I’ll Be Far for Christmas: Why Millennials Are Booking Solo Trips This Holiday Season

LAST YEAR, CHRIS REICH, 34, and his extended family—10 people in total—rented a house in Turks & Caicos over the Thanksgiving weekend. A similar gathering won’t be happening again soon. “It wasn’t seamless,” said Reich, a hedge-fund manager based in New York. “You have someone who wants to do one thing, another person who definitely doesn’t want to do that thing.”

This Christmas, Reich is heading back to the Caribbean—by himself. “I’m extremely close with my family,” said Reich, but going home to Westchester County, just outside New York City, is, he said, “trivial—just a quick Metro North ride.” He sees his family at birthdays and other occasions throughout the year, so the holidays don’t bring the same pressure. And in late December, Reich happens to get a large chunk of time off work, one of his only opportunities to take trips abroad. “I think [my parents] want me to stay, but they know that it doesn’t make sense,” he said.