*Disclaimer, I am not a mental health professional and all advice provided in this blog post is not medical advice but personal experience. If your symptoms worsen please reach out to a medical professional.
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It all started when I moved back to the UK after 3 years in Australia 5 years ago. The small town I once loved felt smaller, somehow. The places I frequented no longer held interest, the sky was less blue and the sunsets lacked lustre. I struggled going back to the life I had. The pebbled beaches and tired seaside town. The rainclouds felt darker and the rain fell harder. How do you pick up the stitches of a life you left? When a goldfish outgrows its bowl, how can it possibly return? It took me a while to figure it out. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and I slowly fell back into a rhythm. Until I left again. Until I tasted new foods backpacked through landscapes I thought I'd only ever see in books. I climbed higher mountains, basked in more beautiful sunsets and stood under the Northern Lights whilst they danced above me. Then, each time I was ripped back to reality. Sat at my desk, watching the rain pour sad, and growing frustrated with the place I called "home". The travel blues were real and I needed to beat them.
It's taken me a while to figure out the recipe. The cure. The path back to normality after travel. In this blog post I share how to identify post travel blues and my 10 tips on how to successfully transition back to reality after travel.
What are post travel blues? "Post travel blues" refer to the feelings of sadness, longing, nostalgia and comedown some people go through after travelling. Post travel blues can lead to an overwhelming feeling of disconnect between you and the place you call home along with frustration and apathy for your daily routines.
Some contributions to travel blues are: - Once in a life- time experiences/ blucket list experiences. These are a tough one. When you have been building up a longing for a destination or experience for years, it can be extremely jarring/ disheartening to learn that you're no longer going to dream of that place, that you'll never again stand in that place or do the thing you've been dreaming of. I had a moment of realisation like this when I reached Everest Basecamp. To know I'd never stand where I stood again made the moment bittersweet. And when I finished? Well that was a hard pill to swallow.
- Post planning comedown- Roadtrips and long holidays can take months of research and planning. The build up and mental space that's put towards trips can be huge and often distract you from things in your life you're not happy with, or bored of. The anticipation grows and build up intensifies. When your holiday is over, it can mean that the brain space that was taken up by your planning leaves you time to evaluate the things in your routine you're not happy with, and the lack of build up leads to feelings of deflation.
- Routine Disruption- You likely disrupted your routine when you went away. You also likely formed a new one whilst you were away, which was disrupted again. This could be jetlag, getting up at different times, your diet whilst you were away or (in my case) getting up before sunrise every day and hiking for 8-10 hours and carb loading for weeks on end. This can lead to your body feeling disorientated and fatigued leading to breakouts or a change in health.
- Routine resentment- Returning to your old habits, work, gym or hometown after being exposed to a new way of living can open your eyes to all the things about your daily life you wish to change. For me, mine was returning to my corporate job and the responsibility that came with that.
Whilst post travel blues are common, they are usually short lived and can be used as tools to help us look introspectively at our own lives and determine which parts of our travel experience are important to us, and can help implement them in our daily lives.
How to cope with post travel blues
- Catch up with family and friends- When I'm away, a part of me always misses my family and friends the most. Over the years, this has intensified by the birth of my many nieces and nephews, all of whom I'm close with. When I get back, I fill my diary up with visits, days out and coffees. This helps in so many ways as I have things to look forward to each week, I get to relive the happy memories with loved ones whilst being surrounded by friends and family. Socialising is a great way to boost serotonin and re- plant your roots.
- Deep clean your space- Wherever/ however you live, a tidy space always equals a tidy mind. cleaning your home can reboot your routine, refresh your energy and reconnect you with your living space. For me, there is no greater feeling than lighting a candle after deep cleaning my house and feeling a deep sense of appreciation for my home. You might even want to purchase something new for your space to spruce it up a little.
- Reboot your daily routine- Make sure you return to a consistent, healthy routine as soon as possible. For me, this means getting my 8 hours, working out consistently, sticking to a wakeup time, hydrating and making sure I take my daily vitamins and feed myself with nourishing foods. Personally, these are usually the things that fall apart immediately when I'm travelling and almost always lead to breakouts and fatigue by the end of my trip, so getting back to a healthy "normal" is a great way of making sure I feel good quickly.
- Exercise/ get outside- It's been proven that regular exercise and getting outside at least once a day and spending time in nature improves mental health. A daily dose of vitamin D and boost of endorphins will help you feel better and contribute to a routine. For me, this means daily runs along the seafront or in the woods. Even if I don't feel like it, I always feel better for doing it.
- Scrapbook/ edit photos/ organise videos- Don't dismiss your trip, as with any grieving process, it's key to focus on the good times and look back at the wonderful times you had. For me, this means uploading my images to a hardrive and beginning the editing process of images and videos. Looking through memories helps me acknowledge how grateful I am that I am able to have these experiences and fills me with happiness. For others this could be printing out images from a phone, scrapbooking or making a photobook.
- Set goals/ intentions for the rest of the year- I am a firm believer that we shouldn't wait for new year to set goals and intentions. I use my annual leave as an opportunity to reset my mindset and goals for the year. Try writing these down or creating a mood board to help you visiualise what it is you wish to achieve/ work towards. Shifting your minds focus on something to look forward to and work towards will satisfy the nostalgia you may be feeling by shifting your focus forwards. Remember, goals can be anything from fitness goals, travel goals or carreer, it's your life you choose what you work towards!
- Take a break from social media- If you're anything like me, your instagram/ tiktok feed is filled with travel influencers, photographers and hikers from all over the world. Social media is such a double edged sword for me. On the one hand, it's a constant source of inspiration and information, showing me places I could go, photos and POV's I haven't considered and feeding my never ending to do list of travel destinations I need to tick off of my bucket list. On the other hand, I feel a sense of missing out. I feel like I should be out taking photos of sunsets, constantly filling my weekend with camping and hiking trips. It can also contribute to my feeling of resentment to where I live, as I'm continually exposed to places that look prettier and people who have time to watch sunsets from mountains on a Wednesday afternoon/ evening. Taking a break from social media whilst you're working on yourself can be a great way of making sure that social media isn't being destructive to your mental wellbeing. Set yourself a target of 1 week without scrolling, or set boundaries by setting a "quiet mode" on your phone in the evening to give your head the space it needs to heal, the virtual space isn't going anywhere.
- Incorporate elements of your travel into your home life- This was a game changer for me. I realised that what I missed the most about my travels is new experiences. I found a way of making sure that I incorporated this in my home life by trying new foods, reading new books, going on day trips to places I hadn't been before and planning short camping/ hiking trips on the weekends. I also sourced hiking trails and outdoor spaces I hadn't been to before in my local area and began exploring them. For others this could be slowing down, spending more time reading or off line, or continuing an activity you did on holiday- whatever it is, be creative, it could lead to some great new past times.
- Plan another trip- The best way to get over a holiday is by booking another one and I will die on this hill. I researching new places, looking at pictures of places I haven't seen before and beginning the process of planning a new holiday is a habit I can't kick. this time I didn't even wait until I got back from my holiday before researching new options. Start. by creating a pinterest board to find travel blogs for ideas and build the foundations of your next adventure, you never know where your blues may take you.
I hope these tips make someone a little happier and ease the transition back to reality for all travel bugs. What are your post travel must- dos that help you get back to the grind? leave your tips in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you!
- Plan another trip- Where is the next destination? 👀