No one really talks about it – that weird feeling of trying to readjust back into normal day-to-day life after a few weeks, months or years on the road.
The friend I traveled with on my last trip to Asia, asked me promptly after returning home “how do you do it? How do you readjust back into everyday life after an adventure like that?”
I replied: “I didn’t” – at that point the last 2.5 years had been a constant movement; changing one from city to another, from one country to another. I relished being surrounded by new faces, walking out onto a street and feeling like there were so many new pockets and corners to discover. I was in love with the movement of travel.
I’m home for a bit now, while I travel a bit more of New Zealand and saving for my next adventure.
So how is best to deal with the travel comedown? The gloom that exists because you’re no longer exploring new shores?
Explore your own country
If you intentionally explore your own city or country with the same level of enthusiasm and curiosity reserved for overseas, you can find yourself feeling the same buzz that you get from traveling overseas. I’m very lucky to come from New Zealand which is a great country for exploring and certainly one of the most beautiful.
Host Couchsurfers
I started on Couchsurfing around 7 years ago, and hosted a number of Couchsurfers. While in Mexico, San Diego and Spain I Couchsurfed with locals and gained a really unique perspective to the culture and city. Just this week my flatmates and I hosted a friend we had met in Cambodia for a few days and it was really awesome getting to show him around my city. One of the best part of traveling is all the cool, open minded people you meet along the way and hosting on Couchsurfing is a great way to ensure you’re still meeting them despite staying put.
Plan your next adventure
I could literally spend weeks on Wikitravel, Lonelyplanet and Tripadvisor planning a lifetime worth of adventures. Planning where you want to visit next is a great way to keep the travel dream alive while inspiring you to save more for your next trip.
What do you do to help beat the no-travel blues? Is there anything you do to keep the travel dream alive when you’re at home in between adventures?
I know that feeling, it is quite hard to go back to your usual routine after spending a great vacation. You always think of the memories that you had during your vacation/trip and always wanting to go back there and explore more!
I’ve done all of these things when I’m having the travel comedown. It’s so weird going from being constantly busy to having a more stable schedule, isn’t it? I also try to get busy doing stuff and picking up new hobbies, even if they’re not travel-related. That usually helps too!