That’s Christmas: Now Where?

Traditionally Boxing Day was the start of one of the biggest holiday booking periods of the year. Almost as soon as the festivities were open, the sales began and shoppers ducked in to travel agents at the same time and emerged, laden down, with suggestions of where to go for the summer holidays. Things are a bit different today since sales start before Christmas. Shoppers surge into the larger shopping centres but not into the local shops. I went to our nearest town this morning and even though both travel agents were open, they had no takers and there were few people around other than in Sainsburys.
Maybe the day after Boxing Day is too early for holiday thinking.
Could that be because of the effects of the weather? Now that the UK is about back to normal after the effects of the snow as is Germany, Holland and Northern Italy, the news came that northern France and the Paris airports in particular were affected by snow. Then came Moscow with its two airports being closed for 12 hours. And then the snow landed in the USA. From North Carolina up through to the Canadian border, snow didn’t just fall it blitzed the area and airports in Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York and Boston were closed. Although they are used to snow, the backlog is going to take some time to clear. As it did at Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle.
Why?
Large airports seem more and more to run at almost full capacity. A small problem takes hours to resolve. A larger problem takes days and in the case of the weather, a week might be needed. It is estimate that New York airports will have a back log of 2,000 flights to clear. All the criticisms we have heard over here about how airports cope and everywhere else is better prepared is now being heard in New York and Berlin and Moscow of all places where the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has ordered an enquiry. So, some of us might not be thinking about summer holidays yet since we can’t get back from or to winter ones. There is some great skiing available- if we could get there. Resorts in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine in the US will be affected but all 5 resorts in Scotland should see great new year business now that roads and airports are functioning normally.
For those considering summer, online websites might attract us but I don’t sense much of interest in holidays yet. There are too many of us recovering from the snow. That’s the reason, I think why TV watching is up this Christmas. Although there are loads of repeats and not much that’s new, it’s better than facing the world outside. Yet.