Christmas in the Upside Down

Christmas in the Upside Down

Christmas in the Upside Down is a travel reflection by Lary Kennedy exploring what it feels like to spend the holidays far from tradition. In this Living Like I’m Dying post, Christmas in the Upside Down unfolds through rain, isolation, bad television, and a quiet transition toward Hoi An in Vietnam.

Countdown to Christmas… Fa la la la la… Bah humbug.

What the Christmas carols fail to mention is that not all good boys and girls wake up Christmas morning surrounded by candy canes, sugar plums, and a lovingly placed liter of Black Velvet whisky beneath an ornately decorated tree.

Tiny Tim, Cindy Lou Who, and Kevin-left-home-alone are living proof that Scrooge, the Grinch, and Billy Bob Thornton’s Bad Santa do, in fact, exist.

With family drama attacking my nervous system, my supply of mistletoe dried to tinder, and no chance of the jolly fat man ever finding me, it’s time to explore the underbelly of every redundant, hokey, innocuous-on-the-surface, addictive Hallmark Christmas movie ever written.

I’m spending Christmas in the Upside Down.

Typhoon Kalmaegi recently pummeled the shores of Quy Nhon, a coastal city in central Vietnam — a perfect backdrop for conspiring with Krampus before I head north to Hoi An for Christmas itself. With gloom, doom, and disaster swirling around me, I feel confident there won’t be much holly jolliness happening here.

The remains of massive flooding are still evident around my swanky five-star hotel. No wonder I scored such a high-end stay — capitalizing on the misfortune of those forced to cancel theirs. Too bad, so sad. Ho ho ho.

But the real luxury isn’t the balcony upgrade or the guess the fruit basket. It’s real life TV… Not an annoying Smart TV..

For the first time in months, I have actual, old-school Television  — English-speaking channels, no logins, no VPN workarounds, no risk of losing another streaming service because I dared to open Netflix in the wrong country. This is where bad movies go to retire. Not B-movies — D- and F-level films. Painful to watch. Embarrassingly bad.

Whatever.. Who cares.. I feel like me for a minute. Well Whoever I was, I guess.

While rain continued it’s onslaught on this quaint beach enclave, I lay in bed, ordering 20 percent discounted room service, watching images flicker by, my mind on the verge of mush..

Until I hear a bell ring..

Best make my way to Bedford Falls.. er I mean Hoi An.

Ring the bell. Buy me a glass of wine🍷