• What's ticked?
• Accolades
• Contact us

c o l u m n s

• Cheap Charlie
• ChrisCrossings
• Err Travel
• Leocha
• Travel Notes
• Archives

s u b s c r i b e

• Elliott's E-Mail, a free weekly newsletter, is your insider resource for moneysaving ideas.

First name

Last name

E-mail address

Subscribe
Cancel

• Like what you see? Now you can become an underwriter.

a l s o

• Ticked e-mail
• Visit Tripso
• Referring sites
• Home

s e a r c h

• Find a story.



(c) Elliott Publishing.

Off-Season Travel
The Occidental Tourist · November 8, 2000

Having just survived possibly the worst summer season of travel - incessant flight delays, staggering beach-related traffic jams and other assorted atrocities - the Tourist is beginning to appreciate the concept of off-season vacationing.

He can't stand multitudes of irritating, clueless tourists who drive 50 mph in the passing lane of an interstate. He hates getting behind a flock of flip-flop wearing dweebs who stand on the left side of an airport's moving sidewalk - then actually offended when asked to step aside for people who are trying to make a flight! And what really gets the Tourist steaming is …

Editor to Tourist: Look, let's not kid ourselves here, Tourist. You basically just don't like people.

Tourist: OK, you have a point. Just because I'm a representation of the human race doesn't mean I endorse the concept. But what would help is if they could come up with an electronic idiot detector for travel. A beeper would go off to warn you of trouble ahead and you can take necessary action with a stun gun.

Or even better: They could come up with a travel-frustration gauge. This would be an instrument that, in advance, would give you an accurate reading assessing the pure rage that you'll spew at people during your trek. That way, you can measure out in advance the appropriate dosages of Advil and Wild Turkey you'll need to survive the ordeal.

Now, all of this brings the subject to off-season travel. Face it, people like the Tourist should keep away from large crowds.

Off-season travel is a better alternative. After all, it's not like the destination changes overnight with the flip of a calendar page. Museums, trails, taverns and fine restaurants tend to stay open year-round. Besides, you can better savor the unique charm of a place once the obnoxious crowds have fled town. Oh, and, oh yeah: It's the cheap way to go.

In the last year, the Tourist took three off-season trips and couldn't have enjoyed them more: New Orleans in December; Stratton Mountain, Vt., in the middle of summer; and Ocean City, Md., after Labor Day. This week and next, he'll dish out the skinny on why this kind of trip works. The path less traveled, at least with respect to time, is often a preferred one. And send the Tourist your observations on off-season travel at tourist@ticked.com, and don't forget your full name and city/town of residence:

New Orleans: Many people flock to New York City in December to enjoy Christmas in the Big Apple. In fact, that's where the Tourist is taking his missus this year for the wedding anniversary. (Which, for some reason, keeps coming up every year.) But just this past December, he took his wife down south instead to the Crescent City.

Who needs the madness of Mardi Gras? This now-overrun event is about crowds crawling over each other for drinks; lewd, vulgar behavior that gets really old fast; and long bathroom lines - for the crowds who use a urinal instead of an alley. Yes, the Tourist realizes this is an event steeped in great tradition. So was drilling holes in people's heads when they got sick.

Instead, we opted for New Orleans for a long weekend in December. Guess what? The city was actually breathtakingly pretty and quaintly low-key. The slate sidewalks were relatively uncluttered, perfect for a walk in the crisp night air. We took in block after block of bright Christmas decorations in the French Quarter.

It was like being in a European town for the holidays, without the European attitude. Getting restaurant reservations at in-demand places was a snap. When we went to a coffee house the next day for breakfast just before 11 a.m., we were the only people in the place.

Next week: Hitting the beach after the crowds have headed out, and a ski town when there's no snow in sight.

The Occidental Tourist is a magazine writer in Washington, DC. He writes for Maxim, POV, Capital Style and ABCNews.com. His column appears on Tuesdays. E-mail him at tourist@ticked.com.