How To Savor Winter Holidays: 12 Tips

Winter season and winter holidays: both can be stressful, filled with unexpected twists and turns, changes and situations you hadn’t thought about. These circumstances often arise whether you are staying close to home in winter or traveling far away, whether your time at the winter holidays is spent with family, friends, strangers, or on your own.

Christmas tree in window winter Cambridge

There are ways to find joy and peace at the winter holidays, though. In fact, this is one of the best times of year to reflect, to slow down, to enjoy peaceful times.

How to go about that?

Let yourself settle into the quiet details.

cambridge berries in winter snow

Look for the helpers.

Look for the lights.

winter lights Harvard Square

Mournes Northern Ireland winter sunrise

candles carlingford ireland winter

Enjoy the beauty of dark nights, and of the stars. Remember to look up at the night sky, whether you are in Texas or Quebec , New Zealand or Scotland.

Know what energizes you, what refreshes you. Look for those things, as Sheila did on a visit to Utah. Create and share them, too.

Make time to read.

winter fire in ireland

Savor the warmth of connection and generosity of the season, whether you give or receive gifts, or not.

Value what’s familiar, and embrace what’s new.

Glasgow Scotland winter Exchange Square lights

Spend time with others. Exploring Christmas markets is a great seasonal way to do that. Sheila went to a unique location in the Netherlands. Skye went to the Edinburgh Christmas Market and Street of Lights. I told you of other holiday markets in Scotland and took you to the Toronto Christmas Market in Canada

Take time alone.

Listen for the quiet, even in the midst of sound and noise.

winter snow natick massachusetts

Listen to the music. Note: the musicians pictured are Matt and Shannon Heaton, whose winter seasonal album Fine Winter’s Night you will enjoy.

matt and shannon heaton musicians christmas concert copyroght kerry dexter

Choose all or some of these things. You can do them on the road or at home; you can enjoy them whatever holiday you celebrate in winter.

They work for other seasons too. We invite you to stay with us here at Perceptive Travel as the seasons unfold. We wish you all the best for your winter travels and celebrations.

The links noted above will take you to some of our favorite holiday stories. Here are four bonus ideas, too:

winter wreath becaon hill boston

A story with unexpected history of the Christmas wreath, and music to go along

Looking back at a memory of a candle in the window on Christmas Eve

Exploring the magical Christmas Markets of Central Europe

The best winter gift of all

Photographs made in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, Natick, Massachusetts, County Down, Northern Ireland, Carlingford, Ireland, and Glasgow, Scotland, by Kerry Dexter. Thank you for respecting copyright.

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