How to Battle Post-Travel Depression

I didn’t feel the hard effects of post-travel depression until after I started traveling consistently throughout 2017, and it was like I was on a virtual rollercoaster of feelings that undulated between happy and sad as I took a trip and then returned home.

I realized I was suffering from post-travel depression, and I wasn't alone in my experience.

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A study in 2010 found that travelers reported increased stress with returning to work after vacation and anxiety and aversion toward returning to daily responsibilities.

Sometimes called the Post Vacation Blues, this feeling surfaces in different ways for different travelers. For me, I’m sluggish, not motivated, more tired than usual, reluctant to get back into a routine and wistfully longing to be on the road again.

The good news is that these feelings go away and there are things that travelers can do to battle post-travel depression.

First and foremost, when you return home from a trip, don't stop moving. Try a new activity or attend an event in your city that you’ve never been to and meet new people. Essentially "travel" within your own city. Go to a play, explore a new neighborhood, sign up for a creative class or check out a quirky tour available in your area. You don't have to stop traveling just because you're home.

Who’s to say you can’t bring your travels home with you in other ways to help ease the transition? If you visited France and miss it dearly, plan a French dinner with friends that involves cooking French food, speaking in French, drinking French wine and discussing your trip or your favorite French authors and artists.

Photographs are a great tool to help battle post-travel depression. Learn to edit, splice and put video clips from your vacation together to create a fun video with music to remind you of your time abroad. Or maybe create a travel scrapbook full of notes, photos and stories from your trip, or update your social media accounts with your best vacation pictures.

Perhaps one of the best methods I’ve used to battle post-trip depression is by planning my next trip soon after I return home. If I have something exciting to look ahead to, I’m able to think less about what I left behind and recapture the feelings of excitement and joy that I had in planning my previous trip.

So, call your travel agent and gush about your last trip and start planning for the next one. While you don’t necessarily have to book the flight immediately after your trip, you could begin researching a new destination, Google the best tours in the area, see what other travelers did in the region via an Instagram search and start figuring out creative ways to save money to pay for the next trip, thus ridding yourself of any possible post-travel blues.

Traveling is one of the most rewarding experiences in life, and while post-travel depression is a negative side effect of it, it doesn’t have to affect your life completely. By being proactive in our actions when we return home from a trip and reflective and thankful for the experience you just had, you can work through the anxiety and stress-laden transition from your traveling adventures to your life at home and perhaps learn something new in the process.