skipping xmas

[goofyintoronto]

So I was talking with a friend yesterday about xmas and how stressful it always seems to be for most people, Lol. Next year she said she plans to take the hubby and kids somewhere warm and totally skip xmas with the rest of the family.
Then it got me thinking just how common this is because I do have a couple of friends that do the same thing, go to disney every xmas. They do it to purposely avoid family drama at home!

So im just wondering, how many of you are planning to skip xmas next year / go away with your spouse & kids etc and avoid the drama at home? Ok maybe thats not a nice way of putting it....but im just curious as to how many ppl out there travel regularly around xmas time even if it has nothing to do with your family/extended family...maybe its just to get away.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Well, we live n another country from either of our families--so we are not gong out of our way to "skip" Christmas--but yes we generally travel somewhere just the four of us.This year we rented a house in Spain. It is a lot of fun and low stress

 

[wvjules]

I have no Christmas Family drama but in 2011 we went to Hawaii for Christmas. I don't want to be gone every Christmas, but I loved it! Next year I want to spend Christmas on Maui. In 2011, we were on Kauai for Christmas.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would love to vacation over Christmas. One of these days.

 

[cabanafrau]

We talked about something similar several years ago, but since we're the lynchpin for holiday celebrations in both families it would be very distressing to our parents. Now that our girls are much older Christmas isn't quite as much of a hassle & I can see more value in the traditional "family time". Things will be much simpler when our parents are no longer here to celebrate, which will make things easier, but I know will be far more bitter than sweet.

Every year I look for ways to make the holidays more about spending time with people without so much fuss and trappings. I enjoy it so much more.

 

[burnurcomputer]

Christms with the Cranks, much??



FREE FROSTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SLP958]

I would love to do this. Unfortunately, It would upset our extended families very much and we would just have to do Christmas with them before we left or after we came home. Maybe one day..

 

[afnaechiquita]

My parents always talk about it but haven't done it. I tell them I wouldn't mind skipping presents for a vacation. I told them next year I probably won't come home for Christmas, and they said they've decided to go to Disney!!

 

[firecracker725]

I'm seriously considering it for next year. We'll be moving to France on January 1st, so it seems silly to buy a bunch of toys for my kids when we won't be able to take them with us. I'm thinking a trip to Disney or the beach instead.

 

[Janepod]

We don't do it at Christmas (seven-year-old still believes in Santa) but we skipped Thanksgiving and went to London for the week. I don't think we'll ever host another Thanksgiving - it worked out GREAT.

 

[denisenh]

yes, i agree that christmas is stressful. many times this past pre-christmas, i thought to myself "it shouldn't be like this...all this stress"
i am sure that most of my stress is self imposed. i am very last minute. i never know what to buy and who to buy for. i delay for any reason because i don't like doing it, and i don't even have extended family.
every post-christmas i think to myself "i will do better next year. i will enjoy choosing gifts and start early. i will like it." it is just complete insanity.

personally, i would be very happy having a decorated tree, listening to christmas music, and enjoying a hot cup of tea. i think even holiday travel would be too stressful. the crowds, the prices, ugh. hohoho, blech.
i am much happier when the holiday season is over.

 

[NHdisneylover]

yes, i agree that christmas is stressful. many times this past pre-christmas, i thought to myself "it shouldn't be like this...all this stress"
i am sure that most of my stress is self imposed. i am very last minute. i never know what to buy and who to buy for. i delay for any reason because i don't like doing it, and i don't even have extended family.
every post-christmas i think to myself "i will do better next year. i will enjoy choosing gifts and start early. i will like it." it is just complete insanity.

personally, i would be very happy having a decorated tree, listening to christmas music, and enjoying a hot cup of tea. i think even holiday travel would be too stressful. the crowds, the prices, ugh. hohoho, blech.
i am much happier when the holiday season is over.

You just have to figure out where to go.

We do not fly back to family---airfare from Germany to Colorado during the holiday break from school runs 1300-1400 euro per person if we find a good deal

But we found a lovely three bedroom penthouse in Southern Spain, where spring and summer are the high season, for 650 Euro for 9 nights. No crowds anywhere. Most places open and a few people, but certainly no crowds
Last year we found an equally good deal in the French Riviera (again--winter being their off season). I think even in the US and/or Canada you can find places that are not popular at the holday times and get a good deal and end up having a great time

 

[canadianjovigirl]

We just got back yesterday from our first Christmas away from family. We did not do it to avoid any drama, but with the kids getting older it is harder for them to miss school so we went for 17 days to Grand Cayman and had a great time.

No decorating stress, shopping stress at home etc. We spend Christmas morning with the kids opening stockings and their couple santa presents then we were on the beach. We also went for a wonderful Christmas brunch.

We loved it and would do it every year, but our families would not like that so may do it every other year.

Nothing like spending the holidays with my toes in the sand

 

[U2_rocks!]

Love family Christmases, so no desire to skip it. The only time we would consider doing so is if we wanted to try to spend Christmas in a snowy place (my kids have never seen snow). But I think I'd do Christmas at home and then go on vacation on the 26th, if that worked out with school dates. I would really miss the family get togethers and all the fun parties leading up to Christmas.

 

[Momvic5]

No family drama here. We spend our Christmas at home - just the 5 of us. We may go on vacation over Christmas, but it is always in celebration with Christmas.

When I was a young girl, we would skip Thanksgiving due to family drama. My mom was from a large family, and there was always something going on so my mom decided one year that we were going camping for Thanksgiving. We were going to miss the big family dinner. She baked our Thanksgiving dinner early, packaged it all, and took it camping with us. We did that for 3 years in a row. Best Thanksgivings ever - my brothers and I have the fondest memories of those Thanksgivings.

 

[Katy Belle]

I cherish every Christmas with my elderly parents. But when they are no longer with us...its a strong possibility!

 

[lawrenceFletcher]

Are you serious! I took my family two weeks ago and I still have not heard the end of from my MIL. I am betting she saved up all the greif she had for the entire year and could not torture me because we were relaxing at the AKL pool on Christmas.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Christms with the Cranks, much??



FREE FROSTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's what I was thinking.
Love that movie.
Hilarious take on a middle aged couple and how they might handle any big event.

 

[snapppyd]

I skipped Christmas this past year. I got tired of the drama so DH and I pretty much treated it like any other day. We don't have kids or parents so it was easy for us. We let out sisters and brother celebrate with their families and we stayed away.

 

[kimmyann]

We actually talked about it this past Christmas. Both DH & I are off from work for the full week between Christmas & New Years, so we have pretty much decided after this coming year we will be heading to Florida every Christmas break (not Disney, but the gulf coast & Key West). This year we are also planning a short two night trip, weather permitting to D.C., just to get our feet wet. By then my oldest two will be grown, one even married, so why not.

Christmas is not what I want it to be anymore. I can't keep following a tradition that I grew up with that is no longer valid. That's why we want to change it up.