Well hello to you my reader chums! 'Post-travel depression' is something I dealt with before the first time I went backpacking and this time, I was really worried about coming home and adjusting to life again. It's a complete change from doing exciting things every day to reality and everyday life. I'm grateful for my life at home and I love it, but the adjustment period was hard.

If you're backpacking and heading home soon or just got home from a long trip, here are my best tips on how to deal with post-travel depression.

Take it easy on yourself

The transition from travelling for a long period of time to regular everyday life is a tricky one. When I came home, as happy as I was to be reunited with everyone I loved and my home, I had this sad sense of missing the freedom travelling brings. I missed the food, the new sights every day and the freedom of roaming around with no set plan. I missed how I had no responsibilities and could travel with ease. These thoughts really hit me and I was incredibly hard on myself about needing to snap back to normal life and doing a million things at once. You don't need to do this - take things slow and be kind to yourself. Gradually get things back to how your life was and how you want it to be now as you've settled back home.

Build a routine

Routines are a blessing and can do wonders when you're adjusting back home. I found this to really help me get back to normal and fulfil a purpose each day. When I'm feeling down, it can be hard to want to do anything and implementing a routine, gave me a focus, plan and purpose. I got back into reading every morning, doing pilates and listing tasks I needed to do each day.

Connect with loved ones around you

The best thing for me about returning home was reuniting with my family and friends. Seeing the smiling faces of them all and speaking in person was wonderful, and one of the reasons, it made dealing with post-travel depression easier. If I was having a hard day, I could talk to one of them and they'd offer me love and reassurance. I'd recommend putting dates in the diary before you return home to when you're seeing people because it'll give you something exciting to look forward to on return.

Seek out your hobbies again

Hobbies are one of the things which make home life so wonderful as it's a chance to embrace passions and what you love to do. I tried to get back into this straight away as it allowed me to explore my other hobbies that weren't travelling. I got back into reading, baking, cooking and no doubt, writing. 

Avoid putting pressure on yourself

It's easy to become your biggest self-critic, especially during a period of change. I found I put way too much pressure on myself to build up my freelance work, socialise with everyone and be the best person in normal life, and I didn't allow myself time to ease into things and enjoy the little parts of being back. Take things slow, listen to your mind and body - and focus on yourself.

Find a new focus

For anyone travelling for a long period, that has been your focus for a long time. It would have been your focus before you went to plan and save for and whilst you're in the midst of it, all you're thinking about is travelling. With that in mind, when you're home consider a new focus to put all your energy in. This could be finding a new career, delving into a new hobby or a fitness goal. It doesn't have to be anything too massive but something that you enjoy. For me, it's building my freelancing business and striving to make it a sustainable success.

Cry if you need to - feel all of those emotions

Post-travel depression undoubtedly means you'll experience lots of emotions, including feeling sad and depressed. Don't be afraid of it, if you're feeling sad or down, have a cry. Release all those emotions and allow yourself to process them. If you bottle them up, it'll be worse for you in the long run. I've cried a lot in the first few weeks of being back for many reasons and that's okay.

Plan your next adventure 

If you're like me and came back quite broke, this will be the last thing you want to think about as you can't afford to do it. However, having a goal of where you want to go next, whether it's in a month's or year's time will give you incentive to work towards your goal. I have many ideas of big adventures I want to do, from mini trips to longer trips and I'm working hard to save up enough to make those dreams a reality.

I hope you enjoyed this post! What other tips would you add?

Thank you for reading <3