It gets us all at some point. You land back in your home country, and the reality hits that the amazing trip you’d been planning for weeks is now all over.
It really sucks, but the good news is – there are ways you can make yourself feel better, and I’m here to pass on a few tips to get you over those post travel blues!
1. Start planning your next trip
I often try to have my next trip away lined up before I’ve left the last country I was in. It doesn’t even have to be booked, just have a rough idea of where you’d like to go, and what you want to do. Having something to look forward to can help soothe that feeling of the adventure being over. It also gives your mind something to positive to focus on, rather than dwelling on the fact you’ve just reached the end of a great trip.
2. Keep yourself busy
If you’ve got a job to throw yourself into then great. Think about your work also being an opportunity to make money and save for that next trip. Continue with your hobbies or pick up a new one in your free time. If your next trip involves going somewhere you don’t speak the local language – there’s no time like the present to start learning it! Meet up with friends or spend time with family – hanging out with other people can let you forget about your blues for a while, or you can reminisce in a positive environment with people who want to hear all about your trip.
3. Be a tourist in your home town
Remind yourself that people come to your home country or town, as their next travel destination. So often we go out and see the world, and forget about the places on our own doorstep. I for one, lived in a little village in a National Park for years, and had never explored the surrounding mountains that people flocked from all over to see. Exploring the area you live in can make you appreciate being there all the more.
4. Sort through the memories
You might feel a little melancholy, and that’s okay, but you didn’t take all those wonderful snaps for them to sit on your phone. Embrace the time you had, show your friends and family, get that snap of you admiring the sunset on Instagram, edit that video of you hang gliding at the beach, write that blog post about that city you visited while it’s fresh in your mind. It’s a bit like ripping a band aid off once your home, but facing up to the fact that you had an amazing time, and re-living the memories can actually be quite inspiring for the next trip.
5. Get back into a healthy routine
Travel is hard on your body. Whether you’ve just back packed round Indonesia, or had two weeks by the pool in Cyprus, your body likely has some adjusting to do. Travel is inherently stressful on the body, you’ll have been exposed to all sorts of germs when flying, may be suffering from jet lag, and you’ll be dealing with the stress of returning home – back to work and ‘reality’. Try and get back into a decent sleep routine as soon as possible to let your body recover. Drink plenty of water to re-hydrate, and make sure you’re getting enough fruit and veg, or taking extra vitamins if you need.
The recovery is just as important as the preparation in my book, and there may be some tips from my other post: How to Stay Healthy while Travelling, that you can apply here too. You should try to get back into your exercise routine (or just go for a jog/walk in a park somewhere), given that exercise releases feel good endorphins. Lifting your mood will help your body feel better, and just getting some fresh air, and being outside can really aid in this.
If you’ve got any other tips on beating the post travel blues – we’d love to hear them! Comment below or send us an e-mail through the contact page.
A Highland Fling 
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