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Hello. I just returned to the US from Europe (London and Paris) and feeling very depressed. I was only there a week, and miss it terribly. I feel like I don't belong in the US, want to move. I'm probably not the only one who's going through this. I feel bored over here.
First of all, how long have you been back? Jet lag may be clouding your thinking. General rule: it takes a day to recover from every time zone you crossed.
Second- it's pretty normal to feel let down after a good vacation: no bosses, no sitting through endless PowerPoint presentations, doing what YOU want to do on your schedule, maybe splurging on better food and drink... and then you're Back to Reality. I always reminded myself that Reality pays for the travel.
Finally- being a tourist somewhere and working there are two different things. Did you look at property prices and rentals in London and Paris? They're nuts- I don't know how the average person lives, except that many have long commutes and/or tiny places (just as in HCOL areas in the US). Do some research on what it actually costs to live in these areas (hey- there's this great resource called City-data! ;-) ). It may be an eye-opener.
I worked for the company that built the Gherkin in London and that was my base on business trips there. It was cool, but I never wanted to move there, or to Zurich where we had our HQ- just too darn expensive to live there.
Is there any way you can join a company that does business in Europe so you can just visit a lot? Worked for me!
A week long trip gives you a distorted view of life somewhere, once the newness of living overseas wears off you'll find you're just as bored unless you attack the underlying problem of your dissatisfaction with life.
A week long trip gives you a distorted view of life somewhere, once the newness of living overseas wears off you'll find you're just as bored unless you attack the underlying problem of your dissatisfaction with life.
I saw this when I lived in Montana. People took a vacation, fell in love, and moved. Their problems followed them and they realized even in Montana people have problems.
Quote:
Originally Posted by beachlife9553
Hello. I just returned to the US from Europe (London and Paris) and feeling very depressed. I was only there a week, and miss it terribly. I feel like I don't belong in the US, want to move. I'm probably not the only one who's going through this. I feel bored over here.
The depression will wear off. Give it a few days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaskaErik
I've traveled all over the world many times and I was always happy to be back home.
Time to find some hobbies you enjoy at home or where you live. And maybe look at what else you maybe don't like about your life and can change? New job? New city? New friends?
I find that my mind-body clock works pretty well. If I have a 3-week ticket, I'm ready to go home after three weeks. Traveling open-ended, I reach burn-out after 7 months, and I'm ready to call someplace 'home'.
Thomas Jefferson nailed it: Travel makes you more wise and less happy. No, not the traveling itself, but the aftermath.
There's a formula for recovering from travel trips. Gone 1 week, it'll take 3 weeks to fully recover. All in multiples of 3.
I find it's helpful to have a bad experience on your trip very last part of the day you're leaving, particularly if your trip was extremely enjoyable/memorable. That happened to me on a highly enjoyable, memorable trip to Ecuador, I was mugged the last night before departure. What a nice "present" to end the trip and how I looked forward to returning home. Yes, I recovered, and a year later I returned to Ecuador for more "punishment".
There's times I went on a foreign trip and it was such a beautiful trip I actually prayed the plane would crash before landing in the U.S. I simply didn't want to return to the daily realities of life!
Another thought on this: you had to turn around and go home just about the time you were over jet lag from the trip TO Europe, only to scramble up your body clock again coming home. I know that's how it has to be sometimes- limits on the number of vacation days in the US and on travel budgets don't allow for the luxury of long trips. (DH and I once flew to Scotland from Newark, then our home airport, on a Thursday night and came home the following Monday. Not recommended.)
One favorite travel quote: "Most travel is best of all in the anticipation or the remembering; the reality has more to do with losing your luggage.”
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