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How to Deal with Coming Home from Traveling

By: Matthew Kepnes

You've done it- you have traveled the world and now are relaxing at home. Pretty amazing huh? You'll have memories you will keep forever and friends for a lifetime. Now many backpackers wonder what the next step is. After the buzz of welcome back parties fades and you are sick of telling the same stories, what do you do next?

Coming home from traveling around the world is the hardest part. There's a mixture of emotions: excitement, anxiety, fear, joy, and nervousness. After the celebrations is over and reality sets in, people are left feeling a little depressed. You spent a long time preparing for traveling, a long time traveling, and then suddenly, it's over. Just like that. It's as though someone slammed on the brakes to your life and, for many people, that can be kind of saddening. Coming home is more about dealing mentally than doing anything in particular.

Here are a few methods that can help you cope with those emotions and get yourself moving again:

Stay Busy- If you sit around thinking about the good times, you're only going to resent being home and get depressed. Go out, get a job, get a hobby, join a gym. Even if you are super psyched to be home, the first few weeks are always rough as you adjust back into "normal" society. The best thing to do is to stay busy. One great way to stay busy is to be a tourist in your own city. Since you have been gone so long, things have probably changed. Go explore your town like you would Paris or Sydney. You're bound to find something new and you'll be able to feel as though you are back on a holiday while adjusting to home.

Plan Another Trip- If the thought of staying home is killing you, get out! Plan your next trip. Even if you never go. Go start looking up destinations. Buy a guidebook. Plan some routes. Look at flights. You'll get in the mood and you'll get excited. Even if your trip never materializes, at least you will be taking your mind off from the reality that it's time to settle in one place for a bit. It makes coming home seem like a pit stop and not the finish line.

Get a Job- Getting a job ties into staying busy. By getting a job, you can take your mind off things and begin to put all your energy and new found sense of adventure to good use. It also helps you replenish your bank account so you can get to traveling again.

Read Travel Blogs- Because if you aren't traveling, live through the people who are traveling and get the motivation to get going again or even get motivated.

Arriving home from the road is about adjusting back into the world you left and focusing on taking what you learned and applying it to your daily life. Many long term travelers end up going again, afflicted by a virus that will never be cured. Others stay home because their expedition taught them that what they wanted the most was what they left behind at home. Either way, we all come home eventually and we'll need to know how to cope with that experience.

Article Source: http://www.topicinfo.com

Matthew Kepnes is a lifelong backpacker. Visit his website about how to backpack the world on a budget and adjusting to coming home.

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