The Night Before

Hi all,

It's Monday evening here (the 2nd) and I am just packing my suitcase and getting all my final last minute prep ready for flying back to England tomorrow. I always feel like I'm so last minute with my packing for England, but it's nice that I don't have to worry to much as I am just going back to my Mum's so its not a massive issue if I forget things. I end up buying most of my things there anyway as it is so much cheaper to buy makeup and toiletries. I have a lot of stuff there too anyway so I feel pretty at home just going to my room; it's like I have two lives though, one in Canada and one in England. My rooms at my parents and grandparents are left the same as I always leave them and full of my stuff.

I'm really excited to be home for Christmas. It really is my absolute favourite time of year... there's nothing better. Right now I'm not working and I just graduated so I don't have any responsibilities (iI'm not sure this is something to be proud of! hehe) Usually when I head home I have to work on an essay or two for university, but this year I am all free. This is pretty exciting, it means I get to go full force into Christmas and I also get to fly home earlier than usual so I get the full month of Christmas buildup (eeekk).

I don't think there is anywhere I'd rather be for Christmas than in England, I suppose this has a lot to do with my emotional ties to home and my love of hisotry and tradition too. Maybe I am biased but Christmas in England is perfect. We have just so much going on around Christmas time, markets, festivals, concerts the whole shabang! I've stayed in Canada for a couple of Christmases since my move here, but I find it incredibly depressing (sorry Canada, I love you). Christmas is pretty low key here in Canada, at least on the west coast; there aren't too many festivities going on or things to do. I get incredibly lonely too, for me the whole point of Christmas is to be with your famiy and indulge in traditions!

We have lots of great family traditions and celebrate lots of christmas traditons that are really specific to the UK, I'm excited to share these with you and to share the history behind some of our lovely traditions. I know a lot of you are as obssessed with history as I am and I really enjoy the discussions we have and inspiring some of you to take trips you've always wanted to. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's Chrstmas festivities too! ... So bring on Christmas.

xx