UK author Lindsey Kelk reveals why Australia is the best place in the world to find Christmas love
Forget London and New York, UK rom-com writer Lindsey Kelk reveals why the land Down Under is the perfect place to find love during the silly season.
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Looking for love at Christmas is a curious position to be in. On the one hand, you’ve got lots of parties, people getting together and, let’s be honest, a tonne of booze, which often helps grease the romantic wheels.
But on the other hand, you are going to be busy. You’ve got obligations coming out of every orifice; family demands, work events, presents to buy and that’s just the beginning. Christmas might be the season of goodwill to all men but it’s a lot more complicated when it comes to dating.
I’ve had the dubious pleasure of being single over the festive season in a variety of climates and here’s why I think I think Australia might be the very best place to be in the world if you’re on the hunt for a December date. You’ve got the weather and you’ve got the festivities! It’s a perfect combination. Not convinced? OK, hear me out.
In the UK, where I’m from, the idea of finding love at Christmas is lovely but in reality you’re running in the rain trying to get the last train with a bag full of mince pies that will all be broken by the time you get home (if you get home because the train will probably be cancelled) and when you do finally make it, who are you going to fall in love with exactly? The likelihood of an early 2000s Jude Law trotting up the footpath to ask you for directions to the nearest inn are pretty slim, I’m very sorry to say. We, as a people, might have exaggerated the romance of an English Christmas.
One place that has not exaggerated is New York. I lived in New York for six years and was single at Christmas for five of them and let me tell you, it was terrible. New York is a winter wonderland for lovers. You see them on every corner, holding hands and kissing, pink noses and happy smiles and I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone more. If you’re single, it’s a nightmare.
Dating in NYC at any time of year is difficult enough but come the holiday season, it’s impossible. The weather is frigid and damp, your hair is frizzy, your eye makeup runs and your cute outfit is wasted under that giant jacket. Half the available humans are only looking for “a winter coat”, a full-time partner to see out cuffing season when it’s too cold to date but will promptly be discarded at the first sign of spring. The other half are too busy cruising parties and making the most of that mistletoe with no intention of calling you the next day. Seriously, from the moment you put away your Halloween costume until about mid-March, dating in New York is impossibly stressful. I once had a guy freak out because I gave him a book for Christmas. We’d been seeing each other for eight months. IT WAS A BOOK. So unless you can find literal Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle, abandon all hope ye who enter here.
Now, when I moved to LA, things looked more likely. The weather was much better than it was on the east coast so no snow boots were needed but the cuffing season rules still seemed to apply and, even though it rarely dips below 75 degrees, people still seem committed to dressing like they’re in the arctic. Not hot. Actually, it is hot and those people must be dying. I’m literally sat here typing this in shorts and a man just walked past my window wearing a puffer jacket. Unnecessary, sir.
According to my extensive research, the two places people are most likely to have their romantic defences down year round, are at a party with friends and on the beach. Now, where in the world could you possibly be at a party and on the beach at Christmas? Australia! The last time I visited Melbourne it was January (Christmas adjacent) and I could not have been more thrilled about stripping down to my bathers and lying in the sun. The thought of combining that joy with a festive cocktail and a snog under the mistletoe feels like pure gold to me. So you’re already in the best place in the world to find love at Christmas – what’s the next step? Well, that’s up to you but the best advice I can give you is to get out there. Go to the beach with your besties, hit up the Christmas markets, say yes to as many parties as you can. Christmas is a great time to meet new people, there’s so much going on, no one has expectations or hidden agendas because they’re all just trying to make it to New Year’s Day in one piece after the heroic amount of drinking from Christmas Eve onwards.
Plus the holidays are a shared experience. No need to spend ages trying to think of the right thing to say, we’re all suffering/celebrating together and the conversations start themselves. Find out if they’re a turkey or a prawn person, get their considered opinion on whether you should open presents in the morning or the afternoon, and if you’re feeling especially lucky, ask what they’d like to find in their stocking. As long as you say it with a smile, you’ll totally get away with it – it’s Christmas! Plus Christmas parties have the added benefit of mistletoe which can be super helpful in encouraging a cheeky (consensual) kiss.
Honestly, if you have to carry it around yourself, DO IT. Just remember to hang it over a doorway and not your belt buckle but that is Not It.
And just in case none of this helps, I asked my Australian bestie for his specific advice and his immediate response was ‘Coopers Pale Ale!’ which in all honesty didn’t mean anything to me but hopefully its helpful. Merry Christmas and good luck!
Love Me Do by Lindsey Kelk is out now, published by HarperCollins.
Come and discuss romance, comedy or anything you like at the Sunday Book Club group on Facebook. And try our Book Of The Month, Cain’s Jawbone – you get 33 per cent off the RRP with the code JAWBONE at Booktopia.
Originally published as UK author Lindsey Kelk reveals why Australia is the best place in the world to find Christmas love
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