Halloween is most widely celebrated as an American holiday. While it is bittersweet to be experiencing my first holiday away from home, I wouldn’t be lying if I said I loved seeing the way other countries celebrated. It is widely known around Europe that some countries celebrate the holiday more than others, so when my friends and I were planning on where to go, the choices were limited.
Staying in London would have been an easy, but somewhat expensive choice. There are several different venues having Halloween events, but the tickets were equivalent to $35 dollars. During the day, there were Jack the Ripper tours which, fun fact, his first victim was found in the neighborhood next to my host university (spooky!). There were also performances over by the Tower of London that tourists could attend, due to the nature of the location.
Luckily for students staying in London, there are plenty of spooky things to do in a city full of old history. On top of the day time events, venues like the Ministry of Sound would put on Halloween inspired balls or mystery parties. These are all great options for those who wanted to remain in London.
Unfortunately the price for going to events like these are usually out of a students price range and can often betoo gimmicky. Coming from the Halloween capital of the world, anything that feels tacky would be disappointing. Plus, I only have one full month left before having to leave at the end of December. There are only so many weekends left and to waste a weekend on staying in London would be silly.
Instead, my friends and I decided to travel. This is one of my biggest tips for an American celebrating a holiday, to travel. Not only can traveling keep the mind occupied but it can also feel like a celebration of the holiday itself. Traveling was a huge idea amongst other study abroad students, especially Americans. When looking at the popular locations, Barcelona seemed to be the place to go. However, by the time my friends and I wanted to book our flights to the city it was too expensive. Plus, why go somewhere that is the most popular?
Barcelona had the same Halloween themed events as London did, for about the same price. It would have been the same, with a Spanish flair. The pros of going is that we would be in a large group of our friends but the cons is just the cost of the trip. While the weather looked beautiful, it just seemed to not be the most effective use of my time or money.
I am always a true believer in going off the beaten path. Doing unique things, like studying abroad, can really make an experience that much better. So instead my friends decided to go to Budapest. Budapest is an amazing city with a lovely nightlife and young crowd, wonderful attractions, and unbelievable scenery.
Budapest is known as the city that other Europeans go to, and this is very true even now. I noticed while being there we didn’t hear a lot of American accents, and only ran into one Canadian. However, this did not negate from the great Halloween atmosphere.
We didn’t know if Budapest does the whole “costumes” thing because quite honestly, there was no way of knowing. This seemed to be okay though as Budapest had a mix of who dressed up and who didn’t, some lazy costumes and some well thought out ones. A recommendation I have for celebrating a holiday while abroad is to absolutely do the same traditions as at home, so if dressing up is what someone is used to, then follow those routines. Routines are a great place to keep that close feeling to home.
Another huge tip I want to share with Americans who are traveling for the holidays is to go with other Americans. Being able to travel with others who celebrate the same holiday in the way I am used to was comforting. Sharing that identity can be very important. This comes in handy especially for other holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas, the ones that are more family oriented holidays.
Finally, the last tip I have is to connect with your family. My mom and I were texting about how she would send videos of the trick or treaters that come to our door, this made me very happy and excited to still feel my traditions in celebrating this holiday.
Budapest as a city celebrates the holiday with crowded bars and shopping centers, creepy masks, and Halloween inspired food specials. For an American who loves Halloween, I thought Budapest was a great city to spend the holiday. It was a nice balance between too cliche and gimmicky to not celebrate.
