5th December, 2022

It’s December, which means Christmas is almost here! But, as the weather continues to get colder here in the UK, have you got travel on your mind? Whether you’re heading off on a festive getaway or just curious about yuletide celebrations from around the world, we’ve rounded up five festive traditions to share with you…

Plus, before Santa comes to town, we’ve got a Christmas gift of our own for you! If you’re taking a trip this holiday season, our friends at Just Travel Cover are giving you 10% off your travel insurance when you use code OC10*.

Iceland
On Christmas Eve, a beautiful tradition takes place in Iceland whereby people gift each other a new book and then spend the rest of the evening reading– this started during World War II when paper was one of the only things that wasn’t rationed. Due to this tradition, the ‘Jolabokaflod’, or the ‘Christmas Book Flood’, happens in Iceland from September to December as people head out to stock up in preparation.

Iceland also celebrates 13 days of Christmas, unlike our 12 days. Each night the children leave their shoes by the window for the ’13 Yule Lads’, who will fill them with sweets if they’ve been good, or rotten potatoes if they’ve been bad - we’ll stick to lumps of coal, thanks!

Japan
Christmas isn’t actually recognised as an official holiday in Japan, but it’s still observed in plenty of areas.

That being said, Japanese households don’t eat what we would call the traditional Christmas dinner, instead they tuck into a delicious KFC. This started to become popular following an incredibly successful marketing campaign from 1974 called ‘Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii’, which translated to ‘Kentucky at Christmas’.

Nowadays, a festive KFC is so popular that some people even place their order months in advance!

New Zealand
Over on the other side of the world, Christmas takes place in the summertime for those in New Zealand and surrounding countries. Due to the warmer weather, many Kiwi’s often opt for a festive barbeque or a picnic on the beach.

Their traditional Christmas tree is the Pohutukawa, which boasts bright red flowers that make for popular festive decorations and features on their Christmas cards.

In traditional Māori language, Santa is known has ‘Hana Kōkō’!

Germany
Did you know that the traditional Christmas tree originates from Germany? It’s thought that the tree was brought into the house on Christmas Eve and then secretly decorated by the parents as a joyous surprise for the young children.

Christmas Eve is also when German households usually exchange their gifts.

St Nicholas Day is also tradition in Germany, where on the night of December 5th, the children will leave their cleaned and polished boots outside before going to sleep and St Nicholas will fill them with candy and small gifts ready for the morning.

Finland
Last but certainly not least, we can’t talk about Christmas without mentioning Santa’s hometown!  Lapland is located in the northernmost region of Finland. Here, Santa Claus is known as ‘Joulupukki’, a figure traced back to the traditional ‘Old Nick’ who was thought to bring toys to the children.

During the holiday season, a traditional ornament in Finnish homes is the himmeli, a geometric looking ornament made out of straw.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, the Finnish will enjoy their traditional breakfast of rice pudding before coming together for the festive celebration, which usually consists of relaxing in Christmas saunas – sign us up!

It’s pretty interesting to know how differently Christmas is celebrated throughout the world, but the main thing that we all seem to have in common is spending time with loved ones; if you’re taking a trip with yours this festive period, don’t forget to use the discount code OC10* to save 10% on your travel insurance.


Written by: Shannan Errington

*Discount code terms and conditions can be found here.

Sources:
https://www.treehugger.com/icelanders-give-books-christmas-eve-4858313
https://www.brightlines.co.uk/languages/christmas-around-the-world-12-countries-of-christmas/
https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/g4933/christmas-traditions-around-the-world/
https://www.visitfinland.com/en/articles/experience-a-true-northern-christmas/
https://jolabokaflod.org/about/founding-story/