who talked about creating a semi-regular post to invite readers to introduce themselves in the comments. She also runs regular discussion threads, which are excellent!
Is all about the creative journey and the blocks that can sometimes get in our way.
I also love sharing my real raw journey on Substack and tips on how to make a more fun and sustainable experience.
✨ 3. My favorite holiday tradition is our kids giving homemade gifts. We started it when they were little, and it completely transformed Christmas. Suddenly, the focus shifted from receiving to the joy of creating and giving. 🥰 Now that they’re older, with jobs and busier schedules, they sometimes buy gifts too—but those homemade treasures still hold a special place in our hearts.
I’m Breeann from Montana 👋🏻 I’m a former special education teacher and a current stay-at-home foster/adoptive/bio mama. I write things on here and hope to publish my first book in the next year!
My Substack is Just Write Mama (https://justwritemama.substack.com/) and I (usually) write about motherhood, adoption, foster care, parenting, and sometimes little quirky stories about life and creativity.
One of my favorite holiday traditions is celebrating Advent with our kids. We light a candle in the wreath, read a short devotional, and give a little gift from the Advent calendar. This year’s theme is animal print socks 😊 We also enjoy simply creating and discovering new traditions for our family since we are a family formed by adoption. Blending ideas and values and needs all together is part of the challenge, but also the fun.
I write about the mind and the soul--the intellectual and the feeling parts of us. I do that using mental health as a guide and as a subject that can incorporate all that we are. I am a former college teacher/professor. Teaching and writing is what I like to do. My stories always have you, and me, at the center of the conversation. I like creating discussions about how we live and how we can improve ourselves.
A holiday tradition is getting my dachshund presents and watching her get excited.
1. Hi! I’m Natalie, I’m a book lover from Hong Kong 🇭🇰, but currently living in the UK 🇬🇧
2. My Substack ‘Nat’s Page of Passion’ mainly focus on the books I read and the current book culture.
3. My favourite holiday tradition is watching Christmas movies, Home Alone is a must watch and Harry Potter is just great to add it to the Christmas movie marathon list!
Hi. I’m Serena, and I write about parenting teens with mental and physical health challenges through the lens of hope, authenticity and faith. I also write about parenting neurodiverse teens.
Hi, I'm Alycia, I'm French, and I love to write and talk, which is why I have a podcast. I have a Substack about entrepreneurship, where I talk about how to build a business that reflects your true self using content, storytelling, and mindset. The goal is to overcome the fear of failure and imposter syndrome to create a business that aligns with who you are, based on attraction marketing. https://mademoisellemindset.substack.com/
My second Substack is more focused on personal development and how the impact of others can influence and block your life. https://untoldtrue.substack.com/
My tradition is to drink a hot chocolate while watching a Christmas movie.
✨ I'm honestly not the biggest fan of the holidays. It's too busy and over commercialised for my liking 🫣 BUT every year we host a BBQ for friends on Christmas day and then go to the beach, it's become a very small tradition and I'm really looking forward to it 😀
👋 1. Hello! I'm Sarah, currently based in the US and love to write and podcast.
✍️ 2. My Substack is 'Searching For Enough' https://searchingforenough.substack.com/ and it's a space that explores living life on your own terms by listening to and acting on your inner voice.
✨ 3. I love drinking Christmas spiced tea! Especially while reading a book.
👋Hi everyone! I'm Sarah, pastry chef/chocolatier from Belgium living in the UK
✍️ 2. I write about Belgian food, baking and food history and share recipes and tips and tricks for patisserie-level bakes at home in my book - suitable named The Festive Belgian Bakery - Holiday Edition all about the Belgian holiday season.
✨ 3. My favourite holiday traditions would have to be decorating the tree.
I love decorating the tree while listening to my fav Christmas songs. My fav is Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song” - and in the car I’ve ended jamming to Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande’s “Santa, can’t you hear me”.And sometime during the season, I have to listen to “Last Christmas”
1. Hi, I’m Holly! I’m from all over the place (including NZ!) and currently live in the UK. I’ve been leaning back into my love for history after experiencing burnout in my teaching career.
