I shared last week, how I had diagnosed my friends and I as suffering from ‘Post Home Visit Blues’.
Once I had realised that I was suffering from it, and having looked up the symptoms, a light bulb went on as to why, I find the start of the term after the summer holidays and Christmas generally so hard.
(Boy, I’ve sure written enough posts on it!!)
So I got thinking and researching (asking fellow expats their ideas) as to what can be done to over come the blues. Hopefully this list, will not only help us now, but also give us ideas, so we can reduce it next time.
1: Get back into routine.
Routine is a great way of making time feel like it’s passing faster than it really is. The routine of work, running a house and school runs will all help to ground us back into the reality of life.
2: Give yourself a break from your family.
There is actually some logic to the boarding school theory about not calling home for the first two weeks. One of my friends purposely didn’t phone her family for two weeks after her return from home because, the previous year, her Post Home Visit Blues were so bad, she had started to look into moving back home.
3: Give yourself something to look forward to.
If it isn’t possible to plan the next trip home, start planning the next adventure. Hubby needs to be on water in order for him to truly relax, so I’ve started to look into our next sailing adventure.
4: Give yourself a project.
Keeping busy, is a great way to prevent wallowing in miserable thoughts. The project could be small (declutter get a cupboard, creating a Photobook), big ( an intensive Japanese language course!) or just down right necessary (tax return!!).
5: Do something for you.
This should be something that brings you joy and peace. Challenging for hubby, as his is being on the water. For me it’s being outdoors, so I have a couple of hikes lined up. (Hooray for healed Plantar Fasciitus!) For others, it’s the gym, an art gallery or just a couple of hours at the spa.
The key to making this all work?
The right attitude.
Every place where we live has its perks, has its challenges. How we view the place and our time living there, is what is going to make the biggest difference to how we recover from Post Home Visit Blues.
I would like to thank the ladies from the school who answered my question on FB about how to recover from Post Home Visit Blues. Besides providing me with some light hearted entertainment (which was a great help in the short term), your ideas helped to formulate this post and helped me to see that I am not the only one who suffers like this after a trip home.
Somedays by C 