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Coolcation: The New Vacation Trend

Coolcation: The New Vacation Trend For decades, the summer travel script was simple: when the weather at home turns grey, you fly south, toward the sun. In 2026, a growing number of travellers have quietly rewritten that script — and in some cases flipped it entirely. As Mediterranean summers increasingly mean 40°C heatwaves, wildfire smoke and overwhelmed infrastructure, a rising share of travellers are doing the opposite of what their parents did: heading north, on purpose, specifically because it's cooler there. The trend has a name now — the coolcation — and the data behind it suggests this is considerably more than a passing fashion. What a coolcation actually is The concept is exactly what it sounds like: a holiday planned around a comfortable climate rather than a hot one, typically swapping a southern European beach for somewhere considerably further north. It's the inverse of the sun-holiday instinct that's shaped European tourism for the better part of a century, ...
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About


Hi, I'm Frode, and I run this site.

For some years, I drove the well known norwegian Icecreamtruck through the winters and summers of Finnmark, selling icecream to children, adults (and even dogs!), in temperatures ranging from -35°C to +30°C, covering somewhere around 60,000 kilometres a year. 

That kind of mileage, in that kind of place, means you end up knowing the roads and towns in a way most people never get the chance to. I've driven from Pasvik in the far east all the way to Kautokeino in the west, with stops in Lakselv, Mehamn, Tana, Båtsfjord, Vardø and pretty much every village and junction in between. If it's in Finnmark, there's a decent chance I've driven through it, usually more than once, often in weather that would make most people turn around.


A few years ago, I got sick with Covid, and later diagnosed with something called CFS/ME, and it put an end to a working life built around driving — the condition simply isn't compatible with long hours behind the wheel. It was a hard adjustment, but it also after a while, opened the door to this project. Not as a fulltime-thing, but just trying to do something almost every day, even for 20 minutes.


ArcticPlans.com is my way of putting all those years of local knowledge to use in a different way: sharing photos, experience, and practical tips for anyone hoping to visit this beautiful, often overlooked corner of Arctic Norway. I know these roads, these towns, and these seasons from the inside, and I want that to actually help people plan a trip that works — not just a glossy brochure version of Finnmark, but the real thing.


You can also follow along on Facebook, where I try to post photos and videos from around Finnmark and the wider Arctic parts of Norway as they come. Also use facebook to contact me.
Thanks for stopping by — I hope it helps you see this part of the world the way I've come to know it.

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