The difficult side to travelling

Sometimes emotions hit me in waves. Today this was the case, I suddenly realised it is Christmas Eve and that I have left my family back home to live on the other side of the world. I haven’t felt Christmassy at all in 30+ Celcius temperatures, so it is a feeling that has crept up slowly and only really had an affect in these hours before Christmas Day… Making an appearance as I watch the stores close, roads empty and hear family conversations and arguments from the open windows of the neighbours homes.


As I waited for the train today, sweating like crazy in the humidity and starting to feel slight regret for not being at home with family, I considered whether it was the right decision. Was it selfish to leave my loved ones despite them being happy that I am doing what I want to do? On one hand it is the time of year that families get together. That also means that a lot of families spend plenty of time apart, and I have been lucky to have lived very close to my family when I was in the UK. 

On the other hand, it is just another day. December 25th is no different to January 15th or June 29th. It is just one day. If I miss being with my family for this 24 hour period, it gives me 364 other days to make up for it. Also, my family will try their best to make the trip out to see me early next year, the country my mum has always wanted to go to. Travel has not been as much of an interest for my mum since my dad died, so helping her find that spark again would be fantastic.

Not a promotion. I saw this ad and it hit me right in the feels.

I’m tried of having to sacrifice time with my loved ones to pursue a travel goal. But if it was that easy everyone would do it. Nothing gives me more motivation to be successful however than the thought of being able to afford to have my family travel with me. This is what I want more than anything. 

So Christmas Day without my family will be a blessing and a curse. It’s hard, but it makes me want to try my best to prevent it happening in future. To be able to do what love with the people I love without sacrificing one or the other. 

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Dealing with Disorder

A website dedicated to Tourette, OCD and co-occurring conditions. Daily updates celebrating neurodiversity.

38 thoughts on “The difficult side to travelling”

    1. Where did you leave home to, and are you working all day Christmas Day? Going from ‘Nurse’ in the title, it is certainly possible! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas 🙂

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  2. I completely understand, Sam. This comes to my mind quite regularly too. I don’t know if you’ve read this article, and it’s not specifically about Christmas, but every time I read it, it really hits home (no pun intended). https://www.elitedaily.com/life/culture/what-to-know-moving-abroad/1075004

    Hope you have a Merry Christmas in Oz nonetheless 🎄 It’s supposed to be cool tomorrow, so on the bright side, at least it won’t be 30°+ weather…. 😊

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  5. Sounds nice and hot like Christmas supposed to be. It was 15C here yesterday. I was cold all day.
    Didn’t get together with my family yesterday oh well another time. I did pop by my parents to say hi and drop off pressies.

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    1. Well at least you got to see some family 🙂 it’s funny how you said ‘hot like Christmas is supposed to be’, I’m not used to it at all haha. I hope you had a nice day.

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      1. Just relaxing didn’t do much. Christmas usually means hot hot hot like 38C or more so it’s very mild this year at 15C 😊 it’s warming up now so the kids are off to the beach . We will stay down here til tomorrow now so they can have some beach time.

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    2. No, I left moronism at age 17 in 1964. I could just not make myself believe the hypocritical crap I was told. I tried, because I wanted to fit in, but never could.

      Mother is moron, father was not. They were not happily married, & my whole childhood was cold, indifferent, & unloving, despite being their only kid. Mother had 9 miscarriages after I was born, & I was somehow the blame for it.

      In 2000, father decided to have some grudge against my husband, don’t know what about to this day, but they dumped me over whatever it was.

      When I got cancer, I chose not to tell them as I wanted no part of duty calls, or visits. Mother was very upset when I wrote a letter…..after the fact.

      Father has since died, mother will be 90 in March. We do speak now, but the distance is too great as it was never a good relationship anyway..

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      1. So there were a few factors that led to that distant relationship by the sounds of it. Well a least you have people around you that you enjoy to have company with, and of course us on WordPress! 🙂

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  6. I can relate to this. For years, I was all alone, and I even used to hate Dec month. I used to feel so lonely, with all the christmassy music going on everywhere, and everyone together, shopping, and my family back home. But it was my choice to be away, and then at the end of the day , it is just another day. The next day, everything is normal again, we would never think it was christmas the day before. I kept myself busy, surround myself with people who were far away from their family too and then new year came, and another year just started. I wish you a lovely time. We are all with you, in spirit. And superb that your mum will join you hopefully next year, to the place she has always wanted to visit.

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    1. Thank you for the lovely words, I’m glad you can relate to the post. I hope the feelings of loneliness have gone and you have found a love for the month of December again! Have a lovely day.

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  8. I think travel makes you appreciate your loved ones even more. I always feel homesick when I travel for long periods and my work holiday in NZ was hard especially during holidays like Xmas because I would recall how it would be like in shops and the general atmosphere and miss that. Stepping into shops in NZ playing Christmas songs will remind me of home even more so this was also a difficult time for me too…anyway, hope you still have an enjoyable time celebrating Christmas wherever you may be 😄😄

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    1. Thank you, and I hope you have had a great day too. It is nice to read of people that are or have been in the same boat, so thank you for that 🙂 it gives me motivation to travel as I know I’m not the only one!

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  9. Leaving your family halfway around the world really felt like a problem here haha. In the sense that I kind of felt it 😛 It’s kinda weird knowing somewhere there’s snow falling but not where you are. By the way, if you want to share this post, you can link it in the following sharing post I made for Christmas 🙂 I’m trying to get as many as I can to come and comment to give back this year 🙂 https://mzukowskiblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/25/christmas-sharing-present/
    Merry Christmas!

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  11. thanks for following my blog 🙂 just read a couple of your posts and i like what you’re about. this post i especially relate to, as i went on an exchange last year and felt the exact same way over christmas, hope it was a jolly time anyway!

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    1. Thank you, I had a nice Christmas and I hope you did too. I’m glad you enjoyed the post and that you could relate! Have a lovely evening and I’ll look out for posts 🙂

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  12. Wow… your post really got to me. I don’t know where I’ll be next year; it could be anywhere in the world. When I think of moving, I think of new people, new preferences, new cultures and experiences… (and of course, the studying; never let the parents hear that got listed last!) I don’t suppose the whole idea of you missing a chunk of their lives, and versa, really popped up. Maybe it just comes with living in such an interconnected world; distances never really seem as big as they are. But I can only imagine one mega plus that comes with being worlds apart is that you have really varied Christmas stories to relay the next time you talk about it!
    Merry Christmas, by the way! 🙂

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    1. One great thing about travelling today is that you can contact anyone instantly, so it is I assume a lot more bearable than it was way back when. And yes, we all have different stories whilst apart, making the next meet up rather interesting.
      Merry Christmas to you too!

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  13. Very true! I usually don’t do anything too crazy with my family now, aside from just a nice dinner, a few gifts, and enjoying each other’s company. I’m used to being apart from them but I would definitely miss being away during Christmas time.

    Anyway Sam, the site looks great! I will spend some more time checking it out tomorrow. Keep it up.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it 🙂

      That is all I want more and more these days, an easy one, not too crazy but with loved ones. I hope you’re having a great day.

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