[_l4jh]

Anecdotal story time. We have a family villa in Spain about an hour and a half south of Alicante. We just got back from two weeks there like we do every year. The heat and humidity this time was the first time it was too much so that we didn’t enjoy our time there. We’ve had this place 21 years.

Yes it’s Spain and it’s always hot which is why we bought it but this year was something else. The mix of both very high temps (higher than usual for July) and much higher humidity just made it very uncomfortable. We don’t usually need the AC on in July but we had to run it every night this time to be able to sleep.

Even the pool wasn’t refreshing as it was a constant 33C whereas it is usually around 28-30.

On the Wednesday night just gone we also had a heat burst. My first experience with such a thing and wow that was something else. It was like opening an oven door. The blast of scorching hot air in my face was almost suffocating.

Of course there have always been outlier days that have been too damn hot over the past two decades but this time it was the whole two weeks. Not just the odd day. I dread to think that it will be like in August which is when the temps usually hit their highest.

I’m a simple software guy I don’t pretend to know much about the climate but I listen and when thousands of scientists present data that shows average temps going up it makes me worry. If things continue like this some areas just won’t be reasonable to live or visit. They’re just not comfortable. You have to stay indoors as the sun roasts you in minutes and the humidity just makes you feel like crap constantly.

Even our neighbours who live there are talking of moving as it isn’t a nice place to live anymore. You feel trapped indoors with AC and do all you can to avoid going outside.

If these kinds of temperatures do continue to rise as predicted there is going to be a huge relocation of people to more liveable locations which is going to be a whole other problem.

I live in [redacted] where we have hot temperatures in the summer but we have pretty good humidity and it rarely feels “too hot”. I have AC but almost never need to use it unless it climbs to around 40C for a few consecutive days so I am used to pretty hot but I just did not enjoy Spain these past two weeks and was so glad to arrive home last night to 29C.

[Obscurity4340]

How much do you think you could get for it on the market? Is that in consideration after your experience this year?

[satysin]

It is certainly something that is more on our mind however I don't know if we will do it anytime soon. Our first change will be to go at different times of the year when it is more comfortable.

We have always avoided August as it's never been a nice time to visit due to the heat as well as being much busier due to the school holidays.

As for it's value I don't know if I am honest. It hasn't been something we've looked into in a very long time so I really have no idea.

[wappieslurkz]

21 years of all that travelling back and forth to a family vacation home... My flight shame would kill me. How did/do you deal with that?

[satysin]

It's a ~12 hour drive. No need to fly.

I have far more shame about how much food I waste or worse how much I used to consume if I am honest. When I look at the environmental impact of the food I eat it dwarfs everything else.

Even if I were to fly every time that would have been 42 two-hour flights over two decades. I wouldn't have shame over that number of flights considering I've worked with people that fly more than that in a couple of months just for meetings.

[r00fus]

Our family flies every year for vacation. Notably unlike my friends and other family we don't usually travel much on airlines other than that.

I think the environmental impact of that one flight pales in comparison to the plastic packaging our family consumes on a yearly basis... and we are conscientious of our usage.

[sheepdestroyer]

Why do you assume flight? There's train from Lyon to Alicante. Drive time is similar. It's a ~12h travel, nothing unheard of for a vacation trip.