Chris Rea puts us in a holiday mood by singing about driving home for Christmas. But not everyone can get in a car. Some of us fly home for Christmas - or take the train. 

Regardless of how you’re travelling, you should plan your trip home for holidays more carefully than at any other time of the year. In this article, we will explain how to plan a stress-free return for Christmas when you live abroad.

P.S. If you live abroad but don't plan to visit family or friends, read about how to spend Christmas away from home!

How to plan a stress-free trip home for Christmas:

1. Plan in advance
2. Buy tickets early
3. Leave enough time for connections
4. Don't come back at the last moment
5. Prepare for crowds
6. Set aside a budget
7. Communicate your plans
8. Pack smartly 

1. Plan in advance

Christmas has a way of sneaking up on you. It’s amazing how a holiday that occurs on the same day every year never fails to surprise us. 

For all you know, you just returned from your summer holiday in August, and then you blink and BAM! Suddenly, it’s Christmas. 

Therefore, it can be difficult to plan your trip home for Christmas in advance, when it always feels like you have more time to do it than you actually do. 

But staying alert is worth it to ensure a stress-free trip home for Christmas. Set up a reminder if you have to. Remember that procrastinating will only make your life more difficult. You will have to do it eventually, and you’re not doing yourself any favours by waiting until the last moment. 

2. Buy tickets early

If you’re returning home for Christmas by plane or train, book your tickets well in advance. 

Flight tickets are said to be the cheapest 6 weeks before your departure date. Additionally, Christmas is preceded by Black Friday, when many airlines offer attractive deals. 

If you are a daredevil, you can wait until the 3rd of December, which is rumoured to be the Black Friday for cheap flights. However, there is no guarantee that the prices will indeed be lower on that “magic day”, or that all airlines will adhere to it. So we still recommend booking your flight home for Christmas a few months, or at least weeks, in advance. 

Depending on the country, the prices of train tickets also exponentially increase closer to the departure date. In some places, the rates remain stable, but in others, you will pay less for a ticket purchased a few weeks in advance than for one booked a few days before.

Most importantly, remember that the holiday period is extremely busy. The demand for tickets on specific days is high - and so are the chances of them running out. If you procrastinate buying a ticket home for too long, you might discover that there aren’t any left on the day you need. Or if there are, they will cost you an arm and a leg (and likely won’t be direct). 

3. Leave enough time for connections

Obviously, direct connections are the best. But they aren’t always possible or affordable - especially if you live far away from your family. 

It is tempting to leave an hour or two for a connection and hope for the best. But the consequences can be dire if you don’t make it. 

Tight connections are especially risky in winter. Flights are often delayed due to blizzards or bad weather conditions. If you live in a country which doesn’t get snow in winter, remember that your home country might. Take it into consideration when planning your trip home for Christmas. 

There is no universal “safe window” for connections. It depends on where you’re travelling from or to. Leave more time for international or intercontinental connections than domestic ones. Remember that you may have to go through customs, even if you’re only transferring, which can take up a lot of time. More people travel around holidays than any other time of the year, so the queues will be longer, too. 

4. Don’t come back at the last moment

If you can, return home for Christmas as much in advance as possible. Many employers let their employees work remotely from mid-December to allow them to go home early. The last few days before Christmas are hectic for travellers, so if you have the option to avoid the frenzy, do it.

Roads can get blocked. Flights can get cancelled. The winter weather is particularly unpredictable, so it’s better to stay safe than sorry - literally. 

Of course, a flight at an earlier date can also get cancelled. But if you fly a few days before the actual holidays, you still have the flexibility to make it home in time. You surely wouldn’t want to spend Christmas Eve stuck at an airport, far away from your family and friends. 

Not to mention, the prices for flight and train tickets skyrocket over the Christmas dates. Travelling between the Christmas and New Year period is generally more expensive.

It can happen that your work or other obligations won’t allow you to travel home in advance. In this case, stay calm. So many people travel home right before Christmas and make it. While it is less stressful to travel early, it doesn’t make doing it last minute impossible. 

5. Prepare for crowds

There are two busiest times of the year for travel: summer and Christmas. However, while the summer holiday period is stretched across several months, the winter holiday is limited to just a few days. This means that a huge number of people have to travel on the same dates.

If you are flying home for Christmas, arrive at the airport earlier than you normally would. The queues will likely be longer, and it may take more time to go through security or customs. 

Trains and planes will also be more crowded than usual. They might be fully booked, leaving you uncomfortably squeezed between strangers during your trip home. It’s never pleasant - especially if you’re not a fan of crowds. 

But remember that there is something nice waiting for you at the end of this trip. Your friends and family, good food, exciting gifts, and plenty of rest. They are all worth the hassle. 

6. Set aside a budget

December is usually a time of increased activity on our bank accounts. Our wallets get a workout, continuously spitting out money for gifts, travel, food, parties, and other elements of holiday celebration.

Returning home for Christmas can take up a large part of the holiday budget. Tickets tend to be more expensive around this time, so don’t forget to include them in your expenses. You wouldn’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have to choose between coming home, buying your parents a gift, or doing your weekly groceries. 

7. Communicate your plans

Remember that you might not be the only person travelling home for Christmas. Your family and friends have their own timelines, and it’s a group effort to make sure all of your plans align.

Let everyone know as soon as possible when to expect you. If you come last-minute, they need to know that you may not be involved in Christmas preparations and they have to make it work without you. If you plan to arrive a week before, they should also be aware - especially if they will be hosting you during that time. 

Communicate any unexpected changes to your plans ASAP. Sometimes, a delayed or cancelled flight or a surprise shift at work can stress us out so much, that we forget about everything and everyone else. But others may be affected by a plot twist as well, so keep them updated. 

8. Pack smartly

The holiday period is often frantic. Christmas sneaks up on us, leaving us panicking. 

To make matters worse, the end of the year is usually also the busiest time for businesses. Service and retail note a surge in customers, and companies push their employees to meet their goals and quotas. Even if you’re the most organised person on Earth, you may still have difficulties finding the time to buy gifts and plan your Christmas with all the stress of extra work. 

Among presents, work, and planning your trip back home, you will probably leave packing until the last minute. It’s all too easy to forget something when throwing your things into a bag in a frenzy.

Create a packing list. Make sure to leave enough space in your luggage for any gifts you might be bringing. Consider ordering them to your destination to save space. 

Take into consideration that the weather might be different in your destination. If you live in the south of Spain and visit your family in Norway for Christmas, account for lower temperatures and snow. You wouldn’t want to spend the holidays ill, just because you hadn’t brought enough layers. 

Ask your family and friends who are already there what kind of weather conditions to expect and pack accordingly. You may think it’s silly, but forgetting this detail is quite common for people who have lived in a different climate for a long time!
 

Here is your recipe for a stress-free trip home for Christmas. Plan in advance, return early if you can, pack smartly, prepare for crowds, and set aside enough money for tickets. On top of it all, make sure to communicate your plans to everyone who needs to know them. And - most importantly - stay positive! 

The holiday period can be as stressful as it is enjoyable, and the trip back home isn’t easy. But good food and a good mood are waiting for you at the end of this, so don’t let the hardships discourage you.