2. Telling Their Tales (https://tellingtheirtales.substack.com) is a space for those who are self-confessed history nerds to connect and learn more about the medieval world.
3. We’re new to family holiday traditions, with an 18-month-old… But we love to go see reindeer IRL 🥰
👋 Hi everyone, I'm Claudia, from Northern Germany, book lover, writer, former librarian, highly sensitive and introverted, very happy with my slow, simple & quiet life that I've created for myself after a burnout, on a quest to reconnect with nature more.
✍️ Happy Quiet Life (https://claudiakollschen.substack.com/) is all about that. 😊 It's an HSP's & introvert's view on the world, I publish reflections and stories from living a slow & quiet life filled with books (monthly book reviews) and a love for nature.
✨ Watching "Love Actually" with so many of my favourite British actors. 😇 Christmas is the start of my favourite week of the year, when the world slows down and there is time to reflect, to play games and to have fun with my loved ones. (And I eat to much sweets, obviously. 😉)
Hey Mika! Hello everyone 💛 I don’t know if I’ve joined in on one of these threads before Mika, I think I often read things so far after they’re published I miss the boat 🙈
👋 I’m Emily, I am a livelong creative adventurer and bean counter (accountant). I live near Winchester in the UK with my husband, two children and three dogs.
About discovering and celebrating creativity to help you feel inspired and encouraged in your own creative journey, and about navigating the numbers behind your creative explorations, to help your finances feel less daunting.
✨ we started the tradition of magical elves visiting each night through December to spy on the kids and our son (11) still somehow believes (maybe) so we’re now 10 years in still trying to come up with unique ideas on where to hide them. I’m hoping this is the last year though as it’s hard work!! 💛🤣
Thanks so much Mika, off to explore the other comments xx
👋 1, 2. Hi! I’m Karen, I help Substack creators get unstuck with a free publication. I also have a $21K publication under a different account where I write about food safety.
✨ 3. My favourite Christmas tradition now my kids are older is an early morning body surf to start the day. (yes I'm an Aussie)
Hi, I’m Bronwen from the Uk and I’m about to go freelance with a new social media business 😱
My main Substack is Clearing Out where I write about my home clearing project and the reasons why things got a little out of hand.
My favourite traditions are putting lights up to ward off the dark, gift giving and seeing family and friends. I also am partial to a bit of Prosecco and a Christmas Rom com 🎄✨
My next post will talk about Christmas prep - and I hope I can write it over the weekend. It’s such a busy time of year and I’m always super behind - but we get there in the end :)
Good? Don’t know. But I like Falling for Christmas (cheesy Rom coms are my guilty pleasure!) and I’ve watched loads of which I can’t remember the names - Last Christmas was one, and I even watched Hot Snowman (think that’s what it was called). Not sure if they are on par with The Holiday or Love Actually. But a bit of light hearted fun ✨
Hi, I’m Geetika! I’ve lived in New York City since I was 16, though I was born in India.
My Substack is https://allthingsfood.substack.com where I share my journey of learning Ayurveda—an ancient holistic science that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. My focus is on its basics and how it can seamlessly integrate into our modern lives. Think of me as a guide, not a guru.
As a classically trained chef (hence the name All Things Food!), I plan to bring more food-related content to my Substack in 2025, though food isn’t the focus just yet.
My favorite holiday tradition? Making the most decadent hot chocolate with extra-large marshmallows and savoring it in peace and quiet with my friends and family.
1. Hello! I'm Jezz, from Sweden. And I'm a illustrator with ADHD and ASD, with a lot of ups and downs.
2. At The Howling Newsletter/Podcast I write/talk about my art jounrey. The good, the bad and the ugly 😏 (https://jezz.substack.com)
3. My favoirte holiday is Christmas. To have whole family at one place, eating great food. Giving presents to each other. And hopeyfully dont argue about boring stuff *cough* politics *cough*
Hi friends! 👋🏼 My name is LeAnna and I write Little Bits of Everything which is…well, little bits of everything from motherhood and marriage to short stories and poems.
