Adventure Blues
Have you heard of the adventure blues?
I have just returned from a trip to Bali, and this week the adventure blues have been very real!
This was a 9 day trip that was jampacked with adventure and being well and truly immersed in the culture and way of life in Bali. I saw and experienced things that were so far removed from what would be ‘the norm’ over here in the UK and it was a trip that humbled me.
The adventures we have, abroad or otherwise, often take a lot of planning and fill our headspace for the weeks and months leading up to them. This means, once the trip is over there lies a huge gaping hole. The bump back to reality after a life-changing trip can feel hard to overcome.
This is not the first time I have experienced these feelings. I remember when returning home from summiting Toubkal (4167m) in Morocco I felt the same. It had been the hardest thing I had done to date and as I experienced it alone (by alone I mean without any one in my social circle at home) I found it hard to explain what I had been through and experienced. Something had changed in that time being away and I had to adjust.
When I look back on most of the trips that I have been on, there have been varying degrees of adventure blues. Sometimes it is just a little “meh, don’t want to come back to reality” whereas other times the trip has gotten under my skin so much I suddenly feel overwhelmed by ‘normal’ life and disconnected in some way from everything I knew before the trip.
After spending six weeks in our campervan in Europe a few summers ago, I felt like a completely different person when I returned. It led me to make some huge life-changing decisions that I never would have made if I hadn’t have gone on that trip. This is what a change of location and perspective can do. It can mean that you see things in a completely different way from which you did before.
For me, the adventure blues have been at their most heightened when the trip has been longer or when it has been physically or mentally demanding. However, there have been times when I have disconnected from the world over a long weekend in my tent and felt the shock of coming back to reality.
I think that adventure blues is something that is normal and something that we need to learn to move through rather than fight against.
I did a poll on my Instagram this week and 100% of people that engaged with it said that they had experienced adventure blues. I also asked for some examples of how they overcome these feelings, the most common suggestion...book or plan the next trip!
On returning this week, it has led me to reflect on what I have done previously to move through these feelings. Here my tips, along with some that my community shared on Instagram.
Top Tips to move through Adventure Blues
Bring elements of the adventure home with you
If the trip has been physically or mentally demanding it can filter into your day to day. When I returned home from doing a 100km cross country skiing adventure in Norway and Finland a few years ago, I literally felt like superwoman. It led me to use that adventure to see how far I could push myself with other things, those being physical challenges or professional ones.
There are lots of ways you can incorporate what you have experienced whilst adventuring into your day to day. Returning from Bali has made me want to get more creative again with the foods that I cook, as we had so many amazing meals out there.
Have some self-compassion
It can be easy to fall into the trap of talking to yourself in a way that is less than helpful, for example... “I should just be grateful that I even had that experience” or “stop being so miserable”. We need to accept that whatever we are feeling is ok. Gratitude is of course important but being patient with yourself and the adjustment is too.
This week I have reduced my own expectations of what I can achieve and made sure that I have had time to relax and adjust back into my own routines. One of the things I find difficult after coming back after an adventure is cooking for myself again. When you are away, often the choices are limited or you spend more time in restaurants with people cooking for you. I took the pressure off this week and made easy meals but have made a plan of the meals to cook next week, incorporating some of the awesome foods that I had on my trip.
Talk about your trip
I remember on returning back from the cross country adventure I mentioned previously, I had no idea how to talk about what I had experienced...where did I start?! So much happened in a relatively short space of time, did I just share the highlights or start right at the beginning?! A few times I felt like it was probably just easier to not talk about it but thankfully the lovely people I have around me wanted to know, and it made me feel so much better to share my experiences.
I also found that writing a blog post really helped create a summary of the trip, writing can be a great way to document and share your experiences. This doesn’t have to be shared with anyone, it could just be for your own memories.
Plan a mini adventure
It isn’t always realistic to go from one big adventure to the next but having a few mini adventures to look forward to can be the tonic that you need. This could be a night away in your tent, watching the sunrise or having an evening with friends by a campfire.
Getting back into the day to day routines of life can be a huge adjustment but plan some time in where you can enjoy life too. This weekend, I knew, come rain or shine I would be doing something outside that reminds me that adventure can be enjoyed wherever I am.
Plan the next trip
It had to go in here didn’t it! It is definitely something that I do and seeing the results on my Instagram, it is clearly what others do too!!
Some of you will know this but a lot of my trips with my partner Rob have to be planned around his calendar that is not possible to be changed. On the last day in Bali, we got into a conversation about the next trip we could take...before the one we were on was even over!
It might not be practical to book something right away but just starting to think about what you can do next might be enough. I have already booked my annual leave and started researching places for a break in Rob’s calendar in September. Researching and building excitement for the next adventure can help fill the void that the completed trip has left.
I get it, adventure blues sucks. It can feel lonely and confusing but just know, this is a normal feeling that lots of people experience.
If you feel different from being on the trip, embrace it, share it and be excited for how these experiences will shape your day to day moving forward. You didn’t change, you just see things differently now.
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