There’s No Stopping Vacation Withdrawal

You can’t sleep. You’re tossing and turning, tangled up in your sheets, and you feel pain in your neck and back. Your bed is a safe haven for your body especially after getting off the plane a few hours ago. Your shower was refreshing, but it has your brain playing your favourite travel memories from the last couple of days on repeat. Let vacation withdrawal begin!

It’s smart to book an extra day off from work after a flight. You need a day of rest while coming to the realization that your vacation is truly over. Do you binge watch a new show or do you do laundry? Will unpacking make you feel sad? Do you feel guilty for not going back to work right away? Screw it, you think to yourself, you need a break. This is what vacation does to you: you need a vacation after a vacation; you snack because you’re not really hungry for meals; and you take an afternoon nap, waking up at a time when you should go to bed in this time zone. Jet lag is real.

Somehow, you stay alert for your commute to work the next day. Road rage snaps you back to reality before you read your first email. You avoid water cooler talks or awkward encounters in the washroom, but they get to you before your first sip of caffeine. Who? Your co-workers. They’re ready to dive into the details of your trip because they missed you! Everyone has been scrolling through your Instagram profile because they want to keep up with y-o-u. You tell them it’s their turn to go on a vacation because YOLO!

You feel spent and surprisingly starved by lunchtime, and you’ve told the same anecdotes repeatedly through texts with your friends and different co-workers stopping by your desk. Your words start to feel rehearsed. Shortly, you’re hungry again. What is going on? Your stomach is still living on the other side of the world. Chances are, you were hungry in the middle of the night too, but you don’t remember. You were rehashing good memories and regrets. You should have bought that unique souvenir. You shouldn’t have had that extra vodka shot. You shouldn’t have. Or maybe you should have? Regrets of any kind come back to haunt during vacation withdrawal. Give it time. Your appetite will adjust before your biological clock, and regrets will replace other regrets. #sorrynotsorry

Distractions, not your workload, are keeping you awake. You reach a new level of Instagram stalking. “Catch flights, not feelings!” Well, you caught flights and now the repercussion? Feelings. Not the old ones you may or may not have, but new feelings. You miss your new friends and the food you ate. You miss the outdoors, but also, that sunburn needs to heal. It hurts your heart when other people are still on vacation (“Hey, Aussies!”) and they’re posting their new adventures without you. You are jealous, but you “like” everything, hoping they wish you were there.

You finally unpack your suitcase, and it smells like the last hotel you stayed in or dirty laundry. It’s revolting, yet nostalgic. You post a #throwbackthursday photo. Is a week too soon? All your new travel friends “like” and comment because your friendships are still fresh and unstrained. “Distance makes the heart grow fonder,” but you know you’ll likely be reduced to online friendships. Maybe you’re already in a group text, constantly reminiscing and feeding into each other’s vacation withdrawal. When will we meet again? XO!

Two weeks later, you’re still questioning your life choices and self-worth. How long will vacation withdrawal last?

A month or two later, you still miss it all, but you’re back to your routine. You admire your photos, feeling grateful. You’re no longer addicted to Instagram in such a way, but then you see it: the next place to be! You have a new vacation to plan. You get to live through vacation withdrawal all over again.