Episode 76: Overcoming Post-Trip Blues

Have you ever returned from an extraordinary trip only to feel deflated the moment you step back into your everyday life? You're not alone! Join me, Alessia Tenebruso, on episode 76 of the One Girl Travel Podcast, where I share my own bout with the travel blues after an unforgettable journey to Paris in 2019. From attending a Jimmy Buffett concert and cruising the Seine, to exclusive shopping at Chanel and gourmet cooking classes, my Parisian adventure was filled with high notes that made returning home feel like a stark contrast.

But there's hope! Tune in to discover practical tips on how to bring the magic of your travels into your daily routine. We'll explore how to identify what made your trip special and how to integrate those elements into your life back home. Whether it's a morning espresso and croissant ritual, more frequent walks, or simply savoring little moments, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you maintain that vacation glow long after you've unpacked your bags. Don't miss out on learning how to turn your post-vacation blues into a constant source of joy and inspiration!

If you enjoyed this episode of the One Girl Travel Podcast, then I invite you to follow me on Instagram. That's where all the fun is happening! @ONE_GIRL_TRAVEL

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Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:17

Welcome to the One Girl Travel Podcast, episode number 76. Through solo travel, while also focusing on topics such as life coaching insights and travel tips along the way. Now here's your host, alessia Tenebruso.

Speaker 1: 0:33

Hello, my friends, and welcome to episode number 76 of the One Girl Travel Podcast. Today we're going to talk about overcoming the travel blues. Now, if you've ever ever gone on a trip, you may have experienced the travel blues when you returned from said trip. I know I have absolutely come across the travel blues many times in my life. I find that's more like the bigger trips, the more significant trips, the trips that really felt special Actually, to be honest, I think all of them are but the travel blues is real. The travel blues is something that you will experience when you're on an incredible trip. Everything feels good, you're doing things that you enjoy, you're around people that you like to be around, you're eating delicious food, sipping great drinks, visiting amazing places. And then it ends and you're back home in your house, surrounded by whomever having to go to work, have to deal with the laundry or the garbage or whatever else you have to deal with. You have to deal with the laundry or the garbage or whatever else you have to deal with. You have to deal with all the real stuff back in the real world, which is your reality, and if your reality does not light you up, like your vacation did, that can give you the travel blues, and I want to tell you that it's normal. It's normal to feel sort of depressed after taking a trip.

Speaker 1: 2:13

One of the worst cases of the travel blues I've ever experienced was after my trip to Paris. I went to Paris in 2019 with my mentor. It's a trip that I wanted to go on for a very long time. I finally went on it. It was magical From going to a Jimmy Buffett concert the first day I got there, catching his sweatband, meeting hundreds of new friends all again the first day I got there to going on a river cruise with a bunch of parrot heads, to going on a motorcycle sidecar tour, to doing a photo shoot, to going to Chanel, to going to the amazing restaurants, taking a cooking class. It was just one experience after another, and they were all very elevated experiences. A lot of them I never did before.

Speaker 1: 3:02

So I came from this luxury, amazing, elegant trip right Back to my home, back to my job, back to my regular life, where all of my regular things that already stressed me out are waiting for me. And when I returned home, all I could think of is like how dare you give me that experience and then leave me here. How am I supposed to deal with this? This sucks. I felt so hurt that I experienced all these amazing things and then I came home to just the same old thing. And that's when I realized that it's up to me to make my at-home experience just as amazing as my vacation experiences. It's up to me not to dread returning home, but to look to going home, look forward to what I'm going to do once I get home and what I'm going to implement in my life, because I always have epiphanies when I travel. I'm sure you do as well.

Speaker 1: 4:08

So the first way to really overcome the travel blues is to think about what experience did you have while on your vacation? What brought you joy? What stood out to you? What did you like to do? Where did you like to go? Did you walk more than you usually do? What did you do differently? Who were you with? What were you wearing?

