8 Ways to Ease the Transition from Vacation to Everyday Life

We all know that feeling, similar to the Sunday scaries, but worse. The dreaded return from vacation. How quickly we go from sipping cocktails at the beach or poolside to worrying about unread emails and unfolded laundry. Prepping to go away often times means taking on extra work to compensate for the time you’ll be gone and then coming home can ruin any zen you may have adopted quicker than you can say welcome back. There’s a reason why people say they need a vacation to recover from their vacation. So here’s some simple ways to make the transition back from vacation easy and maybe even dare I say, relaxing. Eight tips for keeping that vacation glow:

1. Before leaving for vacation take five minutes to make your bed. Not just straighten it, but completely make it. It might seem unnecessary, but when you get home (especially if it’s really late or really early) it will be nice to get into your own neatly made bed.

2. Before you go, clean out your fridge. Toss or giveaway anything that might go bad during your vacation. No one wants to come home to a smelly fridge or a science experiment inside of it.

3. Make use of one of the grocery store delivery services, like Peapod. You can pick out your groceries online or from an app on your phone and schedule them to be delivered the day after you return. That way you don’t need to worry about going to the store yourself.

4. Don’t get stressed sorting through a mountain of mail. Start by going through and tossing or recycling all of the junk mail (which will considerably lighten your pile). When you’re left with only the important correspondence open everything and respond to any bills that need to be paid while you’re sitting there. Also, if you hate getting paper clutter like bank statements sign up for e-statements.

5. While you’re packing up at the end of your trip, sort your dirt laundry into whites and darks before packing them into a laundry bag in your suitcase. When you get home they can go right into the machine instead of ending up in a big pile.

6. Don’t plan anything major or commit to plans for right after your trip. It might seem like you’ll be in the right headspace, but allow yourself time to get settled in before you jump back into seeing friends or family.

7. If you’re worried about your digital inbox, try to tackle it the same way you would paper mail. Go through and delete everything that is junk, and most times at least fifty percent of it will be. Keep in mind that some of the emails you may just be copied on instead of actually needing action, since work and friends will know that you’re away.

8. When you’re packing up to come home, put everything that you know you will immediately need like medications, cell phone chargers, keys or paperwork all in one bag (your carry-on if you’re flying). That way you don’t need to dig through your suitcase when you get home to find something you immediately need.

We hope these help, but when in doubt a nice hot shower and a goodnight sleep in your own bed should help you feel better. What are your favorite no-stress vacation tips? Let us know in the comments.