Wendy Grace
Every year when I come back from holidays after a time of refreshment and family time, we often return with really bad post-holiday blues. How can I avoid them this year?
This is totally normal and natural. You work hard all year, you save, you spend hours daydreaming about your two week holiday. Yet sometimes you can come home feeling more drained than before you left. It can be hard to come back into your normal routine, but understanding that it’s normal to feel this way can be half the battle.
What about your holiday did you enjoy? It probably was spending time together, relaxing or reading a good book. You don’t have to fall straight back into your hectic routine, where can you make more time to spend together. What are the activities you enjoyed on holiday? Maybe it was a walk or cycle together, you can do those things at home too, you just have to make the time to do it. Did you enjoy reading on holiday? Why not make sure you read for 20 minutes at night in bed and ditch that second episode of your favourite TV show on Netflix? It’s also tempting to go online and look at everyone else who is now on holiday. Don’t! Get off social media and do the things you enjoyed on holidays – spending time with those who you love. It’s good to also unpack quickly and put your cares away in the attic so your suitcases are not reminding you of the sunshine!
Memories
Share your holiday memories with family. I love going over to my mum’s and showing them a slideshow of some photos on the TV and excitedly telling the family all we got up to. Remember to be positive if you come home talking yourself into the post holiday blues you will likely feel them worse, think of all the things you have to be positive about, I am always grateful to get into my own bed and thankful I am coming home to a roof over my head.
The plane journey home itself without the adrenaline or excitement of going on holidays can be tough. Make sure to drink lots of water and try to get a good night’s sleep the night before your flight. Often feeling tired and low on energy is just because you’re dehydrated. Most of us on holidays eat and drink a lot more than we usually do, so it’s important to get back into eating healthy and cutting down on alcohol as well as planning some fresh air and exercise.
Plan to come home two days before you have to go back to work. The day after your flight home plan a nice family day together, catch up with family and friends you have missed. Gently ease yourself back into being home rather than arriving on a late night flight the night before having to go back to work. Plan to keep up what was great about holidays – plan to have a family day once a week and incorporate your date night once a week, even if that’s just having a dine in meal when the kids are gone to bed.
And remember the holiday blues are usually pretty temporary, after a short period of adjustment the blues will be long gone and you can start planning your next holiday!