Shoulder Season: The Neurodivergent Travel Hack No One Talks About

Photography Credit: Julien Duval

Shoulder Season: The Neurodivergent Travel Hack No One Talks About

BY MOTLEY BLOOM STAFF

Peak season travel is a bit like a music festival. In theory, it sounds incredible. 

In reality? You’re sweating through your clothes, trapped in a mass of people. You thought a quiet museum would be a reset, but instead, you’re navigating a symphony of body odor, sensory chaos, and loud tourists, who, for some reason, are FaceTiming in public. 

But what if there was a better way?

No frantic crowds. No standing shoulder-to-shoulder in public transport. No sky-high rates for overbooked hotels or fights for the last available seat at a restaurant. Instead, space to breathe, time to wander, and actual peace — inside and out. Here, there are flights at reasonable prices. Hotels with unexpected upgrades.

When you step out into the city, you meet calm instead of crowds. Time runs on your schedule. Your lack of planning ahead isn’t a problem but an opportunity for spontaneous adventure. 

This is the magic of shoulder season: the neurodivergent traveler’s best-kept secret.

The Sweet Spot Of Travel

Shoulder season is the Goldilocks zone of travel. It’s not peak season, when the world’s collective vacation days collide, but it’s also not dead season, when half the restaurants are closed and your only food options come from a vending machine.

In the Northern Hemisphere, this means April through early June and late September through November. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the opposite. These months tend to offer the best of everything: pleasant temperatures, lower costs, and the gift of not feeling like you’ve been dropped into competing in The Amazing Race.

For those of us who experience sensory overload, decision fatigue, and novelty-seeking tendencies, this matters. Travel can already be an assault on the senses -– the new foods, the unfamiliar routes, the constant decision-making. Add crowds, noise, and extreme heat into the mix, and suddenly, your dream vacation starts to resemble more of a nightmare. 

Enter the dream: shoulder season lets you actually enjoy the experience without your nervous system short-circuiting.

A Case For Traveling When No One Else Is

There’s a unique relief that comes with arriving somewhere and realizing you don’t have to fight for space. The energy of the place is calmer, easier, better.

And then, there’s the financial side of things.

Flights, hotels, and experiences are significantly cheaper. Travel experts estimate that airfare and accommodations can be 30% less expensive during off-peak months. So that boutique hotel you thought was out of reach? It might even fit your budget in shoulder season. 

Beyond the savings, there’s the bigger picture.

Traveling during shoulder season is better for the places you’re visiting, too. Cities like Venice and Barcelona have been actively discouraging visitors during peak months. Over-tourism is a problem in these coveted destinations, and locals often feel the whiplash of crushing crowds one season, ghost town vibes the next.

By traveling in these quieter months, you’re helping spread the economic benefit more evenly without adding to the overwhelming influx that makes locals resentful of visitors in the first place.

Where To Go When Everyone Else Stays Home

Shoulder season works almost anywhere, but some destinations can truly shine when you catch them at just the right moment.

In Morocco, spring means all the vibrancy — Islamic architecture, bustling markets, deep colors — without the sweltering heat turning the streets into an open-air oven. Further south, South Africa’s dry season offers prime safari conditions, with fewer mosquitoes and a higher chance of spotting the Big Five.

Mexico City, currently in the midst of a culinary renaissance, is also easier to explore in spring. That time of year, getting a reservation at a buzzy restaurant is achievable. The jacaranda trees are in full bloom, meaning the city is coated in purple hues. Pure bliss. 

Fall is the ideal time to visit long-time Mediterranean hot spots like Italy and Greece, as well as up-and-coming Croatia, which has seen a massive spike in tourism thanks to Game of Thrones. Not only have the throngs gone home this time of year, but due to warming patterns, beach weather can now be enjoyed well into October. 

Many Asian countries also see their best weather in autumn. We’ve all heard of cherry blossom season in Japan, but the fall changing of the leaves is just as dramatic, with maples and ginkgos turning stunning shades of red and maroon. Known for its biting winter cold and stifling summer humidity, October brings mild temperatures and cool breezes to the culinary capital Hanoi — so you can comfortably sit at those street food stalls. 

Peru, sitting close to the equator, has a near-constant length of day no matter the time of year. This means that Machu Picchu is just as breathtaking in the shoulder season — except now, you’re not climbing the stone steps behind a slow-moving tour group parade.

For those seeking more domestic adventures, the United States offers plenty of options.

A visit to Santa Fe, New Mexico in the spring allows you to experience the desert blooms and blossoms before the rest of the country catches up. Nearby sits Mesa, Arizona — the first Autism Certified City in the world where travel for those on the spectrum is a priority, not an afterthought. Another idyllic place to visit in the spring is Cannon Beach in Oregon. If you’re lucky, you might even spot some Tufted Puffins at the eye-catching Haystack Rock.

National parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and Big Bend also become infinitely more enjoyable in shoulder season. Here, you can hike at your own pace and relish in the sounds of nature. For the less nature-inclined, autumn in Washington DC allows for sweat-free visits to the capitol’s many free museums and outdoor monuments.

A Few Realities Of Shoulder Season

Travel is never perfect. Even in shoulder season, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Religious holidays and local festivals can spike prices and close facilities, even in quieter months. Easter week shuts down many European destinations in spring, while regional cultural celebrations such as Día de los Muertos can fill small cities like Oaxaca beyond capacity in autumn. In October, many New England locales become awash in fall colors — and crowds — while California is at the height of its fire season. Meanwhile, spring break beach destinations can turn into zones of drunken chaos, so check the calendar before booking. 

Climate change is also making shoulder seasons less predictable. What used to be a reliable window of mild weather is starting to shift, with some places seeing extreme temperatures and unexpected storms well into what should have been the calm season.

And then there are destinations that are actively trying to slow down tourism. If a place is begging people to stay away, consider heeding its warning. Consider places like Laos, Guatemala, or Slovenia instead, which are actively trying to attract tourists.

Shoulder season is all about experiencing a place, rather than enduring it.

It’s the difference between wandering freely through a city and being herded through tourist hotspots like cattle. Between enjoying a quiet meal at a tucked-away restaurant and realizing every table around you is occupied by the same tour group from your flight. Between getting a same-day ticket to the Frida Kahlo Museum and realizing (a bit too late) that you should have booked it 6 months ago. 

Our world is loud enough as it is. Shoulder season allows us to slow down and savor every experience — in a way that works for us.