Unless you’re traveling for life, chances are, you get some level of post vacation blues. Luckily I’m in Tokyo enjoying my time with family right now but when I got back from Maui, I had some serious struggles. Especially since I was coming back from a tropical, relaxing place, it was extra difficult to face reality.
I know some people with serious issues with post vacation blues that nears a state of depression. If that’s the case, please don’t ignore it and consult with a professional. If it’s not as severe, from my own experience, I’ve gathered some tips and tricks on how to ease the post vacation blues.
1. Take Care Of Everything Prior To Leaving –You don’t want to go on vacation to relax, just to come back to a disaster that increases your stress levels. You want to plan for a smooth return. Make sure your e-mails are taken care of, your bills caught up and home clean before leaving.
2. Exercise While On Vacation – We all know exercise does wonders for your body physically and mentally. But in the case of vacation, it’s important to exercise so that when you get back home, you have some sort of physical stability as well as reduced stress.
3. Stay On A Regular Sleeping Schedule – Whether you’re out partying or too excited to sleep, I know it’s tempting to stay up late during vacation. At least try to stay on a regular sleeping schedule so it doesn’t disrupt your sleep when you get back to your regularly scheduled life.
4. Enjoy The Memories –This may sound like a self-help quote but bear with me. It’s important to have the bottle-half-full attitude for this tip. Try to think of your favorite moments from your trip and feel grateful that you were able to go on vacation. Living with a full, grateful heart will help ease being back to reality.
5. Bring A Vacation Souvenir –Bringing a souvenir home or to your workplace can help with the transition of getting back to reality. Souvenirs will bring back memories every time it’s in your peripheral. Taking your mind to a happy place can reduce anxiety and stress.
6. Begin Planning Your Next Trip – Having a new vacation on the horizon can help alleviate the stress of returning. Planning your next trip almost immediately even if it may not be concrete, will allow you to have something to look forward to.
7. Share Memories –Thanks to social media, this will come easy for most of us. Go back through your camera roll and share your memories. Facebook, Instagram, create a photo book, show your colleagues – whatever method it may be! Reminiscing on your trip will bring back wonderful memories, increasing your happiness.
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How do you cope with post vacation blues? Any tips you can add to the list?
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#6 is my favorite! Start planning a new trip Always yes to that! #FlyAwayFriday
That sleeping schedule one is a biggie for me! I start work at 6am so as soon as I don't need to go in I can sleep all day! Which just makes it all the more difficult when I inevitably need to go back! AH #flyawayfriday
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Same here. I start planning my next trip within a few days of getting back home. Even if that next trip is months away, it helps alleviate a post-vacation downer.
#1 is crucial for me. I'm a stay at home mom and my husband has a crazy work schedule so I pretty much run the home by myself. Making sure I leave on vacation with a clean home, laundry done, phone calls made, meals planned/grocery list made for when we get back makes it so much easier to get back to our routine. And planning our next trip also helps, too! 😉 #flyawayfriday
This is something we are not looking forward to. We have been travelling for 9 and a half months now and will be heading home at the end of February. We have no idea what we are going to do when we get back (we both quit our jobs and rented out our home) and we are worried about how we are going to feel. I agree with TravelBlond and TheSterlingTraveler that planning our next trip will be the best way to avoid it, having that something to look forward too! Thanks for sharing – Happy #FlyAwayFriday
When we lived in a hotel in Germany we'd go traveling almost every weekend and our room would be cleaned by the staff while we were gone – it was such an amazing clean feeling to come back to! It's much harder to do on our own, though, especially when we are just ready to get to our vacation! I appreciate this post – it's very hard for us that we can't travel as much (or to as many cool places nearby) now that we've moved back to the USA… we are definitely experiencing post vacation blues!
Some great suggestions Kana – definitely planning my next trip is a good one for me….and dreaming of the day when thats all I will be doing! Travelling that it!! #flyawayfriday
I think taking a look back at all the great things you did during your trip help lot with the post vacation blues. I love to organize the things I brought back from the trip (it can be postcards, brochures, menus and the photos too). #FlyAwayFriday
I love to relive the memories! It also helps me personally to start prepping destination guides and Instagram photos as a way of thinking about all the good times. Planning another trip never hurts either! #FlyawayFriday
Great tips – I can't agree more with number one though, even when I'm only going away for a weekend I HAVE to leave the house clean and tidy and all loose end tied up, it helps me relax more when I'm away and when I walk in the door when I return, I smile to myself that I can live the memories for a bit longer before stuff builds up again! #flyawayfriday
Ah yes, I will be facing this in a couple months. For me, because I work so many seasonal jobs and that fits my lifestyle, it actually works quite well. Working then because a routine…but only for a little while because I know I will be out there again soon enough! 🙂
Haha right?! Nothing like making new plans and forgetting you're back in reality 🙂 Thank for stopping by Yulia! xo
Yes! Sleeping adjustments makes everything so hard! I've learned that Melatonin helps a lot! Thanks for stopping by Chiera! xo
That's amazing! I'm sure you keep the house perfect so that when you're back, it's not stressful! Thanks for stopping by Allison! xo
Oh wow!!! 9.5 months?! That is something I definitely haven't experienced so you'll have to share with us how you transitioned back, I'd be interested in reading about that. Thanks for stopping by guys! xo
So true! If only we could have housekeeping at our homes…I guess it's possibly but I don't have a money-tree soooo 🙂 Aww there's fun places in the US too! We're planning on getting a puppy in early 2017 so I know that will restrict the international travel for a bit. So we're planning a ton of roadtrips across the states! Thanks for stopping by! xo
Omg me too! Until the day we're full-time traveling and planning our lives that way 🙂 We'll get there someday Tracy! Thanks for stopping by! xo
Yes!!! Definitely organizing things from the trip makes you feel a lot better – awesome tip! Thanks for stopping by Ruth! xo
Same here! I'm on my way back to LA right now so all I'll be doing on the plane is scrolling through all the photos 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Flo! xo
Yes!!! When the house is a messy disaster, it makes coming home feel 100000x worse! Thanks for stopping by Alex! xo
That's such an awesome lifestyle Tiffany! What kind of seasonal jobs do you do? I'll have to keep my eye out on your blog to see where you'll be transitioning next! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! xo
All great ideas! I always get post vacation blues and I feel super unmotivated to go to work and to do anything to be honest. It's a great tip to have everything organized before you leave and it's great to come back to a clean house. I find that starting to plan another holiday is the best cure! Thanks for sharing! And have fun in Tokyo!
I love this, because I suffer so bad from this. I'm the kind of person who leaves the bags unpacked for like a week after trip because I'm in denial with it being over. I definitely agree with everything on this list, especially planning your next trip. Whether it's a month or a year away, it's fun to start looking ahead, while still enjoying the memories of your past travels!!
Omg me too! I'm unmotivated for like….weeks, haha! I agree, planning for the next trip is one of the best things to do! Thanks for stopping by! xo
ME TOOOO! My suitcase is STILL out from Tokyo and I've been back for a week now, haha! xo
Some good ideas here. To fight the blues, I like going through my photos and sharing them on Instagram but the best for me is definitely planning the next trip or just coming up with new ideas. Nothing beats looking towards all the future possibilities. Thanks for the comment by the way, it had been a crazy couple of weeks and didn't realise what I had missed. #FlyAwayFriday