For some, going home for the holidays is an expense they cannot afford

    The December holidays are the only time most people get to spend some quality time with their families, but for some coming from other parts of Africa, going home isn’t always possible. The Daily Vox spoke to a 32-year-old Nigerian man, Olayemi Bakre, to find out how he is planning to spend his holidays away from home.

    I have been in South Africa for the past four years now and I will be spending festive holidays here for the third time this year. I don’t really celebrate this time of the year because of my personality and religion; I am more of a traveller. Also, my family is scattered all over so it’s only my mother and my other brother back home.

    Even though we don’t really have some sort of a tradition that we practise over this time of the year back home, being with them would have been great but going home for some of us is a process that requires more than just financial readiness, it also requires mental readiness. Travelling home can be very stressful especially at this time of the year because it often becomes expensive and you still have to budget for when you get home and spoil the family.

    Most people will be leaving for home from this weekend onwards so the city will be empty. Since I won’t be going home, I have decided that I will spend most of my time focusing on my studies because I have a lot of work to do. I wish I could be going home but not going will save me a lot of trouble and I will also get some time to do some charity work just to invest my time in something good.

    The idea of spending holidays with family is rather a good one, however not everyone has that privilege really. I guess I am just fortunate that I make friends wherever I go who eventually become family and in this case, I will be spending time with those who won’t be going home, just like me.

    My family might have not been fond of the idea of me not coming home for holidays but over the years they have accepted it. I travel a lot so they are now used to it.

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