Why I’m happy staying in this New Year’s Eve

Christmas has come to an end for another year. Next, we look forward to New Year’s Eve as a chance to celebrate the end of the festivities and see in the brand-new year of 2020. It might even be a chance for a new chapter and fresh start.

Typically, New Year’s is a time to get together with your loved ones and go out to celebrate. For many of us, knocking back a few drinks is the perfect way to end the year.

But it’s becoming increasingly popular stay in for the night. In fact, research company YPulse found that 70 percent of millennials and Generation Z would prefer to stay home for New Year’s Eve. It seems to be a myth that New Year’s Eve is the ultimate night out of the year.

When I wrote a Lifestyle article a while ago about my indifference to university drinking culture, I had a lot of people ask me if I was completely teetotal or if I just didn’t ever go out anymore.

My intention wasn’t to say that I don’t enjoy going out. With the right people and at the right time, it’s a great way to celebrate an occasion. I’m not against a few drinks in honour of reflecting back on the past year and celebrating a new one.

I have become comfortable with going out when I decide to, rather than according to social expectations. This means that if I don’t end up going out on New Year’s Eve – or if I don’t want to go out – I won’t necessarily feel like that’s a bad thing. In fact, I’m quite happy to have a cosy night in.

It’s equally possible to honour the values of New Year’s Eve by having a quiet night in with your friends and family

New Year’s Eve seems to be the perfect opportunity to go to a bar or a club. Why do we see it that way? Perhaps it’s because we’re usually spending that night out with our friends, our families and or our significant others, celebrating what we’re grateful for.

But it’s equally possible to honour the values of New Year’s Eve by having a quiet night in with your friends and family, or even at a house party if you’re lucky enough to be able to host or have friends who can host one.

I have never gone on a night out for New Year’s Eve. I respect everyone’s decision to do so, but personally going out is hardly my favourite pastime on an average Friday night.

Queuing in the cold, paying five pounds for one measly drink and being surrounded by sweaty strangers as the speakers drown out the conversation my friends and I are trying to make is not really how I want to spend the night.

When I was still at school, I’d go to house parties with friends on New Year’s Eve, which is a great excuse to still dress up and enjoy a drink, but you’ll be free from the crowds and surrounded by people you know in honour of the year you’ve spent together.

According to Tesco’s annual Christmas report in 2018, just 11 percent of those surveyed said they would rather go to a house party. An even lower eight percent said they would see in the New Year at a bar or a club.

Unfortunately, life is not a fairy tale in which everything will suddenly change when the clock strikes 12

I have to agree with the 70 percent who say they would rather spend the night at home. As of recent years, my close circle of friends and I get together at one of our houses. We’ll have drinks, play board games or card games and listen to music.

We’ll watch the New Year countdown on television to celebrate, knowing that we’re happy to have one another in our lives for another year. In that environment, I feel safe, comfortable and relaxed. I’m not worrying about what other people think of me if I choose to drink, nor do I feel the pressure to drink if I don’t feel like it. Feeling like myself with people who know me best is my idea of the perfect New Year’s celebration.

I’ll likely do the same for the arrival of 2020, feeling no pressure to be out and no sense of ‘FOMO’ either, as long as I’m enjoying myself with people I love. There are so many expectations surrounding nights outs, and they’re even greater when it’s the ‘biggest night out of the year’. This tends to lead to my inevitable disappointment and leaves me feeling low. Unfortunately, life is not a fairy tale in which everything will suddenly change when the clock strikes 12. I’m happy to stay in for the night with no set plans and no expectations. Instead, I’ll be grateful for what I already have and I hope it stays that way in the New Year.