Lit up for Christmas in Medellín, Colombia
As nomads we spend Christmas in different tropical locations around the world, but this isn't as glamorous as it sounds. After a very unChristmassy time in a Hindu pilgrimage town by the beach in India, we wanted our next to be more festive. In Medellín we found the perfect place to celebrate.
From early December, squares and homes all over the city are decorated with colourful lights, but the highlight is the main display along the river. In the evenings thousands of families enjoy the light display, which has a different theme each year. We wandered through the elaborate illuminated scenes from children's stories, with giant 3D figures in bright colours. We passed through a sea of flickering matches for Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Matchstick Girl and were dwarfed by the menacing Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. We've never seen anything like it – it was surreal but magical.
Colombians know how to party, and alongside the lights there were street performers, blaring music, and endless food stalls selling beer, freshly squeezed sugar cane juice and fried snacks. It was crowded and chaotic but a unique experience to celebrate Christmas alongside Colombian families, and despite the tropical temperature, we felt a festive glow.
Erin McNeaney (neverendingvoyage.com). Erin and her partner sold everything they owned and left the UK in 2010 to travel the world forever
Christmas at sea
The location was a cruise ship, but I was not a passenger. I was the tour manager and our ship had just pulled into the port of Nawiliwili, Hawaii. Of course, I had plenty of work to do, but once three o'clock came around, off the ship I went with a few friends in order to celebrate Christmas properly.
And as we happened to be in Hawaii that involved going for a helicopter ride over the stunning Na Pali coastline, eating sushi and drinking saki at a beachside sushi joint, going for a quick swim in the Pacific, followed by a six-hour karaoke session at a local dive bar. Then, after a 2am round of bowling and another dip in the Pacific, I was back on board the ship. That's when I joined the crew party in the bar, and where I received my Christmas gift from the cruise line – a beach towel. At 6am I returned to my cabin, took a shower, put on my uniform and went upstairs to my office to begin the day's work.
Earl Baron (wanderingearl.com), on the road for 12 years
Unofficial Christmas ambassadors, Thailand
A couple of years ago we spent Christmas with a good friend on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand. On Christmas day, the three of us hopped on his motorbike, bought a couple of Santa hats with flashing lights and drove around the island like Christmas ambassadors. Aboard our two-wheeled Christmas float, we waved to everyone we saw. Though some locals probably thought we were a bit nuts, they got into the spirit by wishing (and occasionally even shouting) us a Merry Christmas and bursting into belly laughs.
We concluded our ride around the island with a visit to the local food market. Christmas dinner was freshly caught squid, giant prawns and snapper, grilled with chilli pepper sauce – a tropical feast under the palm trees on a balmy night. For a bit of our own tradition, we searched the island for ingredients to make Christmas cookies. While they didn't taste quite like they might have at Christmases past, they were close enough. A bit of home amid the island exotic.
Audrey Scott and her husband, founders of digital storytelling site Uncornered Market (uncorneredmarket.com), have been travelling for six years and visited 70 countries
Crocodile Christmas dinner, Côte d'Ivoire
I spent my first Christmas away from home in Abidjan, the biggest city in Ivory Coast. At a friend's house, we sat on the terrace drinking palm wine and bottles of Beaufort, a Cameroonian lager. Kedjenou, a piquant stew of tomato, onion, chilli and chicken, simmered on the stove, and crocodile steaks sizzled on a charcoal grill. It was about 23C; a constant light breeze tempered the humidity. We ate the crocodile and kedjenou with attieke – cassava pulverized into tiny grains resembling couscous. With the right hand, you form the attieke into a ball, soak up some of the stew and eat it together with the meat.
As we scraped the bottom of the kedjenou pot and scooped up the last of the attieke, someone brought out a stereo and started playing the latest coupé-décalé dance music. Instead of yuletide carols sung by a choir, this Christmas had frenetic dance music. We pushed our chairs back; it was time to dance. It didn't take long to move the party elsewhere, down the street, where we dipped into one of Abidjan's many maquis – loud open-air bars with tables and chairs spilling into the street. Several hours later, we were back at the house, sprawled on the living room floor, making plans for New Year.
Phil Paoletta (philintheblank.net), from Washington DC, has been travelling in west Africa since 2010
