The post-vacay serotonin dip (AKA: the touchdown comedown) is real and it’s time we chatted about it. What is it? Why do we feel it? How can we work through it? This is your one-stop guide to smoothly transitioning back to reality, without crash landing.
Shoutout to my Euro girlies, my Bali boys, and whoever else went on holiday during this cruel, cruel winter.
Post-trip depression, the subsequent sad times, the post-festive funk. There are many phrases (most of which I just made up) to describe the feeling of getting back home after a trip overseas.
How good was sipping a Bintang by the pool in Ubud? How delizioso was that pasta in Roma? Or who could forget, that stranger you snogged in [city name redacted due to privacy reasons] because “you were on holiday”?
So many good memories!
And therein lies my first tip.
Step 1: Acknowledge that you (most likely) had a ripper time.
Tell your friends and family!
And if they’re sick to death of hearing about it, tell your gratitude journal! A paper book can’t ignore you!
Clocking that you had a fab time while it lasted, instead of focusing on the fact that it’s over is already a much healthier starting position.
And that brings me to…
Step 2: It’s completely normal to feel down!
As Blink-182 once famously said, “Work sucks, I know”.
Last week you were waking up to the sound of a rooster in the French countryside and now you’re buttering your toast with a fork because your housemate forgot to put the dishwasher on last night.
How the mighty have fallen!
The feeling of “newness” we experience while exploring foreign lands is intoxicating.
The feeling of waking up at 6:40am to get ready for work is the exact opposite.
But both of them have a place in our lives. A grossly uneven proportion of place, if you ask me (why can’t I work 10 per cent of the time and travel 90 per cent hmm??). But a place nonetheless.
Find solace in the fact that most people in your neighbourhood, your state and your country are doing a similar slog to you.
Most have felt what you’re feeling right now. Just as the highs of travel are common experiences, so are the lows of returning.
Step 3: Microdose chaos
Here’s the part where we dish out some practical advice.
Your best bet for nailing a smooth landing is to curb any whiplash your brain gets from reverting back to reality.
So with this in mind, in the week or two following your return, do something for the plot.
Go out with your most chaotic friend. Try a new activity that you normally would’ve only tried while on holiday. Treat yourself to a vacation-esque experience to wean yourself off the part of your brain that still craves “newness” all the time.
Try not to go straight from demolition to domesticity overnight.
Before you know it, you’ll be back home. Physically and spiritually.
And then after a little while, it’ll be Christmas!
Stay safe, and never stop partying xx
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