Going South to Get Away From the Heat

Going south from a hot country can also mean going further from family.

By Neil Solomon · 2 min read

Picture a couple named Dorothy and Frank. They have spent their working lives in a place where summer means weeks of heat, closed curtains and a fan that never stops. Now they are thinking about retirement, and what they long for is not a beach. It is a summer they can sit outside in.

One person I read about wrote of this wish in a simple way: to retire further south, away from the heat. New Zealand came up as a place to look at. I found the post interesting because it describes a feeling that many people share and few say aloud. Warm weather is the usual selling point of retirement abroad. Some of us have had enough of it.

Here is my reading. For people who have lived with strong heat, comfort comes from long days with mild air. Light that lingers into the evening and a temperature that allows a walk at any hour. That is a different dream from the sun-soaked one in the brochures, and it deserves its own questions.

The first question is what you mean by heat. Some people mean the number on the thermometer. Others mean the nights that never cool, or the cost of running air conditioning, or the way heat narrows the day into mornings only. These are different problems, and they have different answers.

The second is what you will give up. A cooler summer often comes with a cooler winter, and a longer way from the places and people you know. Going south from a hot country can also mean going further from family. I think it helps to say that plainly before the idea gets too attractive.

The third is how you feel about the seasons turning. Some people miss the dark months at home, and some are glad to be done with them. Long summer light is a joy to many, but it can also feel odd if you grew up with short, even days.

A short moment between them.

"I just want to be able to sit on the porch in July," said Dorothy.

"And not feel the air pushing back," Frank said.

"Yes. That."

I would add that a single forum post is one person's wish, with no replies. It is a starting point, not a verdict. The only way to learn how a place feels in its summer is to be there for one. If it is possible, visiting in the season you most want to escape tells you more than any description.