The holidays for truckers can be challenging if they can’t make it home for specific occasions. Being on the road often means leaving behind daily routines typically practiced at home, many of those including traditions that happen around holidays. It’s essential to try and take those traditions on the road with you in any way possible to maintain a state of normalcy when away from home. Whether your traditions are religious, spiritual, or just something you grew up doing, sticking to them will make life on the road more fulfilling.

 

Take April Traditions on the Road

April is filled with holidays, many of them religious. Easter is one of the most recognized holidays in April, meant to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his triumph over death. For others, Easter is another holiday where you get together with family to eat, drink, make memories, build traditions, and have a good time. The Easter Bunny, painted eggs, and baskets filled with goodies take center stage and become the traditions embedded in your memories when you think of holidays in April.

 

Easter Traditions

An Easter egg hunt is an activity often organized for children that have evolved from searching for real eggs to searching for plastic eggs filled with money, candy, and toys.

 

 

If Easter holds a special place in your heart, bring it on the road, making dealing with homesickness easier. If decorations are displayed in your home every year, take a piece of that for your truck. Something simple like a cloth with a unique design that you can drape over a corner in your truck will do the trick. If your traditions include painted eggs, grab some eggs and a coloring kit, some markers, paints, or whatever you can find that will get color on them, then put when in a little basket in your truck, or take some pictures and eat them right away if you were able to get them hard-boiled. The process of painting the eggs will provide the necessary nostalgic effect.

 

Passover on the Road

For the Jewish culture, Passover takes place in April, bringing together families for traditional meals, with matzo being the star with special symbolism to celebrate the holiday. Look for a restaurant while on the road serving the traditional Jewish Passover Seder meal, which may include gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, roast chicken, brisket, and more.

 

Vaisakhi Traditions on the Road

The Punjabi hold Vaisakhi in April to celebrate the Sikh community and the start of the spring harvest. Bring your traditional Vaisakhi outfit on the road and wear it if possible. Find time to play music, sing, and dance like nobody is watching. When figuring out what to pack for the road, bring snacks favored during this time to remind you of home. Dry snacks would be best for something quick and not easily perishable while on the road.

 

Maintaining Ramadan Traditions

Ramadan occurs in April, marking the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. Muslims fast from dawn until sunset for the month as an act of worship. Prayers are recited during certain times of the day, and the fast is broken at dusk, often with multiple families and community members coming together to enjoy their meal. If you stick to the fasting schedule during Ramadan, you can honor the holiday on the road, which may not always fit a trucker’s schedule, but look for something you can practice while on the road to bring peace during this holiday.

 

Maintaining Traditions on the Road is Good for Mental Health

Taking parts of these traditions with you will activate feelings of nostalgia which can be healing and therapeutic. If you are religious, bring items on the road that remind you of your religion whenever you look at them. Some families rely on the traditions they’ve built over the years, and if you can find a way to bring that on the road and tap into those feelings often, it will change how you see life on the road. Things that seem like a waste of time and space matter and can affect how you feel. Working on the road for a long time is easier for some than others, but everyone has emotions, and feeling lonely, sad, or unmotivated sometimes is normal. When you have something with you from your comfort zone, whether it’s happy memories with loved ones, a piece of your religion, or any part of a tradition from home, it can help curb those negative emotions and help you get back on track.

 

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