Coming back from a trip you may feel melancholy, tired, irritable, and somehow empty. It’s completely normal, it’s called the “post-vacation blues”, or post-travel syndrome. You may have experienced it too! Don’t worry, it’s not an actual “illness”, but rather a series of psychological and physical reactions that can occur after a vacation.
The post-travel syndrome
A trip is an escape, an adventure. You set off to discover a new world, have unique experiences, sometimes things you never thought you would do and meet people who, in some cases, become important to you. There are no schedules to follow, and you finally feel free. Coming home, on the other hand, catapults us back into our daily routine, shaped by commitments, schedules, and hectic rhythms that we have become unaccustomed to. Suddenly, we feel nostalgic, unmotivated, and melancholic; our minds struggle to concentrate and constantly wander back to the trip. This happens because, while on vacation, the brain quickly adapts to a new condition characterized by greater autonomy, more interesting and less rigid routines, and an abundance of new stimuli and experiences. And, in the case of long-distance travel, jet lag from changing time zones can add to the mix.
So, how long does this “condition” last?
Unfortunately, there’s no universal answer. The duration of these “symptoms” varies from person to person — from a few days to a few weeks. Or maybe it never goes away, like in my case!
There are a few strategies we can adopt to make the “return to reality” a little easier. For example, coming home a couple of days before going back to work can give us some time to gradually readjust to our routine. If we discovered a new passion during our vacation, we can make it part of our everyday life and keep it going. Or perhaps what better “cure” is there than planning a new adventure around the world?!
In any case, let’s remember that melancholy is not a negative feeling. Rather, it can be an indicator that the experience was meaningful to us and truly enriched our lives.
My experience with the post-travel syndrome
Personally, I realize that I “start off on the wrong foot” — if I may make a little play on words! I don’t even wait until I’m back from a trip to feel nostalgic. My homesickness actually starts halfway through the vacation. I start thinking that I’ll miss that place, that the experience will never happen again — at least not in exactly the same way — that this feeling of well-being will eventually come to an end, and that back home, at that same time of day, I’ll be “forced” to do something else, to attend to my everyday responsibilities dictated by routine.
I’m a very curious person. I love learning new things, exploring, discovering. My brain is always in need of new stimuli and new adventures, and for “him”, every trip is a ticket to a wonderland where everything is new and unpredictable.
I often find myself thinking that what I actually miss is the person I am when I travel: freer, more carefree, happier, more easily amazed, more hungry for life. When you travel, every day brings something new, and I love discovering new things — it makes each day feel alive and never monotonous! At home, on the other hand, much of what happens is predictable. And predictability, although comforting in some ways, can also be boring!
I love that feeling of having to sharpen your senses in order to find your way around an unfamiliar destination — discovering, making choices, simply choosing. Choosing when to stop, when to eat, when to rest, when to sing, when to smile, when to dream.
There’s a quote by Alessandro Baricco that always comes back to my mind between one adventure and the next, and that perfectly sums up how I feel about it:
People live for years and years, but in reality, it is only during a small part of those years that they truly live — namely, during the years when they manage to do what they were born to do. That is when they are happy. The rest of the time is spent waiting or remembering. When you are waiting or remembering, you are neither sad nor happy. You may look sad, but it’s simply because you are waiting or remembering. People who wait are not sad, nor are those who remember. They are simply far away.
What do you think? Have you ever experienced the post-vacation blues?