Celebrating your birthday in another timezone or country

Birthdays Celebrated On The Exact Day
When do you celebrate your birthday? Some people insist on only celebrating on the day, so if they are working, that means lunch  out with colleagues or an evening celebration with family, or both.

You might celebrate your birthday when you get up on the birthday morning. To have bunting (wall to wall hanging streamers, often with the words Happy Birthday), a spouse or family member might need to get up an hour early, or put up the signs when the birthday boy or girl is in the bathroom.

You might say Happy Birthday one minute or a few seconds past midnight if you stayed up late the day before and continue celebrating until midnight.

If you travel from the UK to Singapore and Asia, you can celebrate your birthday co-ordinating with family back in England, from 8 pm Singapore time until 8 pm Singapore time.

Photo of Angela Lansbury. I have other photos of this and similar events. Copyright Angela Lansbury.

If you travel from the USA to the UK, or from the UK and Europe to Australia, the second country is on a different time zone. You can benefit from the difference by celebrating in both time zones, and send cards and messages early to be sure not to miss the date where the birthday boy or girl is living or travelling.

Different Time Zones
If you travel abroad you might be in a different time zone. Be prepared for people to miss your birthday because of time differences.

Birthdays Celebrated At The Weekend
Other people who are busy working during the week, or away travelling, out of reach of family and friends, will celebrate the nearest weekend.

Birthdays Celebrated In The Birthday Month
If you are travelling and wait until you get home, or until your family can travel to be with you, you might celebrate up to a month afterwards. Many restaurants use the birthdate you give them to send you an offer which lasts throughout your birthday month.

For security reasons, you may wish to have a second 'official' birthday, like HM the Queen of England, on a set day which differs from your actual birthday, known only to close family and on official documents. Whilst you may want to have a party on the first Saturday of your birthday month,  we have not yet got the world to agree to a convenient calendar which allow for such regularity as having the first day of January and every first day the month falling on a Saturday or Sunday or Monday.

An alternative would be to make your official birthday the first day of the month, or seven days in advance of your real birthday, allowing you to pick the nearest weekend in advance. On the other hand if you prefer to celebrate after, rather than before, you could pick the week after. Alternatively shift your registered birthday with restaurants to the Xmas, Easter or summer holidays if you want to celebrate your birthday whilst on holiday.

 This won't always work if restaurants insist on seeing your passport, but in reality they are not looking for restricting giving you a free gift to regular customers on their actual birthday, but hoping to attract you on your birthday when you are likely to spend moe or bring the whole family and order extra drinks. So they are only to glad to have your business. Win, win all around. Some restaurants make such a feature of birthday that on any night they will have two or three birthdays. This adds to the general jollity.

If your actual birthday falls in the middle of the school exams, you might prefer to shift your 'official' (why is it called official when it's really unofficial?)

Hotels
A top hotel will check the passports of guests and inform the restaurant when you have a birthday, instruct the reception staff and restaurant staff, even the concierge to wish you happy birthday.

Photo of birthday cake at IEA Toastmasters Club, Singapore. Photo taken by Lim Chee Hoo. He may have other photos of this and other birthday events at his club. 

Clubs
One of the clubs I attended overseas meets monthly. Every month they buy a birthday cake and ask members to go on stage if they had a birthday that month. The birthday boys and girls are photographed with the cake, and one holds the cake and another holds the plastic cutting knife (supplied with the cake by the bakery). What a happy thought, especially for those who have no family, a small family, or are travelling away from family.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer