants to play in the rain and I don't want to be miserable afterwards.

Pack nothing but your American Express and just buy everything you need at the destination! That's one way to pack light ;-)

Well you aren't fully packed unless you also pack an income source to refill the card, travelling (at least for a lot of "true" travellers) is about finding a sustainable means of "going infinite" (to borrow MTG terminology).

But then your spending your time at the mall instead of exploring

> the right clothing will be cheap and easy to find

Tell me you’ve never lived in a place with actual winter without telling me. The clothes aimed at locals are designed to be a 5 to 10 year investment. Not a jacket you buy to throw away in spring.

That said, you are right that unless you’re in a place like that, the correct gear isn’t even available for you to buy.

You can get pretty far with a thick wool base layer, packable down jacket, and a wool hat/mittens/socks. Maybe not ultralight one bag travel, but with some reasonable clothing choices - not terrible.

You could probably get something used, but it would be a bit of a hassle. Or another way to experience the city like a local.

But while you’re shopping, and the trip in from the airport would be pretty miserable.

I'd tend to avoid buying used long underwear or wool socks.

The "cheap, serviceable, but used" is... fairly picked over by the locals (and especially the homeless).

Consider San Francisco for a moment and the daily occasion of tourists who suddenly find that the fog rolling in the evening is cold and then buy the "cheap" (but horribly marked up) jackets that aren't the right size in which they stand out like sore thumbs.

Or they could go to the Salvation Army store and buy a winter jacket - consider the availability of them there.

Or they could go to REI or Farm and Fleet (I know there aren't any F&F in SF) and buy a new winter jacket there.

After childhood, locals have winter clothes that often last 5-10 years or more (and they pay for durability). My winter jackets are from '10 (I've got a medium weight photographer's jacket that I got in Keeble & Shuchat in '01 that I still wear... wish I could find something like it again). My father's winter jackets are in the 10-20 year range.

I'm also going to note the plural. Locals will often have two or three "winter" jackets depending on the weather.

The only time you get a jacket for a season that is cheap is for a child who is going to outgrow it by the next winter.

Of course I don't live in a country that has actual winter, that's the point.

If I buy winter clothes in my home country, the clothes will be ugly, expensive, and I have no way to make sure if they even work for their intended purpose. It's too hot here.

But when I go to countries that have actual winters, especially First World countries, then I can find decent winter clothes even in, say, a Target.

> The clothes aimed at locals are designed to be a 5 to 10 year investment

Not if you shop at Target :)

Taking a quick look at Target's winter coat selection for men... the coats that are appropriate for December - February in Chicago are still in the $150+ range price there. There are some in the $100 that wouldn't be awful for going a block... maybe two... but I wouldn't want to be wearing them if there was a substantial wind, snow, or if I found that I needed to turn around and go back to the bus stop and wait for the next bus.

We're comparing https://www.target.com/p/cutter-buck-mission-ridge-repreve-e... (and honestly, the puffy jackets are... to me, as a local to the upper midwest, those... they're not what you see many locals wearing... some, yes... but not many) to things in https://www.rei.com/c/snow-jackets?ir=category%3Asnow-jacket...

When I went to Minneapolis in winter a few years ago I brought lots of winter clothes. I ended up replacing most of it with cheap clothes from Target, except the coat and the boots.

My own experience is that in Canada and northern US states cheap and high quality winter goods are easy to find. Usually used.

Sure. Enjoy walking up to the stores in -20C (or -5F) in your light clothes from home (and before someone goes "but actually I'm gonna rent a car" suuure you think that will solve all your problems. sure)

Easy yes, cheap, not so much.

> A proper winter coat, gloves, boots, etc. will need way more space than exists in that tiny backpack.

Depending on where you live it might be winter already there too so not necessarily a problem as you already wear the shit and remove what you don't need during the flight. Otherwise you just have to wear them when you enter the plane and put them back in the ikea bag that was in the coat's pocket the rest of the time.

"Winter" is different in different places, so it's very plausible that you won't have the winter clothing needed for your destination anyway, let alone be wearing it when you leave.

Delhi is quite dry though.

Delhi hit 49 deg C this May. I don't think it's humanly possible to adapt to this kind of temperature.

Certainly not if you come from a region where 35°C is already at the extreme end.

I was in Japan during the hottest part of the year pre-pandemic and it was delightful. The cicadas from anime are a real thing, not sure why that surprised me exactly but I loved the vibe. I experienced how an onsen visit can completely refresh me in any weather - so interesting how steeping in super hot water makes me feel better in super hot weather. I bought a neck towel with a fun waving cat print and shopkeepers watering plants always offered to water my neck towel. Always ice cold water. My hikes were made all the more satisfying under the intense heat. In the moment you're hot and sweaty, but afterwards you are washed and air conditioned and drinking ice cold beer and life is so much sweeter.

