Have you ever travelled to a country outside North America and noticed the locals dressed more warmly than you?

34 comments

1. China’s kind of known for being afraid of cold lol

   My grandmother said Guangzhou (Same climate as Miami) was going to be very cold in winter and to bring some coats.

   The locals were in jackets, pants and hoodies. I even saw some girls wear tall boots.

   I just walked around in a hoodie, shorts, and flip-flops. The “cold” winter was like 57 Fahrenheit…

2. I went to the Middle East and I think they were all already warm enough..

3. Yep… especially in places that are far warmer than where I live… North American example: went to the Bahamas in December once and the locals were all bundled up like it was going to snow out, and here we were in swimming trunks playing in the ocean and getting drunk on margaritas in the sun…

   Also same time of the year in Taipei, locals again bundled up because they’re cold, and here I am with jeans and a t-shirt and no coat, scarf, or anything else because it was in the 60s and wonderful (back home it was in the 20s that week IIRC).

   Then again, in Copenhagen, in the fall, I showed up thinking “OOOO LAYERS!” and was grossly underdressed for even the fall. I ended up having to buy warmer clothes that trip because they were dressed more warmly than I was.

   I have hopefully learned from that because I’m headed to Latvia in November…

4. You don’t even need to leave the country to see this. Come to Florida when it’s under say 70 degrees. You can pick out the Floridians

5. Yes. Everywhere.

6. When I was in Tokyo people broke out the gloves and parkas whenever it dropped below 60F (15C).

7. Heck I didn’t even have to leave the country to see this.

   When I was a teenager my family moved from South Portland, Maine to Des Allemands, Louisiana. We moved in the first week of December. On Christmas my family went to dinner at the house of some of the people from our church. In the afternoon my brother and I decided we were ready to go home, so we asked our parents if we could walk home. It was two miles or so. Brother and I were wearing shorts and T-shirts and had sandals on. The locals were shocked that our parents would let us walk home in such cold temperatures dressed like we were. It was in the high 50s or low 60s. My mother laughed because she had spoken to my grandmother in Maine that morning and there was 7 feet of snow in her back yard. The Des Allemands locals wore what I consider heavy cold weather clothing in mild weather. There was even at least one man in town that wore a winter coat year round.

8. Absolutely. Scandinavians dressed ready for an Antarctic expedition in temps well above what I would even grab a hoodie for.

9. People wear hoodies in Phoenix if it’s under 80.

10. In Norway of all places. You’d think Norwegians would be cold hearty people.

11. Brits treat 40 degrees like 20 below and 70 degrees like the surface of the sun.

12. When I visited Israel, one of the locals apologized for how cold and wet it was. It was like mid 70s with a light drizzle in late December. They were pretty shocked when I said it felt like a mild summer day to me.

13. I walked up Scafell in the UK. A good chunk of the people I came by were dressed like they were climbing Denali and this was a couple decades ago before Arc’teryx made that look popular.

    It wasn’t shorts weather but it was close.

14. I’ve gone to California during the winter. I’m sporting a T-shirt and jeans while everyone else has a light jacket on. 🤷🏻‍♂️

15. South Koreans got thin blood. Parkas in Midwest October weather. 🤣

16. I’ve only traveled outside North America once, when I visited London in early October about 5 years ago. I think the locals and I were all dressed in the same level of warmth. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how warm it was (perhaps due to London’s urban heat island) and how brief the rains were; it felt just like a Wisconsin autumn.

17. Was in Scotland back in April and people were walking around like they were on Schackleton’s expedition when it was in like the high 50’s.

18. I live in Ireland and I notice this all the time. I put all my puffy coats in a box in the attic when I moved here and haven’t touched them since, but other people will have them on the minute it gets below 15.

19. Not exactly what you asked but any northerner can tell you about going to Florida and seeing them wearing big winter coats when its 60° out. lol.

20. Korea.

    Grew up wearing shorts in 50F or 10C. Koreans are not about that lol.

21. Like nearly everywhere. I’m just warm blooded I guess. I’m up in New England now where people just don’t mind the cold.

    But I have traveled about and I’m always dressing more lightly than pretty much everyone. The Canadians might be the love exception I have seen. It is dang cold up there and they don’t dress much more for the cold than Mainers than winter. Is Mainers like to say it gets cold here but e have nothing on most of Canada.

22. I live in Chicago. It was raining and about 65 this morning when I saw someone wearing a puffer jacket. I work in a neighborhood popular with transplants. I’m trying to make myself believe that people who are wildly overdressed for the weather are transplants. I’d hate to think it’s natives being wimpy babies.

23. My husband and I did our honeymoon in London in October. We lucked out with the weather; it was sunny and nice 6 of the 7 days we were there. The temp was in the 60s during the day; perfect fall weather for a long-sleeve shirt or a light sweater.

    We saw sooooo many people bundled up in puffy jackets, hats, and scarves. We honestly felt kind of conspicuous with how lightly we were dressed, but we were very comfortable.

24. Went to Portugal during an unusual cold snap (50-55F highs). I’d say 7/10 women had those faux fur hooded coats on. Like Chicago winter coats.

25. This happened to me in working Australia and Mexico and visiting New Zealand.
    I rode a motorcycle around New Zealand for a month after rage quitting a job in Australia, and most of the locals I met though I was nuts. I think the coldest it got was the low 50s, and that was just a few days.

26. Went to Montreal this spring on a really gorgeous week. I was dressing like you would for an average spring day, but those people there are so used to freezing temperatures they were all decked out in parkas even though the Fahrenheit was in the 70s. It was very bizarre.

27. I was walking around in a tank top in sunny Sweden while the locals were playing volleyball dressed in hoodies.

28. Yes, contrary to what the state I live in would imply.

29. I was in Romania, it was 80 degrees outside, and some local was wearing a Wisconsin hoodie.

    I was really, really tempted to joke with him that you wouldn’t catch a legit Wisconsinite wearing a hoodie in 80 degree weather.

30. Don’t even need to leave the US, just head to Florida or Louisiana on a 50 degree day. Won’t be a hoodie left in wally world.

31. Here in Uganda, only school boys are suppose to wear shorts. So here I am, on the equator, with the only option of leg covering being pants.

32. I usually notice the opposite, but maybe that’s because I’m from a warm weather place. I am almost always cold when I visit other places, while the locals are walking around in shorts.

33. I did a cycle tour across Italy where i was the only American. Every morning it would be like 60 degrees and the Europeans would put on their jackets and talk about how they hoped it would warm up throughout the day. Then in the afternoon it would reach a nice breezy, dry 75 and they would complain about how hot it was and tell everyone to look out for heat stroke.

    To me, it’s between 30 and 90 and i’m happy as a clam

34. Still in North America but in Mexico everybody was wearing sweaters while our family went swimming. People visiting my town are wearing pants and jackets while I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It could be 55F or so and I’m still not wearing a jacket while people have already put on their parkas.