Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what Two Late To The Party's Adam Corkett had to say: 

Growing up in Canada as a practicing Catholic, Christmas was always fairly routine; going to church, spending the next morning with family opening gifts and a turkey dinner afterwards. Though I moved a lot as a kid, our traditions were always the same and even the people I shared it with were always the same.

In the 2000s I had the opportunity to travel and live in Southeast Asia as a tour guide for a small travel company from Canada, and since I wasn’t going to be able to go home I was kind of lost on what to do for Christmas. It should be no big surprise that the Christmas season in Thailand is very different from Canada. As a predominantly Buddhist country, December is essentially just another month in the year and if it weren’t for the odd Christmas lights or picture of Santa, you would have no idea it was Christmas at all. At the time I was living in Northern Thailand, in the city of Chiang Mai, studying Thai and as the season changed I was starting to miss my family and was looking for something to distract me from thoughts of home. Figuring it wasn’t too far away I decided to head to Laos for Christmas and New Years.

I did very little planning for this trip and didn’t know it at the time but it would be a long boat ride over two days to get me to my destination of Luang Prabang in Laos. After arriving at the border crossing I met up with a random group of German tourists who were headed in the same direction on the same boat. We were setting out Christmas Eve and would be spending the night in a small village halfway to Luang Probang. At this point I was definitely getting homesick; I never spent Christmas away from my family and I had never experienced being alone. Fortunately for me, this wonderful group of Germans were kind enough to include me in their Christmas tradition, which was celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve.

From out of nowhere people were pulling out chocolates, passing around German schnapps and music was being played (both Christmas and traditional Bob Marley tunes). Christmas morning we got back in our boat, a bit worse for wear but still in a festive mood. We kept the good times rolling as we enjoyed a Christmas morning cruising the Mekong river. I don’t remember feeling homesick in the end, just the feeling of being included and cared for even though I couldn’t remember the names of those wonderful people.

In the end, this turned out to be one of my favorite Christmases, and allowed me to step outside of what I had always known and thought of Christmas. It showed me you can find the most special Christmas memories in the most unusual places and it's not where you are but who you are with that really matters.

Two Late To The Party finds it's never too late to find the true meaning of Christmas