Back To Reality: What it's like to return after a big trip

You can read countless articles about the benefits of traveling. You can talk to many people about their travels and I'm sure that they will tell you that their trip changed their life for the better. You can go to wherever you want and I guarantee that your travels will make you happier and more open minded, and though you may be homesick, you're having such a good time that the thought of going home is unsettling.

But you have to go back eventually, right? And this is when traveling gets tough. Many label this as the part of traveling that nobody talks about, and that's because it's painful.

It's the return from your trip that hurts. It's misleading at first, because though you are sad to leave your travels and return home, you are excited to see your family and friends. You are happy to catch up with the loved ones that you haven't seen in months. You have many souvenirs to give and countless stories to tell. And people have many questions to ask you, which is great because all you want to do is talk about it.

But after about a week or so, that allure of being home quickly turns to dust. You think of the people you met when you traveled and that makes you sad. You're homesick for the new places you've visited, especially if you've stayed in one place for a long amount of time. You begin having this sort of travel withdrawal, and yet no matter what you try and do at home to make your life seem more interesting, you end up feeling let down because nothing really compares to the fun you had when you were away. You try to keep talking about your experience, anything to hold on to that last bit of happiness that traveling has brought you, but your friends and family have stopped listening ages ago. Basically, everything makes you sad.

I can tell you from experience, it's just as bad as a break-up. In fact, it is a break-up. And like any break-up, it takes some time to get over.

However, if you have returned from a big trip and feel this "travel break-up" type of pain, there are things that you can do to help cope.

Focus on the things that make you happy, and change the things that don't. 

When you return from your trip, it'll be easy to pick out the things that are making you unhappy. For me personally, it was school. I'm aware that education is important and in America most entry level jobs require a bachelors degree. However, my decision to go to college was stemmed from the pressure of society that stated that school is the only way you can be successful, and so I felt I had to go to school, pick a career, and finish as soon as possible. I felt rushed in my decision, and never felt 100% set on a major or specific career path.

So, when I returned studying abroad at the end of my sophmore year of college, it was very clear that school was making me very unhappy. For the steep cost of my education, I felt as if I wasn't getting my money's worth because I personally wasn't mature enough to pick a set career path. So, I stopped going.

I realized that traveling makes me happy, and I continued to work hard and travel more, and now that I know more about myself and what I want to do, school now seems like a better option for me.


Don't use travel as a way to escape your current life, but as a way to open your mind. 

This is definitely a mistake that I have made. I don't have an ideal home life, school has gotten me into a lot of debt, and I don't have a job that I can brag about. There are many things that make me unhappy here at home, but choosing to travel as a way to escape these things is useless. These things: debt, bad relationships, cold weather, they are all going to still be waiting for you when you come home. So, if you travel just to escape these things, returning home just becomes much harder on you.

Use traveling as a way to learn about yourself and the world, and then you can return to your home life with a positive attitude and new experiences that have strengthened you so that you can affectively deal with the struggles of being home.

Fuel your sadness into creativity.

This is exactly why I have started this blog. I had so many stories, pictures, and emotions about my travels that I couldn't exactly articulate with words, so I decided to take something that I enjoy and create an outlet for it. This makes the sadness of missing your trip bearable. Writing about my experiences allows me to reflect on how traveling has made me happier.


Of course, if you really dislike your home life that much, then you should leave. But don't forget your roots. Always know that there is that one place that you can return to if you come to a roadblock with your travels.

And if you find that you love traveling and never want to come back home, I advise that you should still return home at least once. I believe that coming home is a necessary part of traveling, and dealing with the withdrawals and sadness of being home gets easier the more you do it.