Non-Traditional Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving
As an expat in Spain, I’ve sadly had plenty of practice on how to do Thanksgiving without your family. The holiday’s unfortunate proximity to Christmas means that we almost never make it home, instead celebrating here with our chosen family. We usually gather with 3-4 other American expat families, make our own versions of the classics (think morcilla stuffing and turkey three ways), and eat and enjoy each other’s company with some great French and Spanish wines. Honestly, I’ve never eaten so good on Thanksgiving as I do here in Spain (shout out to Kevin Patricio!).
Enter 2020. Enter Coronavirus. So, this year, not only are we not able to go home for the holidays— our meager Friendsgiving off the table! I’ve been brainstorming what to do this holiday, and I came up with such a great list I thought I would share it with you all. Some of these are Spanish-inspired ways to do the holidays, and others are just ideas.
I hope you enjoy the list and get a few ideas off of it!
Non-Traditional Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving (Thanks, Corona)
I’ve compiled a great, exhaustive list of ideas for myself, because I’m OCD like that. I thought it might help inspire some of you, so here are my ideas for new, different ways to celebrate the holiday in these very strange Coronavirus times.
I’ve divided them into subcategories, so, enjoy!
Different Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving
Strange times call for reinventing…our holidays.
Have a Mini-giving. This one is inspired by my daughter’s love of ASMR and mini cooking videos. Roast a quail, turn some baby potatoes, and bake pies in muffin tins! Loads of work but so cute (and Instagrammable)!
Go themed. Make a meal with a different theme, because that’s all Thanksgiving is, right? A turkey day? If you love Spain, go all out and make paella, sangria, and all the best cliched Spanish food you can think of! Here’s a soundtrack for a Spanish party.
Declare a spending embargo. Make Thanksgiving a no-spend, no internet shopping, no thinking about what you want to buy day. Just be grateful for what you have.
Throw a cocktail party. Working within safety restrictions, make a Thanksgiving that is centered around the drink more than the food. If you want to up the glam factor and make your Thanksgiving cocktail party oh so instagrammable, you can customize neon signs. Bonus! It gives off the perfect ambient cocktail party light and you can keep it as home decor after the party is over.
Make it a potluck. Have those in your inner circle each bring a dish. Do it blind for extra surprise.
Go out to a really fancy meal. Treat yourself to a splurge meal. After all, think of all that money you’re saving on turkey and booze.
Spend the day hunting your food. Go fishing, hunting and/or foraging. Then spend the afternoon cooking whatever you got.
Be intentional with your photos. This year, shoot photos with the idea of making a digital or physical photo album and sending it to everyone you celebrated with.
Things To Do on Thanksgiving Besides Eating
It doesn’t all have to be about the turkey, you know.
Learn more about the history of Thanksgiving. Do some research on the history of Thanksgiving and make a game out of it with your companions. There are a lot of fun Thanksgiving resources on the web.
Run a virtual 5K. Um, fun! Check out this list of virtual runs you can do this year. Whether you do an online or offline competition on Thanksgiving Day, make it even more fun by creating a custom running medal for you and your friends.
Do something outdoors. Make your meal a picnic. Go hiking. Use this day when everything’s shut to enjoy the great outdoors.
Volunteer. Find an organization in town that needs help and lend a hand for a few hours.
Reflect on the reason for the season. Have you and whoever you are with write down what you are grateful for. Now seal it up and save it to open or send next year.
Spend some time remembering. What’s the point of all this family time if not to pass down wisdom! Set apart some time for reminiscing, and you can even prepare a few questions if you think it might be hard to get things started. But a warning on this one, once they start usually this lasts for hours! Record it!
What to Do on Thanksgiving Without Family
Some of us aren’t with family this year. Here are some special ideas.
Book a night at a local hotel. Anything you can do out of the ordinary will make the holiday feel special and not blah. Stay at a local hotel and revel in the luxury of not having to clean up and ordering in.
Stay in your PJs all day. 0 Guilt. 0 judgement. Just no getting dressed.
Don’t make any plans. Wake up, face the day, and decide as you go what you feel like doing. When was the last time you did that?
Play charades over Zoom. Coordinate a big family call, but give it a fun twist.
Help a neighbor. Paying it forward is a great way of saying thanks, so offer to help a neighbor with something they need done, whether it’s childcare, gardening, or cooking.
Spend the day writing letters. In a week or two, they’ll feel thankful all over again when they receive your letter.
Friendsgiving, duh. Host a gathering with friends if you can’t have it with family. Guaranteed to be less bickering!
This year, just find an idea you like and own it! Think of it as one of the few days of the year that you get to do whatever you decide, and don’t allow yourself to feel guilty about what that looks like. And have fun!