This will be my fourth year of spending the holidays away from my family. Since moving abroad, I have spent two Christmas holidays in Scotland and two in Ireland. Residing outside of your native country can be an amazing way to experience immersive travel, but it can also be difficult, especially when you are living abroad at Christmas time.
Most people think of the holidays as a time for the family to be reunited and share in heartwarming traditions, but that is not always possible. Being abroad at Christmas doesn’t have to be the end of the world; you don’t have to spend it alone. You are allowed to have fun celebrating, even if you do miss family and friends.
If this applies to you, I don’t want you to only survive being abroad at Christmas, I want you to thrive! Here are 6 tips to help make living abroad at Christmas amazing.
Tips For Living Abroad At Christmas Time
#1 Look At It As An Opportunity
Mindset is crucial to how you handle being away from family. On the surface, it can feel terrible, but if you dig a little deeper, it could be an opportunity to try something unusual.
My first time spending Christmas abroad, I went to Paris for a few days with my friend. It was our first time in mainland Europe since we were living in Edinburgh, Scotland (the Edinburgh Christmas market + their mulled wine is amazing!).
We both couldn’t afford to fly back to the US, but we still wanted to make a memorable holiday away from our families with what we could do. We were able to go to Paris for the Christmas of our dreams, thanks to budget airlines and hostels.
As we wandered around Paris, we couldn’t help but feel lucky to be abroad at Christmas in such a beautiful city. Though it was unconventional, those wonderful holiday memories will stick with me for a long time.
#2 Look For Ways To Let Your Family Know You Care
Nowadays, you don’t have to physically be with someone to let them know you care. It is totally possible to let your family and friends know you are thinking of them even though you are far away, thank you internet!
My favorite way to do this is by sending surprise Christmas presents through Etsy or Amazon. By ordering from the Amazon store in their country, you don’t have to worry about your Christmas present being stuck in customs and not reaching them in time.
One time I sent my sister something from Scotland around the holidays and it took 5 weeks even though I paid for international priority shipping.
Another perk is that you can have the surprise gift arrive already wrapped. Check out surprise presents on the Amazon Christmas sales!
If you are trying to cut back on waste or you don’t want to even mess with shipping around the holiday time, try giving a virtual gift! I know it doesn’t sound like a riveting present but they can be amazing and don’t take up any space, perfect for those with a minimal lifestyle.
- Online cooking classes & food experiences (use code
CD2C35BB for €10 off on Eatwith)
- Online courses
- Kindle ebook
- Kindle unlimited membership
- Make them a special Spotify playlist
- Audible membership
#3 Look At It As A Challenge
Even though you aren’t going home for the holidays, you can still bring home to you. Get into the holiday spirit by finding some sort of Christmas tree, doing some family traditions or making some traditional Christmas foods.
This way you get to have some ‘comfort’ food and your friends can try some treats that you love. Sharing traditions and food with them will hopefully help them understand where you are coming from a bit too.
The challenging and fun part is finding the right ingredients for the food or anything needed for the traditions. Depending on where you are abroad at Christmas will control what you have access to.
If anything is missing, figuring out things to substitute can be difficult, and don’t even get me started on having to convert recipe measurements. Though this can be frustrating, it is nothing compared to fresh pumpkin pie!
Worst case scenario – if you can’t find any ingredients, can’t substitute, and can’t do any family traditions, fall back on your Christmas bread and butter; Christmas music, and Christmas lights.
Look for any type of decorative string lights to put up. I swear string lights have the ability to make anywhere feel cozy and ‘Christmassy’ and don’t forget to make a Christmas playlist too!
#4 Look At It As A Chance To Make Your Own Traditions
Following traditions that you share with your family at home can be great, but it is important to make new ones too. Adapt to your environment and think of new ‘out of the box’ ways to celebrate. Have both a little old and a little new so you can make the holiday your own.
#5 Look At It As A Permission Slip To Treat Yourself
Buying yourself a gift is my favorite piece of advice that I am giving today. The most important thing is that you actually enjoy celebrating Christmas day abroad and if that means spending a little bit extra, then so be it!
Whether it is a day at the spa or a few international travel accessories, you should feel okay about treating yourself to something amazing. Don’t limit yourself here to only a traditional present. Why not spend the day at the beach or a weekend getaway?
#6 Look For Positives About Being Abroad At Christmas
You might not be able to find the right ingredients or decorations to make your Christmas traditions and that’s okay. Celebrating Christmas (or other bigger holidays like Thanksgiving) abroad has its blessings in disguise.
One of the best parts of living in a country that doesn’t celebrate some of your own holidays is not dealing with crowded supermarkets. In both Scotland and Ireland, they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously), so there is no ‘fight to the death’ scenarios from people trying to get the last turkey or pumpkin pie.
In fact, it can feel nice to go into a store on the day of the holiday and not feel like you’re in a herd of cattle or a rock concert mosh pit. It is a normal day for everyone else around you. While some might find that sad, I like it because it feels like my own special day that I get all to myself.
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