Most people would sulk over the thought of spending Christmas away from family but for international traveller Rikard Reardon, it is a sign he is in the middle of the adventure of a lifetime.
It is the second year in a row that Reardon, who hails from Arizona but is working in Rye as a ferris wheel operator for a travelling carnival crew, has celebrated the festivities overseas.
Rikard Reardon, who is in Australia on a work and holiday visa, will attend an orphans’ Christmas lunch.Credit: Simon Schluter
Last year, he was travelling across New Zealand on a work and holiday visa and spent Christmas Day celebrating with strangers at a party in Auckland.
“It was fantastic,” Reardon said. “All the people were travellers, so I was able to ask about traditions from their countries and what they like to eat, if they brought any of that food to try to celebrate, you know, that sort of thing.”
This year, he has booked himself into a hostel in Melbourne and is spending the day at an orphans’ lunch in Glen Iris. The plan is to meet new people, have a feed and go to a park or the beach in the afternoon.
Reardon, who lived in Portland, Oregon, before moving overseas, feels right at home about the idea.
“I live at home near my sister, and we always had our own kind of orphan Christmas. It’s like a large group of friends who come together,” Reardon said.
“Portland is a city of transplants. There are a lot of people who have left their families, so we all come together.”
The Australian summer weather also reminds him of celebrating Christmas in his native Arizona, where there’s no snow, and lighting the fireplace requires turning on the air-conditioning.
“It feels like childhood again,” he said.
At the Queen Victoria Gardens, across the road from the National Gallery of Victoria, about two dozen strangers share a meal under the shade of a leafy tree. Christmas carols are blaring from a speaker, wine is flowing into paper cups, and a collection of snacks and home-cooked meals cover picnic rugs.
Melbourne dog groomer July Ritthichaiwong at the picnic.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
The picnic, organised by the Melbourne Social Club, aims to bring together those not participating in a traditional family Christmas. Most of the attendees are international students, others are backpackers travelling across Australia, locals without family connections, and people from diverse backgrounds with family overseas.
Dog groomer July Ritthichaiwong moved to Melbourne from Thailand seven years ago and has no family in the city. She usually spends Christmas Day alone or with her ex-partner, with whom she remains friends, but this year she decided to get out of her comfort zone and join the picnic.
“I had to face my fear and get out and meet new people,” Ritthichaiwong said.
She felt a bit apprehensive at first and even thought about turning around and going home, but once everyone sat on a blanket and started chatting, all the nerves disappeared.
French backpackers Oceane Lemesle (centre) and Anais Tavernier (right) are travelling across Australia.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“I feel so much better now because we just met, but we seem to get along well. We don’t know each other, but I feel like I’m not alone by myself,” she said.
Sitting a few metres away from Ritthichaiwong are Oceane Lemesle and Anais Tavernier. The French backpackers are both seasonal workers and often spend the holiday period working in the mountains in Europe.
“We are quite used to being away from family,” Lemesle said.
The duo spent the past month travelling across Western and South Australia and decided to attend the picnic in the hope of meeting new people before jetting off to the next leg of their trip along the Great Ocean Road.
Picnic organiser Ian Wood said experiences like those of Ritthichaiwong, Lemesle and Tavernier were the reason the social club had been holding the event for 17 years.
The Melbourne Social Club has been holding a Christmas Day event for 17 years.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“It’s quite a lonely time for certain people, so if we can offer a nice, relaxed event, so people can come and meet other people, they feel less isolated, and I think that’s good for everybody,” Wood said.
For Reardon, who is saving money to travel around Australia, public events like orphans’ lunches and picnics are also about changing the perceptions around being alone on Christmas.
“There’s a lot of us out there, and everybody is in such different areas of their life,” he said.
“Some people are alone because they don’t have families, some because they are going on a grand adventure like me. It’s good to let the world know that there are people out there like that.”
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