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First Holiday Away
Well, this is interesting.
My husband isn't very close with his family. In fact, most of the family he is close to lives scattered across the country. As such, we have spent EVERY holiday since we first started dating together with my family. Yes, I've been spoiled, I know.
Recently, his father reconnected with some local relatives. We went out to dinner with them once and they have graciously extended an invitation to us for Thanksgiving. We've accepted, of course 
I'm sharing because I've never had a major holiday away from my family. I'm excited and feel grateful that they've invited us, but I'm also apprehensive because I don't know what it will be like to spend a holiday like this away from my family.
What was your first "major holiday" away from your family? Care to share your story?
Re: First Holiday Away
I'll share.
I come from a tight-knit gigantic extended family. My parents have 8 & 9 living siblings (dads had 2 pass away already). I have about 55 first cousins...and now many of those cousins have kids. Every Christmas morning we'd do breakfast and gifts at my parents. Every Christmas afternoon my dads side gets together at my grandmothers, has dinner and opens presents. We're talking 50 people (at least) crammed into a large room...presents and wrapping paper everywhere. Its chaos, and honestly I love it. All those people who love eachother dearly under one roof.
Fastforward to 2006. 2006 was a hard year for DHs family. Midyear, his brother was diagnosed with kidney failure. In November, just in time for Thanksgiving, his brother got a kidney transplant...and my DH was the donor. (So I guess technically that T-day was the first holiday away...but it sooo wasn't T-day...it was a day of hourly checks from nurses, dry hospital turkey, and getting DH better so he could be released from the hospital). His family had a rough year and everyone felt it was important for them to be together that Christmas. It was a month post-surgery, it would be good to see both boys healing. So we went down to his moms in TN. They are wonderful people and I had a good time. I felt so welcome by them, they really took me in and made me feel at home...but it wasn't home. Overall it was a happy day, but there were moments during the day when I just missed my family. I even cried a little bit twice (just a few tears). Once when I sat there and looked around and was just taking his family and all their quirks in, that was more happiness than anything. And once after I called my parents and gram when they were up at Grams. Hearing all the loved ones up at grams and hearing how the day was going for them was difficult, its all I'd known for 30 years.
That got longer than I'd intended.
You'll probably be nostalgic for your family and their traditions, but you'll also be taking in his families traditions and letting his family in more than before. Its hard to change all you've known, but its a nice feeling knowing you're adding to your list of loved ones. At least thats my take on it.
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My first holiday away from my family was last Christmas. DH and I had recently moved in together and he was now 3 hours away from his family. We had Thanksgiving with my family so we decided to go to his parent's for Chrsitmas and I'll admit, it was hard for me. I missed going to church with my family Christmas Eve and seeing my grandparents Christmas morning and doing the things we would normally do. DH's mom had a knee replacement about a week before we got there and the whole time was spent waiting on her instead of doing Christmas things so it just didn't feel right to me. We drove home and spent Christmas night with my family because I had to work the next day, and at the end of the day I was glad that we both got to see our families, even though it was a little hard.
This year we're doing the same thing for Christmas, his parent's for a few days before hand and then driving back to my parent's for Christmas night. I feel better about it this year because my brother and his FI won't be home till Christmas evening so we'll get together then and I won't feel like I'm missing out on spending time with my family.
I've spent the past few Thanksgivings away from my family but we don't really do a lot to celebrate so I wouldn't consider that a big deal.
The hardest for me was last Christmas. It was not only the first time I was without my family but it was my nephew's first. We missed the church service with Rich's family and ended up going to a service the next day in a small town nearby. It was very important to me to go to a service because it is part of what I've grown up doing every year. Without starting a religious debate, this church was very unwelcoming and long story short, I spent the last half of the service in the back bawling my eyes out.
I think it would have been better if we would have made the service with his family because I would have had something familiar there. It was just really hard to break every tradition I've ever known at one time and to do it alone.