Not Going Home for the Holidays

Tyler and I hadn’t planned to be around for the holidays this year. Instead, we were going to be spending three weeks bopping around South America. This would have marked the third year in a row of us traveling over Christmas and New Years, rather than spending it at home in Florida with our extended families. 

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While that might not have worked out the way we’d initially planned (surprise, surprise), it’s likely that many of you will not be going home for the holidays for the first time this year due to coronavirus concerns. I certainly cannot tell you what makes the most sense for your specific situation; however, I can tell you that it’s possible to celebrate with your family and have a great holiday, even if you’re not physically together.

When Tyler and I planned our 2018 holiday vacation, we knew we would be spending Christmas Day in Brussels, Belgium, followed by trips to Paris and Amsterdam. We also knew we would have to prepare our families for the shake up. Here’s how we did it:

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• Give your family notice. We booked our December flights to Brussels in April 2018, and it was shortly after that we flagged for our families that we wouldn’t be spending the holidays at home. While you may not be able to give 6+ months notice, it’s important to be up front with your family on whether or not you’ll be in attendance and give them time to wrap their heads around it. While they may be upset at first (because tradition), I think you’ll find that they get used to the idea pretty quickly, especially if you make a plan to…

• Connect the day of. Just because you can’t be there IRL doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to celebrate with them! After Tyler and I spent the morning running around Brussels, exploring the Parc du Cinquantenaire and Plaisirs d’hiver/Winterpret, we dedicated a good chunk of our Christmas afternoon to chilling in our Belgian Airbnb, making video calls and shooting off messages to family that had just woken up in the US. We might not have been with them physically, but we made it clear that we were with them in spirit.

• Celebrate in a new way. While we made sure any gifts had been delivered in advance of the holiday, we also wanted to make sure we celebrated the holiday on our own. In Brussels, this meant going to the winter market, grabbing hot chocolates from Le Comptoir de Mathilde and soaking in the light show outside Grand Place before settling back in at home to watch Elf. Last year in Edinburgh, we explored Calton Hill and watched Christmas with the Kranks. The Christmas movies are optional, but take time to celebrate and enjoy something you couldn’t or wouldn’t if you were at home.

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Since late December will likely be too late for me to comfortably travel, this will be our first year in Florida for the holidays since 2017. That being said, we may still be spending Christmas and New Years away from our families, depending on the COVID situation. If that’s the case, we’ll still follow the steps above (and make sure we fit in a Christmas movie or two).

Here’s to a quieter holiday this year, and a travel-filled 2021!