The happiest person in the office is the woman or man about to go on an All-Inclusive trip to Acapulco, Mexico. 

He’s pumped! Everything is booked, he’s all packed, insurance is paid for, the taxi cab to the airport is scheduled to pick him up. All this excitement, yet, he’s still in the office. He is still pushing paper at whatever desk job he has. He’s not actually on a hot, sunny beach. It’s still minus 20 degrees and snowy outside. He’s still got to sit in rush-hour traffic to get home. He might even be happier right now than he will be on the beach!

Conversely, the saddest person in the office is the woman or man that’s not even in the office. She’s still on vacation, it’s just that it's the last day of her vacation, or maybe she’s already on the way home. Standing at the airport with all the other sun burnt passengers, looking depressed and wondering whether or not to change out of the Hawaiian shirt and shorts or pack the coat in the carry-on or stowed baggage.

Let’s call this conundrum the “Post-Trip Blues”.

We’ve all experienced it. The level of excitement for our trip might just be directly correlated to how much trip we have left. And, at some point, we have to face the hard truth that it’s over and the thing we’ve been excited about and waited for for three or maybe even 12 months is over, and it won’t happen again for another 12 months. 

What’s going on here? Well, we tend to focus on future events and paint everything with the same brush. For example, when we consider a vacation, we consider all the enjoyable parts of that vacation. But, when we think about returning home, we consider all the contrasting negative parts of being at home. 

Why are we focusing on the negative so acutely, so forcefully? Most likely because that’s the habit or thought pattern we developed while getting ready and excited about the vacation. Every time our boss asked us to do something, we thought, “Wow, in 5 sleeps I’ll be on a beach where no boss can get a hold of me.” Or when we were sitting in traffic, we would say “Well there’s no traffic at the swim-up bar.” Or when we were grocery shopping, cooking or cleaning, we would excitedly think “All-inclusive! I won’t lift a finger the whole 7 days.”

So, now that we are returning from our trip, we fall back into the thought pattern we were using before the trip, except this time around there’s no saviour from our boss, our commute or our chores. And if there is, well it’s months or even a year away, which doesn’t provide any consolation.

So, how do we beat the Post-Trip Blues?

1. First, you must make sure you don’t hate your daily life. Here’s a separate checklist to help with that.
2. Second, constantly remind yourself about what you like about your daily life at home.
3. Third, book some small events that you truly enjoy and will take place very soon after you get home.
4. Fourth, name that fear. What are you most dreading and why? Talking about our just writing about something negative can take the “teeth” out of it, making it less painful or scary. It is often the unknown that gives us the most unease or pain. So put it all out there in the open, uncover the sharp teeth to demonstrate to yourself, they aren’t even sharp enough to puncture your skin.

 Here are the checklists to fill out as many times as necessary to beat your post-trip blues:

• Post-Trip Blues - FULL 15 min (take your time - it is the process of thinking about each item in depth that makes this technique effective)
  
• Post-Trip Blues - SHORT 60 sec (use this a lot to trigger the thought pattern and habits that will make you happier)

This is the LONG version of the Post-Trip Blues checklist that should take around 15 or more minutes to complete. It could be called the starter checklist because the first time you fill it out, you want to take your time on each question to go into as much detail as possible. It is this brainstorming process where you clearly picture in your mind the answer to each question to ensure it becomes more prominent and dominates the thoughts you are trying to eradicate. Once successful, the SHORT checklist will quickly trigger the emotions you worked hard to elicit using this FULL checklist.

