I’ve been hinting at it for a while but now it’s finally time to say – I am going home to visit New Zealand for Christmas! I’m SO excited to enjoy six whole weeks of catching up with my nearest and dearest, lying on the beach, enjoying all of NZ’s beautiful green space, and attending the wedding of my best school friend. It is going to be heavenly. 
Looking forward to a lot more of this action in my parents’ back-garden
With the countdown top of my mind (19 days til I fly now, would you like to know how many hours?!), for this month’s festive-themed travel linkup I’m sharing a bit about what I love about Christmas on each side of the world. I generally find those of us who grew up with a “hot” December 25th (always dependent on the NZ climate playing ball) are more comfortable with the idea of cold festivities than vice versa. I put this down to also having been heavily exposed to a cold Christmas through holiday cards, movies and songs. While cold may seem more traditional to many, there’s so much to love about a Southern Hemisphere celebration too. Read on…
Cold Christmas
A (slightly) snowy Christmas Day in Wales
I’ve spent the past two Christmases in the UK, first with my lovely cousins in Wales, and the second at an “Orphans’ Christmas” in London. The first was fantastic because I got to have a hilarious family celebration at a time when I was missing home a LOT – and because it snowed! (A light dusting on the hills totally counts, by the way). 
A cheeky snap post-service at Westminster
The second was also amazing, as I started with the morning service in Westminster Abbey. I’m not from a religious background so I’ve not been to many Christmas services, but I loved being inside that soaring space and sharing the initial peace of the day with a few hundred strangers. Then I spent the rest of the day with my friends cooking, laughing, drinking way too much mulled wine and generally being loveable idiots. It was awesome. From my two Decembers of experience, here’s what I love about having a Northern Hemisphere Christmas:
- It feels more traditional: As I mentioned, while the sun bakes the ground, those in the Southern Hemisphere are still likely to be watching snowy movies like Home Alone or Love Actually, receiving cards decorated with snowmen and penguins, and listening to ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ (hopefully the original version). So to experience the chill of December (I’ve had enough of the rain though, thanks) in conjunction with the festive fun of Christmas does feel very authentic.
- Festive fun: Christmas lights (and the switching on celebration), parties, the festive buzz – London does the season oh so well. I love that just as the weather is getting truly dire, along comes Christmas to perk us all up (let’s not talk about January).
- Christmas markets: these definitely deserve a spot of their own. My favourite so far was in Cologne, with its quirky themed markets scattered through the town. I also loved Bruges for its compact and utterly cute nature. Not only are they a great excuse to visit a new city, but with decorations, food and best of all mulled wine, they feature a lot of my favourite things!
Hot Christmas
This scene is on my Christmas wish-list!
Until I moved here, every Christmas was a hot one – as long as the Auckland weather played ball. To this day the smell of freshly cut grass says Christmas-time to me, as my dad used to mow the lawn every Christmas Eve so it was neat for the next day. We used to share the big day between my parents’ house in the countryside and my grandparents’ place in the city, with occasional trips away for a change of scenery. Wherever we were, the day would feature my youngest sister waking everyone up insanely early, presents in pyjamas, lots of delicious food and (hopefully) some sunshine! When my parents moved next to the sea, a swim at the beach became a very welcome part of the package. So what do I like most about a Southern Hemisphere Christmas?
- Summer: I’m a summer baby through and through – for me, everything is better with a bit of warm weather. This includes Christmas. Nothing inspires a bit of festive goodwill like having golden sunshine pouring down on you!
- Fresh food: don’t get me wrong, I’ll never knock a good roast. But given it’s warm weather, our family Christmas lunches for the last few years have generally involved delicious salads, meats and fish – sometimes roast, sometimes not. What’s guaranteed is that where my parents and sister are involved, it will be super tasty!
- Long holidays: schools shut down from mid-December until late January, and most workplaces will have holidays from at least Christmas to after New Year, usually with just a skeleton staff working. This means that many people take the opportunity to have a break together. From the age of 16, my standard pattern was to have a family Christmas, and then on about the 27th of December meet up with my friends for a week of camping or bach (holiday home) life, as close to a beach as we could get! Being able to spend that quality time with family and then friends made the holidays very special.
- Family: while I’m lucky to have family on both sides of the world, my immediate family show no signs of upping sticks to London for late December yet. After being apart from them (aside from the joys of Skype, of course) for two Christmases I am SO excited to be back with them for this one.
So what do you think? Have you had a hot AND cold Christmas? Which would you prefer? For more of my Christmas posts check out my Christmas Extravaganza or Kew Garden’s Christmas Lights here
Linking up for the monthly travel linkup with Emma, Kelly, Rebecca and Ayla, and for Travel Tuesday with Bonnie, Courtney and Lauren!
