3 Useful Tips For Any Traveler Returning Home

We get up and leave a place for a reason: change. We leave when it’s time to abandon our usual environment and venture forth in the name of adventure and discovery. So what do we do once we have had our fill of adventure, have discovered what we we’re looking for, and inevitably decide to return to our old environment? Traveling creates a deeper sense of self-awareness and helps us gain a heightened perspective on our life back home. Often, coming home after traveling is difficult. There is a sort of reverse culture shock, a transitional period getting re-acclimated to the routine we previously left.

Here are a few tips for the travelers returning home to help you retain all those lessons you learned abroad.

1. Don’t return to old negative habits.

You left to let go of some of the old negative ways of thinking or ways of doing that you so badly wanted to leave behind. Do not go back! When we stay stationary in one place, going through the motions of the same 9-5 job, dealing with the same people in the same situations over and over again, it creates a routine.

Some routines are good, but others do not serve us.

These are the routines we seek to let go of while traveling. So when you return home, become very aware of which routines you sought to eradicate from your day-to-day life, and make a conscious effort to not revert back.

2. Give yourself time to adjust.

When you get back you’re going to face reverse culture shock, which usually takes at least a month to work through, so you give yourself some time before you go back to work. We need time after a trip to recover and regroup, both physically and mentally. Ever heard someone say they needed a vacation after their vacation? Give yourself the time to re-acclimate—it’ll make the transition smoother. Run your errands, go through your mail, restock the fridge, catch up with old friends (as long as they weren’t the ones you were running away from) and relax.

3. Keep doing the things you loved to do while traveling.

Perhaps you read more books while traveling in 6 months than you have in your entire life. Perhaps you rode your bike everywhere, or took the bus to places. Perhaps you visited museums or took in live music.

Whatever you did while traveling, apply it in your environment.

It will help break up the monotony that travelers inevitably try to run from. These activities help keep you in the spontaneous flow so you feel more fulfilled and enriched in your normal life, thus helping to recreate the feeling you got from traveling.

Whether you’re currently traveling, or if you’re already back at home, we hope these suggestions help keep you fulfilled and inspired until your next adventure.  Life is all about balancing where you are with where you want to be. Embrace it all and enjoy the ride!