Some of my favorite holiday traditions include playing in the snow with our littles, driving around with donuts to look at Christmas lights, and eating an obscene amount of cookies!!
I write Journey Jots, a free publication about my travel stories around Europe, trying to introduce/remind about sometimes overlooked cultural gems. I offer travel tips too, I try to keep it as practical as possible.
For holidays, I like going to my parents', decorating the tree and eating until I explode :) Kidding about the food - I really like spending holidays the same way. After Christmas, I like spending New Years' Eve with my husband on an Adriatic island (Croatian) - there's something peaceful doing that off-season.
Hi Gabi! I love the idea of your newsletter as I also love traveling and am always looking for all the tips! I can’t wait to follow along with what you have to share!!
1. 👋Hi, I’m Maïlys, writing from the French island of Corsica, the place I call home since 2017.
2. ✍️ In my publication Sip of Corsica (https://sipofcorsica.substack.com) I invite you to explore the beauty, culture, and soul of this Mediterranean island through my "outsider turned insider" eyes, but I also share personal reflections and musings on belonging and self-discovery.
3. ✨ My favorite holiday tradition is a New Year tradition. Each January 1st my family and I used to watch live the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic after having lunch. My late grandfather would make me dance the waltz with him and I always felt like a princess doing so. Last year I watched the concert for the first time with my daughter - who was 4 year old - and she immediately began dancing like I used to do and asked her father to waltz with her. It was a happy and emotional for me. 💕
I just read that you go to Croatia for New Year’s Eve. I’ve never been to, but I know several people who went and told me that Croatia has many similarities with Corsica, so you should like it 😉
I'm sure :) I live in Croatia, but in Zagreb, the continent, and you know how during summer our coast is scorching hot. So I prefer visit the coast off-season.
I am Ann Richardson, living in London although American by origin (and somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic by personality). I write The Granny Who Stands on her Head (which I am and I do), am 82 years old and write a bit about the joys (and occasional difficulties) of being old. I then write about any subject that takes my fancy, from sex to death to a lot of emotional issues that affect us all. I seek to stimulate and amuse.
My Christmas tradition is to avoid it as much as I can get away with, which is increasing every year. I don't wish anyone ill – but I am not into 'things', false jollity or turkey and pumpkin pie.
There are a lot of us about. Probably with different reasons. Mine are primarily the reasons given, especially the idea that one is SUPPOSED to be jolly (I am very jolly but when I want to be). But like all things, it also goes back to my mother who saw Christmas with a family of five to be a burden and went to a lot of effort ensure we were aware of that fact
My mother in law saw her mum slave over Christmas dinners etc and didn’t want that with her big family. She did a tradition where the kids choose their fav foods from a list and they snack on that throughout the day. She has consciously made it a relax day for her and her family.
Sometimes it might look like on the outside that they don’t “do” Christmas, but they just chose not to take on the stress or Christmas.
Hello Ann!! I hate the pressure of having to find gifts for everyone, seems to get harder and harder as the years go by, but I love spending time with my family and I love a good roast dinner with all the trimmings (especially Yorkshire puds!)
Well, I am at the age when I should be deeply traditional, but I'm not and won't pretend to be. And it's great to have that terrific freedom not to go along with stuff.
My brother-in-law and his family have started to go away, just as their family unit and are loving it. I also know of an older couple who went on vacation around Christmas time.
Hi, I am Hilda from the Netherlands. In my Notes of a Wildflower, I write about my dream of writing a book, about how to become a Wildflower and about living with the seasons, among other things. My favourite Christmas tradition is sleeping under the Christmas tree in the living room together with my daughters.
I love the tradition of sleeping under trees; it reminds me of my childhood. I used to snack under the tree early in the morning and snatch chocolate - not the most fantastic breakfast choice. My parents would not be proud, but they never found out 🤣
What a beautiful substack name, Hilda, and what a gorgeous tradition 🎄✨ I can just visualize the cosy and beautiful scene! 😻 what a precious memory for your daughters!
