I will be the first one to admit that I was a big whiny baby about missing Thanksgiving dinner at home for the second year in a row. I can also admit that I became an even bigger whiny baby when I realised that not only would I not be at home, eating another amazing vegan pumpkin pie made just for me by my Mama, but I would be in the airport. I didn’t get any Thanksgiving on the day this year. I didn’t get pie, I didn’t get roast, I didn’t even get a sappy speech by a relative and a reminder to tell everyone how much you love them and appreciate them. While I was lamenting about these things on the days leading up to Thanksgiving I realised how silly it was not to be incredibly, ridiculously, intensely thankful for the opportunity to be traveling to Peru. I started to think about what it actually means to be away from home on holidays and how I could look on the bright side. As Christmas rapidly approaches (at an alarming rate), and I start to whine and ache and complain about all the things that I’m missing again, all the holiday feelings that I don’t have this year, and what I would be doing were I at home, I remember the conclusion I came to at Thanksgiving, and I share it now with you.

So here it is, Vegan Travelers. The bright side of travelling during the holidays. You mayn’t agree with all of them, as these are just the things one person thinks, but hopefully you can find something for yourself and of yourself here.

  • It makes you realise that you maybe secretly really like those family get-togethers, even if you have dragged your feet all these years, you now find yourself missing them. Maybe next year you’ll remember this. Maybe.
  • It allows you to see what this specific holiday is like in another country. For instance, Thanksgiving is obviously completely absent in countries other than the United States. It’s actually quite interesting to experience a holiday that no one is celebrating. It’s like it’s your birthday. Some people will know, and some people will wish you a happy Thanksgiving even though they don’t celebrate and it will feel warm and comforting. Christmas is a little different. I have seen Christmas unfolding in places and in ways that I had never really thought about it occurring in since mid-November. Hot and sunny as it was in Jamaica, I watched people get into the holiday spirit by stringing Christmas lights around palm trees. By the time we got to Peru, the shops were filled with Christmas classics, lights, sales, trees, and giant blow-up Santa Clauses. We learned from a South American local that the Christmas celebration around there starts the very first of December and goes all month. I expect they may have been being slightly sarcastic, but it was interesting to learn at least when their season starts. In the U.K., it’s November first. In the U.S., it’s the day after Thanksgiving (or, it’s meant to be), and in Peru, evidently, the party starts the first of December. I like learning things like this. I liked getting crackers and mince pies in the UK. I wonder if Christmas will be similar in New Zealand. I look forward to finding out!
  • It gives you a shift in weather! For me, it’s been really bizarre being in warm places during the “winter holidays” but it’s a change! Sometimes change can be really good. Maybe I’ll find that I prefer the holidays in the heat. Maybe I’ll find that I can’t possibly feel Christmasy. Either way, I got to see Santa wearing shorts, shades, and thongs (Kiwi talk for flip-flops) yesterday and for me, that was funny enough to make up for everything. Alternatively, if you’ve always dreamt of having a white Christmas or other holiday that’s so often portrayed as occurring in thick blankets of snow, and you’ve been living in the hot weather forever, being somewhere cold for the holidays could be really really exciting for you! I can’t imagine what it’s like to never have seen snow, but I can try and I think I would like very much to see snow for the first time again. So lovely!
  • It could potentially cause you less stress! If you’re travelling on your own, or in a small group, there’s a lot less pressure to make holidays a really big deal. So, if you don’t happen to like the big to-do of putting on a massive feast for your whole family and buying gifts for everyone you’ve ever met, then being away during this time could be really good for you.

Okay, I’m sure there are loads more reasons that it’s not so bad. But I’m also sure that it will probably feel pretty bad for some people. I know that as much as I can look on the bright side right now, I’m gonna be pretty sad on Christmas. And because of that, I’m going to tell you how I got through Thanksgiving!


(null)

  • CALL YOUR FAMILY! I know it doesn’t sound like it’ll make much of a difference, but if you use a free video calling service like Skype, Gtalk, or FaceTime, and set up a time when you can call while everyone is gathered around, you can feel like you’re a part of the celebration. I remember last year, Ross and I were making a mini-thanksgiving for ourselves in his flat and we called my parents while they were getting ready to have their meal. It was really nice to be able to show off how we’d pulled together a Thanksgiving meal on our own (using my mum’s recipes…), and see the delicious things that they had prepared. On that note…

  • If you can, prepare your favourite holiday foods from family recipes. Nothing brings memories back quite as effectively and strongly as scent and flavour. I used my mum’s recipe for stuffing last year and it was almost like I was home every time I took a bite of it.

