There is always a comforting sentiment touching down in my hometown Sydney irrespective of being away 6 nights or 6 months. Firstly the flight over the Harbour is nothing short of amazing. It’s like I am seeing it for the first time.
It also my own bed, that familiar clean washing smell and a home cooked meal by mum.
But lets be honest, post holiday blues are like the flu; rude and annoying and it’s not long (a day or 2) before I feel the urge to swap the tissues for a plane ticket somewhere.
I come home to happy friends and family, who of course fill me with warmth and love. Though eventually the excitement dies down, friends go home and I am left with the reality that I am home yet my luggage is still stuck somewhere over the Atlantic ocean.
Double ouch!
One minute it’s French champagne or the water straight from a young coconut; whatever takes your fancy, the next it’s back to regular water.
Monday comes and its back to work, reality sinks in but of course I put on a façade for my jealous co-workers telling them stories about that French fling or 4 wheel driving with an Arabian Prince.
Then there are bills, traffic and bosses; all the things I conveniently forgot while I was away. Not to mention arriving back just in time for winter.
It all sucks right…Wrong!
There are a few ways to soften the blow when returning from holidays apart from the obvious of booking another trip.
Unpack straight away
Of course, not if your bags really are delayed. I usually come home with a ‘few’ pieces of clothing or something for my home. They will help to recreate a little bit of every destination sitting on the shelf or in the closet
Siesta like the Spanish
This would have only worked for me back when I started work at 4am. Be advised that if you do this in work hours you may be on a permanent holiday.
Eat like they do in your favorite country
The French often eat cheese and baguette for breakfast or have a larger lunch. Ok so maybe this isn’t such a good idea. But somehow the French never get fat.
Catalogue your trips
Make a photo book or video. When you see the finished product it will be a way to look back over the awesome experiences.
Look up
You can spot a visitor a mile away by their eyes. They are the ones who are looking every which way to take in as much as they can. I know when I am home I walk with headphones in, straight ahead and beeline for the car. It’s remarkable when I look up and see buildings I’ve never seen before in my own city.
Learn a language
I have a really cheap; in fact free way to learn a language. Join a library! Most libraries hold language discs that can be rented out for up to a month and then renewed again just in case it sat on the back seats for the first 2 weeks.
Go out on a weeknight
Yes its incredibly easy to go home and slouch on the couch after a long day, I know I am guilty but I don’t mean a full-blown 3am kind of night. It doesn’t even have to be dinner maybe just a drink with some friends or a partner and try a different place each week.
And if that doesn’t work. Buy a scent?
Virgin Holidays have launched a range of room scents designed to keep the holiday high going for longer. No word yet as to whether scents such as Bangkok Garbage Delight, Ooh La La Doggy Doo Doo or Stavros Sweaty Yeeros have been approved.
So maybe we can’t have the intensity of travel in our day after day lives but I guess it’s the everyday life that makes travel so invigorating. As long as we don’t live for the holiday, sitting around for the next one to come. Just try to be the tourist in your own city every now and then.
Herstory is a weekly column on women and travel by Steph Ridhalgh. Steph is a Sydney born; New York based television producer and travel blogger. Not one for being quiet for too long she simply loves talking about travel and lifestyle.
Steph is the founder of STEP(h) ABROAD, a travel and lifestyle resource for those who love to be in the know and know how.
