My favorite New Year’s memories — Abroad

The world is full of interesting New Year Experiences!

I am currently writing this article from Berlin as I seek to celebrate New Year’s for the fifteenth+ year outside of my home in the United States. Berlin is considered one of the best cities in the world to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The fireworks over the Brandenburg Gate are supposed to be a sight to see, and I look forward to that tomorrow evening.

Celebrating another New Year’s Eve outside my home country has made me contemplate my other wonderful New Year’s experiences in other countries, and there have been many. I have had the fortune to ring in the New Year in such countries as Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, Argentina, Ecuador, Italy a few times, England, the Bahamas, Guatemala, South Africa, Madagascar, and Malaysia.

What are my fondest New Year’s experiences you may ask? I will pick three.

Vietnam on an overnight train back to Hanoi

I had taken my first trip to Southeast Asia back in 2007/8 with an Indian friend of mine who had recently moved to Singapore. We had first met up in Singapore and then took a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia to view Angkor Wat and all of the other temples and ruins of the ancient Khmer Empire. From Siem Reap, we continued to Ho Chi Min City where we spent Christmas on the Mekong Delta.

After Ho Chi Minh City, we flew into Hanoi and spent a few days there visiting the Hanoi Hilton and other sites from the French colonial period and the Vietnam War. We were then picked up for a quick tour and hike of the Sapa region of Vietnam.

The Sapa region is the hilltop region of Vietnam well-known for the minority groups that inhabit the hills and mountains surrounding the town. We had booked a three-night trip up to Sapa, returning to Hanoi on New Year’s Day. Our first night was spent in the town of Sapa at a hotel, and over dinner, we were entertained by the local indigenous groups dancing and performing for us. Our group was particularly fascinated by a few little girls dressed up in local dress who were watching the performances. They chatted with us as their parents performed on stage.

On our second day which happened to be New Year’s Eve, we took a guided hike of the mountains and then spent an evening with a local family having dinner prepared by the family. Through our guide, we were able to ask questions and learn more about their culture. The hilltops were stunning as the sides of the hills were cut into terraces of rice paddy fields as far as the eye could see to feed the local population. We also ran into the same little girls near their homes on our hike back to town. That night, our group of Anglo speakers, took the overnight train back to Sapa. We celebrated New Year’s on the train with a couple bottles of champagne reminiscing about our lovely time in Sapa.

Enjoying an all-nighter in Buenos Aires, Argentina

In 2006/7, a friend of mine from Boston moved to Buenos Aires to learn Spanish for a few months, and she and I planned a trip to travel around Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. After a week of traveling around Patagonia in Chile and Argentina, we flew back to Buenos Aires for New Year’s Eve.

My friend had found a restaurant for us to enjoy the New Year with some of her new Argentine friends. After dinner, her friends went home to celebrate the New Year with their families while my friend and I decided to go to a dance club. The best dance club at the time in the city was in a building that was a miniature form of the Sydney Opera House. My friend and I met a couple of Argentines who were also celebrating the New Year at the club.

The club had multiple rooms on multiple floors and outdoor venues playing different music. We rang in the New Year with champagne dancing in one of the club’s outdoor venues. There was so much fun to be had there, that we didn’t make it home until six in the morning on New Year’s Day.

New Year’s in Sydney, Australia

Could there be a more iconic place to enjoy New Year’s Eve than downtown Sydney, Australia? As one of the first large cities in the world to ring in the New Year’s, Australia spends tens of millions of dollars to put on one of the most impressive fireworks shows in the entire world. I am not sure how Berlin’s fireworks show will compare tomorrow night, but it will be hard to top Sydney’s.

In 2022/3, my family members and I decided to spend the Christmas and New Year’s holidays in Australia to visit some friends of mine there. Since I had brought my two-year-old daughter, we decided to head to downtown Sydney for the children’s New Year fireworks experience at nine at night and save the midnight celebration for their home. The fireworks for the children were an impressive sight on their own. However, when we returned to my friend’s house and put on the television to view the midnight Sydney spectacle, I was enthralled.

For many of us living on the other side of the globe during New Year’s, we often see snippets of the Sydney fireworks. This was the first time I was able to watch the entire display, and it was the best fireworks show I have ever seen. I always thought New York put on a good show for Independence Day or New Year’s, but we don’t hold a candle to the fireworks display in Sydney.

Those are my best memories of New Year’s in countries far from home.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

What are your best New Year’s memories abroad or at home?