Here we are again with another holiday season! This will be our fourth Christmas since we left the United States, and likely our last abroad (more on that later….)

While typing this post, I enjoyed looking back at our Christmases of old. There was our very first Hong Kong Christmas where I meticulously planned a week of “merry freaking Christmas” activities to ward off the homesickness. Then there was our second Hong Kong Christmas when we hosted Mr. Dave’s family from PA and CA, and even spent a week in Southern Thailand.

Our third (last year) where we decided to switch things up, and went home, so our families could meet a certain little person who was born earlier that fall. But that wasn’t before traveling to Belgium for Emersons first trip out of the country to check out the Brussels Christmas Market.

Which now brings us to this year. Our fourth Christmas.

I’m excited to share that this year we are keeping things a little more low key, and spending it as a family of four (including Roxy) at home. We considered renting a little cottage, a la the Holiday, but with the dog and costs of renting/driving it just got to be too much. To be honest, Christmas really snuck up this year. We got back from the States on the 10 of December and realized we should probably put a tree up… or do something festive?

Thus, we have slowly been getting into the holiday spirit over here, with just four days until Christmas. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Visited Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park for the first time and, WOW, London knows how to make a carnival fancy. And delicious. We basically just ate, walked around, and left. But it was worth the hype.
Walked all through Central London to gaze at the impeccable lights and decor. The best streets to visit being: Oxford, Regent and Bond.

Next up for us:

This weekend I think we’ll be heading to the South Bank to check out a few of their pop up Christmas markets and stroll along the Thames (which never gets old, by the way).
Our big Christmas activity this year will be Christmas Eve service AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

I am so excited that we were able to get tickets for this as they sold out in under a minute. I’ve only ever seen Westminster from the outside, so I CANNOT WAIT to see the inside on the holiest night of the year, no less. It will be a special memory for sure.

And then that leaves us with the end of 2019. Is this shocking to anyone else, but me? It truly feels like we were JUST celebrating the start of 2019 and now the entire year is gone. We don’t have any exciting plans over here, as we’ll be preparing for guests fairly soon after. In fact, it looks like 2020 is already shaping up to be packed with visitors, which we love!

As they say here in the UK, Happy Christmas! I hope you all have a lovely and peaceful holiday. See you in 2020 for more travel adventures from afar!

A very London Christmas