The Post-Vacation Survival Guide
How to keep the easy, breezy mindset going, long after a trip.
This was my first week back from vacation, and it was honestly so blissful. I felt happy and, dare I say, even a little bit joyful after a week away. It wasn’t just the trip—it was the appreciation it gave me for being home after 10 days away.
I love being home, and everything felt new again. My bed, my shower, my coffee machine. I went for long walks and soaked up Charleston in all of its glory. Even the thick humidity didn’t bother me. I think this is the symptom of a great trip, but also: I took a few steps to make re-entry into real life as easy as possible.
Tackle all the annoying stuff you need to do before you go. Before I left for France, I turned in several brand projects way early so that I wouldn’t be thinking about them during my trip. Even though I could have done them when I got back, and even though it was stressful, it made things so much better when I got home. In other preparation for my future self, I always clean my house top to bottom before a big trip. If that’s not possible (sometimes it just isn’t!), at the very least, change your sheets and make the bed so that you have a fresh, beautiful bed to cozy up in when you get home.
Ease back into work. If I am able to, I like to come home a day or two before I have to get back to work. This is the biggest thing. I recognize the privilege in this—at my last day job, I worked for a startup and only had two weeks’ vacation. Oftentimes, it would be the red-eye home and then straight into work. But if you can take an extra day before going back to work, it’s everything. It honestly feels so luxurious to have a day to unpack, do laundry, and take care of life admin before you dive back into work.
Resist the urge to rush. I hate rushing, but I often pile as much as I can into my schedule. When I got back this time, I was really mindful not to do this. I built in more time to get everywhere I needed, didn’t make very many social plans, and gave myself a slightly lighter workload.
Summon little rituals and “food memories.” Is there anything from your trip you can copy? I’ve been drinking my afternoon coffee out of a mug I bought in Provence. I missed the fruit, so picked up fresh cherries and peaches (the next best thing to the fresh apricots I had!) at the market. My happiest moments were sitting outside with my journal, so I did that a few nights this week. There is something so lovely about recreating vacation moments at home.
Limit social media. My goodness, the pace of the Internet is so fast! I deleted Instagram for a week while traveling and am still readjusting. I put a timer on the app so that I won’t be tempted to get sucked into the scroll.
Let scent take you back. This involves a tiny bit of preparation, but it’s worth it. I packed this Ormaie fragrance and wore it every day during my trip. Now, one spritz instantly transports me back to Provence.
Romance your evenings. Besides slowly integrating myself back into work, I left my calendar pretty free this week and that was wonderful. On Monday, I took myself out for a slow 90-minute walk around the neighborhood. I got my steps in and listened to my favorite music. When I got home, I sat in the pool with my book. It’s helped me hold onto the vacation mindset and continue that slow, savor-it-all sort of vibe.
Plan the next one! I think it always helps having another trip or adventure to look forward to. I’m going to Michigan with my bf’s family (a reunion) mid-month, and to Côte D’Azur for two friends’ wedding celebration (they eloped) and 21st anniversary together. Thinking about those trips gets me excited as I am really missing France!
What do you do to hold onto the feeling of vacation after a big trip? I’d be so curious to hear your thoughts on this.
Carly’s vintage home finds. So many treasures.
A review of Cyklar’s glycolic acid body spray (I love this).
Blue & White! A favorite dress + 24 other pieces, at a range of prices.
Fragrance is so transportive. Chatting about a nostalgic fragrance that I recently started wearing again.
I did not read as much as I would have liked to this week. I was not feeling particularly disciplined. There was a lot of watching Revenge reruns in bed with the kittehs. No regrets!
Peggy, by Rebecca Godfrey (with Leslie Jamison). I wanted to love this, but it was only a “like” for me. It was very good in that it’s a fiction book about Peggy Guggenheim that reads like non-fiction. It’s written so well that it could pass for her personal memoir. And it was really interesting to learn about Guggenheim’s earlier life (it was a wild ride, from losing her father to The Titanic to her sisters’ antics and her own marriage + affairs). That being said, it ends just as she opens her gallery which is the part I wanted to know the most about. I would say that we need a part two, but the author passed away. (Order on Bookshop.org or Amazon.com)
Happy Wife is next on my roster. A reader recommended it, and it seems right up my alley. Rich people behaving badly / young second wife wakes up to a missing husband the day after throwing him a deluxe birthday party . . . tbd, I just started it!
Warhol’s Muses is my latest listen. It’s interesting so far. Laurence Leamer never disappoints with both his research and storytelling.
Michigan is wonderful in the summer. Enjoy !
I love the fragrance idea! We did a perfume making class in Grasse and now I think of my trip every time I spritz it on!