Why people travel in mass for Christmas
Christmas is at the corner again and lots of people would not only want to put on their festive garment but will also travel for Christmas and for other various reasons. During the Christmas season, people have more reasons to travel than any other time of the year.
Indeed, there is something special about traveling for Christmas, and in the course of this article, we will be going through some of the reasons why Nigerians travel for Christmas. For this year, Friday, December 20 to Tuesday, December 26 are believed to be the busiest travel days, excluding Tuesday, December 24 and Wednesday, December 25 which is said to be the lightest travel days.
Christmas, over the years, has been the best time to meet up with everyone. Especially people who live the furthest still make an effort to travel home for Christmas and meet up with old friends and family members. It’s a wonderful feeling, as everybody knows what going home is like during this period. There are higher chances of meeting up with some old friends during the Christmas period than other periods and having that in mind, most people look forward to that. People also travel this period in order to spend time with their loved ones.
In Nigeria especially, memories created during Christmas are unforgettable. The awesome memories created during the Christmas season are among the reason why people like to travel for Christmas. People tend to do away with the feeling of daily routine and cling onto “out of routine” activities. Unforgettable Memories like doing things out of the norms (daily routine) and those things one might not be able to do like; swimming in the village stream, listening to moonlight tales, going for a walk with grandparents and hearing those historical stories are among the reason why people travel for Christmas.
The news of “traveling home for Christmas” alone, is just about enough reason to get the family excited especially the kids. Having the feel of “yes! We are doing something different this Christmas”. A feeling which is not only exciting to the kids, but also motivates them to come back during the period, and the always look forward to it. Kids always look forward to traveling for Christmas because of the “memorable fun-time” they tend to get especially during Christmas. Kids looking forward to Christmas is among the main reason why people travel for Christmas with the intention of making them have fun and memorable time.
One of the reasons why people travel for Christmas is also for Village meetings. Most villages usually fix crucial meetings during Christmas, as it is a season that has a long holiday period which crosses all works of life. Serious issues concerning the community as well as amendments to unfavorable customs as it affects each community is mostly done during Christmas, invariably contributing to the reasons why most people travel for Christmas.
Most people travel during Christmas for special functions like the opening of new houses, weddings among others. It’s a known phenomenon in Nigeria that the listed functions are being done more during Christmas. Most Nigerians normally open there newly built houses in the village during Christmas time. Most people consciously fix both their traditional and Christian weddings during the Christmas period. The anticipation that hosting of the ceremony during such a period will help increase the number of guests, invariably, more gift. Attending and fixing of these special functions also adds to the overall reason of why people travel during Christmas.
The fact that the Christmas season is known globally as a holiday period. And by that, it is just about enough reason for people to travel during the period. There is a belief that a full holiday feeling comes when one moves away from his/her usual place of residence. Traveling for Christmas holiday gives people the favorable circumstance of the need to distance themselves from everyday routines and worries. On such a holiday, the biggest concern is not just what to do to have fun for the day. This is because all the minor things are already taken care of. It’s just fun all through.
The bottom line is that there are many good sides to getting away from everyday routine and work and traveling for the Christmas holiday. The joy of traveling and spending more time with family and friends is unquantifiable. Safe trip to all those traveling for the Christmas holiday.
Please share with us the reasons why you are traveling for the Christmas in the comment box.