Claus for REFLECTION

Colin’s getting in the holiday spirit by being Santa-mental about his past

- COLIN HOGG

Christmas can make some of us jumpy. Once, a few years back, I got so twitchy that I tried to run away from it, even taking family with me, as if to deprive them of the joys of the festive season. I’m confessing this in the face of a swiftly approaching Christmas - though I have no intention of trying to run away from it now or ever again.

That other time, when I did run away, we went to Vietnam. I'd read somewhere Christmas didn’t loom large over there. Also, the festive season lands in the middle of Vietnam’s winter when tourism is even cheaper than usual. I possibly thought it was an interesting angle for a travel story. And, of course, we were keen to go to Vietnam anyway.