Dark Winters, and What People Do About Them
Yet one person in Greece said winters were lonely if you arrived expecting summer.
Picture a couple named Hugh and Marian. They fell for a small town on a sunny week in June. The terrace, the long evenings, the neighbour with the lemon tree. They never once pictured four in the afternoon in January, with the light already going.
I think this is one of the biggest surprises in retiring abroad. People plan for the season they visited. They live in all of them.
What people describe, place by place
| Place | What the winter felt like to people | What they did or noticed |
|---|---|---|
| Malta | Sunshine as a help against low mood | Light, kept as a reason for the choice |
| Cyprus | Retirees in their seventies leaving colder winters behind | Hopeful about a warmer base |
| Greece | Winters can be lonely if you expected summer all year | Cautious; off season can feel empty |
| Belgium | Grey winters weighing on mood | A feeling of gloom, and a need for plans |
| Poland | Short days and smoky air on the coldest days | A light box for the mood |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Winter air and low morale, a mixed picture | Mixed, with good and heavy days |
| Bulgaria | Winter hard on a small pension | Heating weighs on the mind |
| Romania | Winter named as the hard part | Seasonal, and expected |
| Ireland | A wet winter, then relief when it lifted | Waiting it out |
| Denmark | A small seaside town in winter, with isolation | Fewer people about |
Two things stand out to me.
The first is that the warm places helped, but not completely. People in Malta and Cyprus talked about sun as a lift. Yet one person in Greece said winters were lonely if you arrived expecting summer. Warmth in the air does not fill a quiet street. Resort towns and seaside villages can empty out when the visitors leave, and a person can feel left behind in the very place they chose for its life.
The second is that the cold, dark places were not all described with dread. Someone in Poland used a light box and found a way through. In Ireland, a wet winter ended, and what the writer felt was relief. In Bulgaria and Romania the winter was named as the hard part, and I read that as honesty and as a plan: if you know which part is hard, you can prepare for it.
Money came into it too. One person in Bulgaria said the cold bites on a small pension. I would not add a number, because I was not given one. But heating is a cost people tend to meet only once the first cold arrives, and it could be worth asking neighbours what a winter really takes.
At the kitchen table
"It is dark at half past four," Marian said, looking out of the window.
"We knew it would be winter," Hugh said.
"We knew it in our heads."
He put the kettle on. "Then let us make a plan for the afternoons, and not wait for the feeling."
What I take from it
I notice that the people who coped well had something in the calendar: a class, a regular lunch, a friend to call, a light that switched on in the morning. The ones who struggled were often the ones alone in a place built for visitors.
Winter is a part of the year in every one of these places, and the question I would ask is whether your life is built to include it.
You could…
- Visit in the darkest month before you decide, not only in summer.
- Ask neighbours which shops, cafes and clubs stay open off season.
- Plan two regular social events for each winter week.
- Look at heating and light as part of the home you choose.
What did your last winter ask of you?
Tell us in the comments