Restless after a trip

[Pauline]

I always get what I can best describe as "restless" after a trip to Europe. It always takes me a week at least to settle back into my normal life. It is worst after long trips. We have been back for a week now and I am still finding it difficult to settle down to anything. Half the time I think "I never want to travel again", the other half I am looking up new places, thinking do we go to France again next or Italy, wanting to go SOMEWHERE in November when it will be grey and wet here.

Maybe it is that we did several trips this year and always had the next one planned when we got back from a trip, and right now we have nothing planned.

Maybe we need to get back to a travel routine, where we know when we will be traveling and get trips booked well ahead of time, like we did when we lived in the US (although then I suffered from this restlessness after trips too).

Anyone else get like this?

 

[Kathy]

You've done a lot of traveling this year Pauline... I can definitely see how you would feel restless without another trip coming up.

I like the feeling of being "home," but I feel something's missing if I don't have a trip (or two or three) in the works. I like shorter, long weekend trips as well, which breaks up long periods of time at home... especially over the colder months. And we've always liked Christmas trips.

I enjoy being on the trip, but I also really enjoy the research and planning.

We're always planning about two years out. The summer of 2015 is set for us and I'm working on our schedule for 2016. The tricky part for us is managing our time in the Schengen area to 90 days within 180 days.

Kathy

 

[Jan55612]

Pauline,
I can really identify with your feeling of restlessness. I, too, love coming home, sleeping in my own bed, going back to my familiar rhythms. But, when I don't have a trip (or two) in the planning stages, I feel... restless, uneasy. As Kathy said, I do love the planning part, also. Right now the only (non-family-related) trip I am planning feels too far away, because it is for October 2015. While it is fun to see my children and grandchildren, the travel just isn't the same--it is really a different species of travel. More a means of transport and a method of connection with family members who live in distant places.

 

[artnbarb]

I feel like it's going to be FOREVER until our next trip! Part of that may be due to the fact that we don't yet have our dates set - the next trip will be a combo Washington DC/NYC trip sometime next year, and we've decide to wait to see how the weather is, then go at (more or less) the last minute. And every time I start planning for next summer in Italy and England I feel like it's also so far away that I can't really get serious about the planning. BUT - I still want to go somewhere - NOW!!!!

 

[Pauline]

We have never been able to plan trips a year out. The most I can manage is six month ahead. Before we moved to the UK it was Steve's work. Since we moved here we have not known how long we were staying, or we had things going on in the US/Canada that we needed to be around for, so did not want to book things ahead. I think we need to figure out a travel routine.

I don't like the research and planning. I don't like spending hours looking at vacation rental websites or Homeaway or AirBnb for places. My dream has always been to have a list of about 10 favorite vacation rentals, in various great places, and stay in them always. But, I have started looking at rentals in the Lot (@Roz you are right - that is where I need to go next in France). And I want to do some searching for Brittany and Normandy. All for trips next year.

Italy next year too, but that seems easier to plan because there I do know several great places to stay.

 

[artnbarb]

Pauline, altho I LOVE to plan, it can get tedious. I tend to obsess on certain things - like booking where we're sleeping - but I really should do more research about the area, and then decide where I want to stay. Having you as a resource has helped me so much - but I feel like I've "cheated" somehow! But thank you! When we went to Italy this year we sent emails to all our friends saying "here are our dates, we really want to see you so please keep us in mind!" We called people as soon as we arrived, so almost every day we had lunch or dinner with friends, which was fabulous and made us feel so at home. On the days we didn't meet friends we explored a few places we'd always wanted to see again. Some days we just enjoyed the market in the morning, then came home and cooked a big lunch - and just read on the balcony. I can't wait to read in depth about England, but at some point it will start to feel like a chore. I will soldier on because I don't want to find out, six months after we're home, that some really cool site/garden/event happened while we were there and I didn't know it. I still find the Cotswold very overwhelming, even tho it's such a small area! Italy feels like I'm just living my life. I feel like I have a responsibility to use my time wisely in England!

 

[Terry]

ALWAYS thinking about the next trip.

This will be a big year for us in terms of change and expenses, as we are planning to do the dreaded "downsizing." It will ultimately make travel better for us in the future, as our annual expenses will go down by almost half, and we'll be able to put more $$ into the travel kitty. But that being said, I don't believe there will be any trips across the Pond for us this year. (damn air tickets are kill-joys). So I'm planning a Quebec trip for us instead, probably in August.

 

[Dana]

Pauline, just ask me about the Lot. Or stay near us around Puy l'Evêque so we can meet you in person!

 

[Pauline]

I hope to be meeting you in person this year @Dana !

 

[Paullong02]

If you took lots of photos or videos on your trip, or purchased any unique souvenirs, just going through them can help make it easier to remember the new places and experiences you were able to see.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I'm definitely restless and now planning another.

 

[Pauline]

I posted that in September after our Switzerland and France trip. I wanted to do another trip before winter but we didn't. The weather was good in England. I kept dithering about doing another trip. Now I am planning out this years trips.

 

[Rachel Queen]

Me and hubby been into a week long trip and not to mentioned some long road trip. And I can say that I don't want that to happen again because it was too tiring