I started Campsgiving with my husband when we lived in Florida. We rarely made it home for holidays and so camping sounded like a great idea. We kept it up mostly after we moved back, though some years we do something different. I love the simplicity of it, the idea of just being with people you love instead of making a ton of food!
Our family started alternating a traditional at-home Thanksgiving with travel. Our most memorable Thanksgiving was 2009 in Santiago, Chile, during a year of round-the-word travel. A wire in my 11-year-old daughter's braces broke, so we had to walk across the city to Santiago's graduate school of orthodontia, where a professor demonstrated to several students how to repair her braces, for free! Then we ate dinner at a seafood place with a raw bar and have since incorporated shellfish into our Thanksgiving dinners to remember that funny, strange Thanksgiving. But I do still value a family gathering with a home-cooked meal, along with the tradition of going around (youngest to oldest) and saying what we're thankful for. I also try to do a Turkey Trot run, either as part of an organized race or on my own. I feel pressure the weekend following to get up Christmas decorations, and this is where I've decided to cut myself some slack -- no need to rush getting the tree, wreath, and lights up; enjoy the process. Thanks for your post that made me think through these traditions!
I started Campsgiving with my husband when we lived in Florida. We rarely made it home for holidays and so camping sounded like a great idea. We kept it up mostly after we moved back, though some years we do something different. I love the simplicity of it, the idea of just being with people you love instead of making a ton of food!
Our family started alternating a traditional at-home Thanksgiving with travel. Our most memorable Thanksgiving was 2009 in Santiago, Chile, during a year of round-the-word travel. A wire in my 11-year-old daughter's braces broke, so we had to walk across the city to Santiago's graduate school of orthodontia, where a professor demonstrated to several students how to repair her braces, for free! Then we ate dinner at a seafood place with a raw bar and have since incorporated shellfish into our Thanksgiving dinners to remember that funny, strange Thanksgiving. But I do still value a family gathering with a home-cooked meal, along with the tradition of going around (youngest to oldest) and saying what we're thankful for. I also try to do a Turkey Trot run, either as part of an organized race or on my own. I feel pressure the weekend following to get up Christmas decorations, and this is where I've decided to cut myself some slack -- no need to rush getting the tree, wreath, and lights up; enjoy the process. Thanks for your post that made me think through these traditions!
I never mopped my kitchen floor.