I know. I know. No one cares. And you all probably think that it’s totally lame that I’m making my Christmas day so plain and public. But hey, what’s a girl to do when she’s far from home on Christmas day?
That’s right. Plan Christmas Day to her own whims, obviously.
To every amazing event, one must start with a few questions.
- Who’s invited?
- What will we be in the mood for?
- How can we make it special and fun?
- What type of food do we want?
- Does everyone attending have similar expectations?
There, we have it. A simple list of questions aka the starting point for your shenanigans.
This Christmas day, I’m living in Austria, far away from my family. I’ve never missed Christmas before. Obviously, I’m expecting to miss those weirdos (love you guys!) on Christmas and miss my American culture, too. With that in mind, it was obvious that I needed to plan a Christmas that I might not have the opportunity to do again for a long while.
First thought: travel somewhere magical. I was thinking here. But then, I saw the prices. Magic killed.
So my American flatmate and I put our heads together because around this time she found out she’d be far away from her family, too. We decided to bring some of our family traditions to our little flat. Together we created a plan for the perfect introvert Christmas.
Plan Ahead:
Figure out what you want to do. Obviously, we need to stay busy so that we don’t have time to miss out on family. Steer clear of social media because of all the family pictures that will show up, rubbing it in our faces (unintentionally) that everyone is with their loved ones. We happen to love movies, and we enjoy Christmas classics. We’ve got the list already somewhat settled (it includes Elf and White Christmas).
Shop Ahead:
Most places close for the holidays. Let’s be honest. We’ve come up with a food plan for the holidays. We’ll have lots of healthy things, but I’ll be honest again. There will be hot chocolate, ice cream, and probably some cookies or something decidedly Christmasy. Lots of snacks.
Ticket Ahead:
We’re going to a ballet. And we have tickets with seats (we usually opt to stand at the Vienna State Opera House because who can beat the 4 euro price for standing tickets).
Video Chat:
We’ve also got a plan to video chat with our families. My mom’s even suggested that she’ll open my gifts for me (she’s thoughtful like that). It’ll most likely be one of the highlights of the day (right next to the mug upon mug-fulls of hot chocolate I plan to guzzle). Because Christmas, and I’ll probably be pretending to be Buddy from Elf.
So if you find yourself away from your family or home this Christmas, you aren’t alone. The key is asking yourself how you want to spend the day and then do it. Embrace the difference. Because how often do you not have any familial expectations?
Merry Introverted Christmas from Austria!
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