👋 Hi! Thanks Mika for keeping this going all year! I’m Gwen, professional astrologer. I love thinking deeply about my life and relating it back to the cycles of time we find ourselves in. 🪐🥰
My favorite holiday tradition (that I’ve had since I was a child!) is the Christmas Eve party at my aunt’s house. 🎄 It’s the one thing I look forward to each year. She prepares a veritable feast 🍗, and the whole family gets together. At midnight we unwrap presents under the Christmas tree, and the cousins hang out and play games and have fun. Even now as adults, we still play games and spend the whole night laughing and playing with each other!🎄
I feel so lucky to have this tradition, and am so excited to read everyone else’s!
That’s a very joyful tradition! I never had that with my cousins, but I can imagine how fun it would have been. If my sister wasn’t living so far away from me, I would love to be able to do that with her and see my daughter have fun with her cousins.
The Christmas Eve party sounds so fun! This is the first year that our extended family aren’t going to be around, so it’s going to be so quiet! But we will be leaving the day after Christmas to go see everyone. ☺️
Example 💕
👋 1. Hi! I’m Mika, from New Zealand and I’ve been leaning into my writing and art since leaving my 9-5 as a graphic designer.
✍️ 2. MUSINGS BY MIKA (https://musingsbymika.substack.com)
Is all about the creative journey and the blocks that can sometimes get in our way.
I also love sharing my real raw journey on Substack and tips on how to make a more fun and sustainable experience.
✨ 3. My favorite holiday tradition is our kids giving homemade gifts. We started it when they were little, and it completely transformed Christmas. Suddenly, the focus shifted from receiving to the joy of creating and giving. 🥰 Now that they’re older, with jobs and busier schedules, they sometimes buy gifts too—but those homemade treasures still hold a special place in our hearts.
I’m Breeann from Montana 👋🏻 I’m a former special education teacher and a current stay-at-home foster/adoptive/bio mama. I write things on here and hope to publish my first book in the next year!
My Substack is Just Write Mama (https://justwritemama.substack.com/) and I (usually) write about motherhood, adoption, foster care, parenting, and sometimes little quirky stories about life and creativity.
One of my favorite holiday traditions is celebrating Advent with our kids. We light a candle in the wreath, read a short devotional, and give a little gift from the Advent calendar. This year’s theme is animal print socks 😊 We also enjoy simply creating and discovering new traditions for our family since we are a family formed by adoption. Blending ideas and values and needs all together is part of the challenge, but also the fun.
https://strawbridgeideas.substack.com
The Mind-Soul Sanctum
Hi all,
I write about the mind and the soul--the intellectual and the feeling parts of us. I do that using mental health as a guide and as a subject that can incorporate all that we are. I am a former college teacher/professor. Teaching and writing is what I like to do. My stories always have you, and me, at the center of the conversation. I like creating discussions about how we live and how we can improve ourselves.
A holiday tradition is getting my dachshund presents and watching her get excited.
👋 1. Hello, I'm Lani, an American living and working in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
✍️ 2. NO GIRL IS AN ISLAND https://lanivcox.substack.com/
is all about finding freedom in the fringes, one quirky essay (and newsletter) at a time ~
✨ 3. A new tradition that I've adore is doing Jaquie Lawson's Advent Calendar. It's the best!
1. Hi! I’m Natalie, I’m a book lover from Hong Kong 🇭🇰, but currently living in the UK 🇬🇧
2. My Substack ‘Nat’s Page of Passion’ mainly focus on the books I read and the current book culture.
3. My favourite holiday tradition is watching Christmas movies, Home Alone is a must watch and Harry Potter is just great to add it to the Christmas movie marathon list!
Hi. I’m Serena, and I write about parenting teens with mental and physical health challenges through the lens of hope, authenticity and faith. I also write about parenting neurodiverse teens.
My Substack is called Evidence of Grace (https://serenamenken.substack.com), all about the parenting journey.
Our family lights candles on an Advent wreath most nights in December, accompanied by Christmas readings and carols. It’s so peaceful and centering!
