Christmas is a really, really big deal in our house.
It’s when our close-knit extended family gets together to celebrate, feast, and spend time with one another.
However, my husband, two young kids, and I spent last Christmas sitting in our caravan on a remote beach in South Australia, just the four of us.
It was a far cry from the holidays before. But after years of deliberating, we’d just recently packed up our lives and belongings and headed toward the Australian outback for a yearlong adventure in a small caravan.
Coming home for Christmas wasn’t an option — but, with a bit of planning, we still ended up having a brilliant (and unique) holiday.
We were able to bring Christmas magic on the road
When you travel with everything you own packed into a caravan, space is at a premium.
We would’ve loved a standard Christmas tree, but we opted for a small, travel-sized version that had been stashed in the back of a cupboard for months as it silently traveled Australia.
As the holiday season approached, we dug out the tree and our kids decorated with the small selection of trimmings we’d brought with us.
Quickly, the whole caravan turned into a Christmas ornament, with tinsel and fairy lights hanging from every nook and cranny. To our surprise, it was really magical. The kids loved the space so much that the lights stayed up long after December 25.
We also got creative when planning our Christmas feast, especially since our caravan doesn’t have an oven and we’d be miles from any major city on the big day.
Instead of roasting a whole bird, we made nachos with our barbecue and stove and topped them with ground turkey and other fixings.
While sitting on a blanket on a beach, we used our best plastic plates and shared our low-stress Christmas-inspired feast. As a bonus, cleaning up after dinner was a breeze.
We made sure Santa could find us, and that we could get in touch with family
Like any inquisitive 4-year-old, my daughter asked: “How will Santa find us?” She was concerned we didn’t have a chimney, a letterbox, or even space for Santa to fit in our van.
Once again, we did some serious problem-solving. Thanks to the magic of Christmas — and preparations we made months in advance — Santa did find us.
Grandparents also wanted to send gifts, which proved difficult on the road. Since we’d be in a remote area at Christmastime and unable to receive parcels, we arranged for relatives to get their presents to a town we knew we’d be visiting a few weeks prior.
Then, we hid them in the van the best we could until Christmas Day.
That morning, thanks satellite coverage and modern technology, we were able to video call members our extended family so they could see the kids unwrap their gifts.
I still love our big holiday celebrations, but last Christmas is one we won’t forget
Our holiday wasn’t traditional, and we’ll absolutely remember it for years to come.
Being on the road forced us to problem-solve and come up with ideas as an extended family. It allowed us to rethink many traditions and leave some behind simply because, logistically, they couldn’t happen.
Instead, we created new traditions and memories as a young family, while still staying connected with loved ones over video calls.
Would we do it again? Absolutely. But this year, we plan to celebrate in person with our larger family again … and we might even bring the turkey nachos!
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