How are you making holiday celebrations your own this year?

The holiday season can be great, but for a lot of people it can be a stressful and difficult time. If you don’t have a family to go to or if they are too far away to reasonably visit — or if you are estranged for whatever reason — it can be a pretty lonely time. Or maybe you have to work, or can’t afford to do something fancy. Everyone seems to be off doing exciting things while you are stuck at home (or work). So how are you making holiday celebrations your own?

Down here in Australia we don’t generally celebrate Thanksgiving, and our Christmas is in the middle of summer, so our options may be a little different to yours. I’m currently having to plan for two separate family Christmases, where my MIL isn’t really up for organizing anything, especially since the loss of my FIL last year, and my parents have both gotten much frailer and less independent this year and are not capable of organizing or cooking this year. My parents live a fair way from the rest of us, but won’t be up for travel, so that celebration comes with the added bonus of having to do multiple trips to go clean and set up, then do all the cooking at home and take it with me on the day.

If you are finding yourself having to start a ‘new tradition’, here are some things to consider.

If you can’t be with the family you were born with, can you celebrate with the family you have found? Friendsgiving celebrations are becoming more common, and have the added bonus of mostly all being in the same area. If you can’t do something with a larger group, can your immediate household do something together? It doesn’t have to be turkey and all the trimmings. You can define your own holiday traditions. Maybe have a day where you eat dessert first? Have a movie marathon and drink mocktails. Create a scavenger hunt around your house or neighborhood. Visit a local attraction you haven’t been to recently (or at all), like the zoo, or a park, or a museum — they’re often fairly cheap and many are much more interesting than you might remember them from your childhood. There are often interesting little niche museums scattered around the place that don’t have the big name recognition the larger public institutions have, and can be fascinating. Maybe have a Discord trivia event or movie night with friends who are on the other side of the country or the globe.

Remember that neither Thanksgiving or the other holiday seasons started out about commercialism and how much you could spend on gifts or feasts. Don’t stress about what you can spend. Make it about spending time with the people most important to you. Whether it be a group or just you and your furry friends.

What are some of your ideas of ways to celebrate this coming holiday season? Do you have some ideas for low cost ways to catch up with friends, or alternatives for people who are a long way from home and can’t travel?