Ah, also the tradition that I wrote about in my comment! Hello, Serena!
So cool to meet another candle-lighter! It's my favorite part.
Hi, I'm Alycia, I'm French, and I love to write and talk, which is why I have a podcast. I have a Substack about entrepreneurship, where I talk about how to build a business that reflects your true self using content, storytelling, and mindset. The goal is to overcome the fear of failure and imposter syndrome to create a business that aligns with who you are, based on attraction marketing. https://mademoisellemindset.substack.com/
My second Substack is more focused on personal development and how the impact of others can influence and block your life. https://untoldtrue.substack.com/
My tradition is to drink a hot chocolate while watching a Christmas movie.
Sounds beautiful, Alycia! I’m impressed that you have two Substacks!
thanks you I love to write.
👋 Hi, I'm Sophie, also from New Zealand and I live off the grid in a tiny house
✍️ I write on https://thisissophietoday.substack.com and I write about Rewilding, reconnecting with nature, living the slow life, living off the grid
✨ I'm honestly not the biggest fan of the holidays. It's too busy and over commercialised for my liking 🫣 BUT every year we host a BBQ for friends on Christmas day and then go to the beach, it's become a very small tradition and I'm really looking forward to it 😀
Subscribed!
yay thank you!
Love that you write about the slow life in nature. And I love that you host a Christmas bbq on the beach!
Perks of having Christmas in summer 🌞
👋 1. Hello! I'm Sarah, currently based in the US and love to write and podcast.
✍️ 2. My Substack is 'Searching For Enough' https://searchingforenough.substack.com/ and it's a space that explores living life on your own terms by listening to and acting on your inner voice.
✨ 3. I love drinking Christmas spiced tea! Especially while reading a book.
I drink a lot of Tulsi tea but I don’t have a fave brand for Christmas tea. What do you recommend?
I just found Taylors of Harrogate. My husband gifted me a box of Harney teas and they’re not bad.
Those look really yummy and fancy!
I love spiced tea too, Sarah!
Ohhh what brand do you get?
👋Hi everyone! I'm Sarah, pastry chef/chocolatier from Belgium living in the UK
✍️ 2. I write about Belgian food, baking and food history and share recipes and tips and tricks for patisserie-level bakes at home in my book - suitable named The Festive Belgian Bakery - Holiday Edition all about the Belgian holiday season.
✨ 3. My favourite holiday traditions would have to be decorating the tree.
I love decorating the tree while listening to my fav Christmas songs. My fav is Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song” - and in the car I’ve ended jamming to Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande’s “Santa, can’t you hear me”.And sometime during the season, I have to listen to “Last Christmas”
1. Hi, I’m Holly! I’m from all over the place (including NZ!) and currently live in the UK. I’ve been leaning back into my love for history after experiencing burnout in my teaching career.
2. Telling Their Tales (https://tellingtheirtales.substack.com) is a space for those who are self-confessed history nerds to connect and learn more about the medieval world.
3. We’re new to family holiday traditions, with an 18-month-old… But we love to go see reindeer IRL 🥰
Oh wow! Reindeer in real life! That’s pretty special!
👋 Hi everyone, I'm Claudia, from Northern Germany, book lover, writer, former librarian, highly sensitive and introverted, very happy with my slow, simple & quiet life that I've created for myself after a burnout, on a quest to reconnect with nature more.
✍️ Happy Quiet Life (https://claudiakollschen.substack.com/) is all about that. 😊 It's an HSP's & introvert's view on the world, I publish reflections and stories from living a slow & quiet life filled with books (monthly book reviews) and a love for nature.
✨ Watching "Love Actually" with so many of my favourite British actors. 😇 Christmas is the start of my favourite week of the year, when the world slows down and there is time to reflect, to play games and to have fun with my loved ones. (And I eat to much sweets, obviously. 😉)
Thank you, Mika, for this lovely thread! 💕
Hello,
HSP and Introvert here, as well. I am from the U.S.
Hello, lovely to meet you!
