It’s easy for an avid traveler to get itchy fit shortly after returning from a trip. You simply just can’t help it. The Germans have a word to describe this feeling: Fernweh. Translated it means something alone the lines of feeling a yearning or an ache for distant places. It is literally like having homesickness for places you’ve never known.
You, fellow traveler, know what I mean don’t you?
It’s why you constantly search travel websites for last minute deals, or check your vacation and sick days to see how you can finagle as much extra time away as possible for the next upcoming adventure. Sometimes, though, this can also leave you with a feeling of the blues, which is never fun and really downright depressing.
Here are 5 easy ways that will not only help you avoid those travel withdrawals, but will also get you revved up for the next adventure.
1. Write about your experiences.
You don’t have to journal or blog about your travels only while you’re actually traveling. Sometimes, your stories often become better after you’ve taken a step back. You might remember a detail that you passed over before, or find that you have a different perspective after returning home.
A helpful trick can be to do both. Journal during your travels, and then go back and revisit them through a blog or other writing platform, like Tumblr, where you can create photo essays to accompany your words. It will help you document your travels, and allow you to reminisce in a healthy way.
2. Find a group to meet up with and share your travels.
Another trick is finding like-minded individuals to recount your adventures with. One of the worst things about coming back home is feeling like you are bursting at the seams, but no outlet in which to share. No one you work with really wants to listen to the fact that you stood in a 2000 year old mosque or wandered around where Julius Caesar took his afternoon stroll.
It can be really disheartening, and is probably the easiest trigger where the travel blues to set in and set in hard. You can avoid this by finding and going to organized meet ups for fellow travelers like those found on Couchsurfing. It’s also be a fantastic way to meet people from all over the world (these meet ups generally also attract individuals currently in transit).
It’s almost like bringing the adventuring to your door, and who knows, maybe you’ll have a couch for your next adventure waiting for you.
3. Plan a short weekend trip in the area.
If by chance you missed the window to avoid travel withdrawals. Look to get yourself a quick fix by taking a weekend trip somewhere in the area. You won’t use any of your leave time (which you’ll want to save for the big adventure), and you won’t spend unnecessary funds on a rental car or hotel.
Becoming a tourist is your own neighborhood also has the perks of rediscovering why you loved living there in the first place and new gems you’ve never explored. On top of that, you’ll also be supporting the local economy with your mini staycation.
4. Spend quality time with family and friends.
A lull in travel time away from home is also a moment in which you should fill the love tanks of your family and friends who miss you while you’re away. It will most likely do the same for you too. There is nothing quite like a good dose of home.
Go a step further and use your travel planning skills to organize a unique outing with everyone. It will be fun for you to plan, and will help your loved ones see a side of you that is extremely important to who you are as a person. Besides, who doesn’t love to have a party just because?
5. Start a countdown until your next departure.
And of course, the last tip is beginning to plan the next big adventure. Countdowns often help because they give you a concrete date to look forward to and mentally seem to make the time pass faster.
It will also give you the appropriate window of days to research locales, flights, hotels, sites etc., and then (as all avid travelers do), cross-references those searches with every travel website and blog known to man. Some might find this tedious, but the experienced adventurer almost sees the price comparing and experience sharing as a type of preparation process. It’s a very rewarding feeling once you click ‘book’ knowing you’ve just scored the best deal out there.
So don’t worry, you can beat the homecoming blues. Just keep in mind that one of the underlying themes is sharing – whether that is through words, by meeting like-minded people or enjoying time with family. There are lots of ways that you can keep the fernweh at bay until you pack up your bag again and depart on your next voyage