Helpful tip #10

Dealing with post-travel blues/depression

When you first get back from your trip (especially your first one), you are completely filled with excitement and spend at least the first week back sharing all your stories, memories and photos with anyone you see. But soon people get tired of being forced to see your photo's over and over again or begin resenting the fact that every conversation somehow leads to a story of "When I was in..."or "the food in wherever was just amazing". It is difficult to not do these things and even more difficult to acknowledge that nobody else will experience exactly what you experienced, in exactly the same way. That coupled with the realisation that your adventure is over and the uncertainty of whether or not you will ever get such an opportunity again, can be daunting. When you are travelling, you constantly have new exciting experiences waiting for you and every day is a new adventure. It is difficult to return to your normal life. As a result you may, as I did, experience some post travel-blues.

Here are some tips I picked up on how to deal with post-travel blues/depression;
- Keep busy. If you are too busy with other things, you won't think about it as much.
- Find exciting new activities/ adventures in or near your home.
- Plan your next trip. Even if it may only be in the distant future, or even if it changes ten times before you actually travel again... plan it anyway.
- Stay in touch with people you met on your trip. They will probably also be experiencing what you are experiencing, so sharing stories etc. helps. Plus, they will probably never get tired of reliving the memories and adventures.
- Incorporate the cultures you experienced into your life at home. Be it learning to cook a meal you enjoyed on your travels, or celebrating a holiday that you would not normally celebrate in your country.
- Read travel blogs (like this), articles about travel and other countries or watch the travel channel. This might make you nostalgic, but it will also keep your desire to travel alive.
- Start your own blog. This has perhaps been the thing that has helped me most. Writing about my trip (now a year and a half later) is a way for me to put down on paper (so to speak) all the wonderful experiences I had, and gives me the opportunity to recall all these incredible memories. It also sustains my desire to travel more.
- When you meet new people and need a conversation starter, use things like "What is your dream destination?" or "What is your favourite country to visit?" etc. People will find it quirky and it will give you an opportunity to both reminisce about your travels as well as learn about places that they have been to or want to visit.
- And perhaps most importantly... remember the experience for what it was, but do not let it take away from what could be or what is still to come.

It is important to point out that I am certainly not an authority on dealing with depression, nor am I a seasoned traveller, psychologist or counsellor. These are just a few things that helped me to deal with my post-travel blues.

Much love, laughter and safe travels.