What’s the worst part of a vacation? No questions about it, the last day. You know, the day you experience that sinking feeling you get in your stomach just thinking about returning to real life again. When you’re on the last leg of your journey or once you return home, you may experience sadness, dread, or just be downright depressed. Don’t worry, not only are these feelings normal, but we’ve got a few ideas for you to try out and stop these feelings of dread and sadness before they even start.
Get It Done Before You Go
Just so we’re all on the same page, this process needs to start the day before you leave (we’re looking at you, procrastinators!) Starting the week or even two weeks before you leave for vacation, start to prioritize some tasks:
- Getting important things done at work early while you’re still motivated to do them. This way, when you get home and have to start thinking about work again, you don’t have to worry about big, time-consuming projects.
- Remind co-workers that you’ll be out and let them know what they can do for you while you’re away. Maybe you have an office plant that needs watering, or you would prefer to come back to an empty mailbox, whatever the case may be, remind the people who are lending a hand while you’re gone. This can also keep non-important emails at bay, so you aren’t so overwhelmed when you return.
- Make sure your home is taken care of and ready for you to return by cleaning before you go, getting laundry done, putting lights on a timer, taking out the trash and recycling, notifying your home alarm company, and so on. Never underestimate how nice it is to come home to a clean home so you can immediately start to unwind.
Give Yourself Time
When you’re requesting vacation days off, make sure you take a couple of extra days off after you return home. You’ll need this time to rest and revisit your old routine before real life has to really start again. Knowing you’ve got a couple of days to simply chill after you return home will make that last day a little bit sweeter because it’s not back to the grind just yet.
Have Fun at Home
Once you are back home, but before you enter real life again, make some fun plans. Nothing extravagant, but have a movie night, book a quick massage, and/or romanticize the little things like going to your favorite local coffee shop or cooking a delicious meal in your own kitchen. Whatever it is, you find fun at home, make time for it. Just a little bit of fun at home can kick post-vacation depression like you wouldn’t believe.
Take Care of Yourself
We won’t harp because we aren’t telling you anything you don’t already know, but when you’re feeling any type of sadness, including post-vacay sadness, make sure when you come home that you’re drinking lots of water, eating nutritious meals, and moving your body gently by doing some deep stretching or taking relaxing walks.
What Have You Missed?
Trust us, there are probably more things you’re looking forward to than you realize upon returning home. Before you head home or on your journey home, make a list of people you can’t wait to see or things you can’t wait to do once you’re home. A few examples might include seeing your beloved pet if they were boarded or staying with someone while you were away, sleeping in your own bed, eating a home-cooked meal, and/or, of course, utilizing your own bathroom.
Get to Planning
Just because one vacation is over doesn’t mean you can’t go ahead and start planning the next one! Start committing time to your next journey by researching spots that are on your bucket list, where you’d like to stay, and what you’d like to do, then before you know it, it will be time to set sail again (or flight or whatever your transportation style is!) Sometimes just knowing that there’s another trip on the horizon is all we need to soften the blow of the most recent journey ending.