Want to guarantee you get that post-vacation, stress-free relaxed feeling after every trip? Well, the secret might surprise you: instead of trying to cram as much vacation into your vacation as possible, take an extra day or two off at home at the end.
Vacation, all you ever wanted: sunbathing by the sea not a care in the world, or feasting on fresh pasta in Rome so immersed in Italian culture you’ve forgotten where you work. Sounds ideal, but we all know it’s never like that. However relaxed the actual trip, the hassle of the long-distance drive or flights home and the looming reality of work the next day mean your last day or two of vacation and your first few days back in action are just a blur of pressure and stress. I know some people who’ve gotten off a 12-hour, long-haul flight at 7 am and been at their desk in work at 9 am—they were ruined for days.
But things don’t have to be this way. Instead of trying to hit the ground running after your trip, hit the ground walking. If you take an extra day or two off at the end of your vacation—or even just come home on Saturday instead of Sunday—you can ease yourself back into real life without stress. You’ll enjoy your vacation more, and your life the following week will be easier. Here’s why.
Get Your Sleep Back on Track
Even if you’re not jet-lagged from hopping six timezones, your sleep schedule is almost certainly messed up after a few days of late nights and lie-ins. Vacations play havoc with carefully tuned sleep routines.
If you take an extra day or two at the end of your vacation, you can adjust your sleep properly, rather than crashing into the next week on four hours sleep and letting your body just deal with it. The extra 24 hours are enough for you to deal with most of your jet lag, catch up on any sleep debt, and get to bed at a proper time in your own home so that you can go into the next week well-rested.
Unpack and Prepare for the Week Ahead
Have you ever left your luggage sitting in the corner of a room, still packed until you run out of clothes or your next trip away? Of course you have. Unpacking is even worse than packing.
When you arrive in late at night with work the next day, unpacking is one of those things that end up on your “Tomorrow’s Problems” list—and it stays there. On the other hand, if you have a day or two of free time to deal with it, you can do it at your leisure, get all your clothes through the wash, and feel super productive about having done it. Look at you, you functional human!
You also get to do any of your regular pre-week routine like meal prep, make school lunches, check everyone’s homework is done, and the like. Especially if you’ve got a family to organize, being able to stick to your routine the following week is a godsend.
Don’t Worry About Delays and Other Problems
Flights get delayed, luggage gets lost, kids get colds on airplanes—travel is pretty fraught with mild disasters. If you have no buffer and your plane gets delayed, or even canceled, then whatever zen state you reached when you were away is not going to last. You might even have to call your boss and beg for an extra unpaid day off. It’s a pretty miserable situation to be in.
Read the remaining 10 paragraphs
Source : Plan for an Extra Vacation Day or Two at Home to End Your Trip