  • Ask your family members to send you cards or pictures or… pictures of cards to help you feel like you’re a part of the celebration. Because, after all, the celebration won’t be the same without you and your family/friends/whoever you usually celebrate with will be missing you just as much as you’re missing them. My parents usually send me pictures of the house as it is decorated and prepared for the holidays. As the decorating is something that we always did together, it helps make me feel like I’m a part of that again.

    IMG_0073

    Again, these are just things that I felt and things that worked for me. We’re not all the same. Some of you probably won’t feel a pang of homesickness at the holidays. Maybe your home is the road. Maybe you don’t celebrate anything. Maybe you don’t like celebrating anything. Maybe you do, but you’d prefer to ignore the holiday when you’re not at home and can’t do it properly. That’s all perfectly fine. I am a hugely sentimental person and I know that’s not for everyone. If you have any tips on combating homesickness during the holidays or looking on the bright side in other ways, please let me and your fellow vegan travellers know in the comments!

    Happy Holidays to all who celebrate and happy days to those who don’t. (Not the show. Maybe the show…)

    Ellie Lebo

Additional Vegan Travel Blogs from Ross & Ellie:

The End of The RTW Trip!

Hey, Vegan Travellers! It’s the end of the world! Trip! That I went on! And I am very funny! Ross and I have returned to Scotland! We were welcomed back into this beautiful country in the best way possible- with […]

Ellie’s Roundup: The World!

Hey, Vegan Travellers! Brace yerselves! This is the last time I’m going to say this: It’s time once again for a vegan food round-up! But Ellie, you’ve covered basically every single place that you went in great detail… What is […]

Ellie’s Roundup – Europe!

Hey, Vegan Travellers! I know it’s been a while since you’ve read these beautiful words, but guess what? It is once again time for a famous Ellie Round-Up! “But Ellie!” you say, interrupting my blog quite rudely, “You’ve been in […]

Munich Mediterranean

Hey, Vegan Travellers! Ross and I just spent a couple of wonderful days in Munich, Germany! Spending a few days in Munich was not on our original itinerary, though. We thought we would spend some time somewhere fun in Switzerland […]

Because I Care

Hey, Vegan Travellers! Whether you have been following along for the entirety of the journey or you are just tuning in now, you have almost certainly noticed that I am a vegan. You have probably noticed that one of my […]

Burger Blog

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hungry vegan in possession of an empty stomach must be in want of a veggie burger. Not the most difficult thing to find on a menu, but often the most satisfying, a […]

Ciao Ciao, Italy!

Hey, Vegan Travellers! I am writing to you today from what I think might be a dream. I am in Italy. I have always wanted to be in Italy. I am almost not in Italy anymore. I will soon be […]

That’s Life!

Hey, Vegan Travellers! Last Sunday I had my first experience with sitting in a cafe and working like a real live professional! Ross and I were in Prague at the time and needed a good environment in which to write […]

The Miracle of Flight! (And Locomotion!)

Hey, Vegan Travellers! It has occurred to me that I am almost done with being in aeroplanes for quite a while. I realised that I’m actually pretty disappointed about this. I have been on over thirty-five flights in my life […]

Prague-matic

Hey, Vegan Travellers! I am currently sitting quite comfortably in the flat of a good friend called Roisin. Her flat happens to be located in one of the most amazing cities in which I have ever been- Prague. The three […]

Prague. In the bague!

Our week in Vienna was an exciting one, filled with chocolate, cheese, ice-cream, and many, many more vegan delights. We could easily have stayed here for the entirety of our stay in Europe, just to indulge the tastebuds and probably […]

A Land of Burgers and Ice-Cream

It’s difficult to believe that almost an entire third of our trip was spent in Asia. The two months there went by incredibly quickly. We only had three stops in the continent: Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. But we had […]

Vegan in Vienna

Hey, Vegan Travellers! This past week was a pretty great week for veganism and for travel. Ross and I are currently in Vienna, Austria where we are having a fantastic time. I was a little bit worried about transitioning back […]

In Sickness and in Health

Hey, Vegan Travellers! No, I am not going to propose to you all. I just think it’s time we had a little talk. Specifically, I think it’s time we had a little talk about what happens to you, your health, […]

A Most Phantastic Week

We have just come to an end of our time in Thailand, and what a way to end a visit! The night before we were about to leave Chiang Mai our plans went a little astray. We both very suddenly […]

Ellie’s Roundup – Vegans in Thailand!