Subscribed!
Great, thanks! I just subscribed to yours, too. :)
Hi Claudia! I am a huge book lover too. Being a librarian was always on my list for alternative careers. Your tradition sounds lovely!
Hi Serena, I'm always happy to meet another huge book lover! Being a librarian is absolutely perfect when you love books and people!
Hello Claudia! Your Substack sounds interesting, off to check it out!
Thank you, Sarah! I've actually found yours and subscribed to it back in September, because I really like what you are writing about. 😊
Awww thank you so much!
Oh my gosh, the scene with Emma Thompson makes me cry every time! The music, the acting - perfection!
Oh yes, "Love Actually", I love that one too! And also an HSP and introvert.... 😊
Hey Mika! Hello everyone 💛 I don’t know if I’ve joined in on one of these threads before Mika, I think I often read things so far after they’re published I miss the boat 🙈
👋 I’m Emily, I am a livelong creative adventurer and bean counter (accountant). I live near Winchester in the UK with my husband, two children and three dogs.
✍️ I write While I Was Drawing
https://whileiwasdrawing.substack.com
About discovering and celebrating creativity to help you feel inspired and encouraged in your own creative journey, and about navigating the numbers behind your creative explorations, to help your finances feel less daunting.
✨ we started the tradition of magical elves visiting each night through December to spy on the kids and our son (11) still somehow believes (maybe) so we’re now 10 years in still trying to come up with unique ideas on where to hide them. I’m hoping this is the last year though as it’s hard work!! 💛🤣
Thanks so much Mika, off to explore the other comments xx
Love this elf tradition, Emily!
Also welcome!!!! 🥰
Thank you Mika 💛
I can just imagine all the creative places the elves would end up!
So many places, although after 10 years, there have definitely been repeats 😜
Hi Emily, I I love this magical elves tradition, but wow, 10 years, that's a challenge! 😉
Thank you Claudia!! It’s been fun, also quite a challenge 🤩
👋 1, 2. Hi! I’m Karen, I help Substack creators get unstuck with a free publication. I also have a $21K publication under a different account where I write about food safety.
✨ 3. My favourite Christmas tradition now my kids are older is an early morning body surf to start the day. (yes I'm an Aussie)
Wow, an early morning body surf! Amazing!
We have a tradition where we go to the beach on New Year’s Eve with the extended family. ☺️
Hi, I’m Bronwen from the Uk and I’m about to go freelance with a new social media business 😱
My main Substack is Clearing Out where I write about my home clearing project and the reasons why things got a little out of hand.
My favourite traditions are putting lights up to ward off the dark, gift giving and seeing family and friends. I also am partial to a bit of Prosecco and a Christmas Rom com 🎄✨
Interesting! Will you have a special post about cleaning out in preparation for or after Christmas?
My next post will talk about Christmas prep - and I hope I can write it over the weekend. It’s such a busy time of year and I’m always super behind - but we get there in the end :)
And yes - there will be a new year clearing out/spring clean set of posts too 💚
Good luck with the new business!
Thank you ☺️
Have you watched any good rom coms this year? I still love “The holiday”
Good? Don’t know. But I like Falling for Christmas (cheesy Rom coms are my guilty pleasure!) and I’ve watched loads of which I can’t remember the names - Last Christmas was one, and I even watched Hot Snowman (think that’s what it was called). Not sure if they are on par with The Holiday or Love Actually. But a bit of light hearted fun ✨
Exciting! Good luck, Bronwen! ✨
Thank you ☺️
Good luck Bronwen!!
Thank you ☺️
Hi, I’m Geetika! I’ve lived in New York City since I was 16, though I was born in India.
My Substack is https://allthingsfood.substack.com where I share my journey of learning Ayurveda—an ancient holistic science that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. My focus is on its basics and how it can seamlessly integrate into our modern lives. Think of me as a guide, not a guru.
As a classically trained chef (hence the name All Things Food!), I plan to bring more food-related content to my Substack in 2025, though food isn’t the focus just yet.
