A couple of weeks ago my boyfriend and I were in Germany–Frankfurt, Füssen, Nuremberg, and Berlin. I turned 49 while we were in Berlin. To celebrate, we made our own chocolate at Ritter Sport, attended the Day of German Unity celebration near Brandenburg Gate, and enjoyed a wonderful Spanish tapas meal at Barcelona restaurant near Checkpoint Charlie.

Now, the party’s over. It’s back to work. I’m having a hard time accepting it. I suspect I’ve been dealing with a little post-travel depression. It always sucks coming back from a whirlwind European vacation, but this comeback was especially hard. I’ll be fine, but here’s what I wish I did to ease my way back into reality:

Don’t go back to work right away.

We got back home on a Thursday. After the long flight and an Uber ride back to my house, I slept that afternoon and most of the evening. I reported back to work on Friday . . . the next day. I didn’t have anymore time off, so I had no choice. As you can imagine, I was about 5% productive and I was craving more sleep. Perhaps better planning with my work schedule could have given me at least the rest of that week to recover.

Concentrate on something meaningful.

Planning for my future full-time RV life means a lot to me. So do activities like writing and reading, which keep my mind sharp. Once I was back from vacation, I neglected this blog and I stopped writing. Besides dragging myself to work, I didn’t do much else. Ignoring those meaningful activities made my life back home seem depressing and meaningless. I’m glad to say I’m back to my writing and blogging.

Keep the traveler mindset.

I’ve picked up lots of habits from my travels. I use the local mass transit more and I increasingly love to try different foods. In addition, when I travel I go out to eat more. and I attend museums and historical points of interest. When I’m at home, I can treat myself to a good meal out and see a museum in my own city. It sounds better than hiding under the covers feeling depressed about being back home.

Plan your next trip.

It’s hard to think about my next trip when I’m still feeling cash-poor from the last one. But I’m researching anyway. I still get and read emails from Eurail. My boyfriend wants to go to Greece. I have a business trip to Cypress next year. I’d better keep saving!

Go back through your vacation photos.

Better late than never. I’ve put it off, but now as I look through my photos, it allows me to transition back to normal life. It’s like closure at the end of something wonderful. My boyfriend also realizes this, and very soon we plan to go out for a beer and compare our photos. Here is a sample. Enjoy . . .

How do you recover after returning from a vacation? Please leave a comment!