More and more people nowadays choose to embrace a digital nomad lifestyle, living abroad for a long period of time and working remotely. Being away from home for months or years means celebrating the holidays without family and friends. It’s important to enjoy celebrations nonetheless. Here are a few tips on how to do that.
Photo by Nicole Michalou
When we travel, sometimes it’s nice to bring along a home custom that we may not really see celebrated elsewhere. But doing so can feel challenging when there are few stores or few events taking place around that time. Celebrating Thanksgiving in the United Kingdom, for instance, may be something that your own intent allows for, but circumstances struggle to give you based on the unique history of this event not being shared around the world. Celebrate Christmas, and in most places, you won’t have that problem. For events like Halloween? It could be a grey area depending on where you are.
Photo by Juliana Malta
Enjoying home celebrations abroad, no matter how unique, don’t have to feel limited, however. If you’re there, then you’re there, and that means the appreciation for the event has traveled with you. Who knows, those you’re visiting or the people you’ve brought with you on your travels might be happy to have you share this with them? It’s hard not to feel some sort of joy if an Irish person asks you to celebrate St. Patricks Day, for example.
Photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels
Without further ado, let’s see how you too can enjoy home celebrations abroad in the best possible way:
Bring Along Some Themed Entertainment
Some themed entertainment alongside the usual enjoyments can be a wonderful idea. For instance, a set of excellent Halloween murder mystery games can help everyone get involved while sticking to the theme and giving you a format you can all enjoy. Themed entertainment might also take the style of running a small treasure hunt outside, or having a silly Christmas dress-up event, or going to an authentic restaurant (or Irish pub as per our prior example).
Photo by Erica Marsland Huynh on Unsplash
Get Dressed Up & Make A Plan For The Evening!
Getting dressed and making a plan for the evening can be a great idea. It not only gives you the chance to get out of your usual need to wear smart casual and formal clothes to a celebratory event, but helps you act a little bit silly. Halloween is a great venue for this, but you might also dress in a manner that helps celebrate the authenticity of a cultural event too. For instance, flowing robes when celebrating Diwali could also be a beautiful way to connect with your culture, share it, and get people involved.
Teach & Share Your Appreciation
It’s true that others might not share your celebration, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to know about it. Teach others about how you might usually celebrate when you’re back home, and people will be interested to listen. To use our previous example, many people in the United Kingdom know about thanksgiving, but because it’s not culturally relevant to them, they might not know the entire process or what meats are served or if gifts are even given. Cook Thanksgiving recipes, like pumpkin cupcakes, together with your friends as a way to all feel part of the celebrations.
This kind of cultural balancing can help us all learn more about one another, and it can make the events you enjoy even better.
With this advice, we hope you can enjoy home celebrations abroad well, no matter where you are.
Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post.
