The full-of-hope Yuletide carol “I’ll be Home for Christmas” by the bestselling Bing Crosby has become the de-facto anthem to individuals in foreign shores — due to school terms, temporary work or permanent residency — who have spent their holiday seasons at a home away from home. Me, included.

Some metropolis dwellers were fortunate enough to fly, sail or drive home for their family reunions and even former colleague and classmate catch-up sessions in their respective hometowns — all while exploring once again the sorely missed rural Christmas rituals.

But, sadly, not everybody was favored. Some of us could only hum to the lyrics, for it was too painful to say the words, “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”

I had my fair share of similar episodes while on service duty at the only then-one-star hotel in Makati, where I had to oversee Christmas dinner shows — so all hands were absolutely required to be on deck — no leaves allowed, no vacation requests approved. It all seemed so cruel to be in Manila, and yet still unable to go home an hour’s flight away.

How times have changed. During my first foreign assignment in Los Angeles, I spent some end-of-year holidays in San Francisco with close friends for a distinct California Christmas, and Las Vegas with other sets of couples to be amazed at the series of spectacular themed extravaganzas, where one tried to outdo the other.

I likewise still remember my stay in a snow-enveloped New York — a winter wonderland — where I visited the brightly lit Rockefeller Center with its iconic talk-of-the-town Christmas tree and Midnight Mass with tickets to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. I can still hear the choir!

A core memory comes in the form of London, my residence close to 13 years, where on the 26th — called Boxing Day — the non-British friends noted that all the Christmas decor were already removed and stocked away. We soon learned that many commercial pine trees came with huge plastic bags so they could be immediately wrapped up and left outside homes, to be automatically collected and repurposed.

In balmy Malta, a friend invited me but with a caveat — her clan’s patriarch was a cardinal of the Catholic Church. So, we sat through ritual upon ritual upon ritual — the commemoration was centered on these rites. Then a fiesta followed, much like our very own.

Let’s not forget my multiple visits to my three sisters in Madrid and Valencia, for holidays with them, yet still far from Cebu, where the rest of the family resided.

Christmas at home always conjures happy childhood memories, while a part of my professional years was spent elsewhere. However, I still hoped that someday I would end up home again after all my overseas assignments. Wish granted.

Let us hear from three friends on how they celebrated their Christmases, away from the Philippines:

Mia Borromeo

We spent an unforgettable Christmas 2019 and New Year 2020 with my dad and family in California. Whoever knew that, barely three months later, the Covid pandemic would grip the entire word!

My father was 93 years old at that time, so my family went into strict lockdown to keep him safe. Now that the world has opened up again, my dad is 97, frail and only stays at home.

When I look back, I can’t help but feel nostalgic for that particular Christmas trip. I’m deeply extremely grateful for that exceptional Yuletide season. More than anything, what made it so significant and unforgettable is that we were all complete, with my father and my brother’s family for the last time.

Raul Sunico

Most of my Christmases abroad have been spent in the United States, particularly New York and San Francisco, and majority with Filipino families and friends. However, the atmosphere of material and commercial satisfaction somehow cannot match the Philippines’ genuine feeling of simple joys that are experienced by the lowest rural home, or the sight of a wide-eyed child receiving a hand-me-down toy, or a modest meal shared by the complete reunited family.

I realized that material comfort or contentment are not really the most important ingredient for satisfaction or happiness. These are the family reunions, bondings with friends and church visits that matter more. But even beyond this, the fulfillment of generosity and selfless assistance to those in need – whether material, moral or spiritual – stand out as the most important gift that we can give ourselves.

Christmas is not only a time for giving because in so doing, we also receive the invaluable gift of inner peace and satisfaction.

Tess Rances

I experienced a memorable Christmas away from home when I was a Fulbright scholar, taking up my masters degree in Arts Administration at the Columbia University in New York City.

Personally lucky with a big apartment, I knew I had to share the blessings with co-scholars of the cultural exchange program. And thus, students from Japan, and even as far as Nicaragua and Chile, all flocked to my place — from various parts of the geographically interlocked East Coast — so we could all jointly observe the day of days.

Since we all wanted to experience an American Christmas, we went all the way with decor, food, drinks, music, gift-giving and other cherished traditions. We had so much fun, to say the least!

But at the end of it all, I still terribly missed the celebrations with my own family, in my own home country. Nothing beats a Filipino Christmas!