An American woman Anna Jarvis was the first person to decide that mothers should have a holiday in their honour each year. Miss Jarvis started her campaign in 1906 in her home city Philadelphia. She wrote thousands of letters to congress-men(国会议员), city officials, teachers and newspaper publishers, proposing an official holiday for mothers. She travelled all over America, trying to get support for the idea. Her battle went on for years.

In 1914, the Congress declared the second Sunday in May each year as Mother’s Day. Anna Jarvis wanted Mother’s Day to be a simple event. She thought children could honour their mothers by spending some time with them as an act of love and respect. However, the holiday turned out to be a major event for department stores, flower shops and greeting-card industry, which Miss Jarvis didn’t like.

Americans spend millions of dollars on gifts for their mothers on this day. Younger children often try to prepare and serve breakfast for their mothers. Fathers may offer to take care of children so that mothers can enjoy themselves. The holiday becomes an important time for family gathering.

Though differences in culture and customs can be broad, there’s at least one thing that unites people across planet—the desire to celebrate. Traveling for a holiday can give you the unique opportunity to take a deep dive into another country and make new friends along the way. Here’s a list of holidays worth traveling for.

From mud to tomatoes, things also get a bit messy in summer in Bunol, a small town in Spain’s Valencia province at Tomatina, the world’s biggest food fight. Thousands of tomatoes are crushed during a whole hour of great fun. People wear goggles (护目镜) to protect themselves from the flying red fruit and the streets quickly fill with red tomato sauce.

Don’t expect to come home clean after experiencing the Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea. Famous for its mineral-rich mudflats, visitors rush to Boryeong in July to cake themselves in mud, swim in grey pools and enjoy the party, complete with music and fireworks. There are even mudslides and a mud skiing competition for those who are seeking the ultimate mud adventure!

Known as the Festival of Colors, bright colored powder (粉末) fills the air during Holi, a Hindu celebration full of joy that celebrates and gives respect to the victory of good over evil and the end of evil. This festival is celebrated on the last full moon of the lunar month so the date varies, falling between the end of February and mid-March. Holi is one of the most important holidays in India and travelers will be impressed by the celebrations all throughout the country.

In Africa, Christmas Day begins with groups of carolers (欢唱颂歌的人) walking to and from through the village, along the roadway, by the houses of the missionaries (传教士), singing the lovely carols known to the world around. Often people may be awakened by a group of carolers beginning to gather at the house of worship (敬神活动). They return home to make final preparations as to the clothes one must wear and also as to their offering for the Christmas service.

The most important part of their Christmas worship service is the love offering. This is the gift in honor of Jesus. At about 8 or 9 o'clock everyone goes to the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service goes forward to lay down their gift upon the raised platform near the Communion table. No one will attend the service without giving a gift.

Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday. There is no snow, but it has many flowers, many beautiful varieties of wild flowers being in their full pride.

In Ghana, most churches show the coming of Christmas by decorating the church and homes beginning with the first week in Advent, four weeks before Christmas. This season happens to be the time of cocoa harvest, so it is a time of wealth. Everyone returns home from wherever they might be such as farms or mines.

In Africa, it is the traditional dinner of turkey, roast beef, mince pies, or suckling pig, yellow rice with raisins, vegetables, and plum pudding, crackers. In the afternoon, families go out into the country and usually there are games or bathing in the warm sunshine, and then home in the cool of the evening. Boxing Day is also a proclaimed (正式宣布的) public holiday usually spent in the open air. It falls on December 26 and is a day of real relaxation.