Have you ever arrived home from a trip late on Sunday night and had to be at work at 9 am the next morning? No fun, is it? Or even if you’ve arrived home at a civilised hour, getting back into the work routine after a vacation is never easy. Do you believe that once I went away in December and my bag was still mostly unpacked the following April? True.
We are so keen to make the most of our time off work and our vacation in an exciting place that we often leave as little time as possible between the two. Understandably. But giving yourself a spare day between arriving home and getting back into your regular routine really pays dividends.
It’s true that you’ll spend one less day on your trip but you’ll feel better, be more relaxed and definitely much happier if you schedule a ‘buffer day’ so that you can acclimatise yourself to the real world back at home. And this doesn’t necessarily mean unpacking, doing the laundry and the housework!
If you’re super-organised, you will have prepared your home for your return from your trip. See this link.
Just as you don’t want to get back to your office as soon as you get home from your trip, you also don’t especially want to be doing chores either. Take it easy, relax and your return to your everyday routine will be much more pleasant and stress-free. You might:
- Go to a local spa – have a sauna, massage or other treatment to make yourself feel good
- Take a walk to a local park. Sit and read a book or daydream
- Spend the day relaxing in bed. This is a particularly good idea if your body clock is messed up. Don’t sleep all day or it will affect your nighttime sleep but relax, watch TV, read…
- Take a couple of hours to be a tourist in your own town. Visit the cinema, theatre or museum. This will extend the pleasure of your vacation and at the same time give you a chance to see things you never have the time for in your day-to-day life
- Treat yourself to a meal at a local restaurant or order in a delivery meal
- Organise your memories whilst everything is fresh in your mind. Write a blog or journal about your travels, scrapbook your souvenirs, post your travel pics to social media
Of course, if you can take the time to put a load of laundry into the washer then you’re ahead of the game. And getting in a few groceries is also a good idea but why not go to your local deli and get yourself some treats rather than the boring old supermarket?
Yes, you’ve lost just one day of your holiday but you’ll feel so much better about getting back to the day-to-day routine.
ARTICLE BY:
Jackie
JJ is originally from the UK and has lived in South Florida since 1994. She is the founder and editor of JAQUO Magazine. You can connect with her using the social media icons below.