words by Eva Castanedo

Christmas is by far the biggest holiday in the UK. The UK spends £24.2 billion in celebrating the festivity, consumes 10 million turkeys on Christmas day, uses 227,000 miles of wrapping paper, and pulls 300,000,000 crackers each Christmas season. This festive period agglutinates a vast number of traditions that only occur once a year. Thus, most people lock these dates in the calendar to be home and able to participate in traditions along with their loved ones.

However, let’s think about it from a different perspective. Going on holiday at this time of the year has some fantastic advantages. Firstly, people usually take days off from work during this period, which makes it quite easy to sync agendas with family members or friends to go on a trip, a task that can be hard to accomplish at other moments of the year as everyone is busy with life.

Secondly, you will have some much-deserved time to relax. Even though it’s called the Christmas holidays, let’s be honest, you are constantly running around buying and wrapping presents while still hosting supper. So it is safe to say that it can be a pretty exhausting time indeed. A holiday vacation, though, will change that. This is especially true if you’re travelling outside the UK because it will allow you time to unwind while enjoying the sun or discovering a new place. Just get to a wonderful location where you and your companions can enjoy it. I’m sure you’ll agree that this sounds fantastic.

Furthermore, you will be able to relax more easily. Christmas becomes much more relaxed when you aren’t thinking about if the turkey is burning in the oven or whether the roasted veggies will be ready on time. Make the most of it and let yourself relax by taking a break over the holidays, have someone else worry about cooking matters instead of you (they will appreciate it, as they are actually getting paid!).

Things can often get in the way of quality time at Christmas time. Going away allows you to spend with and cuddle up to the people who truly matter, rather than doing chores like cutting carrots. So put your relationships before the Christmas frenzy that can make you lose focus on what really matters.

Christmas is all about coming together, but sometimes it seems to be more about the gifts and material aspects of the celebration. One can refocus and recall what this holiday is about by taking a break from your typical Christmas day at home. You may experience the true meaning of Christmas by getting back in touch with the people you love without the distractions of modern life.

Last year, I experienced the benefits of going on holiday during the Christmas break for the first time in my life. I am, for once, quite a family-oriented person, and I love spending Christmas at home, taking part in all the events and traditions. However, last year, due to being unable to synchronise our calendars, my family and I decided to go on our annual ski trip during Christmas and New Year’s. And I’ve got to say, it was probably one of the best trips I have ever taken.

Even though we were away from our hometown, I felt much closer to my family than ever. Being in an unconventional location allowed us to enjoy all the different activities that the mountains have to offer and gave us a chance to start new traditions as a family. Typically, my New Year’s Eve would consist of welcoming the new year with my family, going to a nightclub with my friends, and partying until sunrise. Even though that’s a plan that I totally enjoy, I will never forget the indescribable feeling of excitement and sense of freedom that I experienced skiing down the mountains on that sunny New Year’s Day morning.