Tips for Fighting the Post-Vacation Blues

As the Tattie (or October/Mid Term) Holidays come to an end it’s lovely to have a guest post from The Traveling Gals to ease that post-holiday dip.  The Gals have a wonderful blog so take a look.  Meanwhile as the nights draw in here are some ideas to keep the reminiscing positive!

You get home from the airport. It feels so great to use your own bathroom and sleep in your own bed. You head back to work, get back into your routine, and all of a sudden it feels like you never even went anywhere.

Anyone who has been on a trip, particularly a long trip, knows this feeling. It is kind of strange when you are sitting work thinking, ‘Wow last week at this time I was snorkeling/hiking/lounging next to the pool drinking a Mai Tai.’

While this may seem like a ridiculous problem to have, post-vacation blues (or post-vacation depression) is actually considered a real psychological thing that people experience.

Here are some tips that we use to try to not get so dang depressed after coming back from a trip.

1. Tell people about your trip! Share stories, funny moments, times when things went completely opposite of the plan, that time you got on the wrong bus and had to try to in. Post all your amazing pictures on Facebook and Instagram. When I got back from my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia I posted an album of 591 pictures on Facebook. And I ran into people who told me they went through every single picture and loved seeing what it was like in those countries. (There is a caveat to this. Unfortunately some people cannot travel. You might run into a few who will understandably get jealous and upset, but in my opinion most will like to hear about it.)
2. Display all of your souvenirs. This is one that we enjoy. Our condo is decorated with a myriad of travel souvenirs. We have even framed some drawings and a few of our photos. It’s nice to have a quick reminder while walking into the kitchen. If you have read our previous posts you know that us gals love buying magnets and have accumulated quite the collection over the years!
3. Try cooking some local meals. Or attempt to. Or just go to an authentic restaurant from the country you traveled. While it isn’t the same as actually enjoying the meal in the country, it is as close as you can get. Is there a coffee shop near you that sells coffee from that country? Or was there a local beer that you really enjoyed? See if there is a specialty store that sells it.
4. Write a diary or blog about your trip. For two of the really long trips I have done, I have kept a diary. Every once in a while I go back and read through it and the memories and excitement that I feel is, well, such a great feeling! You can also blog about your trip and share it with the world. Or keep your own private blog just for you. It’s a great way to reminisce because you can’t remember every detail from your trip.
5. Plan your next trip. Start thinking of where you want to go next, even if you won’t be able to go on another vacation for a while. Search Pinterest for inspiration. Make a bucket list. For example: I already have an entire trip to Iceland planned out and I am pretty sure it will be another year or 2 before I can actually afford to go.

How will you deal with those post-holiday blues?  Add any suggestions in the comments and roll on Summer 2016!