One thing is certain - major winter holiday parties like Christmas or New Year Eve should never be attended by a sane person if it takes a 7- hour drive to get to the party place and 3 days to live in a remote mountain village.
I had to pack too much staff I've never even had a chance to use at all but, of course, if I hadn't brought it with me, the chance would appear for sure.
I had to cook food for potluck and bring half of the grocery store with me because one can never be sure there are stores in a village, or if they are, these stores would be actually open, or if they would, there will be the groceries I need.
I had to live in a place with the internet disconnecting every 10 seconds (drove me nuts!). The place was disgustingly expensive.
Kevin didn't feel fit enough to ski so we didn't do any skiing. I spent 3 days watching the last season of the Big Bang Theory on TV (again, because couldn't get the internet working on my laptop). Was waking up late, so couldn't fall asleep at night until wee hours of the morning. Was very happy to go back home. I guess it's either a sign of getting old, or just a sign of a wrong kind of vacation for me.
On a lighter note, here's some Christmas trees I saw during my travels.