By:Chris Munzing
"It's the cold air," said Rosenberg in between calls from people looking to head somewhere warm. "People just want to get out of here because it's cold and miserable."
Rosenberg said that the winter weather slamming the Northeast, combined with Long Beach schools being closed the week of Feb. 16-20, Park West Travel has been inundated with calls from families, singles and couples looking to fly south for a week.
Rosenberg said that travelers often don't care where they go, just as long as there's a beach that's not covered in snow. "People are trying to be flexible," she said. "They'll go anywhere that'll have space. People will go a day early, stay a day late. They'll go for eight days instead of seven, anything to get out of here."
"People are looking to just go sit on a beach," said Bob Odessky of Sturm Travel in Long Beach.
Rosenberg said that the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are the most popular destinations for those looking for summer weather. She said that cruises that travel to various spots throughout the Caribbean are very popular as well.
Odessky said that Sturm Travel was booked solid for months in advance in anticipation of a harsh winter. "People are booking really early," he said. "The only thing you can get late are chartered flights."
He explained that families work their vacations around their children's scheduled breaks from school. When the school calendar arrives in August, parents start calling to schedule vacations.
Jeanne Sherman, owner of Sturm Travel, said that people always book in advance to guarantee their spot by the pool. "People definitely do book in advance," she said. "I have people calling for next Christmas."
Rosenberg, however, was still fielding calls on Monday morning for travelers looking to leave this weekend. She said the cold weather sparked an interest in travel that she hasn't seen in the past several years. The weather, however, is not the only factor. Rosenberg believes that people are starting to return to their normal traveling routines, which were disrupted by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
"People don't seem to be fazed [by the warnings] anymore," said Rosenberg, adding, "As long as things stay quiet."
Rosenberg said that in the wake of Sept. 11, every security warning or possible problem was seen by travelers as the next attack, and they stayed away from the airports. However, she said, as time has gone on and alerts have become commonplace, people are looking to travel again and are willing to deal with the extra hassles of heightened security to get where they're going.
"People are saying, 'So I can't bring scissors or my sewing needles -- so what?'" said Rosenberg. "It's a new normal."
Sherman said that people don't look at the warnings with as much trepidation as they used to. She believes that since there have been no attacks since Sept. 11, the warnings don't carry as much weight.
"I hate to say it, but it's like the boy who cried wolf," she said.
