Our Christmas tradition of no gifts

Here's the thing. I'm an adventure chaser.  I love experiences. Trying new things is something my family and I love to do together. We have found a way to go on adventures we did not think we could afford and we have also found ways to make adventures out of the simplest things. It's been on my mind to start blogging about our adventures. I think it would be fun to have an online journal or scrapbook. Also I would love to share with others how we make these adventures possible to hopefully inspire people that want to take adventures too. It all started with a discussion about what we were going to get everyone for Christmas.

When our twins were babies and approaching their second Christmas I remember Gavin and I were on a long drive. We discussed the importance of setting a standard and that whatever our Christmases looked like our kids would expect year after year. I had this idea of going on a trip instead of having a traditional Christmas where you spend hundreds of dollars for gifts. The idea came from our experience of trying a year without a purchase. I would highly recommend anyone to read the book "The Year Without a Purchase" by Scott Dannemiller. That is another experience maybe I'll write a post about but for now just know it was lifechanging and gave us the idea for an experience for Christmas. Since our twins were still babies this first Christmas year they really wouldn't have expectations for the next year so we discussed the possibility of going on a trip we had only dreamt about. Europe. Going back to Gavins mission Czech Republic and exploring other countries as well. We went over how much we spent on each other for the Christmast previous and it was a lot more than I realized. We also took into account what we spent for each other's birthdays and anniversary. We have a big week in December, starting off with my birthday on the 14th, Gavins on the 17th, our anniversary on the 19th, and then obviously Christmas and New Years. We looked at our budget over the next few months and talked to our friends about the idea. BIG TIP: if you travel with others it cuts costs and planning. There were days we thought there would be no way we could afford Europe but we kept going over the budget.

So how did we do it? We started with plane ticket costs. We have friends that fly there a lot so we used them for a resource. We flew through Condor Airlines and our friends said that is the best place for good deals. We watched their site to see changes in tickets and tried to buy when they were lower. We  basically set our budget pretty high for Europe to overshoot in savings and any extra we saved we could use for fun while there. We did not buy each other any gifts for our big celebration week and we cut back on eating out and spending frivolous money. We would always remind each other, we need to save for Europe. We also went with two other couples and stayed at cheap Airbnbs. If you've never used Airbnb check out their app. I always go with something that has lots of reviews. We loved everywhere we stayed and because we were able to split the cost with two other couples we stayed in places like Venice for $50 a night. Compare that to $700 a night for one couple at a hotel in Venice.

Sure the Airbnb was small and one of the beds was a pull out couch in the living room but we loved it. You get to experience the culture more because you're staying in someone's home vs a hotel. Also the savings is incredible. We stayed at Airbnbs in Rome, Venice, and Prague. In Switzerland we stayed at a hostel.

Which is also another great cheap option. We were in bunk beds all in the same room and the experience was one I wouldn't trade. (pictured to the right). Because we were able to find lodging for so cheap we were able to spend a little more on experiences. Gavin and I got to go bungy jumping over a beautiful Switzerland lake in Interlaken through a company called Outdoor Interlaken.













We also did a canyoneering day with them. We made our way through a canyon called Grimsel which was phenomenal. I hope to do another post about Europe because we had some amazing adventures there but I basically wanted to give you an idea of our first Christmas experience of not doing traditional gifts. Santa left stockings for the boys and one shared gift. Our trip was definitely worth the sacrifices. We went on our trip in July and it was the best delayed Christmas gift ever!




The following Christmas we discussed different ideas and ultimately chose season tickets to Disneyland. It worked great because kids are free until they turn three and so we only had to purchase them for Gavin and I. We have made so many memories and we all love Disneyland! We primarily use booking.com for hotels while we are there. I would always watch for great deals a month or two in advance. We also use an app called gasbuddy to find the cheapest place for gasoline while we travel. This app is also useful for everyday use. At Disneyland it's free to park with a season pass so that's awesome. We also would pack in snacks and lunches. We would eat a continental breakfast before going into the park. We usually plan to eat one meal there. We also share a lot of food. We all shared one turkey leg and two corn on the cobs. We also all shared a Monte Christo(our favorite Disneyland food!)


Having experiences together has been very rewarding and we have not regretted substituting experiences for things. I would say we spend similar money on our experiences to what we would spend on gifts. It's not necessarily about saving money more it's about being able to have experiences together and create memories in place of things. It can be done. It just takes a little planning and dedication to your goals.

Happy adventuring,

G2C2 (Gavin, Gina, Cohen, and Cruze)