I love traveling. It’s a fact. However, I’ve never thought about spending Christmas elsewhere than our house. Somehow in my mind Christmas is home, decorating our tree, and house, putting the wood in our fireplace, eating fish soup and opening presents.The idea of spending Christmas abroad occurred when we got an inquiry on homeexchange to spend the holidays in Paris in one of the best Paris arrondissements. The city is known to be a typically romantic European destination, but it is also great for families!

I was hesitant. Is it possible? How does it even work? For the first time ever my parents were more open to the idea to travel than me. We exchanged a few e-mails with the French family and decided we were doing it.  Everything was sorted out. We had to cover 1500 km and to save money we did it by car. After a night couchsurfing in Germany we arrived to the beautiful apartment is the heart of Paris, just 15 minutes walk from Champs-Élysées. We were amazed. A decorated Christmas tree was waiting for us along with some wine and cheese. How nice! Of course, French food is known all over the world!
We spent our days eating French food, exploring the city with the help of the Paris metro system, going to Christmas markets,  drinking mulled wine, enjoying the best view of the Eiffel Tower while ice skating right in front of it, exploring the Louvre and visiting the happiest place on Earth: Disneyland. As you can see, there are a lot of things to do in Paris, so we were entertained during the whole week we spent in the city. But if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, there are many day trips from Paris as well. One of my favourite day trip from Paris was to Versailles.

It was my favorite Christmas ever. I spent a lot of time with my family, not just on Christmas Day, but before that as well. The atmosphere was nice and we sort of escaped from all the hustle Christmas can involve.

If you think spending Christmas abroad is expensive think again. You don’t have to travel to the other half of the world. You can just visit a country next door and with homeexhcnage you can save a lot of money. Not to mention it will provide a nicer atmosphere than spending it in a hotel room.

So Christmas is coming up. It’s not too late yet to organize your holiday. What would be your dream destination to spend Christmas?