The Life of a Digital Nomad: The Holidays in Quebec, as Always

Last month, I got my fix of real winter, and a white Christmas.

I hesitated to write this post. What am I gonna write about? Maybe I'm done with these little monthly entries... But how incomplete would it feel to stop just one month before the end of 2024? So I pushed the decision to keep writing these, or not, to next month.

December started at my mom's place just outside of Quebec City. It was quite uneventful considering my difficult relationship with her. I focused on work and on catching up with a couple friends, and then we watched movies in the evenings, when I wasn't living my best life in her giant bathtub.

I can't say that I am overly comfortable at her place. It's an apartment in which she moved after selling the house my dad had build. So I never lived there. I never lived in the house prior either though... we moved a lot throughout my teenage years. And that was the second house my dad had built, the fourth my parents had owned, amongst many rentals. So there is no sense of childhood comfort or memories when I visit "home".

-20 degrees but sunshine!

Before the Holidays were upon us, I traveled up the St. Lawrence and North into the Laurentides. I now have two friends, ex-Squamish residents, living out that way. So I did some work from there, explored their new homes, shared lovely meals, walked the Christmas markets and tourist spots, and even squeezed in a weekend getaway at one of the girls' cottage. All in a winter wonderland with temperatures dipping to below -20 Celcius! Now a rare occurrence for December...

It is quite a special feeling to feel so at ease in someone else's house. Planning each day the morning of. Living slowly, simply. I am a low maintenance guest, in the sense that I don't require extravagant schedules and plans; nor do I need to see and do it all. So I really appreciated the easy going pace, allowing me to be a witness of my friends' new lives out East. Running some errands, attending appointments... normal life stuff which I often find so much more important than fancy get-togethers.

Bonus friend

Satisfied with my side trip, I went back to my mom's mid-December. Then the waiting game started. Rushing to wrap up as much work as possible before the seasonal celebrations would start and before my work schedule would slim down to barely anything.

The week before Christmas was possibly the longest of the year. Not because I was so eager to start the Holiday season, but because I was already so ready to head back West. Two months in Quebec was just too long, especially when it includes a dull and grey November.

But the Holidays did come and made the wait well worth it. I absolutely love Christmas and my family and our gatherings. I could go on and on about my favourite bits, but I'll just leave it at it was perfect. I should add that over that period, I also received great news and signed a new, improved and extended contract with work, giving me one more excuse to celebrate.

What eating too much good food looks like!

It was also perfect for me to fly out on December 30, getting back to BC in the wee hours of the last day of the year. I arrived in the dark, and managed to get some sleep in the city. Afterwards, when I drove through the city the morning of the 31st, and turned a corner to face the North Shore mountains, I cried. I literally cried. I was HOME. My snow-capped mountains. My fresh air. Vancouver greeted me with a blue sky, and I drove to Squamish with a smile on my face.

I had enough time to catch up with a good friend, grab lunch, sauna... then stop by my faithful storage. Another friend was arriving in the evening, just in time for our New Year's Eve celebration.

We left her house at around 10.30PM and headed to the Chief, our local mountain. Headlamps, layers, hot tea - we were ready. We hiked up slowly, telling stories of our Holidays, and made it to the top 5-10 minutes before midnight. We watched the fireworks from above, and trusted the countdown of a small group nearby, who had had the same idea as us.

Then we hiked down into the new year. Amazing way to start 2025 ✨