Best Thanksgiving Dinner
With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I figured I would pass on my most memorable Thanksgiving yet. It was spent overseas while backpacking in Byron Bay, Australia. I was fortunate to have three of my good friends traveling with me: Stephanie, Bryan, and Blake (listed clockwise in picture above).
I say fortunate because I believe long-term traveling is the most difficult during the holidays. Family, friends, holiday parties, and customary traditions are much different while on the road. I was able to Skype home and have three great friends from the States to celebrate with (along with many non-Americans who were eager to enjoy their first Thanksgiving ever), but it was still hard. I hadn’t seen my parents in person for over seven months, which was a long time for me.
Anyways, enough of the sappy crap. What made this memorable aside from being Down Under? I think the number one reason was our meat of choice for Thanksgiving Dinner. Your typical Thanksgiving Dinner centers around turkey. Obviously. In Australia, the turkeys are a bit smaller than those you find in the United States. I asked my Aunt, a former Yankee turned Aussie, where to find a nice sized turkey and she laughed.
What did we do? We did what everybody should do while celebrating holidays overseas…integrate the country you are in!
We barbecued up some kangaroo! So it hops around and stands on two feet. Whatever. You know what? It was surprisingly tasty. It didn’t hurt that we were on box number two of goon (Aussie slang for boxed wine). This was the best Thanksgiving Dinner!
We had kangaroo, goon, beer, stuffing, mashed potatoes, greens, and a bunch of fellow backpackers breaking their Thanksgiving virginity. Sounds like a celebration to me.
This year will be memorable, too. More low-key, but fun as always. My mom, brother, and I are volunteering at a local shelter serving Thanksgiving Dinner to others. I will leave it at that. Just like the ultimate vagabond writer Jack Kerouac, I am reminded by the following line in the Diamond Sutra:
“Practice charity without holding in mind any conceptions about charity, for charity after all is just a word.”
For those of you not from the United States or are celebrating overseas, Thanksgiving is a great excuse to drink and be merry. That is what I did while traveling with a handful of French and Quebecers last Bastille Day in Cambodia. Break out the red wine & cheese & fried bugs!
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What is your most memorable Thanksgiving? What is your favorite Thanksgiving meal? Better yet, what is the most exotic or “off-the-wall” meal you have had for traditional holiday?
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Hey man,
Last Thanksgiving I was hiking in Patagonia in the South of Chile freezing and tired. I am American, but had no idea it was actually Thanksgiving. As my friend and I were eating our ration of rice and pepper, we started talking with some French fellow campers. They reminded us it was American Thanksgiving and proceeded to give us hot dogs, chocolate, and a hunk of cheese! Went from not knowing it was Thanksgiving to non-Americans taking care of us.
Thanks for reminding me of some great times!
I’m going through this decision right now as Thanksgiving approaches and we are in Brazil. It has been a strange experience to feel the weather turning hotter and hotter and at the same time watch Christmas decorations go up in the stores. It is very disorienting for us norther hemisphere folks. As a mom who has been cooking Thanksgiving dinners for many years now, my preference would be to just ignore the holiday altogether and take a break from our usual routine. (and I love, holidays, don’t get me wrong, I’m just ready for something different). However, my 3 children are with me and are feeling a bit homesick for Thanksgiving. I still haven’t figured out what we’ll do.
As for favorite story, one year my mother was hosting some Malaysian students who were Muslim. Because they could not eat turkey we had fish that year. We arranged an upstairs bedroom that faced east so they could do their prayers towards Mecca in our house and not have to leave early. Then we all decorated our house for Christmas. They were so excited because they said they never dreamed they would ever put up a Christmas tree. They took a lot of pictures of themselves doing that and we all really enjoyed the experience together.
You don’t always have to be abroad to have an international holiday!
Carmen´s last blog…Portuguese After 3 Months – How a Nomadic Child Learns
haha I love Byron! I just got back from a few day couchsurf in the tiny paradise on the bay. I am currently spending a few weeks with my family in Hawaii instead of spending the holidays with them. It will most definitely be challenging to not have them around during the festivities this season, but I look forward to the shinanigans me and my friends will create instead. Great to hear stories and relate with another digital nomad!
Those are all some great stories. Thanks for coming by and leaving a note. Patagonia, French, Brazil, Malaysian Muslims, couchsurfing in Byron, and Hawaii…crazy & beautiful world we live in.