Fill it out as many times as necessary to beat your Post-Trip Blues:

1. I identified three people I get along with at my work (clients and/or co-workers):
   • Bonus points for getting descriptive.
   • Why do I like them, and why am I excited to see them?
2. I explained what I am excited to work on:
   • For example: new project, helping clients or patients, something I’ve always wanted to finish or accomplish
3. I explained why I like my work:
   • For example: I get to make a difference, I get to use the skills I developed, I get to work with people or feel a sense of purpose
4. I wrote down the things I enjoy doing that I’ve built into my weekly routines (not necessarily work related):
   • This practice reminds me about how my daily life has enjoyable parts to it too
   • Examples include:
     • Exercising (at my gym or fitness studio), cooking great meals at home with my partner, watching my favourite TV show, spending time with friends, playing with my kids, gardening, walking in my neighbourhood, playing sports
5. I identified three friends I am excited to see:
   • Bonus points for getting descriptive. 
   • Why do I like them, and why am I excited to see them?
6. I identified three family members I am excited to see:
   • Bonus points for getting descriptive.
   • Why do I like them, and why am I excited to see them?
7. I scheduled something to do with a friend(s) when I get home (best to do this before I leave on vacation):
   • Schedule it for the first few days I'm back (this way I’ll be able to look forward to it without it being so far in the future it doesn’t have that much of an impact)
   • Examples include, going to a movie with a friend, grabbing a drink with a friend who I'm excited to tell about my vacation, going to a sporting event, going for dinner out, playing a sport or scheduling a run.
   • Choose something that I know I will enjoy and that will excite me when I think about it
8. I considered what my top three current priorities are.
   • Can be related to work, family or a hobby
   • For example: becoming a manager at my work, helping my daughter get into the top high school in the city, beating my all-time rival in a tennis match
9. I made sure my top priorities align with what science says actually make people happy:
   • Example of things that actually make me happy:
     • Spending more time with friends and family
     • Exercising regularly
     • Getting into nature
     • Helping someone else
     • Spending money on experiences rather than things
     • Surrounding myself with happier people
     • Practising gratitude
     • Source
   • The main goal here is to remove any priorities that do not align.
   • If I do want to go in depth, I can score my top current priorities using a five point scale on how closely they align
10. I considered how my current situation (returning home) would help me achieve these top three priorities:
    • Chances are, returning home will help me achieve these top three priorities.
    • The practice of recognizing and reminding myself that the best way of achieving my priorities is being at home rather than on vacation will make it look like a more attractive option in my mind.
11. I considered how staying on vacation would help me achieve these top three priorities:
    • Chances are, staying on vacation will NOT help me achieve these top three priorities.
    • The practice of recognizing and reminding myself that being on vacation is not a good way to help me achieve my priorities will help lower the overall attractiveness of the vacation in my mind.
12. If the current situation does meet my top three priorities, I did the following:
    1. I used a pen and paper, to write down the top three current priorities
    2. Under each priority in smaller font, I wrote down how my current situation meets those priorities
    3. I posted it somewhere I would see it every day until I was no longer depressed about my Post-Trip Blues (these blues can last a week or even several months, thus it’s important to take these steps to get rid of them as fast as possible)
13. I named my three biggest fears about returning home and realized they aren’t that horrible:
    • What am I most dreading about returning home and why?
    • Talking about our just writing about something negative can take the “teeth” out of it, making it less painful or scary. It is often the unknown that gives us the most unease or pain. So put it all out there in the open, uncover the sharp teeth to demonstrate to yourself, they aren’t even sharp enough to puncture your skin.

This is the short version of the checklist that should take around 60 seconds to complete. It could be called the refresher checklist because you've already done the brainstorming in the other checklist and this one serves to quickly remind you of what or how to beat the post-trip blues.

Fill it in lots of times to develop new thought patterns.

1. I thought about three people I get along with at my work:
2. I thought about three things I am excited to work on:
3. I thought about why I like my work:
4. I thought about three things I enjoy that I’ve built into my weekly routines:
5. I thought about three friends I am excited to see:
6. I thought about three family members I am excited to see:
7. I scheduled something with a friend or friends to do together when I get home:
8. I thought about what my top three current priorities are:
9. I thought about whether staying on vacation or returning home would better help me achieve my top three priorities:
10. I thought about my three biggest fears related to returning home and realized they aren’t that horrible: