December 21, 2022
Holidays typically translate into gatherings, cooking, lounging, and yes, traveling.
According to AAA, this year an estimated 113 million people will travel 50 miles or more, making this the third busiest holiday travel year since 2000. So, whether you are planning a busy winter break away from home or aiming for a chill time locally, here are some suggestions from UC Riverside staff to keep you entertained — or to simply give you a reason to stay at home in pajamas.
Activities with younglings
- Gluing googly eyes on items you find around the house: tea kettles, rocks, signs, fruit, trees
- Roller-skating (at the park, on your driveway, or of course, your local skating rink)
- Make a tent or fort inside your home. Set up a cozy area to read or watch a movie
- Baking. You can go all out and bake from scratch … or just buy canned pastry dough
Books
UCR has incredible award-winning faculty, staff, and alumni. Here is a short list of books featured in UCR Magazine that were published in 2022:
- Spring 2022: news.ucr.edu/ucr-magazine/spring-2022/books
- Summer 2022: news.ucr.edu/ucr-magazine/summer-2022/books
- Fall 2022: news.ucr.edu/ucr-magazine/fall-2022/books
- Winter 2022: news.ucr.edu/ucr-magazine/winter-2022/books
Music
- “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You,” by Big Thief. Great sprawling collection of indie rock of a band at its peak
- “Money is the Root of Evil” by The African Internationals
- “El Fen/Casbah” by Ait Meslayene
- “Plus tard” by Bigflo & Oli
Nature
- Take a woodsy walk at Oak Glen Preserve in Yucaipa. Entry is free!
- Skiing/snowboarding at Mountain High or Big Bear
- Hiking or skiing/snowboarding on Mt. Baldy. Or take a scenic lift ride to Top of The Notch Restaurant and watch the fun!
- Picnic at your local park or the beach
- Visit California’s Park and Recreation site to find parks and hiking trails near you: www.parks.ca.gov
Screen time
(Please note some of these shows and films might have violence and/or explicit sexual content)
- “Wednesday.” An Addams Family-adjacent series on Netflix.
- “Station Eleven.” Deeply emotional with indelible characters. On HBO Max.
- “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Film.” A fun mystery with great characters that is just as good as the first film. On Netflix.
- “The Hair Tales.” Docu-series from executive producers Oprah Winfrey, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Michaela Angela Davis. On Hulu.
- “Abbott Elementary.” Hilarious, workplace sitcom. On Hulu.
- “Spirited.” Charming comedy inspired by “A Christmas Carol” featuring Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell. On AppleTV.
- “Your Christmas or Mine?” A British romantic comedy. On Amazon Prime.
- “Queer Eye”; “Heartstopper”; “Young Royals”; “Queen” (the one set in Poland and France). All on Netflix.
- “Always Be My Maybe.” Comedy, romance. On Hulu.
- “Tangerine.” Comedy, drama, sprinkled with foul language — but isn’t everything now? The entire film was shot on a trio of iPhones.
- All Pedro Almodóvar movies on Hulu, starting with “Todo sobre mi madre.”
- “Catch the Fair One” on Netflix. The film features Native American boxer Kali Reis who goes on a journey to find her kidnapped sister. The plot is gut-wrenching.
- “Gentefied”; “On My Block”; “Halftime”; “Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire”; “La flor más bella/The Most Beautiful Flower”; “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It”; “Vida.” These shows and films unravel Latinx stories. On Netflix.
- “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.” Fictional period show based on real Israeli history. On Netflix.
- “Reservation Dogs.” Native American teen comedy drama series. On Hulu.
Nothing
- Do nothing. Just relax and decompress at home. Wear PJs all day. Instacart groceries, order out. Eat leftovers. Repeat.
