5 Tips for Combating the Post Travel Blues
I know for a fact I’m not the only one who gets post-vacation depression. It’s that feeling that when you get home, you’re back in your own bed, and you feel…disconnected. Surreal. Utterly bizarre. You slip right back to your normal routine, and you start to wonder if you really were just away for two solid weeks with little to no contact to your every day life, or if it was just some kind of very elaborate, very detailed dream you cooked up after a night in with a bottle of wine.
You come home, and everything is exactly how you left it. Your house, friends, cat, dog. Time moved without you, but at the same time, it also seemed to stay perpetually stuck in some kind of loop that put itself on repeat, everything going through the motions like a well oiled machine in your absence. It feels like everything froze while it waited for you to get back and catch up. Home feels like a foreign country; small, unfamiliar, and distinctly claustrophobic.
Trust me, I know this feeling. It’s difficult to combat, especially if you don’t have anything booked out ahead of you. For someone stricken with wanderlust as deeply as I am, looking down the road and not having something to look forward to can be incredibly frustrating, not to mention it leaves you feeling depressed and restless.
How does one go from this…back to an office job without going insane?
I just got back from Bali not to lom ago, and I first realized I was having trouble when on my first day back at my job, something utterly trivial drove me straight into sobbing hysterics. I couldn’t figure out what my problem was, until it finally dawned on me. I was home, back in the grind, and it felt like my trip had never even happened.
I’ve been left with a lingering sense of displacement, and feeling like I’m in an even deeper rut than I was before I left. I feel like an outsider.
Got soaked taking this, worth it. Tanah Lot temple, Bali
So, how to fight it?
Booking another trip is obviously the first answer, but it isn’t always an option, especially when you’re fresh off vacation and ignoring the pile of bills that came in while you were gone. In my case, funds, time off, and the crippling anxiety of looming debt tend to stop me from impulsively booking things, but at the same time, I crave something to look forward to, otherwise, what the hell am I working my ass off for? Bills, meh. Mortgage, please. Traveling is obviously my passion, so the clear choice to me is to never make the financially savvy decision to make extra mortgage or car payments when I have the chance. No, I tend to blow money on flights, experiences, food, tours. I want to see, learn and experience, feel, taste.
Me, pretending I’m not seasick on the way to the Gili islands.
But again – reality looms, and I have to be realistic about my choices and usage of funds. So instead of putting myself further into debt, I decided to actually write a blog post for the first time in months about how I felt, how I am combating the issue, and how I’m going to take strides towards being able to continue traveling. Here’s a couple steps I’m taking to fight the post travel blues.
- Clean the damn house.
Seems obvious, but it really does help you reconnect with your surrounds – even if you don’t really want to. Besides, it’s good to get that suitcase unpacked and cleaned out and put up – if only so you don’t break your leg tripping over it.
- DECLUTTER your house.
I realize this seems a little silly and trivial, but when you’re abroad – especially somewhere like Bali where you need very little to get by – you start realizing that your home is literally full of shit. You don’t need all of the crap you have. When was the last time you actually watched a DVD as opposed to Netflix/Hulu/Cable/Any other legal means of obtaining media via streaming? When was the last time you even looked at that hideous ceramic cat someone gifted you last Christmas? Or, when was the last time you sat down at your dining room table and had a proper meal? Personally, I eat on my couch, so I decided hell with it – and got rid of my table and chairs. Besides, decluttering and selling your things just means more money set aside for traveling!
- Get active.
Get off the couch. Get out of your house. Go for a walk on the beach or a nature trail, drag your bike out from under the sheet on your porch where it’s been for months since you bought it (guilty). Do some YOGA. Eat better, and as a whole – treat your body like the temple it is.
- Find a new hobby
Maybe even one that correlates with your recent travels. Learn to cook the food you loved so much, take a dance class, read up on the history and culture of the location. Write a travel blog about your adventures, start a journal. There’s ways to connect yourself to your adventure without breaking the bank every week trying to get back.
- Plan your next trip
Start pinning and planning, start saving up! While you may not have a trip booked just yet, and while you may not financially be able to book it right this second, you can still start planning, start working towards that goal of being on the road again. My next adventure will likely be Egypt, so here’s to pyramids and pinterest boards!
