Did Covid cancel your Christmas? Here are seven tips for enjoying the holiday alone — from someone who has done it (a lot)

The author, drunk and sledding on the campus of Western Kentucky University, Christmas Eve 2010. Photo: unknown stranger who was kind enough to take his picture

Like the Grinch who stole Christmas, Covid-19 is keeping many of us home for the holidays. With much of the UK under travel restrictions and the unmitigated spread of the virus causing many Americans to cancel plans, countless people are facing a rather blue Christmas.

Spending Christmas alone is scary and upsetting, especially if you have never done it before. A time of family, togetherness, and merriment, it can feel impossible to escape the festive atmosphere, which only reminds you just how utterly alone you are. It’s enough to make even the jolliest elf feel glum.

My first Christmas spent alone was in 2009. I was a broke university student without the means to travel home, so I stayed in my dingy little apartment with my pitiful little Christmas tree and a bottle of grain alcohol. Safe to say, it was a low point.

Determined never to repeat that mistake, but still equally broke in 2010, I decided to make the best of a bad situation. To my surprise, I quite enjoyed the peace and quiet that a Christmas by yourself can provide.

Over the next decade, I spent several Christmases on my own. As you can imagine, I have learned a few lessons along the way. Here are…