Hey, Vegan Travellers! Could it be that it is already time for another round-up? Yes, yes it could. Could it be that I am once again agog and aghast at how quickly my time in a given country has gone […]

Save the Ellie-Phant

Hey Vegan Travellers! I just had the most incredible week at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The whole week went by so ridiculously quickly that I almost don’t even know how to separate it out to find […]

Mai Kinda Place

The first half of our Thailand visit has went by ridiculously fast. Our few days in Bangkok passed like a blur of delicious cake and curry; we had a few days in Kanchanaburi and a day trip over the famous […]

Oh My, Chiang Mai!

Chiang Mai may very well be the happiest place on earth. Sorry not sorry, Disney. From the moment Ross and I arrived here, it has been a vegan dream. The cheapest place in town that had more positive reviews than […]

Travelling on Thai Time

After spending quite a bit of time in Bangkok, seeing some really beautiful shrines, visiting massive malls, and getting to know the local people and culture, Ross and I decided that it was time for us to have ourselves a […]

A Coconut a Day…

The clock struck five on a cold, cold morning in South Korea. We groggily dragged ourselves out of our beds and dressed in the dark. This was the end of our time in South Korea, and we were headed for […]

Thai Food is My Food

Hey hey, Vegan Travellers! We are no longer in South Korea. By the time Ross and I found ourselves once more heading into the great unknown of another country via aeroplane, we were ready for the change. Don’t get me […]

Ellie’s Round Up – South Korea!

Hey Vegan Travellers! It’s time once again for a great big round up! This time, it’s South Korea and it’s not as postivite as all the ones previous to it! I must have jinxed it when I said in the […]

Busan? Big Fan!

Contrary to what we’d heard over and over about how difficult it would be to be vegan in Japan, I had read that it would be incredibly easy in South Korea. Armed with this knowledge, I was incredibly excited for […]

Class is Still in Session

When I first found out about Vegan Travel, almost a year ago now, and I began to consider whether or not I would be able to apply for their Round the World trip, the biggest obstacle was going to be […]

Coffee, Cosmetics, Korea, Oh My!

Hey Vegan Travellers! Ross and I have, very sadly, left Japan behind. I loved Japan more than I could possibly put into a blog. The people there were incredibly kind, the food was incredibly tasty, the nature was incredibly beautiful; […]

The Best Things in Life Are

As much as I would love for this blog post to be a massive list of the actual best things in life (y’know, chocolate, bread, vegetable gardens, new socks, haikus etc,) I was really just trying to be clever with the title. […]

What’s in my Backpack?

Hey vegan travellers! A little bit ago, I filmed a vlog about packing. In that vlog, I discussed the things that I am so glad we brought with us and the things that we probably could have left at home. […]

Mountains of Joy and Ice Cream

Approaching the end of our time in Japan we were headed to Kyoto, the place I was most excited to visit. We were getting there at the tail end of the time before our rail passes expired, believing this to […]

Ellie’s Roundup – Japan!

Hey, vegan travellers! It is once again time for a good old fashioned Ellie’s Roundup! Before I get started I just wanted to say that being vegan in Japan (at least in the big cities)  is just as easy as […]

Much to Blog About Pancakes

We had been moving around Japan quite frequently. This is the simultaneous blessing and curse of the Japan Rail Pass. Ours were active for seven days, so in order to see as much of the country as we could, it […]

Fairytale of Japan

When Ross and I left Tokyo for Kanazawa, I didn’t really know where we were going. I knew that it was going to be fairly easy to get there from where we were, via Shinkensen (famous fast trains in Japan) […]

Japanese Ps&Qs and How to Mind Them

At the time of writing this it has been less than one week since Ross and I left New Zealand behind us, yet it feels as though it has been an eternity. I keep saying that these small increments of […]

But It’ll Be Impossible to be Vegan in Japan…

I don’t know why our time in New Zealand felt like it lasted forever, but it did. I don’t mean that in a negative way whatsoever. No, the three weeks we spent there were among the best of our trip […]

Where the Streets Have No Names

Konnichiwa! We are in Japan! We have done so much already and yet so little compared to what we have planned for these next two weeks! The day we arrived, exhausted from travelling for many hours and from getting no […]

Ellie’s Roundup- New Zealand!

