Driving home for Christmas

Driving home for Christmas?

Who doesn't know Chris Rea's famous song “Driving Home for Christmas” from 1986 about him driving home for Christmas? But what does this actually mean, and does Christmas at home matter to all of us no matter where we are standing in life?

I remember when I was a Bachelor student in Hannover or living in London afterwards and making the effort to go home to my parents place every single year. My brother and I were getting older and sitting at that table on Christmas. It seemed that time was standing still on Christmas Eve, while none of us had started our own family yet.

I remember being in airports in London and New York and sometimes worried that flights would get canceled because of increased fog in London or a sudden and unexpected snowfall in New York. And no matter what the circumstances were, I always made the effort to come home for Christmas.

It took me years to accept that sometimes we cannot hold time and that families, relationships, and situations are changing and that we sometimes have to celebrate Christmas on our own before we are surrounded by loved ones again. I didn't think those lonely Christmases in New York were actually a bad thing before I would eventually start thinking about Christmas gifts for my own children.

Our friends from Building Bridges and I recently discussed the movie “The Family Stone” as part of our movie club. Not everybody was a fan of the complex character Meredith, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, who gets to meet the four adult siblings and parents of her boyfriend Everett, who give her a hard time before she eventually falls for his brother and Meredith's sister for her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend Everett.

I was thinking about the movie and what it means to come home to a place where you meet family and all you have got in life. Christmases can be hard, and families can be hard. Most of us are moved by the Christmas lights and decorations and the lovely office parties at this time of the year, when work usually gets quieter and we all get a much-needed break at work.

But Christmas can also be the time of the year when emotions get out of control and couples are splitting up not under the mistletoe but under festively decorated Christmas trees, and children end up arguing with their parents and promising each other not to come home for Christmas in the following year.

When this year comes to an end, my children and I will have spent the last 6 Christmases at 6 different places, including New York, Florence, my parents farm in Germany, Buenos Aires, our home in Hannover last year, and our current home in Barcelona.

Spending time at different places and different homes in our lives seemed to be the story of our lives, and for a brief moment I wished that I had found that permanent and lovely home at a place where I finally decided to settle down.

But then I realize that this wasn't supposed to happen in life so far. I was always proud of my own career, which took me to different places in the world, and I love that my children can grow up and thrive in very open and diverse places in the world. And I am proud that I kicked off the Doctor of Business Administration program at Edinburgh Business School, which will most likely take us to another place in the world one day.

So when I look back at those Christmases in life, then I really think that it doesn't matter whether we are driving home for Christmas or not as long as we are surrounded by love. And love can be expressed in so many ways, and it can come from partners, family, friends, and, obviously, from us. Life is changing; sometimes the people around us are changing, and sometimes we find new places, which we call home.

I know that many of you are going through challenging times in life, and as much as our Christmases might have changed over the years, we sometimes must admit that we cannot stop time once again. I remember visiting my grandparents on Boxing Day and driving to the farm, where my mother had grown up. When I took my children to that place last year, my grandparents were long gone. And my late father also didn't have the chance to meet his youngest grandson before he passed away.

But yes, I really think that Christmas is about that love and keeping the magic of Christmas alive and trying not to forget what it meant to us as children and as adults. I feel quite often that I have to start all over again in Barcelona and that there are still so many challenges and things we need to improve. But I also know that this year will end with another magical Christmas and happy and grateful children, which makes it all worth it no matter where we end up celebrating Christmas.

I am truly grateful for my children, but I am also grateful to my friends, who helped me through the last years of my life, which were fulfilling but not always easy. I would like to mention that as much as people enjoy reading this blog, some members of Building Bridges come together every month and support each other in those challenging times.

Please don't hesitate to drop me a line if you are keen to join Building Bridges as well. This year we had presentations focusing on Buenos Aires, a friend building up an initiative financing small businesses in West Africa, the career of a New Yorker fashion designer, and several movie club events while supporting children's charities in Colombia and Ghana.

I really want to take this opportunity and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

And I want to remember the singer of the song “Driving Home for Christmas”. Chris Rea had a long and successful career and was known to be a real family man.

Chris wrote this song on the way home on Christmas in 1978. He passed away an December 22nd, 2025 and our thoughts are with him and his family.