So, now that everyone is writing about how to have the best vacation ever, I’m here to be the summer Grinch and talk about a not so fun aspect of summer vacations: what happens when they end.
Goodbye blissful vacation, hello post-vacation blues.
As much as I try to be as positive as I can and look at the bright(er) side of things usually, the post-vacation blues often hit me quite hard.
I know, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
It’s an incredibly true statement, one that I more or less can internalize after some time, but maybe not immediately. I just cannot help but feel a little sad and lost after I get back from a wonderful trip.
It’s not about not loving my life at home. It’s not about not enjoying my work, because more often than not at the end of the vacation I feel reenergized and eager to get back to creating.
Maybe it’s just about the difficulties of adapting to a different pace. After all, time seems to go by differently during vacations. On one hand, everything is slower, more relaxed. On the other, I’m often amazed at how much can be crammed into one day when I’m traveling. I do more things in a day than in a week at home, therefore the days seem longer and fuller in a way.
I also tend to get a tad too philosophical about the ephemeral nature of life moments and how they are unique and unrepeatable.
However, as is the case with most challenges in life, we either give ourselves into despair and less than sunny thoughts, or accept the challenge and try to make the best of it.
It’s been some years since I realized I’m the type of person who’s susceptible to post-vacation blues. Sometimes it reaches such an extreme level that I start mourning the vacation WHILE I’m still there. You know, losing the grip on the moment and feeling sad that it’s going to end soon. It’s a very bad approach, I know.
Even though it remains a problem to this day, I did make some progress with a couple of tricks that proved to be useful in this situation. The key is to create a balance between holding on to and draw energy from the vacation memories and get back into active work mode reenergized.
So, regardless of whether you just came back from a vacation and like me, succumb to a little bit of sadness, or the sunny times are still ahead and you want to prepare for the time after that, I hope these ideas can help.
8 tips to beat the post-vacation blues
Plan your return well ahead
When I tell people I set aside time to clean the flat before a trip, they look at me with a slightly confused expression. Who has time for all of that before a trip with packing and getting ready (especially when we’re already in vacation mode)??
But isn’t it better to come back from a long trip, maybe exhausted from all the traveling to a nice, clean, comfortable apartment? It’s totally worth that extra 30 mins for me.
As a minimum, I change the bedding so that I have fresh sheets waiting for me, I vacuum and clean, put away the remains of packing, prepare some water, chocolate, and some emergency food in the fridge, so that we don’t have to think about that if we come back late at night. These small things will make the return so much more relaxing.
Have a buffer day
I know not everyone can afford this luxury, but if you can, I highly recommend having a buffer day between vacation and going back to work. It can also work by shortening your back-to-work week by organizing your travel for a mid-week return (which is often cheaper by the way).
I usually use my buffer day to do the laundry, running errands, and easing back into work mode by going through my emails, flagging those that will need action, and writing my to-do list for the rest of the week.
If you cannot do a buffer day, at least ease back into work by not starting work in the cab on your way back from the airport. Surely, it can wait a couple of hours.
Organize your photos
The best and, in my experience, the only time to go through, declutter, and organize your travel photos is pretty much within a week of the trip. Otherwise, you’re going to be stuck with 2,000 photos of detail shots that seemed significant back then but will be totally meaningless in a year. It may seem counterintuitive to dive back into the memories when you’re trying to ease back into your home life, but in my experience, it’s a positive and relaxing activity (maybe because it involves a task as well).
Write a short travel journal
While I organize my photos, I also make a very short travel journal – what we did, what we saw, recording the travel stories that might get forgotten over time. It’s a nice closure to the vacation.
Share the memories (but maybe not all of them)
I love sharing travel memories with friends and family. It’s a fun way to relive the trip a little and reminiscence over the fun times. The key is to make it fun for others as well. I was once an indirect witness to a couple sinking into a catatonic state after their friends made them watch an 80 minutes-long (very, very slow and uneventful) video of their trip to Spain. Just because it was fun to you it doesn’t mean it’s going to be fun for others through a computer screen.
I love preparing a little presentation of photos, telling stories, maybe make some local food specialties with what we brought back from the trip. It’s a great way to achieve that balance I talked about earlier – you cherish and curate the travel moments, but make them into another fun program at home with your loved ones.
Continue the vacation feels by planning something fun
As I said, one of the reasons it’s so difficult to come back from vacation is that often there’s a huge discrepancy between how we spend our days at home and far away. When we’re traveling, we’re more inclined to try fun, new things, spend time on stuff we otherwise tell ourselves we don’t have the time for. When we come back and are immediately thrown back into the flow of uneventful everyday life, it can come as a shock.
But there’s absolutely no rule that we must live our lives in a totally different way when we come back. In fact, one of the main benefits of travel is that it can have a profound effect on how we see the world and live our lives. Try to hold onto your more adventurous or relaxed vacation self by organizing some fun programs at home for when you come back. Schedule that program you always told yourself you’re gonna try at one point. Now, it really is the best time.
Make a new vision board (and corresponding action list)
Even with all my post-vacation blues issues, I cannot remember a time when I didn’t come back from a vacation with some new work ideas or totally reenergized to create and start working on my dreams and goals. I am actually quite intentional about this and spend my vacation with my eyes and mind open for all kinds of inspiration.
When I get back, I love taking the time to revisit and update my vision board and write a new action list for what I want to achieve in the next few weeks and months. It’s a great way to get excited about the future and not get lost in the immediate past.
Ease back into a routine
And even more importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s OK to ease back into your routines and work mode, you don’t have to save the world on your first day back.
And if everything else fails, you can always just plan your next vacation.
Do you struggle with post-vacation blues? If yes, how do you overcome it?
