Why we’ll always travel home for Christmas

Christmas means something unique to everybody; for some it is a time of happiness and for others it’s a sad and lonely part of the year that would better be forgotten. I’ve had my ups and downs over the festive season – a high would have to be discovering Father Christmas had left me a MASSIVE present at the end of my bed one Christmas morning (it turned out to be a My Little Pony Castle!) and a low would have to be the year my long-term boyfriend left me on December 23rd. That may have dulled my Christmas sparkle a little but I refused to let it crush my love of Christmas, which was what made me come up with the idea for this month’s travel link up.

This month Laura and I are  sharing what Christmas means to us, which is family. Without fail we both will head to our family homes for every Christmas – this usually involves long drives in rubbish traffic, but it’s worth it. Sure, I can’t deny I’ve always wanted to wake up on Christmas morning in a penthouse suite in NYC ( I totally blame Home Alone 2) but even that wouldn’t be the same as heading over to my aunt’s where sacks of presents will be piled up on the living room floor waiting for us to sort out!

Below are our thoughts on the matter, but we’d also love to hear about where you travel for Christmas. Is there a special place you return to every year, or do you prefer to jet off to spend the festive season basking in the sunshine of the tropics or skiing on the slopes? Let us know in the comments section below!  K x

Keri

For me, Christmas is all about family. Without fail I always head back to my childhood home every Dec 24^th to be with my mum, then on Christmas Day we go to my aunt and uncle’s round the corner to be with them and my cousins, who I grew up so close to that I consider them my brothers. It’s also an opportunity to visit old friends and spend time with my bestie, so that dull old journey along the M4 is worth it!

Since moving from Bedfordshire to Wiltshire almost ten years ago now, I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like to – and should – and I still miss them being close by, so spending this time with my friends and family is really important to me.

Of course Justin joins me on this trip every year, and since we began living together my Christmas travels have also included travelling down to Somerset, where we go on Boxing Day to spend time with his parents, my step-kids and more often than not the extended Italian family. It’s great to spend time with the kids when they’re super excited – I use it as an excuse to be a big kid myself!

So although we have lots of long drives throughout our Christmas break, what makes it worthwhile is getting to spend time with the ones we love – and as much as I love to travel and visit tropical climes, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be for Christmas than with our families.

Laura

Christmas means family to me. I only have a small family and I love it when we all get together for Christmas. My brother is at university so I go and pick him up on my way to Nottingham and I make sure I have Christmas tunes ready and waiting to sing along to (Driving Home For Christmas being the favourite, of course). Once we get home, it’s our job to decorate. I’m not sure why my mum gives us this job anymore, because last year we even decorated the drainpipe outside! 

As a family, we have curated quite a collection of completely insane Christmas decorations. My mum and I normally go to a Christmas market in Europe every year which are brilliant for them! They make great presents too! 

This love of crazy Christmas decorations has been passed on to me. Last year, Sophie and I decorated our mini tree not with a star or an angel, but with Christmas flamingos. Because why not?!  My housemate Sophie is a microbiologist and also managed to get a very cute Shigella bacteria decoration! 

My family are completely mad and I love them, and getting together at Christmas means the world to me.

How to link up your post:

Just pop your post up over the first week of the month (the 1st – 7th December), add it to the link up widget on Angie’s and Emma’s and Honey’s  from the 1st of the month.

There are no rules (Bah Humbug!) – just check out other bloggers involved in the travel link up; make a few comments here and there and tweet a few of the posts out to your followers that you think they will love. Share and care and spread some tinsel everywhere!

The Travel Link Up is open to all bloggers as long as the post is relevant!