This is the first Christmas I've spent away from my family. No drive down to San Diego, no ambrosia, no opening up presents under the the Christmas tree. To me Christmas is a time when families come together and celebrate. But this Christmas I chose to spend it away from my family. Actually I had chosen a long time ago when I booked my tickets to Hong Kong. Back then in what must have been May or maybe even April, I remember telling my parents I'm going to book my flight back for mid-January because I want to spend my winter break traveling- I just wanted to be back for my little sisters birthday. They said yes; they were (and still are) fearful, nervous and worried for me and hoped I would make friends to travel with after exchange was over. Deep down I hold the same fear and nervousness but I also had this feeling then that I needed to take the plunge and go and explore. I would travel, even if it meant I would be alone. I didn't know where- although I was leaning for Bali, Indonesia and/or Cambodia

I remember the first day when I landed in the airport, I started conversations with the other students I was with to see what their plans were for after exchange- many of them said travel, some already booked flights home for the day finals ended, some had no return ticket and no plan. Parents, you should be happy, I was already looking for travel buddies- also I really did not want to spend Christmas alone.

First days and already making friends. Crazy to think about who I became close to and who I didn't end up spending that much time with

Anyways, I was lucky enough to make the most amazing travel buddies / friends on exchange- definitely some friends for life. And boy did we travel, not only during the school year to amazing places: Bangkok, Seoul, and Taiwan, but also after to the Philippines (very briefly- you can read more here) and a lovely Holiday in Indonesia. Really I would have gone wherever my friends wanted to go but I was really rooting for Bali and everyone seemed to want to go there as well.

Just some of the lovely friends that I made during my semester in HK. This is the crew I explored to Bali with. photo by Hugo Mattsson

I don't think I could have asked for a better way to spend Christmas away. I had my family of friends aka the B-Team with me.

We rented a private villa in Canngu for a few days, did a secret Santa gift exchange, listened to Christmas music, and had an awesome breakfast of crepes, Maple syrup from Canada, eggs, and fruit.

Christmas Morning at our Villa. Picture by Hugo Mattsson

We spent the day at Finn's Beach Club, lounging in hammocks, eating delicious foods, sipping on Bintangs and fresh coconuts. They even gave us ginger bread cookies and had a Christmas tree made out of coconuts. The sunset was incredible.

Watching the absolutely incredible sunset  photo: Hugo Mattsson — Watching the absolutely incredible sunset
photo: Hugo Mattsson

And the night ended just perfectly. We are a simple dinner listening to music at the super cute and hip food court next door to our villa. (My friend Hugo made an awesome little video that you guys should check out) https://www.facebook.com/hugomattssonmedia/videos/1834215313492079/

Later in the evening we took our scooters to Deus Ex Mechina and watched and listened to a live band play awesome music and even play one my family's favorite Jack Johnson song's Taylor. When that song played I knew everything was right in the world. I was where I was suppose to be. I was in pure bliss.

Back when I decided to spend Christmas away from my family- I didn't know what to expect. I got everything I expected and more (in a good way). I really did have the most amazing Christmas - even if it didn't really feel like it in the 28C / 82F weather. Plus thanks to modern technology I was still able to join my family in San Diego to say hi to everyone. Happy (Belated) Holidays to everyone and I hope you had a Christmas as amazing as mine!