The Holidays as a Twentysomething

Today marks the beginning of the holiday season.  A season which changes as we get older.

I couldn’t help but observe the chatter going on between other twentysomethings on Facebook and Twitter (and from my own friends) about this holiday season.

Some of us are spending our first holiday away from home due to work, studying, or spending time with a significant other’s family.  Others feel that their “home” is no longer their “home,” as they have adjusted to their new life as an independent adult.  Then there are those twentysomethings who are dreading some of their relatives.  You know, the relatives that constantly ask you what you are doing with your life and why you are doing it; the ones who joke that you are going to become an old maid because you’re single.

And of course, this is one of the most difficult times of the year as many of us remember loved ones who will not be here to celebrate the holidays with us.

I’m sure we can all relate to at least one of these scenarios in our own lives.

All the chatter about heading home for the holidays or abroad on a vacation with a company like www.TravelRepublic.ie it has made me realize that my peers and I are getting older and because of that, the essence of the holidays has changed.  Now I understand why everyone says the holidays are so stressful: budgeting for gifts, buying and wrapping the gifts, trying not to buy gifts for yourself, making cookies, avoiding cookies, holiday parties every weekend, more cookies, sending out holiday cards, making the perfect holiday dishes, giving back to your community, decorating the house and then of course, attempting to find some time for yourself in all of this mess…

Celebrating the holidays in your early twenties marks a time of change where you realize you are becoming an adult.  There is a strange feeling of being stuck between the child who wants Santa to come down the chimney, and being the adult who would rather hang out with their friends.  You want to cherish your old traditions and create new ones at the same exact time.

My advice? “When you can’t beat em, join em.”  Holidays in your twenties are a roller coaster of weird situations and new situations. Of defining your own traditions and venturing into new territories.  Find things to be grateful for in all of the madness.  Find out what you like and don’t like and use it to help shape your life for the better.

Have safe travels this week and enjoy your holidays.  If you have any great stories, please send them our way!