It happens every time I come back from an extended stay anyway. What am I saying ? It happens every time I come back from a life changing experience, whether that’s two weeks or four months. I get the post-travel blues.
Some people call it reverse culture shock.
For me, it was definitely blues.
I don’t always realise it at the time. But now we’ve been back in the UK for two months I can see with hindsight that I did get the post-travel blues.
For me, it was a sense of not wanting to think about where we had just been. I tend to take the ostrich approach, sticking my head in the metaphorical sand. I felt a little foggy. A little lost. A little out of touch.
I still have a wardrobe filled with gifts I bought for people. I stuffed them in there the moment we got back and promptly forgot about them. Ooops.
I almost pretended like we hadn’t been anywhere. And with a tan fading fast it was easy to do so.
Then it struck me, this post-travel blues or reverse culture shock is perfectly natural thing to go through. The brain needs to process the experience. When you’re as sensitive a soul as I am, you need that extra adjustment time.
That being said, I am now developing ways to deal with my post-travel blues so I figured … if they’re working for me why not share them with you?
How To Deal With Post-Travel Blues
1. Get chatting
Talk to people and don’t bottle up how you’re feeling. If you have friend with a kind ear I’m sure they’d be happy to let you blow off some steam and tell them what you’re going through.
2. Be kind to yourself
Allow yourself the space to have these feelings.
3. Plan your next trip
Whether you can go away again next month or next year start researching your next destination. Get your savings on the go and throw yourself into dreaming.
4. Play the home tourist
Think like a tourist in your immediate vicinity. Explore your hometown or country with fresh eyes.
5. Print out your photos
These days it’s way too easy to let your photos languish on a hard drive. So make the effort to print out your favourite photos from your travels and make an album. In the past I’ve printed some of my Instagram prints out using Sticky9.
6. New hobby
If it’s going to be a while until your next adventure you could try taking up a new hobby. The challenge of trying something new should keep your brain active.
7. Embrace the lessons
Remember those moments when you learned something new and try to instil them in your life back home.
8. And if in doubt, have a cat cuddle
… I find these cure most ills.
