Time for Christmas travels.  Saturday we’ll load up the car bright and early (and I do mean very early) to head out for our 12+ hour (probably more like 15 or so once you add in all the stops we’ll have to make for Maya) trip up to the great white north of Ontario to visit with our families for the holidays.  We’ll spend a few days with my family then load up the car again and drive another 3+ hours north to see Lorne’s family.  After a few days there we’ll load up once more and head home.  Christmas for us equals lots and lots of driving.  We try to arrange it so we are home for at least a few days before Lorne has to head back to work so we can have our own little Christmas (Santa leaves our presents here for us and we get them when we get home) and he gets a chance to just relax before starting the new year at work.

This is what we have done for the last 5+ years.  And, as much as we love getting to spend the holidays with our families part of us just wants to hang out here.  Traveling over the holidays just makes it tiresome, stressful and too jammed full of stuff to do; doesn’t leave much time for relaxation and rest.  Part of me wants to spend Christmas in my own house, I haven’t done that in over 5 years, Maya has never spent Christmas in our house.   I want that.  I want her to wake up in our house on Christmas morning, go running for the tree to see what Santa has left for her and spend all day opening gifts, playing with new toys, eating yummy food and spending a beautiful lazy day together as a family.

Spending time with our families over Christmas is fun and I do enjoy it.  I just don’t enjoy all the endless driving is involved and that it means we never get to spend Christmas at home.  Maybe one of these years we’ll decide to change things up a bit and stay home, maybe make our trek up to the great white north for the holidays an every other year type of thing.   We’ll see.  For now we’ll get in our car, make the trip, enjoy our time with our families and then soak as much relaxation out of the last few days of Lorne’s Christmas vacation as we can.

Think of us Saturday as we drive on endless miles of freeway, listen to countless Christmas carols (hopefully not endless hours of screaming from the little one in the back seat!) and make our way up to spend the holidays with family and friends.

Are you traveling for Christmas?  What are your thoughts on holiday travel, do you like it or would you rather stay home?