I’ve been busy worrying about whether our Christmas in Bali will feel like Christmas to the boys. Before I begin, I will say I am incredibly grateful to be on this journey and having our family adventures and I know we have chosen to be where we are for Christmas – please don’t misunderstand this post.   It’s just that there are some moments, where a teleporting machine really seems like it would come in handy.  Teleporting home to spend Christmas with loved ones is definitely high on the list of things for which I would use this machine.

The lead up to Christmas in Bali feels decidedly un-Christmas like for my northern-hemisphere, “will it be a white Christmas” self. We are on an island that is 95% Hindu in a country that is predominantly Muslim.  The lead up to Christmas has largely avoided the incessant holiday music and commercialism, but it has also largely been absent the holiday festivities, fanfare and excuses to eat endless sweet treats.  It’s tropical, we are not near our family and we are staying in a hotel. Christmas is pretty different than the cold winter morning opening gifts around the tree at home.

I have chosen to focus my Christmas worry / guilt on our lack of a Christmas tree.  Perhaps it is because the smell of a real Christmas tree is just about my favorite thing ever and I have been known to embarrass Jay by walking slowly down the row after row of trees smelling each one, intent on finding the strongest and most perfect smelling tree available. But I digress.

Last year we were also traveling and we decided to make a big felt tree with homemade ornaments with all of our favorite holiday images and characters.  There were characters from our favorite stories, lions, tigers and candy canes.  While it was a departure from tradition, it felt Christmas-y.

This year, I simply have not gotten my act together.  We are in a hotel and we are new to the town we are in.  We have been busy looking for a longer term rental and among various travel related challenges, the tree fell to the bottom of the list.

Tonight in a fit of maternal guilt, I asked the boys what we should do about presents.  Finn instantly suggested a treasure hunt to find the gifts.  The boys were jumping up and down and screaming about the excitement of their Christmas present treasure hunt.

Mama guilt alleviated (for the moment).  Christmas travel-edition here we come! Merry Christmas and everything else to all of you!