In this season of summer vacations, we tend to focus on trip preparation and itineraries for the trip itself. We get all excited about the trip planning and packing. YouTube is filled with trip planning videos and pack with me videos. You can find trip report blogs for pretty much any destination you could dream of. I mean, that’s the exciting stuff, right?
We tend to ignore the inevitable eventually that we will return from vacation. Re-entry into normal life is decidedly not exciting, but it’s a mistake to ignore this aspect of vacation. If you don’t think ahead to your return from vacation, it can hit you like a ton of bricks.
Don’t be caught unawares when you return from vacation! Here are my best tips for making your return from vacation as smooth as possible.
Return from Vacation Tips
Prepare before you leave
Trust me on this one, you will want to do a bit of preparation to set yourself up for success when you return from vacation. I know it sounds daunting to add more to your plate in the lead-up to your vacation. I promise the small amount of preparation I’m suggesting you do on the front end won’t overwhelm you, but it will save your skin when you return from vacation.
This post-vacation prep work is simply one manifestation of the Lazy Genius’ magic question: what can you do now that will make life easier later? I love to ask myself the magic question all day every day, so it’s no surprise that I ask it about returning from vacation. After several years of vacations with kids after adopting the lazy genius way, I have developed a list of things I do before we leave that makes re-entry so much more successful:
Change the sheets
Instead of waiting to change the bed linens when you return from vacation, change them right before you leave. This ticks one item off your return to-do list, and it packs a punch. I don’t know about you, but the thing I miss the most when I’m on vacation (other than the dog) is my bed. And when is your bed at its best? With fresh sheets, of course. Give yourself the gift of the best night’s sleep on your return from vacation!
Clean out the fridge
Trust me, this is definitely one you want to do before you leave so you’re not left with a smelly, disgusting mess upon your return from vacation. If you’re like me, you treat food consumption the week or so before you leave on vacation as a bit of a game. I try to get through as much food as possible to reduce the amount of food waste. Sometimes, however, I lose this game and am left with a bit of excess food in the fridge that won’t survive my vacation. Go ahead and pitch the items left in the fridge that you know won’t be good when you return before you leave. Focus on super perishable items like cucumbers and other high-water content produce (good for hydration, not long-term storage), meat, milk, and leftovers. These will absolutely become science experiments if they aren’t consumed quickly.
Tidy
One goal of vacation is to relax and recharge you. The last thing you need upon your return from vacation is stress and anxiety brought on by entering a pig sty of a house. I’m not saying you need to do a top to bottom deep clean of your house before you leave. In fact, please don’t do that. But it is worthwhile to tidy up the piles, run the vacuum, and wipe down the counters so that when you return from vacation, you can keep those good vibes rolling.
Unpack immediately
One of the most daunting things about returning from vacation is unpacking. Especially if you’re unpacking for a whole family, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the whole unpacking process. In my experience, the longer you leave the bags sitting in the corner waiting to be unpacked, the higher the barrier to start the process. How to avoid this? Start unpacking immediately.
Personally, I like to unpack everything as soon as humanly possible. I go bag by bag and put things in their rightful place rather than in piles to deal with later. I understand that it isn’t always feasible to unpack everything right away after every trip, but it is possible to start unpacking immediately after every trip. Even if you only get your toiletries unpacked before the kids need you or before you pass out from sheer exhaustion and jet lag, you’ve started the ball rolling.
As you unpack, I also recommend that you get the laundry started as soon as possible. Don’t wait until you can’t enter your laundry room because there are piles everywhere. Make a pile and throw it in the wash. It will all get done eventually, now is not really the time to prioritize.
Give yourself a buffer
When I was younger, I thought I needed to maximize every second of my vacation time. I took the first flight out that I could and came back as late as I could and still get to work on time the next day. It took me years to realize just how stressed out this practice made me. Oh, young, naïve Sara.
Needless to say, those days are long gone. Ideally, I give myself a buffer day before I leave on vacation and one when I return from vacation. Again, I realize that it’s not always possible to give yourself a whole day buffer on each end of your trip, but whatever buffer you can give yourself is better than no buffer at all!
Hydrate
I don’t drink enough water in my normal life. When I’m on vacation, water consumption basically goes out the window. If you’re honest with yourself, you probably don’t drink enough water when you’re on vacation either. It’s hard to stop the fun and think about water. And if you’re flying to get to and from your destination, you’re automatically dehydrated when you return from vacation.
Your likely dehydration means that you need to focus on drinking water as soon as you return from vacation. Making sure you’re rehydrated will help your re-entry into normal life maybe more than anything else. If you’re dehydrated and feeling yucky, it won’t matter how much prep work you did or how much buffer you gave yourself.
The good news is that I have a whole post about how to hydrate. The tips in that post work for kids and adults alike. So, grab your fun water bottle, cut yourself some watermelon, and get hydrated!
Plan for healthy food
For many of us, healthy eating goes out the window on vacation right along with water consumption. When I’m on vacation, I tend to snack a lot more and eat more fried foods. Every snack and French fry are delicious, sure, but they take their toll and leave me generally feeling “meh.”
I’m not saying you should strictly stick to a clean-eating regimen while you’re on vacation or anything (live a little!), but it might be a good idea to get back on track when you return from vacation. The good news is that this is pretty easy to do with a little forethought.
My number one tip is to plan the meals for the week after your return either before you leave or while you’re on vacation. Focus on things that are easy to make and full of good-for-you ingredients that you and your kids will want to eat. You can either make yourself a grocery list when you plan your meals that you can pick up and take to the grocery store when you return from vacation or you can save yourself the shopping trip and schedule a grocery pick-up or delivery.
Buy a souvenir
Most of us buy a souvenir or two when we go on vacation, but we don’t think about how a little trinket might help us with the return from vacation. It’s nice to have something tangible to help you remember the fun you had on vacation. It takes the sting out of the return to normal life if you see your souvenir and can be transported back to your trip.
My go-to souvenirs are typically a refrigerator magnet and a Christmas tree ornament. These items are typically pretty low-cost, take up minimal room in the suitcase, and serve the purpose of remembering the good times of your vacation really well. A magnet, in particular, is a great souvenir to help with the return from vacation blues. You’re likely going to see a magnet on your fridge multiple times a day. That’s multiple smile opportunities, folks.
Start planning your next vacation
An under-rated but highly impactful way to deal with a post-vacation hangover is to start planning your next vacation. I always find that my mental state is better when I have something to look forward to. And what better to look forward to immediately after your return from vacation than your next vacation?
You don’t need to book your next trip as soon as you return from vacation, but you can certainly start the planning process. Do some research on a few locations you want to check out, look at the calendar to see when you might be able to jet off next, and talk to your family about where they would like to go. These initial planning steps will definitely take the sting off of your return from vacation.
What steps do you take to help ease yourself back into normal life when you return from vacation?