Tet reunion or travel?

Traditional Tet is a beautiful cultural feature of Vietnamese people. This is an occasion for everyone who lives far away to return home, reunite with family and relatives after a year of hard work. Therefore, every time Tet approaches, everyone is busy making plans and preparing things to return to their hometown. However, for many people, instead of choosing to return home to gather with their family, they choose to travel to experience the atmosphere in new lands.

My cousin is 31 years old this year and is not married. More than a month ago, she planned a trip for the Lunar New Year this year. This is the second year she has not returned to her hometown for the New Year. My cousin confessed that the reason she did not choose to return to her hometown for Tet was because every time she returned home, people often asked her about marriage, income, etc. She thought that Tet was the time she had the most time off in the year, so she took the opportunity to rest, travel, and recharge to prepare for a new year of work. My cousin also shared that people said she was selfish and did not think about her family. She did not return to her hometown for Tet all year but chose to travel.

My next door neighbor and his wife are from Ninh Binh. For many years now, every time Tet comes, they prepare very early to return to their hometown. With 2 children, 2 spouses, every time they return to their hometown for Tet, they have to make a very detailed plan, from choosing the return date, departure date to choosing the means of transportation for convenience... They said that it is busy and a bit tiring but fun. Especially for the children, every time they return to their hometown for Tet, they are very excited because they get to wrap Chung cakes and visit relatives. According to them, Tet is for reunion, nothing can compare to the warm feeling of being with parents. Tet may not have high tables and full dishes, but they definitely have to return to their hometown to gather with loved ones.

In fact, society develops, life also changes a lot. The views on Tet of each person, each generation are somewhat different. Some people choose to play Tet and some people choose to eat Tet. Young people increasingly want to travel more even during Tet. The common point among people who choose to travel during Tet is to seek new travel experiences, to strange lands to start a new year. And the need to travel during Tet is completely normal, especially on days of the year when they do not have time for themselves, this is the opportunity for them to rest and enjoy.

On the contrary, not everyone spends their Tet holiday traveling. Many people choose Tet to reunite with family and relatives, and also to rest at home. The whole family gathers around meals together, welcoming the sacred moment, the harmony of all things in nature, marking the end of a year, wishing each other happy wishes with the hope of a new year of peace, health, luck and happiness. For many families with young children, returning to their hometown for Tet is not only a reunion, but bringing children back to their hometown also helps them appreciate traditional values, understand more clearly the value of family reunion. And when each person knows how to love their roots, is nurtured in family love, then Tet is truly joyful and meaningful.

The traditional beauty of Tet is reunion. Tet is returning home. People who are far away look forward to returning home, people at home look forward to those who are far away returning home. Tet is also an opportunity to rest, recharge, and have hope for a new year to come. Therefore, returning home to celebrate Tet with family or traveling to a far away place is each person's choice. And whether choosing to return home or travel during Tet, each of us should know how to balance between tradition and modernity, proactively arranging a reasonable time to return home to visit family and relatives before or after traveling. If each of us can balance between personal needs and the desire for reunion of relatives at each specific time and circumstance, Tet will not lose its traditional value.