There’s no rougher feeling than realising your life isn’t all planes, bars and endless museum tours where you feign interest, slowly die of boredom but tell yourself you’re having a good time because of societal expectations.
No, not everyone can vacation forever, and most of us have to return to normalcy before we know it. I’ll tell you this for nothing – walking through Melbourne airport and waiting for an Uber to return me to my suburban apartment is what I imagine watching my own funeral would feel like.
It’s godawful. But, life goes on and eventually we have to get back into the swing of things. Follow my advice and you’ll be ‘right.
1. Try not to get too lost in your travels
It’s important to switch off when you’re jet-setting around the world, but it’s just as crucial to ensure you don’t get too wrapped up in this temporary world you’ve created for yourself.
So by all means, delete your work/uni apps (throw your phone in the ocean for all I care), but if you want to ease the crushing feeling of a holiday ending, just keep in mind that you have a life back home and before the holiday, you were (probably) quite enjoying that life.
If you weren’t enjoying your life before the trip, well, time to shake it up with solution #2.
2. Start putting a plan in motion
Alright, so you’re back. Now what? If you’re in a cushy job, cool. Good for you. Resume it. Buy a Porsche. I’m not here for you.
If you’re a bit lost direction-wise, or you went on holiday to avoid the pressures of uni, there are options that’ll prevent you from spiralling.
For directionless souls, start doing some research. Talk to mates, family, old teachers – really, anyone who’s in a similar position you’d like to be in. There’s no rush figuring out what you want to do, but you also can’t just sit there and expect it to hit you in the face.
If you’ve got some more direction, start looking at courses (or, if you’re already at uni, tweaking courses). Uni can seem daunting, but you can also ease yourself into it by doing programs like Vic Uni’s Block Model – one unit at a time, completing a unit every four weeks.
3. Give yourself a bit of time to chill out
Before you get all gung-ho about your future, just chill the hell out.
You only just got back, you probably still haven’t unpacked yet (pro tip: the longer you wait to unpack, the longer you can use the excuse ‘I haven’t even unpacked yet’ when someone asks you what you’re doing with your life) and you need to unwind before you start using your remaining brain cells again.
If it helps, give yourself a deadline. Personally, I give myself about a month to seven years post-trip to sort my life out.
4. Start throwing ideas about for your next trip
Nothing prevents that panicked post-trip feeling like booking in another holiday.
However, you’re probably skint after the last vacay, so at the very least, you can start mulling over ideas about where to travel next.
Inspo as follows:
- The Christmas markets in Germany
- The Christmas markets in Belgium
- The Christmas markets in France
- The Christmas markets in Poland
- The Christmas markets in Belarus
Tip of the iceberg, comrades.
5. Lose yourself in your travel photos until you hit rock bottom
Look, it wouldn’t be realistic for me to say it’s all going to be uphill as soon as you get home.
So, if you’re feeling blue and ‘chill out’ time is dangerously close to morphing into ‘sad reflection time on the couch’, that’s fine – just do things from the couch.
Whip out your laptop and start chipping away at tasks that’ll help you when you’re feeling your fresh, fine self again.
