To leave family alone for Christmas and new year

How are you when it’s brighter? Is your mood actually better?

Everyone saying "book a holiday for all of you on boxing day" make a fair point.

But do the husband & daughters want to go away on boxing day, do they perhaps not want to just spend time at home. I love going on holiday but not sure i could really be arsed to travel etc after christmas busy time.

Seems like everyone in family seems to have make adjustments to accommodate you which doesnt seem massively fair.

I do hope that aside from the SAD (which obviously has a major impact on you) that life in the UK isn't totally crap! Maybe it's a matter of what you're used to or grew up with but I like the changing of the seasons - not so keen on winter but there are some blue sky nip in the air days. I can't stand relentlessly hot and humid places myself.
What I'm saying is, I guess it's not just the weather that doesn't suit you. Are you missing your homeland, its culture, food, family? It sounds like until you can get back to southern climes you need to break up the long British winter with a few breaks. Next year plan ahead and you might get a better deal for a break in the
sun between Christmas and New Year. Better to have a week away every couple of months rather than one holiday of two weeks if that's possible workwise.

As a 15 year old i dont think i would have felt that great if my mum disappeared and missed christmas & my birthday just because she was a bit down in the dumps about the weather.

I have SAD and i don’t get it tbh. Leaving your children? Do you celebrate xmas? Your daughters birthday? Why don’t you plan holidays in the winter to combat it.

Im lucky i fight through mine with morning daylight, lots of outdoor walking, plenty of other exercise and nutrition etc. Vit d helps. I don’t need hot sun i just need daylight. It affects my sleep too. It’s taken years to find a balance

No one is saying it isn’t hard btw but you asked @Orquid9 and it’s not great leaving your family over that time.

This is why I don’t want kids, because I wouldn’t be able to do selfish things like this.

I don’t imagine it will be either, by short break I was meaning a few days in the sunshine for you all. Out local airport currently has flights that give you three nights in the canaries - would give your eldest long enough to study too.

Could you use the 2k to have a short break with all the family in the canaries etc? I honestly think going away over Christmas and your teen’s birthday would be beyond selfish.

I think considering how many times you have already been and are booked to go again you would be horribly selfish to go abroad and leave your 15 year old daughter (and the rest of your family) alone for her birthday and for Christmas.
Perhaps throw some of the money you are spending on holidays on private medical treatment to fix the issue instead.

Many of us find winter a drag and they tend to be grey and wet rather than crisp and snowy in the UK. As a fellow SAD sufferer I know I have to do certain things to make it better for myself. That's what Christmas is for as far as I'm concerned - helping to get me through the long winter with some sparkle, lights, festive cheer. For your family it's also about your DD's birthday and you need to be home for that or you could cause lasting resentment.

Ultimately maybe you can move to Oz or your country one day. Do you have long term plans once the DC are grown & flown? For bluer skies, warmer (but not hot) weather in winter you only need to go to southern Spain/Canaries/Cape Verde etc so it doesn't have to be Australia or bust.

I do understand what is making you sad and how you are missing your family/feeling the effects of SAD (I get that too, to varying degrees), based on this I think you would be being unreasonable.

If you go now and miss your DD's birthday plus Christmas with them then they will remember that. It would hurt.

Just get through Christmas and New Year day by day and then you will soon have your April trip on the horizon to look forward to, plus the days will be starting to slowly lengthen.

No you can’t do that. How are you treating your SAD? Are you getting out for a daily walk in daylight? Do you use a light box?

If this is solely down to the weather, could you look at booking a holiday for all of your family somewhere much nearer eg Canary Islands, southern Spain, North Africa etc where it would be a lot cheaper for you to gets break for all of you - if you fly out on the 27th/28th January, you can normally get a week in before schools return. Over £2k for a ticket back to your home country is a lot. You could probably get a package for all of you for that amount if you travel to a destination where it’s ’warm and pleasant’ rather than hot.

Your DD will remember how you treated her, on her birthday! Expect the same respect back,

This. Either there's a massive drip feed coming, or the OP is being VU in planning the trip to coincide with Christmas and her DCs birthday.

Why must you be away over Christmas, OP?