Beating the post-holiday blues

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he summer is always filled with adventure, travels and amazing experiences. From drunken festivals, to teaching abroad in the hot sun, to concerts in 2000-year old amphitheatres, my summers truly do offer me something unique and special.

There is nothing quite like touching base on foreign land and delving into new cultures, new experiences, new food and new sights.

photo: Ife Akinroyeje

That rush of excitement as you step outside the airport that makes you feel sky high and alive on the greener side of the grass just doesn’t wear off through the whole journey.

After we settle back home and the joys of seeing our nearest and dearest fades, the post-holiday depression kicks in: the blues

Even rain can’t make you sad, because it’s a time when all your worries are subdued and freedom is alive and kicking.

But what happens when that is over, when the sun goes back in, the joy fade and we take our journeys back home, waving goodbye to our temporary homes and holiday friends who soon became like family?

Well, after we settle back home and the joys of seeing our nearest and dearest fades, the post-holiday depression kicks in: the blues.

That feeling when you are going about your day and your mind wanders to the time when you were dancing under the warm sunset to Cyril Hahn or paddling (I can’t swim) in the translucent blue seas of Croatia, and you remember yourself and look around to find your white walls and a lack of sun.

Well, there are solutions! Remedies, in fact, to help you to wash away the sadness and become happy in the ‘mundane’ journey that is life.

My most used method is learning to love where you are. I put my traveller’s hat back on and explore the depths of the city I live in, finding new places and visiting old ones to really appreciate what is around me. There is so much to do, which we often forget in our clouded sadness. Once we stop looking at our own cities with grey tinted spectacles we begin to find new adventures.

The best way to explore your city is to not go back into work straight after a holiday: leave a couple days to explore. And when exploring, live in your city as if it is a holiday destination.

photo: Ife Akinroyeje

Plan, or for the spontaneous among you, don’t, but whatever you do, go out and see the sites, wander into those art galleries, visit those pop-up cinemas.

Along with all of this you can begin enjoying your home comforts. Your bed for starters! The soft toy you were too cool to bring abroad with you, well that’s still there, waiting.

More importantly, friends and family who have probably missed you also want to fill up your time.

Alternatively, take advantage of the spare days you have before your holidays are over and use your time to push yourself to do something you’ve always wanted to.

Take up a new hobby, learn something new or finish that book you’ve been dying to read. If your holiday has been a long one, I’m sure there’ll be a mountain of things for you to catch up with whilst you were gone.

Furthermore, if you’re just coming back from a busy holiday, then you’ll already be in the frame of mind where sitting around doing nothing all day just doesn’t cut it so take advantage of your new found productivity and do all the things you’ve spent the last month putting off, before it leaves you.

photo: Ife Akinroyeje

And if all that doesn’t work, start planning your next holiday straight away because that always drowns my sorrows.