My favorite holiday tradition? Making the most decadent hot chocolate with extra-large marshmallows and savoring it in peace and quiet with my friends and family.
Thanks Mika for this opportunity to share.
Decadent hot chocolate - yes please!! 🙋♀️
I'll be sure to follow since ayurveda has always interested me.
Thanks Gabi. Enjoyed reading some of your writing ✍️
1. Hello! I'm Jezz, from Sweden. And I'm a illustrator with ADHD and ASD, with a lot of ups and downs.
2. At The Howling Newsletter/Podcast I write/talk about my art jounrey. The good, the bad and the ugly 😏 (https://jezz.substack.com)
3. My favoirte holiday is Christmas. To have whole family at one place, eating great food. Giving presents to each other. And hopeyfully dont argue about boring stuff *cough* politics *cough*
Having the whole family together is so so special!
Hey Jezz!!
Hello 👋
Hi friends! 👋🏼 My name is LeAnna and I write Little Bits of Everything which is…well, little bits of everything from motherhood and marriage to short stories and poems.
Some of my favorite holiday traditions include playing in the snow with our littles, driving around with donuts to look at Christmas lights, and eating an obscene amount of cookies!!
I cannot wait to meet more of you!!
We just started doing the Christmas lights and donuts! My teenager reminded me to make sure we do it again this year. 😄
Oh I love that!! It’s so so fun!!
Have you gotten any snow yet? 😊
Not enough to play in, unfortunately. Hopefully soon though 🤞🏼
Mika, thanks again for the opportunity!
I write Journey Jots, a free publication about my travel stories around Europe, trying to introduce/remind about sometimes overlooked cultural gems. I offer travel tips too, I try to keep it as practical as possible.
For holidays, I like going to my parents', decorating the tree and eating until I explode :) Kidding about the food - I really like spending holidays the same way. After Christmas, I like spending New Years' Eve with my husband on an Adriatic island (Croatian) - there's something peaceful doing that off-season.
“Eating until you explode” - Is there any other way?! 👌
🤣🤣 we have too many cake types, I can't resist
Hi Gabi! I love the idea of your newsletter as I also love traveling and am always looking for all the tips! I can’t wait to follow along with what you have to share!!
Thaaaank you!!!
1. 👋Hi, I’m Maïlys, writing from the French island of Corsica, the place I call home since 2017.
2. ✍️ In my publication Sip of Corsica (https://sipofcorsica.substack.com) I invite you to explore the beauty, culture, and soul of this Mediterranean island through my "outsider turned insider" eyes, but I also share personal reflections and musings on belonging and self-discovery.
3. ✨ My favorite holiday tradition is a New Year tradition. Each January 1st my family and I used to watch live the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic after having lunch. My late grandfather would make me dance the waltz with him and I always felt like a princess doing so. Last year I watched the concert for the first time with my daughter - who was 4 year old - and she immediately began dancing like I used to do and asked her father to waltz with her. It was a happy and emotional for me. 💕
Wow! Core memory unlocked! I love how the tradition got passed down 💕💕
What a beautiful tradition, it's lovely, and special! ✨
Your Substack sounds really interesting, I'm off to read more ... 😇
Corsica, wow! I still haven't been, hopefully I will soon.
The NY waltz is a nice tradition!
I just read that you go to Croatia for New Year’s Eve. I’ve never been to, but I know several people who went and told me that Croatia has many similarities with Corsica, so you should like it 😉
I'm sure :) I live in Croatia, but in Zagreb, the continent, and you know how during summer our coast is scorching hot. So I prefer visit the coast off-season.
Hi, I'm Jana, and I am writing from the UK.
I publish a Coffee Break Newsletter.
Intentional breaks and slowing down, non-fiction books because the right book can shift your entire perspective. Plus, weekly learning is essential.
My favourite holiday tradition is to ice skate (I’m originally from Slovakia, so this one makes sense) and visit the Christmas lights tour
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Ohh I love the concept of your Substack!