Speaker 1: 4:37

All of these things are important to take note of. That's why I do recommend bringing a journal with you when traveling, because then you can write down these things, then review them after you return home and you can see like, okay, I realized I would walk to the local coffee shop and get an espresso and a croissant every morning and it made me feel so good and I had so much energy and I loved it so much. You'll note that it feels really good to you. You'll realize these things because you might not think about it while you're there, while it's happening, that this croissant and espresso was the best thing ever. But when you're home and you don't have it, you're going to be like I really miss that. And that's something you can easily implement into your life, whether you make your own coffee and breakfast or you go to a local cafe. Maybe it's a walking aspect, maybe it wasn't even the food or the drink, maybe it was just you walking and sitting at a cafe in the morning, or maybe the quality of the coffee was better, or the croissant. Maybe you don't allow yourself to eat carbs at home. Whatever it is. Take note of those things, because then you can start to bring them into your everyday life again.

Speaker 1: 5:54

The same goes for what did you wear? What were you wearing on vacation that made you feel really, really good? I know clothes for me is such an important factor in boosting my confidence. I used clothes as my secret weapon. I would wear gowns and bold colors and elaborate outfits, because that's what I envisioned my future self to wear and I wanted to embody her now. And I did that by dressing like my future self. And because I did that, it gave me a sense of confidence and I would feel really good and I would show up and I would do things and I wouldn't be so stressed or embarrassed, whatever.

Speaker 1: 6:45

So when you go home, realize, like, what are you wearing when you're home versus when you're on vacation? Maybe when you're home you're living in leggings and a messy top bun, but you're on vacation you're wearing gowns and you're doing your hair and makeup every day. Pay attention to those things, because that's again something that you can easily implement into your life. You can get dressed up for no reason. You can get dolled up to go to the office. Whatever it is that you feel good doing, you can do it. You don't have to wait until you're on vacation to feel good. You don't have to save the good stuff for a special occasion. The good stuff's now the good. The good stuff deserves to be used every day of your life, because you're the good stuff each day that you're breathing is the good stuff. So start using it. Start getting dressed up. Maybe when you're on vacation.

Speaker 1: 7:44

You love the music. Music is so good when you're on vacation. You love the music. Music is so good when you're on vacation. It just boosts your mood, gets you vibing. Play that music at home Easily. Go on Spotify, make a playlist and just put it on whenever you need that boost. Something else that you can do besides what I already mentioned is when you're on vacation. I want you to shop Now. You don't have to go crazy. Whatever is in your means and what you want to do, you do, you, do, you.

Speaker 1: 8:17

But when I travel, first of all, I collect a Christmas ornament. Everywhere I go, I have my travel tree during Christmas time and it's so special to me to pull out each ornament and just look at it and reflect on my past trips. I love it. It's a small little thing. It doesn't take up a lot of room in my luggage. It's great. But I also like to bring home other things and I tend to like sculptures or statues. I don't think you can see it right now, but give me a second If you know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 8:52

I got this from Italy. If you're not watching this on YouTube, I'm holding a statue of the Italian hand. I guess it would be like the chef's kiss hand emoji. But yeah, this statue. I got a vase. I love collecting. I'm looking around my space to see what else picture frames, art, a print from paris up on my wall. Mug I have a handmade mug. Here I have a water pitcher.

Speaker 1: 9:20

There are so many things that you can bring home from your travels, where you look at it or you hold it or use it. It just feels special, it reminds you of your trip and it does not have to be anything specific, it's whatever you feel like having I'm still holding the hand, by the way. You can easily purchase something and use it in your home or display it in your home and it's going to feel really nice to know that it's there and it reminds you of your trip and I think that's a big part of beating the travel blues is surrounding yourself with reminders of your trip and pictures. Get pictures, get your photo shoots. If you didn't know, I booked a photo shoot for all the women on my group trip to Italy. It was the best trip ever. Honestly, that's where the hands from is from the Italy trip, and it was. It was incredible. But anyways, I booked a photo shoot for all of us, and we did the photo shoot.

