Spending Christmas Abroad

I have only ever spent Christmas abroad once. We went to Riviera Maya, Mexico in 2010 from 15th-29th December. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Christmas abroad because I love our usual Christmas traditions so much but it really was a wonderful Christmas.

We stayed at the Riu Tequila ClubHotel in Playacar.

The thing I loved most about the hotel was that there were so many strange animals walking around the grounds. There were Tzubs, Iguattis, Lizards & Iguanas.

We were a short walk away from the beach and would go most days. For me, it was a little crazy to be on the beach during December as we had never really been on holiday during winter before so we were used to cold, icy & wet winters! This was heaven! It was surreal to see Father Christmas on the beach, surrounded by ‘elves’ in swimming shorts & bikinis.

Christmas to me means family time so Christmas Day was really strange when we were abroad. Yes, I was with my parents & brother but what about the rest of the family? I had serious FOMO (fear of missing out) but we were on the beach, on Christmas Day, in a bikini, not cold.

The hotel was still decorated for Christmas, Christmas songs were playing, people were still spending time with their families. The only difference, was location. We were used to cold & ice in the UK but it was a refreshing change to actually be warm!

Side note: I loved that the staff had a great sense of humour & that was reflected in their talented, creative towel animal creating. We were there for 2 weeks and never had the same creation more than once. My favourite is pictured below, Reading one of my books – Charles Dickens Christmas Stories.

We spent our Christmas Eve in Xel-Ha nature reserve and it was wonderful. Though I loved it & would definitely spend Christmas abroad again, I wouldn’t want to do it every year. I love home Christmases too much!