Megan Vice’s family lives on Long Island and wants her to come home for the holidays, but for the past few years, spending Christmas has been a bummer. “My parents don’t even have a tree anymore,” said Ms. Vice, a 31-year-old musician who lives in Los Angeles. “I have to do things that make me happy, and for me Christmas is not a pleasant experience. As much as I love my parents, this holiday doesn’t make me feel good.”
This year she flies to Chiapas, Mexico, for a 10-day mountain silent retreat. “It will be intense, but I think it will make sense,” said Ms. Vice. “The pandemic has made me crave not only new experiences, but also experiences that are intentional.”
The pandemic has taught other Americans that virtual connections can be just as meaningful as personal connections. If that’s the case, they think, why spend all the money and time traveling to be with family in person?
Tracy Lee, 40, who works in financial technology in Manhattan, loves to visit her parents and siblings who live in Montana, Arizona and Indiana. But Thanksgiving, when airfares are generally more expensive and airports are packed, isn’t an ideal time to fly there. “I’d rather see my family when we can actually do things and not feel compelled,” said Ms. Lee, 40. “Why not meet up in August and enjoy a nice week together and not force us all on this holiday?”
When she was away from her family due to the pandemic, she learned how easy it was to keep in touch with them virtually. So she decided to do that for the holidays this year. “We played a trivia game with them, a version of Heads Up,” she said. “It feels so natural to communicate virtually since the pandemic. This is now how we make the holidays work.”
Thom Tran, a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles, said the pandemic so normalized virtual connections that he felt free this year to celebrate Thanksgiving away from his parents, who live in New York, “completely guilt-free.”