5 Reasons To Consider A Cold Weather Trip This Spring Break

After a long winter the impulse to escape to a beach somewhere in the Caribbean often overtakes travelers, however, there are some very compelling reasons to book your spring vacation in a snowy destination — even if you don't ski. From sustainability factors to a true escape from the peak travel season crowds, thinking outside of the typical spring break box can have huge payoffs in terms of your travel experience —including a deeper connection to the destination and the people you meet there.

Tom Wilkinson, Senior Product Manager with Exodus Travels, says that the tour operator's trips in Northern Finland provide travelers with a memorable and impactful travel experience — one that suggests you pack a bathing suit, but doesn't involve swimming through a cloud of someone else's sunscreen.

Here's why you should consider a different kind of vacation this spring.

Crowd control

Forget lining up at the bar for an umbrella drink or fighting for a lounger by the crowded swimming pool and instead picture yourself somewhere pristine and utterly peaceful. "The silence is really nice," says Wilkinson, "you feel like you're somewhere so, so different. This part of Finland is one of the most sparsely populated places in Europe in terms of humans per square mile, so you get a really nice feeling of being out in the middle of nowhere."

Having space all to yourself is a luxury that isn't available in most places, but in Finland's Oulanka National Park, where basecamp for Exodus' Finland trips is located, tourism is tightly controlled to minimize environmental impact. As a result, you're not going to encounter any crowds, lineups, or traffic jams.

Social and environmental sustainability

Large resorts contend with serious food and water waste issues that impact the environment. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that hotels and restaurants dispose of nearly a quarter of uneaten food purchases . Overtourism has become a serious problem for many destinations, especially coastal spots and many of the larger hotels and resorts there aren't locally owned, so the benefit derived from this type of tourism has minimal impact local communities.

In contrast, Basecamp Oulanka was designed as an ecolodge. Its cabins and central lodge are heated by small wooden pellets, a waste product from local logging companies. The food served is locally sourced, traditional Finnish food. "Things like lingonberries are picked wild to make the desserts and at breakfast you get some nice berry juices. It’s very much produced from the land," says Wilkinson.

Pack light (and still bring your bathing suit)

Investment in a ton of expensive, specialized cold weather clothing can be a huge deterrent for travelers but it’s one that Exodus and Basecamp Oulanka have solved.

"The first part of any trip is getting your kit ," Wilkinson explains. "There’s an enormous kit room at Basecamp with a huge range and every size of boots, overalls, and mid-layers. You can have up to three or four layers on at any point. The key thing they provide are fantastic outdoor boots that are warm, waterproof, and have great grip. They have all the clothing there, they have all the equipment there. You only need to bring what you’ll wear in the evenings," he says, including a swimsuit for the onsite hot tub and Finnish sauna.

Lots to do, but plenty of time to relax

"On most days, the first part of the day will be the main activity. And in the afternoon there’s often free time," says Wilkinson, explaining that there's never a shortage of things to do, but that Basecamp also provides a cozy place to curl up with a book and a cup of coffee or venture outdoors once more. "For example, in the morning if you’ve done snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, then in the afternoon the kits are still there. You can go back out and try it on your own."

Return home with stories to tell — and bragging rights

Along with stunning photos of the Northern Lights, a vacation to a northern climate comes with unique experiences and stories you'll be telling for years: a starlit snowshoe hike, a ski trip across the surface of a frozen lake, a visit to a husky farm and a dog sledding adventure, a bear sighting.

At Oulanka, guests are also given the opportunity to learn how to dig a traditional snow shelter and build a fire outdoors. And while the lodge is just a short walk away, major bragging rights are bestowed on anyone who spends the night in theirs.

"I think one of the highlights is very much the atmosphere," says Wilkinson. "You get a kind of crispness in the air when you arrive. You drive up there through the forest and it opens up onto the lodge and the frozen lake behind it, and as soon as the sun goes down there’s the possibility of the Northern Lights."

Have your camera ready.