Christmas cards for Christmas overseas

Christmas overseas can mean a lot of things. Seafood on a beach in a hot country, or a bleak grey day in a city where nobody else is closing up shop. Some people do it by choice and love it. Others are there for work or study, and miss the family table more than they let on. The food, the weather and the customs are all a little different, and so is the feeling.

A card closes some of that gap. Pick one, add a few lines that sound like home, and send it as a link by email or text. Schedule it for Christmas morning, so it lands at the start of their day, wherever that day is happening on the map.

5 things to write inside

Swap in their name. Change anything that doesn’t sound like you.

  1. sweet Merry Christmas from home, [first name]. We miss you at the table. Eat something good for us and ring when you can.
  2. funny Merry Christmas, [first name]. It is thirty-eight degrees here and we are eating hot ham. I hope wherever you are is more sensible.
  3. quiet Thinking of you today, [first name], wherever you are. Home is a little emptier without you.
  4. sweet However different it feels over there, [first name], you are in every part of ours. Merry Christmas. Love you.
  5. funny I hear Christmas looks different where you are, [first name]. Please send photos of the strangest food and I will send photos of the same old pudding.

Questions people ask

What do you write in a Christmas card to someone living overseas?

Write as if you were at the same table. Mention a food, a joke or a person they would be talking to if they were home, and say you miss them. Then tell them when you hope to see them next.

How do you celebrate Christmas when you are living abroad?

Many people pick something from home and something local, a familiar dish alongside a new one. Calling the family early helps. A card from home that arrives on the morning can be a small anchor in an unfamiliar place.

Does a card arrive on time when someone is in a different time zone?

A card sent as a link does, because you decide when it goes. You can schedule it for Christmas morning, and it arrives for them at the right moment in their day, rather than whenever the mail makes it.