Hi Jana, I like the topics you are covering ... and I'm very much looking forward to discover the non-fiction books you read and recommend. 😇
What a lovely thing to do! It’s funny to imagine you ice skating while we go to the beach in NZ. 😄
That's crazy 🤣
I am Ann Richardson, living in London although American by origin (and somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic by personality). I write The Granny Who Stands on her Head (which I am and I do), am 82 years old and write a bit about the joys (and occasional difficulties) of being old. I then write about any subject that takes my fancy, from sex to death to a lot of emotional issues that affect us all. I seek to stimulate and amuse.
My Christmas tradition is to avoid it as much as I can get away with, which is increasing every year. I don't wish anyone ill – but I am not into 'things', false jollity or turkey and pumpkin pie.
Hi 👋 from a fellow Christmas avoider 😆
There are a lot of us about. Probably with different reasons. Mine are primarily the reasons given, especially the idea that one is SUPPOSED to be jolly (I am very jolly but when I want to be). But like all things, it also goes back to my mother who saw Christmas with a family of five to be a burden and went to a lot of effort ensure we were aware of that fact
My mother in law saw her mum slave over Christmas dinners etc and didn’t want that with her big family. She did a tradition where the kids choose their fav foods from a list and they snack on that throughout the day. She has consciously made it a relax day for her and her family.
Sometimes it might look like on the outside that they don’t “do” Christmas, but they just chose not to take on the stress or Christmas.
I had a dad like that 🫣 the first 14 years of my life we didn't even do a Christmas tree or anything!
Hello Ann!! I hate the pressure of having to find gifts for everyone, seems to get harder and harder as the years go by, but I love spending time with my family and I love a good roast dinner with all the trimmings (especially Yorkshire puds!)
I understand completely about presents. Excellent that you enjoy it. Just not for me and my husband with whom I spend a lot of time every day.
I can understand that totally Ann 🤩
Avoiding it, that was me between my 20s to very late 30s 😊
Well, I am at the age when I should be deeply traditional, but I'm not and won't pretend to be. And it's great to have that terrific freedom not to go along with stuff.
My brother-in-law and his family have started to go away, just as their family unit and are loving it. I also know of an older couple who went on vacation around Christmas time.
Hi, I am Hilda from the Netherlands. In my Notes of a Wildflower, I write about my dream of writing a book, about how to become a Wildflower and about living with the seasons, among other things. My favourite Christmas tradition is sleeping under the Christmas tree in the living room together with my daughters.
And Mika, thank you for this opportunity 🙏🏼
You’re so welcome! And your tradition is so so lovely 🥰
I love the tradition of sleeping under trees; it reminds me of my childhood. I used to snack under the tree early in the morning and snatch chocolate - not the most fantastic breakfast choice. My parents would not be proud, but they never found out 🤣
Oh haha! I love that! 😄
What a beautiful substack name, Hilda, and what a gorgeous tradition 🎄✨ I can just visualize the cosy and beautiful scene! 😻 what a precious memory for your daughters!
Thank you! 🙏🏼
👋 Hi! Thanks Mika for keeping this going all year! I’m Gwen, professional astrologer. I love thinking deeply about my life and relating it back to the cycles of time we find ourselves in. 🪐🥰
My favorite holiday tradition (that I’ve had since I was a child!) is the Christmas Eve party at my aunt’s house. 🎄 It’s the one thing I look forward to each year. She prepares a veritable feast 🍗, and the whole family gets together. At midnight we unwrap presents under the Christmas tree, and the cousins hang out and play games and have fun. Even now as adults, we still play games and spend the whole night laughing and playing with each other!🎄
I feel so lucky to have this tradition, and am so excited to read everyone else’s!
I love you tradition, opening presents at midnight and partying all night 😊
That’s a very joyful tradition! I never had that with my cousins, but I can imagine how fun it would have been. If my sister wasn’t living so far away from me, I would love to be able to do that with her and see my daughter have fun with her cousins.
The Christmas Eve party sounds so fun! This is the first year that our extended family aren’t going to be around, so it’s going to be so quiet! But we will be leaving the day after Christmas to go see everyone. ☺️