5 Tips to Cope with Christmas Away From Home

Expats are sometimes unable to come home for Christmas. When this happens people can experience difficult feelings like a sense of emptiness, sadness and loneliness that gradually intensify as Christmas eve approaches. This blog post aims to help you beat the holiday blues when you are far from home.

Take care of yourself and give yourself a little pampering. Think about those relaxing activities that make you feel good, happy and relaxed. Go out with friends to your favourite restaurant in town, book a massage at the beauty salon, go for a walk in the countryside or at the beach, enjoy a relaxing bath and so on.

It is not unreasonable to feel sad at this time of the year if you are far from home and your loved ones, don’t you think? It is absolutely legitimate to feel this way! Christmas and the festive season is all about family and you are going to miss them. Reassure yourself that it’s ok not to feel ok about being away from home at this time of the year.

Plan your next trip home ahead, so that when feelings of sadness become more intense you can challenge your negative thinking by reassuring yourself that it is true that you will not spend Christmas day with your family, but you will soon see your loved ones.

Look for Christmas Eve get-togethers in local pubs, explore Christmas in the new city, create a list of to do things during the holiday season, celebrate with your expats friends. You’ll have plenty of fun sharing this incredible adventure called life with other people who are away from their homes just like you.

Don’t miss out the chance to get yourself a gift. Think about a priceless gift you would like to give to yourself. Some ideas are: give yourself the gift of more time by learning new time management strategies; give yourself the gift of an emotional outlet by channeling stress into fitness; give yourself the gift of making new friends by taking on new hobbies. These are just some ideas, the more the merrier!