Overseas for Christmas.... keeping the magic alive?

[needtomovesomewherewarmer]

Not sure of here of travel would be the best place to post, but here goes.

So, we move overseas this year to Asia. Not wanting to return to the UK yet, we booked 3 weeks in Bali over Christmas. Trying to make the most of the holiday and not be home alone.

We usually do all the traditional UK things, seeing Santa, elf, panto, Christmas carols, all the Christmas Day trimmings. I’m looking forward to the holiday but a little apprehensive about how to keep the magic alive for the kids 8, 6, 3.

We have multiple location too so will be limited to what can take and lug around.

Any tips on managing expectations, Santa and keeping the magic. We are also limited on what we can get here, so I need to be imaginative.
Thanks

One thing I did when we went to Australia, was to leave a Christmas tree up at home in the UK...then when we returned our friend had put chocolates all over it and left some surprises underneath.

Do they have panto in Bali??

If the dc are believers a letter from Santa or an elf to say he knows where they’ll be on Christmas Eve might be reassuring.

Some battery operated fairy lights would pack up quite small and add a bit of festive cheer. I’m sure I’ve seen Christmas tree fabric in IKEA (a big sheet with a huge tree printed on it) so maybe something like that too.

Santa could bring a token gift and a note to say he’s left more at home. A pool inflatable would be a big gift and flatten down for packing. Card games, top trumps, collectors cards etc don’t take up much space. I’m sure we could come up with other small gift ideas too.

If you were willing to do without the snaps, you could disassemble and flatten crackers to bring

Just realised that I was assuming you were moving soon, but if you’ve already moved my post is a bit useless, sorry