PICTURE it, if you will. You're in your mid-fifties, or older. You're Scottish, too, which means that you're familiar with the sight of rain running in rivulets down your window when other countries are frolicking in the sun.
It seems that, rather than turning the heating up, donning an extra cardigan and searching for a DVD boxset they haven't already watched, more and more Scots in this age-range are turning up instead at the airport and disappearing for a week or two. As we report today, the erratic weather, and the opening-up of new airline routes, are a persuasive argument.
When your neighbours and friends back home are, with a grumble, reaching for their umbrellas, what nicer prospect is there than to be sunning yourself on a Dubai beach, your most pressing concern relating to what kind of cocktail you fancy next? The thought of flying to Las Vegas, or Bordeaux, or Portugal for a well-earned break is sufficient to banish, at least temporarily, the dread of another uncertain spell of Caledonian weather.
Some older Scots may be using their new-found pension freedoms to finance such holidays. Others may have saved up, or are cheerfully spending the children's inheritance. Whatever the source of funds, this is a trend that is here to stay, particularly now that autumn is here, with winter just around the corner.
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