Speaker 1: 10:22

I have these pictures. Everybody got the pictures as well, and, oh my gosh, I can't even tell you how much joy those pictures bring to me. I love them so much. Actually I should get one blown up and framed. That'd be cool. But gosh, it was such a great reminder just seeing. I feel like photos really just capture your mood when you're traveling and the joy and friendships or the experience, whatever it is. If you're doing it by yourself, it's going to capture you. I always recommend doing a photo shoot. It's such a great way to just memorialize your trip and to have that memory. It's really great and I think, by the way, I found a new fidget spinner for me. I'm just holding this statue's hand and it is the most comforting thing ever to hold the hand.

Speaker 1: 11:12

All right, let's talk more about beating the travel blues, because traveling is great. We do not want you to come home and feel sad, even though it happens, but let's get you enjoying your life, that you live most of the year when you're not traveling that's just as important. The next way that you can overcome the travel blues is to explore. Explore your local area, whether you live in a city, town, whatever. I want you to be a tourist in the place that you currently live and that might sound weird, because maybe you live there all your life and you think that you know everything about it, maybe you think you've seen it all. I challenge you go out and be a tourist in your own hometown, in your own city, wherever surrounding area, whatever's local. I want you to be a tourist there.

Speaker 1: 12:10

I can tell you straight up I have lived on Long Island my entire life. I have not seen barely any of this island. I think I have, but I know I haven't. There are towns I've never even stepped foot in. There are things I've never done, landmarks I have not seen. And let's not get into Manhattan only being, you know, half an hour train ride and me barely doing any of the common tourist attractions.

Speaker 1: 12:37

So I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to be a tourist in your local area and learn to appreciate your home, learn to be proud of where you live. Learn to appreciate your home, learn to be proud of where you live, learn to really just appreciate the local vendors, restaurants, people, landscapes, architecture. I'm sure there's so much history where you live and you take it for granted because you see it all the time. I mean, I live on an island, I'm surrounded by oceans and I can easily take that for granted. I see it all the time. I always see oceans, but I go out of my way to see it at different times of the day or to experience it different seasons of the year and it just gives me a deeper appreciation for where I live and what I have access to, because I know not everyone has access to that and everybody might not have access to what's in your surrounding area.

Speaker 1: 13:36

So go out and just explore. Book the tourist attractions. If you have a tour bus, go book the tour bus. Who cares? Like, don't worry about what people are going to think of you. Nobody knows where you live. You don't have to say you're a local if you don't want to. But who cares? You can say I've never done this before. I'm going to go experience it. You owe no explanation to anybody for what you do. But yeah, I'm going to go into Manhattan and do a double-decker bus. I love doing that when I'm traveling. Why wouldn't I do that at home? I love visiting new museums and new restaurants when I'm traveling. Why am I going to the same places every time at home. Think about it. We get so into our rhythms and what we're comfortable doing that we rarely remember to step outside of that comfort and go to new places and experience new things. Of that comfort and go to new places and experience new things.

Speaker 1: 14:37

Once you listen to this podcast, watch it whatever. I challenge you. Look online and look up local things to do in my area. Find something that you didn't even know existed, and go check it out. Do it solo. Great practice for solo travel is to explore locally. So not only are you going to beat the travel blues, you're going to work your solo travel muscle and feel more comfortable doing things by yourself, and you win right there. So I know that the travel blues can suck and that it's real and that we all experience it, but there are ways to get around it and hopefully some of these examples I gave you will help you beat your travel blues. If you have ever had the travel blues, let me know what you went through, how you got through it, and I would love to have that conversation with you.

Speaker 2: 15:39

Until next time, my friends have a good day. Bye. Until next time, my friends, have a good day. Bye, website onegirltravelcom, or follow her on Instagram, facebook, Pinterest and TikTok. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you in the next episode.