Thanks so much for the advice! The only time we're able to travel this year is for 3 weeks during August. My husband will be graduating from law school in May and as a post bar exam celebration we wanted to travel for the month of August. We were encouraged to visit Southeast Asia however soon realized it was the rainy season. Would you recommend enduring the rain? If not, do you have any suggestions on where to travel in other parts of the world? I've been to Italy before, however my husband has never traveled outside the US.

Hi Tucker
Having lived through a Thai rainy season, I can tell you that it's no picnic. It will be oppressively humid for most of the day and then rain. There will likely be floods (although probably better up north). If you go, go prepared. I'd recommend taking a trip to Thailand between November and February.

As for other parts of the world, what are you looking for? You could go to Northern Australia where the temperature would be great. Europe will be crowded with tourists and very hot in the Southern parts. Eastern Europe might be nice. It just depends what you are looking for.

Thanks Jill!

As for other parts of the world, we are looking for better August weather than the typical Thai month as you described and culture, culture, culture. We love adventure and the outdoors (hiking, sightseeing), visiting beautiful beaches (though we do not enjoy vegetating on the beach all day everyday). We do not want to go somewhere crowded with toursists or indulge in the common tourist activities. We want to experience the richness, beauty, food, festivals and history of the natives through their eyes. Any advice is Greatly Appreciated!

Jill,

Let me add to my last post by saying that we would like to travel to another part of the world that is completely unfamiliar and different than the US. I mentioned we love hiking, sightseeing, beaches and we do, however we would prefer to visit historical landmarks, observe festivals, experience different cuisine, markets, etc. Thanks again!!

The Normandy and Brittany coasts are lovely in August and many of the towns are not that crowded. The weather is mild and coolish, which is why all the royalties used to "summer" there.
Even in the middle of August, when the weather is nice I like to take a train from Paris out to popular Trouville to spend the whole day walking the long, fine-sand beaches. They are so vast that they never seem crowded.
Also on the Brittany coast east of Saint Malo, around St Briac sur Mer, the coast is lovely and not overrun.
Uh, in St Briac sur Mer you are likely to run into a certain former US presidential candidate. Don't know if that is a plus or a minus for you.

How about Tanzania or Botswana? Fabulous wildlife and scenery and about as far from America as you could get.

Japan? Indonesia?

Or for Europe, you could try slightly off-the-beaten-path places like Poland or Hungary.

August in Europe is holiday time so you are going to get crowds. Maybe a little further south such as Egypt.

Another option is to study the climate maps for the Southern Hemisphere and areas such as South America, Africa, and maybe Northern Australia, Indonesia etc, depending on airfare cost.

I agree it is not fun in a tropical area during the wet season.