Is Low Season Travel A Luxury?

Here at Low Season Traveller, we talk a lot about the fact that travelling in the low season isn’t for everyone. Some could say that we even pride ourselves on it. Not everyone is prepared for the odd downpour in a destination famed for sun, or to take on that extra level of planning when not all the buses are running. Yet, for those who know what lies on the path less travelled, these little peculiarities of the low season are simply small trade-offs. For cheaper flights, accommodation and activities yes, but also for something more special: a depth of experience. A rare intimacy with a city, a culture, a country. I’m lucky to have even a handful of those moments. It made me wonder; is travelling in the low season a luxury?

The epitomes of luxury – expensive cars, designer handbags and an overpriced wardrobe – are incongruous against the decidedly bold background of low season travel. Yet for many, this traditional definition of luxury is a relic of the past. Certainly in my view, experiences are far more valuable than any weight of gold. Unlike a Rolex, experiences change you. They alter your view on the world. As such, the very act of travelling is undeniably a luxury. Yet, without the crowds drowning out the local perspective, low season travel is even more so. When the locals are the loudest voice, listening is the greatest perspective-shifting pleasure.

However, in order to avoid the high season and bear witness to those experiences, one must also have the luxury of time. On my recent trips to Peru and Bolivia, the travellers around me could largely be grouped into two categories: university students and retirees. As a university student myself, my summer isn’t even halfway through by the time the schools break up. That’s the heart of it, isn’t it? The collegiate clock that seems to dictate the world of travel. For those lucky enough to dodge fines upwards of £160 and have a believable family-wide bout of bunkilitus, the luxury of low season travel is almost within reach. But for the rest of us, astronomical prices and heaving crowds have just become the norm. 

Whilst there isn’t an easy fix with term times set in stone, there are still ways to enjoy low season luxury. It’s all about where to look – and often this means in the opposite direction to everyone else. For example, a weekend hopping German Christmas markets may sound like a perfect winter wonderland. But swapping the shivering queues and the extortionate price of a much needed mulled wine for a peaceful week in Malta might be the best decision you make all year. 

Low season travel may not be the archetypal image of luxury. Far from it. Yet the transformative experience it cultivates is a rare and special thing. Time is certainly a barrier, but for those trapped in the academic cycle, the lure of the low season isn’t entirely out of reach. It just requires the willingness to go against the flow of the crowd. Perhaps that very notion is a lifelong luxury in itself.