Local travel agents shed light on popular wintertime vacation destinations

Temperatures drop, sleet and snow fall, and Missouri weather is generally less pleasant all around this time of year. What's a person to do? Well, several escape routes are available to seniors looking to get away for a few days.

Carolyn Sandgren (Kempf) of Elite Travel Inc. in Cape Girardeau said it's most important to decide just how warm you're looking to get.

"For semi-warm, you can typically stay in the southern U.S., like Florida or Gulf Shores. But if you want to get really warm, your best bet will be Mexico or a more exotic, tropical location," she says. "I love Missouri, but this is not a place that is pretty in the winter. We don't have evergreen trees and pretty snow. Traveling can help counter depression. The cold can make your body hurt. I think anytime you can go to a spa and sit in hot springs, that's just so nice. Arts, theater, music, fine dining or just relaxing and reading a book -- warm climates are so nice for that. Having someone else take care of the details is really helpful, too."

Sandgren said that while cruises remain popular, she's seeing an upward trend in mobile coach touring, or chartered buses that take passengers on pre-planned tours.

"We see this one a lot for people who aren't wanting to drive necessarily, but who want to get out of town and see some sights," she says. "Still, cruises are very popular in the winter months, because everything you need is right there on board, and it's very attractive to people to spend time relaxing and meeting new people on a cruise liner."

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Sandgren suggests booking a trip as early as possible.

"Your rates are typically lower in January," she says. "There are all kinds of reasons for this, but it's a good idea to remember that."

Phoenix also is a popular destination.

"Incredible weather, extremely affordable, nonstop flights, great spa destinations," Sandgren says. "For golfers, there's a great variety of courses there."

Right now, she says, the hottest destination is the Panama Canal.

"For years, the canal wasn't wide enough for cruise ships, but they've done a lot of work to it in the last few years, and now it can accommodate cruise liners," Sandgren says. "It's really opened up the opportunity, and people are flocking to it."

Leigh Segraves of 1st Class Travel in Cape Girardeau says she typically sees people looking for shorter-term vacations that still provide relief from the worst of winter.

"Even going for a week or two has great benefits for physical and mental health," Segraves says. "Gets people out of the cold and damp, there's a change of scenery, and what's great is, the winter isn't as touristy as summer since families would have kids in school. You just have a very different environment in winter."

Susan Berghoff, also of 1st Class Travel, adds, "I always recommend travel insurance for trips in winter. Insurance is always important, but there are weather concerns in winter. Any flight anywhere along your route that gets delayed or cancelled, you could get stuck. It's also a good idea to plan to stay near the airport the night before, just so you're close in case you have a storm come through."

Berghoff says she thinks Panama is an exciting destination this year for several reasons.

"They accept the U.S. dollar, which is nice, so people don't have to be concerned about currency exchanges," she says. "It's also kind of a new spot, one that maybe people haven't been to yet, so I think anyone looking for someplace interesting to go might look at Panama. It's seasonal -- a lot of cruise lines will shift their entire fleet depending on the time of year, so if you want to make it to the canal, now is the time."

Above all, she says, what's important is factoring in all the details to make for a smooth trip.

"Traveling in winter doesn't need to be any more complicated than in summer," she says, "and I think it's a great idea."