7 months of fun and adventure and now it's back to reality with the biggest bump ever. How does everyone cope? Is it easy to settle down again or will I have itchy feet for life?
I travelled through Asia, Oz, NZ and America for 7 months and had the time of my life and met so many wonderful people. I spent over budget but I did absolutely everything I had on my list to do, no regrets what so ever, it was wonderful. Before I left life was getting boring it was just the same old same old.
Now I'm back home in England (will it ever stop raining????) and everything is just how I left it and after a week of being back I'm scared of it feeling like I never went away. There is only so much you can talk to friends about your wonderful trip without them beginning to have a glazed look on their face lol.
I'm job hunting at the moment and know that the answer is to start saving so I can do it all again but it's just so hard to re adjust to 'normal life'. People who have never been just don't get it. It's quite hard explaining that you feel slightly depressed after what is technically a 7 month holiday which quite a few poeple I know will never get the chance to do.
I'm not being ungrateful about my life now and know that I just need to get on with things and save again and use my experiences to make the best of what I have now and everything will turn out just fine 😊
I'm just interested in other peoples stories and how people deal with the biggest holiday come down and how people beat the post travel blues.
Reply to this Hi Jo,
The come down is always the hardest. But also when you have been travelling alone I always find you come back with so many stories and you want to tell everyone but it comes to a point, where it's not that people don't care...they just get a little bit sick of it after a while! 😊
As soon as I get home I'm always planning the next trip that I can make, it doesn't matter how long and actually want to go to south east asia over christmas if everything works out! 😊 It's a great way to keep my spirits up!
I also find it good to write about my experiences and I recently found a review site called
where I like to help other travellers by posting reviews and making people jealous with all of my photos! I like to keep a record myself of all of the places I've been and people I have met, but I also want to encourage other people to travel and help them find the best places around the world giving them advice of what to do and what not to do.
Sian
Reply to this Completely agree with Sian! Actually, the best way not to hit the post travel blues is to well...keep traveling! And between each trip plan for the next one (which does keep one busy!) while enjoying the moments spent at home....
After a 7 months trip like the one you just completed...well, although you are back home, you are somehow different while everyone and everything else has remained the same...not always easy to cope with, especially if no one back home has shared your experience...
For your next trip, try to convince one of your good friends to join you, always nice to have friend back home with who you enjoy those precious moments!
Personally, I just cannot imagine my life without traveling and somehow, it is funny because traveling keeps getting better and better...although a few years ago I felt that I had enjoyed the best in some countries, I now visit again the same places and somehow appreciate them even more...guess I am looking at those in a different way which make those even more enjoyable! and the best part is... it is a never ending story...so, yes...going back home when it is raining (same same here in Shanghai..) might not be the best case scenario but even here life is full of experiences and discovery as long as one keep its eyes opened!
Have fun in England!
Reply to this Definitely know how you feel! Life's been so boring since I got back from 5 1/2 months travelling, and now I'm heading off to uni. But, the first thing I did was to find out how long my holidays are, and I've planned to go away in 2 of the 3 holidays! Planning the next trip is definitely the best way to deal with the PTBs.
Why not join the facebook group 'I suffer from the PTB's' (Post-Travel Blues) here http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=107103306581&ref=ts
Good luck with it!
Reply to this Agree with all of you, esp with sian and laetitia. You bet it gets easier if you start planning for your next trip, more so if you can convince your friend(s) to join you . In my case, I am forever working on a bucket list. All the places I want to visit and revisit. In some cases, I even draw up a semblance of an itinerary, with lots of room for spontaineity , of course. You'd be amazed how many travel plans you can cook up...... for a weekend, a week, a month, a half year, or even an entire year.
Reply to this I dont settle down or not settle down after travel, and there was no permanent after travel. Travel is part of my life, all my life, so I dont have real post travel blues.
As far as travel is concerned, I think too much of a good thing can be bad. After I had done a lot of it, I started feeling a need for other things in my life such as professional qualifications, money to spend on things like clothes, a relationship and children... I do a bit of a lot of things with my life now and not just focus on travel, because the variety gives my life balance and makes me stay interested in things.
Though, it did take a lot of travelling, before I started to feel a need for balance.
But, I think I would still get post travel blues, if there wasnt a next trip in sight. ie if I didnt have enough time or money.
Reply to this There is only so much you can talk to friends about your wonderful trip without them beginning to have a glazed look on their face
That is what places like TravelBlog are for, in my opinion. I come here to find people who are actually interested in travel talk. 😊
Reply to this I would also suggest trying to make some plans for weekends away or short breaks so that you don't have to completely stop travelling before you next get to go for a long time. There are so many places you can get to from the UK and I'm sure that there are plenty of places in the UK that you haven't been - and even its a 3 day trip to the Lake District it is still something to plan and something to break things up.
