COVID made holidays a lot harder to see our friends and family last year. While many COVID restrictions have been lifted since then, some families are remaining cautious. This may mean you won’t be travelling to your aunt’s house for the huge family get-together like you normally would. For those of you who live alone, spending the holidays by yourself might sound lonely. Many people struggle with loneliness and depression during the holiday months. COVID made those statistics even greater. However, spending the holidays on your own doesn’t have to be so bad. Read below for a few tips on how to celebrate the holidays away from your loved ones. 

Continue holiday traditions

Just because you’ll be ringing in the New Year all on your lonesome doesn’t mean you shouldn’t celebrate the holidays like you normally would. In fact, why not go all out this year? Go wild on holiday decorations until it looks like a Martha Stewart catalog threw up in your house or apartment. Bake gingerbread cookies and eat them all by yourself (yum). Binge-watch all your favorite Christmas movies while sipping eggnog in your pajamas. The holidays are a magical time of the year. Make the most of them while you can, even when you’ve got no-one to celebrate them with. 

Make greeting cards

We all wish we were the kind of person who remembered to send holiday greeting cards every year. But, somehow, we just never seem to get around to it. If you’re spending the holidays away from family this year, you’ll have more time on your hands. Make this the year that you get your address book out and send a thoughtful holiday greeting to all your friends and family. You likely won’t be the only one spending the holidays away from home. A greeting card will mean even more to someone who is also missing their friends and family. If you want to go the extra mile, buy a tripod and snap a picture of you wearing your ugliest Christmas sweater. Stick it in with your greeting card to ensure you bring a smile to your loved ones’ faces. 

Host a virtual holiday party

Nowadays, we don’t have to hop on a plane to see our loved ones who live on the other side of the country. Thanks to technology, we can see our loved ones’ faces on our phones and computer screens. Zoom meetings rose in popularity during lockdowns for giving people the opportunity to meet up virtually. Families can take advantage of the platform to have a virtual meetup with multiple people at the same time. Plan a date that works for you all and prepare as you would for a normal party. Pick out a festive holiday outfit and break out the champagne as you joke and share stories with your family members from the comfort of your couch. It’s the next best thing to seeing your family in person and makes spending the holidays alone a little more bearable.