Away from home this Christmas? You are NOT alone…

The holiday season: A time to spend with your nearest and dearest. But not for some…

I wanted to write something from my personal experiences and knowledge gained from being away from home at this time of year on multiple occasions. This is something that I hope anyone who finds themselves away from home at this time of year, for whatever reason, can relate to. Hopefully this will help clear some minds to refocus on exactly why you are away from home and the benefits (yes, there are some!) of doing so, which can be forgotten about VERY easily at this time of year.

The secret to making this time of year away from home, as enjoyable as possible is: Mindset.

The perspective you look at things makes all the difference. There will ALWAYS be a positive sister thought to every negative thought in your mind. Uncovering them is the tricky part. It’s like playing a game of hide and seek, you might just be a bit out of practice due to not playing for a while!

One of the main factors that results in people being away from home at this time of year are their current work commitments. If you do find yourself away from home due to work commitments at this time of year, there are three things you must remember straight away to allow yourself to appreciate the situation fully:

1. You are employed. Congratulations! You are doing something that someone thinks you are good enough to actually be paid to do. That’s awesome. Hopefully you find yourself in a job or position that you enjoy. Or, maybe you don’t love every aspect of it, but you will certainly be challenged by the aspects you enjoy less. You are growing every day.

2. You are being paid*. You are making a monetary gain from your skills and knowledge. This could result in some financial freedom later along the line, to allow you to chase other ambitions in life.

*(Side note: If you find yourself, for whatever reason, not being paid properly for your services or skills: Re-Evaluate. ALWAYS remember your worth)

3. You have been given the opportunity to see a different part of the world. Whether that is on the other side of the world, or simply a different city/town of your home country. You now have a brand new place to explore and new people to meet. How lucky are you!

Obviously, the main negative of the situation is the fact you are away from home. This can often result in someone feeling like they are missing out on lots of things, which in turn can contribute to a range of mixed emotions.

At this time of year, there are a few main categories that I believe contribute to the festive season as you will know it from previous years. Let’s break it down further into these categories:

Traditions:

Traditions are awesome. The things you ALWAYS do every year without fail that make the difference between having an awesome holiday season, or suddenly realising how different things are now you find yourself away from home.

The thing to remember is: Traditions can take naps. This year is the perfect time to let them take a huge nap and re-energise. Everything in life needs a break now and then, traditions included. Another positive is the increased excitement when you finally get to do a tradition again. It will be worth the wait and feel extra special. You could also try and create some new traditions, that are not location dependant. This will make them easier to fulfil year after year, and create a sense of continuity.

Also, if you happen to find yourself surrounded by people from other parts of the world, ask about their traditions and share your own with them. It’s fascinating to learn about other cultures and how different parts of the world have traditions that vary from your own.

Family/friends events:

Especially at this time of year you will feel left out of many family/friends events or ‘get togethers’. As hard as it is to imagine your family or friends carrying on as ‘normal’ while you are away, as always, there are a few positives to this situation if you allow yourself to see them.

Think of all of the adventures and stories you will have to talk about when you are reunited with them. You will come back with more knowledge, experience, and memories than ever before. You will be the most interesting person you have EVER been, and this is something you can be extremely proud of and share with them when you get home. Of course you will miss your family and friends but I guarantee that they probably miss you that tiny little bit more. It will be those people, who are the most excited to hear all about everything you have been up to.

Food:

Food is a huge part of this time of year for many people. There will probably be family recipes and special festive treats you look forward to having every year, that are just out of your grasp this year. If you are lucky enough to find yourself in another part of the world, be open to trying some of their food or festive treats. The ones you have at home will ALWAYS be there, so instead of thinking about everything food-wise you are missing back home, get excited and be adventurous to try new things. Maybe you will discover some of your new international favourites… who knows!

To wrap it up (pardon the pun):

Missing out on a holiday season at home (for whatever reason) is a unique opportunity to realise what really matters to you at this time of year. Like anything in life, the time you spend without something, is when you actually have the chance to miss it (or not). This experience of missing out on certain aspects, can now be used to solidify your ideal holiday season next year.

Or, if for whatever reason you are away from home again next year, you have yet another opportunity to gain even more knowledge to what truly matters to you at this time of year and use it sometime in the future.

If you know of anyone away from home, or even just finding themselves in different circumstances this festive season, please send them a link to this. I’d really love for it to reach as many people as possible who are in similar situations who might just need to play a game of hide and seek this festive season!

This post was written somewhere in the ocean between Sydney & New Zealand.

Merry Christmas!

All my love,

Sam