I'd probably be okay with that, but I don't like being uncomfortable. My girlfriend gets heat stroke when temperatures go over 25 degrees celsius, so that's a definite nope. Still want to visit Japan at some point though.

Where is your girlfriend from, Antarctica? I'd be hard-pressed to find many people who would find 25ºC unpleasant, even with high humidity.

I find 25C fairly unpleasant and definitely "warm."

OSHA recommends offices to be cooled below that point, with 24C/76F being the upper end of acceptable. Some of this observation is also dependent on metabolic rate, which makes opinions on this somewhat gender-skewed.

Heat stroke at 25c! Is this in 100% humidity?

I’d tweak the advice: go in the shoulder seasons.

And in the US and much of Europe, school and general vacation schedules play a role as well. September and October tend to be really good times to visit a lot of places that are packed in July and August--and the weather is often even better. Get into the winter and it's at least a different experience out of doors and may not even be really doable for the casual visitor (though of course cities are always visitable to some degree).

Exactly, that’s generally my tact on my digital nomad adventures… try to avoid peak season, but don’t go in the middle of winter/summer in a seasonal area

Maybe around the edges of peak season is better option?

Skiing in colorado is best end of March into April. Crowds are completely gone and snow is the best.

I guess it depends on your sensibilities. Tokyo in the summer matches where I live in the summer, so it's no real change. Also I'd say weather is all part of the experience. Places like Sapporo or Sendai are great to visit in the winter, because you get a real winter experience. Something we don't get in my country.

Most countries have more than 4 season in practical terms though, and going during the "seasons inbetween" is my recommendation. In Australia, the indigenous have up to 6 different seasons they identified depending on the location/tribe, and they have more nuanced events expected for each season. Most countries are like that in real terms, so intimate knowledge can get you a great budget off-season holiday experience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australian_seasons

If you visit Chicago in the winter, the absolute worst part of the year, you’ll miss what makes Chicago great.

The beautiful summers are so great it makes the winters tolerable.

For example I always take visitors on a river/lake boat tour. Even though I grew up here it always blows my mind mind. The problems is those are completely shut down in the winter.

If someone wanted to visit me in the winter and “act like a local” I don’t know what I would suggest, maybe stay indoors where it’s warm.

I think there's "off season" and there's "midwest in January" - you can aim to visit Chicago in the very early spring or late fall just as the boat tours begin or end.

As in all cases, careful research can reveal opportune times that you can balance with your other goals. If you want to see the cherry blossoms in Japan, you're stuck to a very particular time, for example; but I don't think they put away Mt Fiji until very late in winter.

Mt Fuji is best seen in winter, when the air is clear and it can be seen from far away. If you actually want to climb it, you're limited to a brief season of a couple of months in midsummer.

I was in Chicago in mid-May a few years ago and took a boat tour. The weather was still very cold and windy and it ended up being pretty miserable!

I'd still recommend it. But it taught me to pack based on the weather forecast and historical weather. I make sure to bring a warm and dry enough outer layers that I can sit outside for an extended period.

And one of the best things you can do "as a local" is ... buying weather-appropriate clothes you forgot! Almost all cities have thrift stores or equivalent, too, which can be even more fun.

This is precisely the comment I was going to make. If you want to come to Chocago in the "off season", you're more than welcome, but you'll just be as miserable and bored as the rest of us locals.

Agreed

Had a great time in Montreal in February. Great time in Hanoi in July!

The thing is even locals will have a greater time during the nicer times. Using Montreal, where I was living until a few years ago, is a much nicer place to wander around when there's no snow. It's a colourful city, lively and full of small and big activity to do, so you can get by with the sort of tourism you described in high season (summer), but also end of spring and early fall.

In the winter, it's a cold, wet and relatively low interaction time of the year. I assume some place have a high, low and dead season for tourism, and I personally aim for low, but to each their own. Quebec in general is a great place for winter vacation, just have to go outside Montreal island.

I think it actually makes sense, but perhaps more so for “traditional” tourism. I lived in Amsterdam for 20 or so years. I found winter to be positively miserable: cold, rainy and dark. But it is the best time of year to see tourist highlights like the Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum etc. Not as much waiting and crowding. The old town in general felt less like an open air museum. Not sure if this still holds true, it’s been over a decade since I moved away.