Rikard Reardon, an international traveller from Arizona, is spending his second consecutive Christmas abroad. He will celebrate in Melbourne, Australia, with orphans and strangers.
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.
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.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 rug
TRAVEL CHRISTMAS AUSTRALIA HOLIDAYS STRANGERS
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