Thanksgiving is typically a family holiday…

It can be hard to spend Thanksgiving away from family. I have done it three time since I got bit by the wanderlust bug.

The first time I was in Argentina.

As I served a full-time mission in Argentina for the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I was unable to really plan and coordinate a Thanksgiving celebration. Also, it isn’t celebrated in Argentina so yeah… That didn’t happen. However, after reading my journal entry for November 24, 2011, I can tell you I did have an attitude of gratitude. 

My second Thanksgiving celebrated away from home was in Spain.

Patrick and I went to Spain for about 2 months in 2017. High on our priority list was partaking in the Workaway program. We spent hours and hours looking through host profiles until we found the one… It was in Tabernas, Spain. A small town in Southern Spain where olive orchards are rather abundant. 

It’s hard to beat the dessert. It is a mystical and magical place that we fell in love with immediately. Our host was a nice Frenchman who moved to the country to get out of the city life. The only problem was, he inherited an olive orchard along with the house. He hates olive farming. That is how we were able to have the most amazing Thanksgiving experience in Spain. 

Jean, our host, hadn’t ever celebrated Thanksgiving before but was down to experience it with us. I tend to be sentimental about traditional things and insisted that we do it as close to the usual as possible. Luckily, for both Jean and I, Patrick is a phenomenal cook. And, apparently, amazing at orchestrating Thanksgiving meals. Something I did not know until we got to Spain. 

Jean took us to the market and the grocery store and bought all the food we needed to make a mostly traditional meal and bought all the food. Patrick instructed us on how to prepare everything exactly how he wanted it to be and in no time, we had a big ole’ chicken Thanksgiving.

Let me tell you, it was one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve ever had!

We invited the English guy in the next house over with his workaway person and enjoyed a meal with two Englishmen, a Frenchman, and two Americans. Everyone shared what they were grateful for, we all ate and were happy, and went to bed feeling good about life. Well, at least I did!

The third and final Thanksgiving I celebrated away from home was in Montana. 

Over the last year I have experienced a lot of changes in my life. I have quit the seasonal life, got married, and settled down in Bozeman. Bozeman is awesome, but it can be hard to find your place when you make a big move. Over the last eleven months I have been blessed in finding a few golden friends that have helped me feel a sense of belonging here. 

This amazing little friend squad of mine also doesn’t have any or much family near by and felt the pull of Thanksgiving tradition as it drew nearer. Us three put our heads together and planned a glorious meal that we shared with our little family units. It was another one of the most wonderful Thanksgivings I have ever experienced! And also the healthiest… it was cane sugar and almost entirely gluten free, corn free, and additives free! 

We spent the day cooking together and watching the universally loved show of Friends.

I know it isn’t easy to pull off celebrations like this away from family or the familiar, but it is possible and really fun. 

Next time you are abroad for Thanksgiving, try and pull something together. Invite randos, and remind yourself what you are grateful for. It could be the best Thanksgiving experience of your life!

Pro Tip:

Always go around and have everyone share what they are grateful for. You’ll probably learn something new!