I did it once with a friend in my early 20's and it was like I ran away and was never coming back - my family were mortified! But they survived, and we had a great, stress free Chrissy on the beach!

Last year DH and I decided to stay home instead of travel to any family, and it didn't go down well either, but if we don't do it every now and then, we are going to be travelling interstate every Christmas and we're just not up for that.