I can’t believe that I’m already writing an “end of New Zealand” blog post! Our time in New Zealand went by so incredibly quickly and now I find myself in Japan, thinking back on all of the wonderful things we […]

Wise Phones – E’s Travel Tips

Out of all of the things that have been infinitely useful to Ross and I on our trip, I would say that my old iPhone 4 which I bought off a friend a few years ago has been the most […]

Farewell New Zealand!

We brought in the New Year in a spectacular fashion: huddled together, watching fireworks in the furthest place city from home I can possibly get to. It wasn’t our plan to be in Dunedin over New Year, it was just […]

We’re (Almost) Halfway There!

It has recently been brought to my attention that the Round the World trip Ross and I are on is nearly halfway over. I simultaneously can’t believe that it has been so long ago and yet only a few months […]

Farewell to the North!

Our time in the north had come to pass. Tired and intrepid, we stuffed our belongings back into our backpacks, said our goodbyes to our friend. It had been a pleasant few days in the comfort of the home of […]

Wellington Whirlwind!

We just finished up an amazing week in Wellington, New Zealand. We had originally only planned on being in Wellington for a couple of days, but due to sanctuaries being on tight schedules, the holidays making it quite difficult to […]

Everything Under the Sun

Hey Vegan Travellers! Ross and I have been in beautiful, sunny, windy, amazing, lovely Wellington, New Zealand for about a week now, hanging out with one of our old friends from Scotland, visiting sanctuaries in the nearby areas, and eating […]

Goin’ South For the Summer

After taking a few days to settle and explore Auckland, the time came to explore more of New Zealand. We were unsure entirely what exactly we were doing and where exactly we were going. The plan was to get to […]

Howdy, Partner!

Yesterday, Ross and I were walking through Wellington, New Zealand, desperately trying to find the place from where the free shuttle to Zealandia animal sanctuary would pick us up. With a screen capture of our directions and a vague idea […]

Auckland Och, Aye!

I was not looking forward to the flight to New Zealand. I don’t do particularly well on lengthy sessions of transit, and this was going to be a big one. A five hour flight, followed by a seven hour layover, […]

Amazing in Auckland

We are in New Zealand! While I am incredibly excited about being in New Zealand, I’ve got to tell you- I don’t feel like I’m in New Zealand just yet. In Peru, we struggled to get through conversations with local […]

Cusco: A Land of Bread and Chocolate

We woke after a night of little sleep. Lima is a noisy city and it always seems to be at its worst when you need it not to be. There was some sort of concert, playing loud samba music just […]

Beautiful Barranco

Settling back into Lima’s bustling and busy state after experiencing the calm and quiet of Cusco was a little difficult. There are concerts held right outside our hostel every night, noise floating in through the door from the bar, and car […]

Ellie’s Round Up – Peru!

As we say “adios,” to Peru and move on to our next great adventure, I remember the bread. Sorry, food! I meant to say food. Most of that food is bread. Anyway, Vegan Travelers, get ready, because it’s time for […]

Peace, Bread, & Guacamole

That’s right, folks. I am pulling no punches and beating around no bushes. Basically, I am not messing around. This blog post is all about bread and guacamole. “But Ellie, what do those delicious foods have to do with Peru?” […]

Much to Say about Cusco

This morning I woke up in the city of Cusco, well before my alarm was set to go off. Lightheaded and still half dreaming of the sunrise over the Andes and cocoa beans, I reached across the bed, grabbed a […]

Now I’m A BeLima!

Peru was the first stop in our journey that I felt any sort of anxiety about. Not that we would run into any danger or anything – we were often told how dangerous Jamaica would be, which I didn’t buy […]

Me Gusta Comer – I Like to Eat

Hey Vegan Travelers! I have so many wonderful things to tell you about in regards to Peru! Over the past few days, Ross and I have been exploring the absolutely beautiful city of Lima. It’s a huge city and has […]

Hola, Peru!

We’re in PERU! I have only been in the country for 17 hours and I have already experienced and learned so much! But before I get into all that, let me tell you about the travel. We left our hostel […]

The (Not So) Promised Negril Post!

