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Feelgood Friday Story: Christmas in the Amazon

Christmas for me is just another day. I don't do the commercial machine, don't buy presents people don't want, don't pretend to care about traditions that stopped meaning anything decades ago. My plan for Christmas 2025 was simple: chill out in the Amazon, work on some projects, treat December 25th like any other Tuesday. Then a Kichwa family in Uchuculín, Ecuador invited me to their celebration. Over 40 people. Zero money. One slippery jungle tree with prizes at the top. Balloon-stomping games with a puppy involved. Kids giggling through songs. Adults giving speeches about gratitude and family. And the patriarch of the family told me something that changed my perspective: "We don't have any money, so we celebrate family time." They went to a dollar store, bought some small toys for the kids to grab from the tree and play with afterwards. That was it. Maybe a few dollars total spent on the entire celebration. But what they created? Worth more than any Black Friday shopping spree or debt-generating gift exchange. This is a story about what Christmas looks like when it's not about consumption. When it's about genuine connection, community, and being present for each other. It's about a family with no financial wealth but rich in what actually matters: health, connection, simple living, and genuine happiness. In this Feel Good Friday episode, I share: How I got invited to a 40-person Kichwa family Christmas celebration The hilarious slippery tree climbing competition (spoiler: most people just slid down) Why a balloon-stomping puppy made the whole thing even better What the patriarch meant by "celebrating family time" The stark contrast between this and Western commercial Christmas Why this was the most genuine Christmas celebration I've ever witnessed 📍 WHERE THIS HAPPENED: Uchucullín - a Kichwa indigenous community about 15 minutes outside Tena, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. One of many such communities in that part of the jungle. 🎥 CURRENT STATUS: I'm now in Colombia, continuing my volunteer journey across South America. I crossed the border overland from Ecuador (about 19 hours total travel over two days), and I'll be here for the next few months volunteering and exploring. 💰 MY TRAVEL BUDGET: People always ask how I'm doing this. I've been in Ecuador for 3 years, volunteering for 2.5 of those years, living on an absurdly low budget: October 2025: Under $70 September 2025: Under $99 November 2025: Around $250 (catching up on various things) I do work exchanges through platforms like Workaway - contributing my time and skills in exchange for accommodation and sometimes meals. It's sustainable, meaningful, and allows me to actually connect with communities instead of just passing through as a tourist. 📌 This video is part of my Feel Good Friday series, where I share experiences from the road that restore faith in humanity and remind us what actually matters. Sometimes that's planting 2,300-year-old trees, sometimes it's finding community in unexpected cities, and sometimes it's witnessing the most genuine Christmas celebration of your life. Thanks for watching! If this resonated, hit that subscribe button and share it with someone who needs a reminder that the best things in life aren't things. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:43 NEW Wednesday series 2:11 Christmas? Bah Humbug! 3:13 No Plans 4:02 A Kichwa Christmas 5:49 Fun & Games! 6:54 Meaning vs Consumerism 8:31 Simple Gifts 9:16 Apres 10:51 Chuchaki! 12:31 BIG Travel days 13:13 Happy Holidays #FeelGoodFriday #ChristmasInTheAmazon #EcuadorTravel #KichwaLife #VolunteerTravel #AntiConsumerism #AuthenticTravel #AmazonJungle #CommunityOverConsumption #StreetSmartTravel