GLOBETROTTERS WRITING PROMPT

Christmas and Other Celebrations — The Finale

It’s been a wonderful month reading through the most diverse Christmas traditions and experiences from around the world

I hope you’re sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of wine, whatever is your comforting drink, and are awaiting the list and winners of our monthly challenge.

It was such a joy reading through the submissions. While we did not want to exclude any religions or cultures, we decided to include “other celebrations” into this challenge, but everyone somehow came up with a Christmas story.

Most writers shared their experiences of visiting Christmas markets around the world, while others showed the display of lights during the festive season and the last group of travelers brought up their childhood memories.

Christmas traditions aren’t all the same and it was wonderful to learn about other cultures through this writing prompt. But I am not going to talk much longer. Let’s get to the point and share our personal winners.

Even though we decided to cut short this challenge in order to give us editors a break over the holidays (we are closed for submissions from the 24th of December until the 2nd of January in case you didn’t know), we still received plenty of articles.

30 in total, of which 8 were written by the editing team. That’s in fact the most we’ve ever received for any of our challenges.

These are our picks:

Adrienne Beaumont

I’ve loved reading all of the Christmas Stories this month. Any stories that were about Christmas markets got a big tick from me, but my favourites were Simon Whaley’s“Lincoln’s Christmas Spirit”, and Vickey Maverick’s “Lüneburg’s Christmas Market Is a Distinct Fairy Tale Setting”.

My two favourites that weren’t Christmas market stories were Simon Whaley’s “Scrooge’s Shrewsbury” and Jean Elizabeth Glass’ “And So This Is Christmas”, both entertaining tales from differing perspectives.

I encourage you to read, clap and comment on the ones you enjoyed. All of the Christmas stories are listed at the end of this post. Thank you, Anne!

Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

What fun it has been this month to read all of your wonderful Christmas submissions! As usual, the variety was great and all of the stories were different and unique.

Five stories in particular resonated with me in different ways. Simon Whaley’s Lincoln’s Christmas Spirit truly transported me to another world. I loved the descriptions of the different booths but was really impressed with the chocolate tools in the Chocolate Workshop.

Rose Ernst wrote an adorable story about children sending letters to Santa. It has a very happy ending and is a feel-good story in the tense climate of our times. A Postbox For Santa

I really resonated with Charles Black M.D.’s story Christmas In the Middle Of Summer? I have spent a few Christmases in the tropics now and I can surely understand how he feels and how Christmas sure doesn’t feel like Christmas in the warm weather.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Dan Carlson takes us to a real winter wonderland in How Will Santa Ever Find Us In the Snow? In it he recalls his family's first Christmas out on their own and away from extended family, determined to do Christmas their way.

But my number one favorite story tugged on my nostalgic heartstrings. Lane Henry tells us of her Christmas tree ornament collection in My Christmas Tree Is My Travel Memory Box. My parents and I used to collect Christmas tree ornaments in the places that we traveled. Recently I helped them to downsize and in that process, the Christmas tree ornaments were sold as one collection. Of course, we couldn’t help but go through them and reminisce about the trips and memories that they represented.

Thank you, everyone! I wish you a wonderful season full of good cheer and holiday magic:)

JoAnn Ryan

This month it was so enthralling being able to read all your lovely Christmas stories. What a treat!

It was fun checking out Lane Henry’s Christmas ornaments, Christmas Treats in The Netherlands by Chau Trieu, Susie Kearley’s Christmas lights in Buckinghamshire, England, glittering pyramids of Ferrero Rocher from Janice Macdonald and Christmas in the city by Steffany Ritchie.

Loved reading about all the many Christmas markets throughout the world and of course I always love reading stories by my fellow editors, who are all fab writers!

Posts I especially appreciated was Elvie Lins’s “Christmas Through a Muslim Lens” and “A Postbox for Santa” by Rose Ernst. Both had such a great message/story to share.

My overall favorite though was this story by Vanessa Brown:

“Bring on the snow, spiced mulled wine, songs of white Christmases, and pie… loads and loads of pie!

Dear Santa, I’ve been nice, bring on the merriment!”