This blog was alluded to be a Montego Bay blog. However, time ran away from us there and we didn’t get to see very much of it at all. We only had two whole days there. One of which we […]

Ellie’s Roundup – Jamaica

It was no secret that it was going to be easy to find vegan things in New York City. According to a master-list I found after a quick google search, one could eat at a different vegan restaurant every day […]

From Kingston to MoBay: Bus Journeys Can Be Fun!

We began our departure from Kingston exactly as we spent our time there: realising we had nothing for breakfast and finding an excuse to visit New Leaf. We were getting our food to go, and asked the person who runs […]

A Few Days of Kingston

We arrived in Kingston after twelve hours of transit, and twenty-seven hours of consciousness. We were being picked up at the airport by the people we were staying with, but the driver wasn’t there. We waited at the airport for […]

Lime Cay – The Place to Be

This morning I woke up in beautiful sunny Kingston, I packed a bag full of fruits, nuts, water, sunscreen, and towels. I pulled a skirt over my shorts, as I learned the other day that in Jamaica, a young woman’s […]

The Kingston Duo

Ross and I are in Kingston and we are having a blast! We’re staying in an absolutely wonderful villa. We have a shared kitchen, bathroom, and balcony, but a private room with loads of space for all of our stuff. […]

U.S.A-OK!

I am sitting on a balcony on a warm, warm Jamaican evening, reflecting upon my time in the US. I had an amazing time there. I have wanted to travel for a very long time, but I could never afford […]

The Promised Philly Pizza Post

It is no secret, at this point, that I really really like pizza. I would even say that I love pizza. I am committed to pizza. Pizza and I have a special bond, which I thought would be interrupted by veganism but […]

Bad Seed in a Big Apple

I have never been so surrounded by such a variety of vegan eateries as I found myself in New York City. The trip got off to a shaky start with a four hour bus journey in which we were pulled […]

NYC – My Kind of Town

I’m going to launch straight into this New York post with a picture of the biggest, most delicious pizza ever. This glorious pizza was purchased and eaten in full at a cute little omni-pizza place called Two Boots. It was […]

World Vegan Day!

I cannot think of a more appropriate day for a Vegan Traveler to post an update other than World Vegan Day! On any given day of the year, I am excited to talk about veganism. I am always very excited […]

A Short 2am Rambling…

I’m currently lying content in a comfortable bed in Maryland. My experience of the US so far is that hospitality seems to be important. Everyone I have stayed with thus far had been very kind and have gone further out […]

A False Alarm, A Sore Arm, the City of Charm

The last line in this title is totally cheating, but if you didn’t know- Baltimore calls itself Charm City. So there you go. I am great at rhyming. Do not question it. Moving on. Here are some little updates! THE […]

Ross in Boston

The first thing we learnt about Boston is that the temperature is not to be trusted. We walked out of the train station to what we thought was a warm day, only to find ourselves shivering in a pavilion in […]

Lost in Boston

I may not technically be lost in Boston, but I am quite stuck on it. The first three days that Ross and I were here went by way too quickly. We met the most amazing group of people while couch […]

Once Upon a Time in the East

The past few days being back in Maryland have been almost just like any other time at home. I’ve been to a big Fall festival with my family (video coming soon!), had a campfire in my backyard, and have been […]

Norway, Yes Way!

We were only in Norway for a day and a half, but I miss it already. We got off to a rocky but fun start. After a surprisingly small amount of first flight anxiety we landed in Oslo at five […]

Just the Veganning

In Oslo for a day! After eight months of being separated by the Atlantic Ocean (yet again…), my best friend and partner Ross and I received the most amazing news. We were contacted by VeganTravel and selected to be their […]

Ross & Ellie’s Vegan Travel Videos:

VeganTravel.com is a place where vegans from around the world can share their passion for travel and adventure, help promote and grow interest in going vegan, shed light on the issues animals are facing around the globe, and help build a more sustainable and compassionate world. By sharing our collective experiences, we believe we can show the world how easy it is not only to travel as a vegan, but also spread a message of compassion with those we meet along the way.

4 Comments
  1. Monica 8 years ago

    I love this post Ellie! Even though i’m not traveling at the moment I don’t live in the same state as my family so a lot of these apply to my holiday this year.

    …and yes, happy days. 😀 Hahahaha, you’re too funny. I love it.

  2. Shannon 8 years ago

    Wishing you and Ross the happiest of holidays!

Leave a comment

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?