Woman Shares 5 Ways To Cure 'Travel Depression' After Coming Home From A Trip
Adjusting back to reality after a vacation isn’t easy.
AleksandarNakic / Canva Pro If there’s one thing everyone can relate to at some point in their lives, it’s experiencing “travel depression” after returning home from a trip.
While the memories one makes on vacation last a lifetime, the adjustment to reality can be difficult to accept within the first weeks of being back home.
One woman took to TikTok to share five tips people can use to cure their ‘travel depression’ after she returned home from a trip:
Natalie Louise began her video by saying, “Every single time I go to my dream place, which is Malibu, I come home to Chicago, and I’m always super sad about it.” She then offered some ways people can heal their feelings of sadness when it’s time to return to reality.
1. Clean your house
Deep cleaning and organizing your space is one of the best forms of therapy for any situation, but it can be especially beneficial after being out of town for a bit. While no one enjoys the dreaded unpacking and cleaning following the high of a fun trip, it will make your adjustment feel a lot smoother and comfortable.
“Organize everything in a way that you can execute your normal day-to-day routine and have a clear mind,” Louise suggested.
When you return home from a trip, the energy may feel stagnant from the last time you were there. Cleaning and cleansing your space is a great way to reengage the flow of energy.
Unpack your suitcase, do your laundry, sweep, mop, dust, light some incense or sage, and maybe even rearrange the design of your space to make it feel like a new chapter in your life.
After all, you are not the same person you were before your trip, so your space should align with your altered perspective.
2. Create an album of your favorite photos and videos from the trip
Sometimes our life responsibilities and challenges can sweep us away from the positivity we have experienced in our lives. The great thing about tech is that vacation memories are just a swipe of the phone away.
“If I ever get sad, I can just start swiping through those photos and then immediately inject those positive memories into my mind, and then I'm happy again,” Louise shared.
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By favoriting the pictures and videos from your trip and coming back to them every so often, you’ll reignite that spark within you and embrace the experiences that make life worth living.
3. Remind yourself nothing is permanent
“Your current life situation, that’s not permanent,” Louise said. “You can change it at any time, and it’s good to know that there is a place that you have in mind that brings you so much happiness.”
If there is a certain destination you always feel the best version of yourself in while visiting, then you’re already a step ahead in planning your next moves in life. Remember that everything is temporary.
Have faith in the process and trust that your hard work will one day pay off. In the meantime, appreciate the present moment, practice gratitude for what you do have now, and continue to work towards the life that you desire.
4. Plan your next vacation
Whether you can afford to book your next trip or want to start planning ideas ahead of time, having the next experience to look forward to will help you stay motivated in your daily routines.
“We only live once, and if you don’t see the world, then when are you going to see it?” Louise expressed. “I don’t think that there’s a better time to travel than right now.”
Louise makes a good point, and if you are in a position where you can take time off and afford to take trips around the world throughout the year, take advantage of the thrilling experiences you can gain from this.
And during the months that you are not traveling, spending your time planning your next trips will make for a great hobby to pass the time.
“I’m going on a two-month trip throughout Europe and just heading up a ton of different countries,” Louise shared. So I have a couple of months off from traveling, which is really sad for me, but I guess it will be worth it because I need to plan out this long trip. So me thinking about that kind of makes the depression and sadness go away.”
5. It’s okay if you need to cry
Going on vacations to your favorite cities can put you in such a heightened state of mind that the serotonin crash you’ll experience upon returning home will make you quite emotional. And it’s okay and very natural if you feel the need to cry.
Many of us wish we could spend our whole lives traveling around the world and experiencing the various cultures and communities that exist around us, but alas, this is unrealistic unless your profession involves traveling.
"It is normal to feel a wave of emotion when coming home from a trip," Louise said. "It can feel like a chapter ended. An era complete. Lean into it. Figure out the root cause to the feeling."
Don’t internalize the challenging emotions you might feel when coming home from a trip. Instead, use them as motivation to plan your next experience, and consider spending your days off as a tourist in your hometown to reconnect with that sense of wanderlust. Your hometown might just be another person’s dream vacation, so try to embrace the parts that make it so special.
Be grateful that you can afford to travel on such extravagant excursions, and work hard to center your life around collecting these experiences if that’s what gives your life more meaning.
Coming home from a trip is not always so bad!
Personally, I know that I look forward to the fresh-minded outlook I have about my hometown after an eventful trip.
While I always miss and reminisce about the vacation, there’s something very comforting about returning to a cozy home, resting in my own bed, and appreciating elements of my city that I hadn’t embraced before the trip.
Oftentimes, leaving home for a period of time allows you to value the things you didn’t notice before. That post-traveling depression is only temporary, and there are always new experiences to look forward to.
Francesca Duarte is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team based in Orlando, FL. She covers lifestyle, human-interest, adventure, and spirituality topics.