The whole story was a treat, but the icing on the cake was the photo of a horse wearing a Christmas cap. Love it! Thanks, Vanessa, for the lovely story!

And thank you to everyone who submitted your stories to our Christmas challenge!

Anne Bonfert

Of course, I enjoyed reading through all the stories and especially had my moments staring at wonderful Christmas lights and other colorful images but I tend to prefer the stories sharing childhood memories or those including traditions of the festive season.

Dan Carlson | Meandering Naturist got me with his compelling story of a white Christmas. Did you ever consider if Santa would make it to you when you’re snowed in?

I truly enjoyed his engaging and entertaining narrative together with pictures of a time his children were still toddlers. So much love in between all the stress they experienced.

But read yourself if you haven’t yet:

The second story is about traditions, memories and what we make of them. It was interesting to see how Stephanie’s childhood memories influenced how she raised her children and how she prepared for a Christmas abroad.

Being on the road 12 months a year sounds like bliss to most readers in this community but it comes with its own challenges. Stephanie Tolk masters the art of “nesting” in a wonderful way.

Once again, we thank each and every writer who has contributed to this writing prompt. The stories were all interesting and presented a variety of Christmas traditions.

If you missed the deadline and still want to share a travel-related Christmas story you can do so, the article will just not be part of the challenge. We are always open to travel posts.

I also encourage you to stay tuned for our next writing prompt for the month of January. We will announce it here on Globetrotters on the 2nd.

The team of editors also has contributed to the challenge with the following articles. These posts never join the contest.

Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages with "Christmas Looks A Little Different Everywhere We Go"

Anne Bonfert with “A Medieval Christmas Market in a Historical Old Town”, “Baking Christmas Cookies, Decorating Fir Trees and Playing Piano Before Unwrapping Gifts” and “Visiting a Christmas Market in Transylvania”

Adrienne Beaumont with”My First Christmas In Europe”, “Visiting Christmas Markets” and “A Very Different Christmas”

JoAnn Ryan with “The Last Showing of the Osborne Christmas Lights Display at Walt Disney World"

And now please give credits to all participating writers and do give a read to these awesome submissions if you haven’t checked them out yet:

Aarti Tailor with “A Festive Weekend In Brussels” and “Joyful Christmas Vibes In London”

Akemi Sagawa with “The Magic of Christmas Market in Vienna”

Janice Macdonald with “Nothing Says Noël Is Just Around The Corner More Sweetly Than Glittering Pyramids of Ferrero Rocher”

Bell KS with “Flying Home for Christmas”

Ronald Smit with “Unusual December celebrations”

Susie Kearley with “Striking Winter Lights & Lasers 2022"

Simon Whaley with “Lincoln’s Christmas Spirit” and “Scrooge’s Shrewsbury”

Jean Elizabeth Glass with “And So This Is Christmas”

Stephanie Tolk with “A Nester Leaves Home for Christmas”

Dan Carlson | Meandering Naturist with “How Will Santa Ever Find Us in the Snow?”

Kris Talks Life with “The Christmas Markets Of Copenhagen”

Janin Lyndovsky with “The Best Christmas Present My Mum Ever Gave Me”

Keith Kelley with “The Magnificence of Christmas in Florence’s Duomo”

Marianne O with “The Songs and Lights of Christmas are Simply Classic”

Steffany Ritchie with “City Sidewalks: A Christmas Writing Challenge Prompt”

Lane Henry with “My Christmas Tree Is My Travel Memory Box”

Elvie Lins with “Christmas Through a Muslim Lens”

Vickey Maverick with “Lüneburg’s Christmas Market Is a Distinct Fairy Tale Setting”

Rose Ernst with “A Postbox for Santa”

Chau Trieu with “4 Best Christmas Treats in The Netherlands”

Ophélie Quillier with “Christmas Can Be Bittersweet When You Live Abroad”

This post closes the submission timeline of Globetrotters for 2022. We will be awaiting your stories from the 2nd of January 2023.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Your Globetrotters editing team (JoAnn, Adrienne, Jillian & Anne)