Yep, I am that introvert winter daydreaming, while living in the tropics.
Though I understand the trend of going tropics during the winter season – especially that in the northern hemisphere – and all valid reasons behind it, I’d still occasionally fantasize about my imaginary winter days somewhere else. Whether it is a place I made-up in my own daydreamer mind, or somewhere real. Well, okay, okay, probably the former.
Winter in real life
Having lived in a subtropical region for about 6 years in the past, I used to experience subtropical winter every year. And from what I experienced when I was travelling to a place in the northern hemisphere during its winter time, all I can tell you for now is that the northern winter chill could be much less forgiving compared to its southern counterpart.
So, I hope i could qualify to share my secret longing to experience that snow-white introvert winter every once in a while. Later on.
Yes, I’ve realized that winter isn’t always going to be as pretty as it is in the paintings, pictures, movies, and of course the instagram feeds. And yet I’m still intrigued by the idea of snowy winter despite all that and these frequently talked-about hassles:
- Dangerous, slippery roads.
- The snow-covered driveway.
- The bone-chilling cold weather.
- Layers and layers of clothing.
- Dirty, hardened snow covering the public roads.
- Excruciating boredom from the resulting sedentary living – particularly painful for most outdoor and party people.
- Stiffened muscles, joint pains and arthritis generally worsens during winter. Imagine seniors trying to survive winter with all the pains.
- Sore throat, cold, and I’m sure we wouldn’t need any reminder of this 2020’s global pandemic. The second wave and everything!
- Now with all these things in mind, could you imagine those who are trying to survive homelessness?
- And so on.
*You are more than welcome to fill up this list. I’d love to hear about your firsthand experience in surviving winter!
Living in the tropical region of the world
Sunshine all day long, all year round.
Perennial fruits, vegetables and flowers.
Beaches that are safe to swim about and mountains and valleys to hike and go about – not all of them, but many, throughout the year.
What more could you ask for?
Right?
I see that many people living where I live should be more grateful for this particular reason. But I understand that this is just hugely due to the human nature itself. Like the idea of warm, stable, friendly temperatures and sunshine in the midwinter days and vice versa; the idea of winter’s sense of tranquility for those who’ve been granted everlasting sunshine since they were born.
People tend to daydream, and sometimes they (or we, actually) want what they (we) don’t currently have – and so badly. That’s just the way it is.
As pessimistic as I might sound just now, I also strongly believe that there’s always something that we can do to improve how we think about things. We could be (exactly or close to) what we aim to be if we put enough effort into that.
By the way, back to talking about the tropical paradise: if you think that living in the tropics might seem to good to be true, then you are 100% right!
Despite the said privileges, living in a tropical region – at least the place where I’ve been living in – creates its own challenges and setbacks as well:
- When it all becomes too humid, that “sticky” air would be inevitable. Especially in urban areas, like where I currently live, this moisture problem is further combined with the lingering air pollution, resulting in “thick” air.
- Mosquito borne illnesses, e.g. malaria and dengue fever, both of which still affect (mostly) children, especially in the areas where nature is still in abundance.
- The creepy insects including crawlies!
- Foods spoil quicker here due to all this humidity. For a comparison, I didn’t put my angus cheeseburger into the fridge and it didn’t go bad even on the next day. That’s when I lived in the subtropical place, not even during winter. The air was almost always dry there. On the contrary, just a couple of days ago, my mom sent me a container of homemade fried rice. I didn’t put it into the fridge right away, and let it sit for 8 hours at the room temperature. Guess what, the rice went bad the next morning when I took it out of the fridge! I’m sorry, mom. I felt so sad, actually, right after that.
- Pandemic-related issue: warm, humid air + additional heat and humidity from wearing a mask = flourishing maskne.
- And so on.
So why wouldn’t I start my introvert winter daydreaming session right now?
And you are very welcome too, wherever you are in the world, beautiful people!
Alright.
Music on.
Time to daydream my imaginary introvert winter hygge.
Here is what I would like to do if I were to experience winter Friday or Saturday night in the comfort of my tiny house or chic flat or apartment unit – alone:
- Wear my winter pajamas
- Or wear whatever on the inside and top it up with my unicorn onesie
- Listen to my Spotify playlist on real good speaker(s)
- Light the aromatherapy candle(s) to create the mood
- Take care of my indoor succulents
- Swimming in the sea of the softest blanket(s) one could get
- Accidentally turn into a human “blanket spring roll”
- Staring out the window at the white, snowy landscape while listening to the playlist, musing around.
- Prepare myself a mug of hot chai latte or hot dirty filthy chai latte or other herbal brew (preferably the one with flower petals, ginger, mint, licorice root, dried fruits, tea leaves and/or cinnamon bark inside)
- Or hot chocolate milk, with additional bitter REAL cocoa powder added to it, plus ginger and/or a hint of cinnamon in it – bark or powder, both will do!
- Cookies! Ideally, the home-baked ones. Or cheesecake!
- Online window shopping, browsing around for uniquely quirky and chic clothings, accessories and decorations. Groceries too, especially during this pandemic era
- And then ended up meal-planning for the next few days
- Play the piano while singing. Think of ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’, Jamie Cullum’s version.
- For the very first time in a while, going back to playing my “abandoned” violin
- Improve my very limited guitar skill so that I would be able to sing more songs with it
- Maybe feeling inevitably frustrated with my still-limited guitar skill and then go back to listening to my playlist (adding Starry Starry Night, Maxwell’s version of This Woman’s Work, and Jacob Collier’s In the Real Early Morning to the list)
- Add more and more songs to the list during the shuffle
- Eventually turning into a contemporary dancer wannabe
- Also eventually done with the emotional pour-out and switch the songs to the more upbeat ones and start preparing my solo dinner (Goulash in mind!) – while randomly dancing to the song’s beat
- Enjoy the comfort food while watching Youtube videos – after sending the picture of the food to the dearest individuals, of course.
- Down the Youtube rabbit hole
- Accidentally watching unsolved mysteries, conspiracy theories and supernatural-related videos – mostly for entertainment – while eating fruits for my dessert
- Eventually done with the intriguing stuffs and then proceed with the attempt to neutralise the whole vibe by watching comedies
- Washing the dishes and everything else with the funny and cute videos still playing in the background
- Light back the aromatherapy candle(s) to alter the aroma and build the relaxation mood, if not switch the essential oil diffuser on
- Jump back into the sea of blankets and spend the rest of the evening watching comedies on Netflix or finishing up Khaled Hosseini’s ‘And the Mountains Echoed’, accompanied by matching songs or instrumental music – think of it as the soundtrack of the story
- Video call someone, whether it’s a family member, the significant other, or a long-lost friend
- Blow the candle(s) out, go to bed (more accurately dive back into the blankets sea), fall asleep with relaxing music playing in the background.
Honestly, this is by far the most fun article to write about!
Perhaps, by now, there would be no need to say that as beautiful as it is in your mind, it’s still just an imagination – a mere daydream.
Wherever you are in the world, whichever life phase you are in right now, you should try to keep believing that there are little things in life that could make your hard life more beautiful and enjoyable – if you allow it to. No matter how hard it is.
Well now. For my fellow introverts in the northern hemisphere, happy snowy winter!
As for my fellow introverts living in the tropics, you are allowed to introvert winter daydream too – in healthy dosages. They say daydreaming could boost your creativity too, after all!
And to all beautiful people reading this fun blog post, do you have anything to add to the list? Or to the all 3 lists up there? What’s your favorite thing(s) to do to get through the long winter evenings?
Please feel free to share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below!
Love and best wishes,
Ella
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