Reply to this Thanks to everyone for the posts. Well I've been back well over a year now and in fact it was 2 years today that I was just starting my trip in Thailand. I'm still planning on doing a huge trip one day, I'd love to travel round South America, I will be saving for years for that. I did a camping trip through Kenya and Tanzania last year which was awesome and I've just booked flights to Cuba for 3 weeks in the summer. So things are looking good. I'm thinking of making it back to Thailand for the full moon party for NYE. Iaandal, you're so right short breaks are the way forward, I'm hoping to go to the Isle of Wight Festival. I have to go to Belfast with work and I'm going to extend my time there and be a tourist.
Replying to posts on here is great too it brings back all the wonderful memories and gives advice to other travellers.
I've started a few random hobbies too, I've met some new people salsa dancing. I'm pretty rubbish but it's a great laugh. I have also started indoor rock climbing too and I hope to do some outdoor this summer.
Whilst working isn't quite as exciting as travelling it's good, I have a pretty interesting job although it is for the same company I worked for before I left but it's a new role with lots to learn. I just have to use my 5 weeks holiday very wisely now instead.
Happy travels to everyone whether it's for a weekend or for a year.
Reply to this Hello everyone-- we all have the travel bug and it renews our souls. We walk to the beat of a different drummer. Some of our friends and families understand us and many do not---
Re-entry into the non-travel world can be tough to balance. We spent 10 months traveling in 2007 and 2008. It was a fabulous adventure and fortunately has changed us forever. For a short while after we got back we didn't really want to travel out of the city limits. That only lasted for a few weeks and our minds started to wander again.
At this point, we are unable to take another sabbatial, at least for now. So, we work and take vacations as often as we can. In September we went to France and Belgium. .......and like Jo Jo we use our time as wisely as possible.
http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-281206.html
This year we are going to the Turks and Caicos diving in February and will explore Italy in the fall.
Our short trips will be to Washington, DC, Denver and NYC.
Happy Travels fellow world travelers!!!! I can't wait to read about your next adventure.
The answer to your question is to continue to dream, imagine and plan for the next travel adventure.
Reply to this Whoops, I attached the wrong link.
I added one that I had recently read and liked.
Perfectly Paris[Edited: 2012 Jun 05 08:22 - Jo Trouble:16935 - Added link]
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In response to: Msg #47974 I completely understand how you feel, which is why i've written a post on the subject! Its called Post Travel Blues, and its all about how to avoid it! http://liveandlettravel.com/2012/05/
Reply to this Damn, I know how you feel. I spend 7 months at home after my 4 year around the world trip and even though I was happy seeing people I had not seen for a while and doing things I forgot I love, soon I was feeling like shit and realize that the only thing that can make me feel better was to leave again. So, I left.
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We have recently decided to go on our 2nd around the world trip and at some point realized we had been mentally planning it for some time.
The planning stages are fun too.....
So-- if you were taking another trip? Where would you go this next time? How long would you be gone? Would you re-trace any steps from your last trip? How long do you dream of staying in each place?
Since you have five weeks off maybe you could take 4 weeks of it at one time and really feel like you've had a break.
Reply to this If you dont have kids or a mortgage, i would say travel! Go and live somewhere else and enjoy while not having much responsonsibility 😊 Otherwise, plan another trip - give yourself an aim, a budget to attempt to save too and some planning to get yourself into! Nothing beats the travel blues but more travel!!!!
Reply to this We found it very hard to come back after an amazing trip and settle back into normal 9-5 life again...so much so that after being home for 15 months from a 4 month trip in 2010, working and saving, we have just booked to leave on an 8 month trip this September!
At first it is nice seeing friends and family after a long time away, showing your photos and telling all your travel stories, but like you we found people started to seem bored after a while - its hard for people who don't have 'the travel bug' to understand how travel makes you feel, which is why this site is so great!
When we first came back we planned a few holidays which were great, but it made us realise that travel is our passion and we just felt that we needed to experience a longer trip, even if it meant giving up our jobs and renting out our flat. If you love to travel and can save up to do it, don't fight it, life is too short to not enjoy life!
Reply to this Aw it's great to see this post is still going. Well it's 4 years ago since I went travelling and I still think about how wonderful it was all the time. Such great memories that will always be remembers. All the advice on here is great. Basically - travel as much as possible. : )
Whilst I've done no really long trips yet, I've spent 3 weeks each in Africa, Cuba, Sri Lanka and had weekends away in Paris, New York, Belfast. I've got a 3 week trip to Italy planned this summer and a weekend away in Baveria and Madrid. I've also just managed to find myself a Spannish boyfriend and there are lots of European trips planned as well.
So even though I intend to do a long trip and South America is at the top of the list, I have a fairly good stable job and I'm really making the most of my holidays. I love this site and I'm saving up for another BIG trip, screw buying a house!!
Happy travels everyone. x
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Jo Jo, Please keep all of us posted and please blog about your shorter trips and your local area. You are the expert on your local area.
Reply to this I had the same experience when I stayed in Malaysia for 6 weeks... and it was so unexpected because I had lived in ireland for a year, came back to Aus and I didn't really experience post travel blues that time. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's something to do with reverse culture shock. I dealt with it by getting out of routine for a while, doing something after work, going window shopping and that sort of thing. It helps for a while (worked for me anyway) and ... planning your next trip is also theraputical in some way lol :D
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