Ideas For The Best Way to Travel Is Snowbird Migration

As temperatures drop, and leaves begin to turn, most of us are thinking of woolens and storm windows. But for some fortunate folks, it’s time to pack up and hit the road for sunnier climes. Across the northern latitudes of North America, the annual snowbird migration is set to begin. Dictionaries define “snowbird” as “one who moves from a cold place to a warm one in the winter.”

For those who travel by car, the trip to the Sun Belt means an exhausting drive on a busy highway, punctuated by nights in cookie-cutter motels. Consider enhancing your trip — or at least your accommodations — by staying in bed & breakfasts or country inns along the way.

“Bed & Breakfast Inns ONLINE offers a service designed for snowbirds in search of charming places to roost en route,” says Randy Fought, Bowline founder and CEO. “Our unique Snowbird Route mapping feature makes it easy to locate interesting, luxurious places to stay on a long car trip, so people don’t have to settle for the ubiquitous chain hotels that cluster along the highways,” he explains.

Snowbird Routes make it easy for travelers to locate bed & breakfasts and small inns close by every major North-South Interstate highway. “Southbound travelers can plan their route, explore nearby B & BS and communicate with innkeepers, all from a single starting point,” says Fought.

The system is simple to use. Starting from the Bed & Breakfast Inns ONLINE home page, click “Locate a B & B,” and then the Snowbird Routes link, which lists 20 Interstate highways. Click your route, and find a convenient stopover in the list on the left side of the page. Click “Draw a Map,” and your map appears on the right, showing all the inns within a radius of 25 miles of the town you chose. Beneath the map are links to photos, rates, directions and innkeeper contact information, and often a form for reserving a room online.

Bowline’s Snowbird Routes cover 20 North-South Interstate highways, including Interstate 35, running from Duluth, Minn. to Laredo, Texas; Interstate 95, from Maine to south Florida; Interstate 75 from Sault St. Marie, Mich. to southern Florida; and Interstate 5 from northern Washington to the Mexican border.

Travelers can also locate inns with special amenities and features, such as those that offer discounts for midweek or extended stays, inns on the National Register of Historic Places and properties that offer extras like flowers or gourmet cooking classes.

Whether you are a snowbird, a honeymoon couple, or a family looking for an interesting vacation stopover, Bowline provides an easy-to-use, searchable directory of nearly 5,000 bed and breakfasts and small inns in North America along with special packages, contests and innkeeper recipes.

Retirement in The Frozen North: Snowbird Migration to Mesa

For many years, people have been traveling to warm climates to escape the cold damp winters where they live. Winter is wet, cold, and generally right in the middle of flu season, making it a great time for anyone with pre-existing health concerns to be in a warmer climate.
Many people migrate seasonally; some people who live in cold or damp climates travel to warm climates in the winter for health reasons and some travel just to escape the inconvenience that the winter weather brings. While some of these people work in positions that allow them to travel and work from anywhere, most of these snowbirds are retired.
Many people from cooler climates choose to come to Mesa in the winter. While Mesa can get over 115F in the summer time, it is a moderate 80F in the winter. Mesa also only has about 8 inches of rainfall all year long with about 300 sunny days annually.
When snowbirds come to Mesa there are many options for accommodation. Some may find that a home swap works well if they can find someone who’d like to experience a snowy winter for a change. Some people may find that renting a mobile home or buying into a timeshare works well for them. Most snowbirds seem to enjoy RVing best, spending a little extra time driving down to Arizona and visiting friends on the way or even driving down with other couples.
Once you get to Mesa for your warm weather winter there is a lot of exciting stuff to occupy your time with. There are lots of areas for walking or if you’re adventurous you can go on trail rides. There is Broadway Palm Dinner theatre, Mesa Arts Centre, Mesa Ampitheatre, Mesa Symphony, and the Shakespeare Company for those who enjoy the arts.
If you enjoy learning new things, the Arizona Museum of Natural History and the Mesa Historical Museum may be more your speed. For those who like golf there is the Riverview and Dobson Ranch Golf Courses. Mesa is also home to a variety of cigar bars and casinos. Mesa also has a fabulous variety of restaurants, ranging from southwest to Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Italian, German, Polish cuisines.
If you’re tired of spending your winters in the cold and the damp with a box of tissues, try instead coming down to Mesa and spending it in our warm winter sunshine; your health may just thank you for it.