Planning your vacation homecoming doesn’t mean you have to look forward to returning home after a week or two of bliss. The day after vacation ranks high on many travelers’ lists of most dreaded days of the year.

1.    Prepare your home.
Make your return to reality a little easier by taking care of pressing to-dos and tidying up around the house before you head out the door. Arriving home to face cluttered counters, dirty dishes and the aftermath of hurried packing are the enough to end the state of euphoria achieved on vacation. Even a clean house can send you backpedaling out the door if you’ve forgotten to take out the trash, left ripening fruit on the counter or are greeted with spoiled food in the fridge.

In addition to tidying up, change your sheets before you leave to make your bed even more inviting upon your return. Also have an empty laundry bin waiting for your dirty clothes. These small deeds can go a long way when returning home from travel.  

2.    Schedule in recovery time.
While it may be tempting to not waste additional paid time off work to recover from travels, arriving home on Sunday night and heading back to work on Monday is a sure-fire way to feel awful. Tack on one more day after a big trip to adjust to being back home in a normal routine. Go the grocery store, unpack your suitcase, catch up on yard work or laundry and get a good night’s sleep – you won’t regret it.

When it comes to your work routine, take some proactive measures to guarantee a smooth re-entry. Muster up the courage to tackle your inbox on the plane ride home or the night before you head back to the office. Chances are you can delete 95 percent of those pesky messages. Also review your calendar for the week so you’re not surprised by any meetings. Blocking off a buffer day – a day devoid of meetings and deadlines – will better enable you to prioritize task lists, check in with colleagues and catch up on miscellaneous office duties.

3.    Keep the good vibes going.
Vacations are expensive and often take months – or even years – to plan, so returning home from a much-anticipated trip naturally brings with it some melancholy. Keep those good vibes going by reliving your vacation through image sharing and storytelling. Connect with your family over dinner or grab coffee with a friend to talk about your best adventures and mishaps. Actually, print some of your favorite pictures or change your desktop background to keep the memories alive.

Vacation doesn’t have to end when you walk through the front door. Bring home a memento to incorporate into your décor. Pick up a new hobby like learning a language from the place you plan to revisit or recreating one of your favorite meals from abroad. And, if all else fails, start planning your next trip.

What do you do to ease back into your life after vacation? Share your tips on our Facebook page.