The right way.
“I saw you in my dream the other night, Summer. You got married. The end.”
Uncle Buzzkill’s a real piece of work, to put it nicely. I mean, what would Thanksgiving be without his gassed-up ego and snarky comments? Aunty RBF said don’t worry about it; “I’m sure someone will marry you.”
Thou shalt not bite, I remind myself.
Not sure why we bother with turkey when we can just roast the f**k out of each other.
The holidays are kind of all about getting your entire dysfunctional family under one roof anyway to have a grand old feast, but not on food. There’s no denying it.
And might I add, it escalates rather quickly. If you think about it, they have to create a complete sh*t-show pretty fast. They only have 3–4 hours at best to air out everyone’s dirty laundry before dessert is served.
Let me tell you, they are very efficient when the motives right.
The rest of the crew watches in feigned horror as all of this unfolds, but no one moves a muscle because they all want pumpkin pie.
After insulting half the guest list Uncle Buzzkill and friends decide it’s a good opportunity to join hands and praise the Lord for how good life is and that more people should go to church like them to enter the gates of heaven.
I’d be lying if I said their comments have never impacted me. It’s an exhausting replay of events, year after year after year. Yet, they still never see an independent woman; just a woman without a husband or family. Poor, poor girl.
If there was a middle-finger emoji on Medium, I’d insert it right here.
SO….I’m going to skip Christmas for the first time. For once, I am choosing to spend the holiday the way I want to.
In fact, I made this plan about 7 months ago because I knew it’d be a welcome reprieve after the typical turkey-day trot.
Not only am I skipping it, but I’ll be spending it abroad and alone — A&A.
Well, not completely alone.
Though traveling solo, I’ll be united with a tour group upon my arrival. My guess is that the typical travelers who take tours out of the country during a holiday consist of families with young children or couples looking for a romantic getaway; probably not the solo traveler like myself. But I guess I’ll have to go and find out.
And what better place to spend Christmas than in a winter wonderland like Iceland? Seeing the northern lights has been on my bucket list for a while now. It sounds a lot better than staring at Uncle Buzzkills’ shiny bald head that not even the brightest Christmas lights can hold a candle to.
If you also happen to be traveling and spending Christmas alone, I’ve come up with a few ways to keep the holiday spirit alive no matter where you are in the world.
Christmas Eve Traveler Care Kit
Here’s what I’ll be bringing:
- Single-serve hot cocoa packs with marshmallows to enjoy from the hotel room
- An uplifting book to read as I sip
- A download of “The Holiday” because Jude Law always gives me a good cheer
- I’ll also be downloading Home Alone 1 and 2 for good measure
- Extra $ to buy me a gift in Iceland to memorialize my first A&A Christmas
- A gift from home to give to someone I meet there
- Blank holiday cards to write to everyone in my tour group (or send a postcard to someone)
- My favorite ornament for a little decor
Honestly, I may find that this wasn’t the brightest idea. Or, I may find it was the best idea ever. Maybe it won’t be what I had imagined. Maybe it’ll be even better. And maybe, just maybe, It’ll be the happiest Christmas I’ve ever had.
Whatever I find…it’ll only be because I went.
More to come…
