「next month」と「the next month」の違い

Last week I asked someone about their plans for the next month, and he told me:

”I have a business trip at the end of July.”

It was strange, because I wasn't asking about the end of July, I was asking about the next 30 days. He thought I had asked about "next month". Are you confused?

• the next month = the next 30 days (today, that means until July 19) 30日以内
• next month = the month after this month (today, that means July) 来月

It's raining terribly right now because of this typhoon. Usually, typhoons don't come until next month. There's a lot of rain today, and the humidity is going to continue for the next month because it's the middle of rainy season.

Anyway, like the woman with the pink umbrella in the photo above, I'm going to run to the station now before the typhoon gets stronger. I hope everyone gets home safely!