NEW YORK • Snowbirding is the American pastime of flocking to Florida and other sunny shores for the winter, usually by retirees - but it will look different this year.
While travel spending in the United States is down by hundreds of billions of dollars and Europe is locking down again, one corner of the world is aflutter with activity: snowbird groups on Facebook.
"The whole country has pandemic fatigue," said Ms Lisa Carter-Knight, 53, who splits her time between the states of New Hampshire and Florida.
"And now that the virus is everywhere, we're hearing people say, 'Well, I might as well be somewhere warm.'"
Yet travel restrictions and other factors ensure that the snowbird tradition is changing, and here is how.
Ms Melissa Di Giacomo, 25, manages her parents' two-bedroom condominium in Bonita Springs in Florida, and has always rented to retirees in their 50s - until now. "This is the first year where we've got renters in their 30s with a young child - it's a huge difference."
Sibarth, a real estate company that rents out luxury villas on St Barts, will also welcome a different mix.
"Much fewer retirees than before and more working professionals between 40 and 60 travelling with their children," said Ms Ashley Lacour, the company's president.
"Some have even enrolled their kids in the local public schools."
Earlier this month, Ms Melanie Granuzzo and her husband locked up their home in Connecticut and hit the road for the winter with their toddler daughter, Amelia, and Yorkshire terrier, Winston.
"Typically, we avoid travelling through the holidays, but this year is different," said Ms Granuzzo, 30, director of social media and editorial at a digital agency.
"As parents of a young child, we don't want to be stuck in the cold," she said. "So we might consider a short-term rental in Florida or Charleston."
Ms Brandreth Canaley, director of operations at Sextant Stays, a Miami-based vacation-rentals agency, said multi-stop "Southern swings" are a new pattern this year.
"We're seeing young professionals travelling around the country, spending a month or two in different cities.
"It's one of the surprise opportunities of the pandemic, for those who are able to work from home."
Ms Susanne Heger and her husband, whose primary residence is in Wildeshausen, Germany, will spend six months in Florida, rotating between their three homes.
"It's much easier in Florida - you can have social distance, you stay outside, you breathe fresh air."
For the first time, their 2,700 sq ft home in Bonita Springs will welcome not a single European.
"All of a sudden, we got people from Miami - even the other side of Florida," she said.
Ms Canaley is also seeing domestic guests tip the scales.
She said: "In a normal year, you might have family members from Latin America or Europe coming over for the holidays for a few weeks, whereas now we're seeing those bookings come from domestic travellers - a good portion from the North-east."
NYTIMES
