The holidays are a joyful time of year for everyone, especially during Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Parents are happily deciding what to get their kids for Christmas and children are decorating the Christmas tree with colorful lights and ornaments. Many people also love getting to spend time with family and friends; however, some families do not live close to their relatives, and they have to travel away from home in order to visit them. “Our family lives in West Virginia, so we have to travel out of state to see them,” Freshman Kynlee Johnson said. “We have family in New York, Ohio and Florida. We normally use our Christmas break to spend time with them,” Freshman Kayla Borczynski said.

However, some families never travel to see their relatives over the holidays. Scheduling and expenses normally make the idea of traveling to other places over the holidays sound impossible, so visiting family is not an option for some people. “We have family living in many places around the world, including New York, Florida, Texas, California, Hawaii, Germany, and the Philippines,” Freshman Kailani Vera said. “Visiting all these places is extremely expensive and we don’t have enough time over the break to visit everyone, so we don’t normally go anywhere for Christmas.” In addition, some places are too far away to visit in the short amount of time that the break gives students. “Some of our family lives all the way in China, so we never travel to visit them,” Freshman Winnie Lin said. “My family lives in Chicago, New York, California, Florida, France, China, Thailand, and Cambodia, but I don’t visit them,” Freshman Nike Lin said.

Although some people do not get to travel for the holidays, most find the idea of going to other places enjoyable. “I like getting to observe how people in different places live their lives,” Winnie commented. “I also enjoy going sightseeing and noticing how different some of those places are from where I live.” It is especially enjoyable for people that love seeing new places around the world. “I don’t normally like staying in one spot for a long period of time, so I like traveling to new places and seeing things I’ve never seen before,” Kailani said. “I love my family and if traveling means I get to spend time with them I will gladly travel anywhere. I also appreciate getting the chance to catch up on sleep during the trip. On the other hand, some people do not like to travel. “Traveling isn’t fun for me because I get car sick,” Kynlee said. “I’d much rather stay at home and relax, sleep in late and stay up late. Although, if I didn’t get carsick so easily I would love traveling.”

Whether you normally travel for the holidays or not, spending time with family and friends is very important. If you aren’t able to travel to visit your extended family for Christmas this year, surrounding yourself with your close friends will make this holiday season enjoyable.