I recently realized something over this holiday season. Every year for the past five years, I have been in a different place for Christmas. I spent these five Christmases in three different countries and one in no country. No country sounds a bit weird, but it will make sense if you keep reading below.

1991-2014 – Growing Up

Growing up, I always spent holidays with family. We moved a lot during my youth, so we were often in a different place from the year before. In my childhood, I spent the winter holidays in three different states: upstate New York, Washington State, and Tennessee. Even when I went to Florida for college, I still traveled back to Tennessee every year to be with my family. Then I moved to The Bahamas, and things started to change. The first Christmas after moving to The Bahamas, 2014, was mostly the same as before, where I flew to Tennessee to be with family.

2015 – Christmas Caribbean Cruise

In 2015, things started to change quite a bit. Instead of flying back to Tennessee, I convinced my parents to meet me in Florida for us to take a cruise together on Carnival Cruise Lines. The cruise departed on 19 December 2015 from Miami, Florida. We had ports of call in Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba. Christmas Eve was in Aruba, and Christmas Day was at sea in International Waters.

2016 – Tennessee, USA

My 2016 Christmas was the last one I spent with all of my immediate family. It was also the first time I saw my new niece. I flew back to Tennessee and stayed with my family. This year didn’t feel the same as past Christmases when I was younger. This feeling shaped my decision for the next year.

2017 – Christmas in The Bahamas

Since 2016 didn’t feel the same, I wanted to stay in The Bahamas for my 2017. My Dad started working in The Bahamas with me during that year, and I was able to convince him to stay there with me for the holidays. We spent most of the day on the beach and then had dinner at the dining hall where we were living. We then flew my sister, brother-in-law, and niece down to spend New Year’s with us.

2018 – Sydney, Australia

Last year, 2018, was the first Christmas I spent without any family members. I moved to Australia only a few months before the holidays on a working holiday visa. Read about my first year working holiday visa here. I was still in Sydney at the time and ended up meeting up with some people I met there to spend the day with them. We started at the beach and then went to their apartment to enjoy a lovely dinner together.

2019 – Cairns, Australia

This year, 2019, I was still in Australia but in Cairns instead of Sydney. The hostel I have been staying at, Summer House Backpackers, scheduled a family dinner for anyone in the hostel on Christmas Eve and put on a pool party for Christmas day. Both events were a huge success and helped to bring in that home away from home feeling.

So, there you have it, five Christmases in three different countries and one in no country. Now the real question is, where will I be for the holidays next year?