We Spent Thanksgiving on a Household Trip to All-Inclusive; Price It

Final 12 months, I had a wild thought throughout Easter dinner: “What if we skipped cooking for Thanksgiving and went to Mexico as a substitute?”

The room went silent, and I wasn’t certain if that was good or unhealthy.

I grew up in a conventional Puerto Rican household, the place Thanksgiving is spent at house with household and buddies, consuming an obscene quantity of conventional meals like pasteles and pernil.

So, after I instructed everybody I needed to spend Thanksgiving at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, it blew their minds. Nonetheless, I had no clue this was the start of a brand new household custom.

Altering our traditions was troublesome however value it

My household has celebrated Thanksgiving the identical means for generations, so suggesting we do one thing completely different was daring. It meant breaking a decades-long custom.

However making ready an entire meal — and generally an entire weekend of meals — for a household that appears to develop yearly has grow to be exhausting. The concept of no cooking and cleansing for every week sounded wonderful.

The choice wasn’t straightforward. We knew not everybody would have the ability to be a part of us, and we would not have the ability to take pleasure in a few of our favourite vacation dishes, which we stay up for annually.

However the promise of lazy days sipping margaritas on the seashore, all-you-can-eat meals, and never having to raise a finger was too good to move up.

As soon as everybody was satisfied, tickets had been booked, baggage had been packed, and all of us arrived safely (and on time) at a resort in Riviera Maya the day earlier than Thanksgiving. There have been 16 of us, ranging in age from my 7-year-old niece to my 70-year-old uncle.

We spent the day sipping chilly drinks by the pool, napping after early flights, and speaking excitedly about our plans for the subsequent day.

On the precise vacation, we performed video games on the seashore, swam within the heat sea, ate recent tacos, and joined a pool social gathering within the afternoon. It did not really feel like Thanksgiving, because the day is often spent within the kitchen making an attempt to organize all the pieces for the large night meal — however that was a part of the magic.

Sure, we spend time collectively at house throughout the holidays, laughing, consuming, and singing karaoke till midnight. However somebody at all times has to cook dinner, clear, and hold issues going. Not having to fret about that gave us the liberty to only have a great time and actually take pleasure in one another.

Nonetheless, one of many hardest issues about stepping away from custom is giving up the consolation of acquainted meals and customs.

There was no turkey or pernil, and as a substitute, we had dinner on the resort’s fusion restaurant. I obtained a lobster risotto, my husband had filet mignon, and my dad and mom selected the catch of the day. We had all the pieces besides turkey, and that was OK.

Nonetheless, it felt similar to another Thanksgiving. We laughed, we joked, and we shared tales as if we had been house.

Though it was onerous celebrating with out a few of my favourite cousins, I made certain to FaceTime them in.

We had been even in a position to put a brand new spin on certainly one of our favourite traditions — dancing after dinner to burn off energy. However this time, as a substitute of dancing in la sala (front room), we went to a silent disco. Although it wasn’t precisely the identical, being collectively and dancing the night time away in a foreign country nonetheless felt like house.

I can not wait to do it once more this 12 months

After I obtained again house, I assumed this was a one-and-done deal. It was enjoyable, however custom is custom, and we do not wish to mess with that. By no means in one million years did I believe we might ever do it once more.

Then, this 12 months, throughout our annual Fourth of July weekend get-together, my aunt requested if we had been going to Mexico once more for Thanksgiving.

My husband and I checked out one another and mentioned, “I suppose.”

And now, right here we’re, on the point of spend Thanksgiving for the second 12 months in a row at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. And I am fairly certain this may not be the final — we’re already dates for subsequent 12 months.