ucsun, I know exactly how you feel. I got back from Italy almost a month ago and I was depressed for the first couple of weeks.

You just have to kick it around and get it out of your system. Time is the only cure.....eventually you will feel better. Just start planning your next trip!

Well, yes, being on vacation is much more fun than the every day struggles of real life. You should be depressed when you return to the rat race. I find beer and wine each evening help lots and lots--as long as you don't overdo it.

Mahalo Melissa..Glad to hear the news..I had so much fun ordering my food and eating it outsite on the food court.

Need to go back to Honolulu again someday.I imagine that Liberty House is still open.I used to shop at the bargain floor and find terrific sales.

kismetchimera,

Sorry, Liberty House is no more...they've all become Macy's...kind of sad to have the same old department store in the islands as on the mainland.

wow. thanks to all. i really appreciate everyone's comments. i feel much better already. yes, the rat race has a harsh reality to it, but i can't say that i saw the same while in europe...but the grass is always greener on the other side of the pond. i actually felt like shedding a tear when walking into the hotel the last night in paris.

i think i'll read a few books or watch a few movies set in europe, and then start to do some reading on what's in store for me in greece. maybe even try to learn a little greek.

about socal, yes there are accents...actually once i really thought about that it really became funny. tons of accents, you just become immune to them. as for the food, of course nothing compares to the real thing. but we do have good food. i live in the OC. so i'll take any good suggestions w/in a good 90 minute drive...good italian is worth it. haven't really ever looked for a gelato shop, so that will be high on the to do list during the week.

again, thanks for all the input. it's actually a relief to know that the europe "withdrawl" syndrome is fairly common. i think there is a lesson for me to learn here: to appreciate and value my travels, but also to look beneath the surface of my home area.

I think that is exactly what you should do. Enjoy life! You have had some good trips and you will have more. Travel is a driving passion in my life and the high I get from it lasts for weeks. I just had the joy of taking 3 trips to Europe in 5 months - still on Cloud 9!

A book I would recommend for you is by Patricia Schultz and the title is 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. She has nice writeups on each place - even telling the best time of the year to go. She has 11 pages on Greece alone.

I am lining up trips for the next 2 years. Chomping at the bit - ready to go!

I could totally relate to your situation. If you could afford it (the money + the vac time), I agree with some of the earlier postings: take a couple of mini vacations in between your big trips, it makes the wait feel bearable. I usually try to take one major overseas trip (10+ days) per year and then take at least one long weekend (3-5 days) vac to a US destination in between.

A few people here in the past have recommended a sure cure: Begin planning another trip!

kismetchimera-

I also live in Hawaii - and while Patty's is alive and well (I absolutely love their chow fun) - I am sad to report that Liberty House is no longer in existence - bought out by Macy's a few years back - and it's just not the same.

I just returned from my first trip to Europe last month - 3 glorious weeks, hitting the "big 3" in Italy, Paris and London. I have experienced post vacation depression like I've never experienced it before. I'm not lucky enough to be able to go back to Europe next year (somehow a trip to Vancouver just doesn't intrigue me like Europe, but I'm not really complaining) - but am planning a return trip with my (then) 10 yr. old daughter for a week each in Paris, London and Greece in 2006. The best relief for this kind of depression is planning the next trip.

Study another language. That will help you learn more and appreciate the next trip all the more.

Hi there - we all know exactly what you're feeling. My strategy is to "bring it back." I spend the next couple of months shopping for fresh produce at little markets - or organic markets - and fresh bakeries; I haul out the espresso machine; grind my coffee freshly every day; eat a modified croque monsieur for lunch. In fact, my cooking improves greatly after a trip. I've found that helps ease the transition to the bleagh of the U.S. Moping, as suggested, is also good; just don't kick the cat in despair. Find your best photo, get it enlarged, frame and hang it. I also bring back maps as sourvenirs and hang them - I am fascinated by maps of cities as they used to be and enjoy studying them. My favorite therapy? Start planning the next trip!!!

Hi! I think sometimes a wonderful trip like this is like a wedding, you plan for months and then, like time does, it goes too quickly and it's done. However after a wedding you are changed, 20 years later you still look at your partner and grin about the "one thing that always goes wrong at a wedding" of course unique to your wedding, you have pictures and, memories.I think a trip is very similiar, you plan and plan, you go and enjoy and play hard and then you're back on the plane on the way home. Yet, you're changed, there is an experience that is personally yours that you can share with so many people. I think for special things there is always going to be a bit of the let down. I haven't gone on my trip yet, but I've been so enthusiastic about my trip that two of our closest friends have decided that the four of us are going to Rome in two years! (YIPPEE!!!) There are some wonderful ideas in this thread and I think there was even a post about what to take with you on your trip (glue stick, journal, etc. to put things in as you go. I have pictures from my last trip to England in our lunchroom at work (the Roman Baths in London) and sharing a bit of the fun has been great. I also found out where you can buy clotted cream, bought a British cooking cook book and learned how to cook some of the dishes we enjoyed. Talk to your friends about your time, share the fun with someone else, and put somthing on your wall in your bedroom, in the bathroom or kitchen where you will see something that makes you happy as you start your day! Sorry I didn't mean to rattle on!!!

Julie

Er the Roman Baths in Bath!! Caffine hasn't hit yet this morning!

We all get the post-party blues. I keep a little bubble around myself the first 1-2 days home, no radio or tv no phoning friends. I would savor this trip before jumping on to the next one. For me, I returned from Paris about 6 weeks ago, and I know I won't be able to top this trip to Paris, so I will move on to other places to explore and wait to return at a different point, so that the experience will be different. Knowing I will be away from Paris makes me blue. I am experimenting with different local shops to develop my film, one roll at a time. So my photo album and mementos have not yet been put together. I KNOW doing that would make me feel better. Start working on that trip report! If that doesn't do the trick, why not start learning Greek? Get some language tapes from your library, and start poring over travel guides for Greece. On the poster who suggested soup kitchens, she has a point, missing foreign travel should be our worst problem, maybe you can volunteer and share stories, or have that little party. My gym asked to see the photos, I have everyone who asks look at them. That is great for having the impressions come flooding back to you. I bring favorite photos into work as well. Though I agree with Nancy, if I won the lottery, I would just travel. Of course, I'd have to actually start buying lottery tickets. Cheer up. That's why it's a vacation, to get away, transport and immerse yourself. Start dreaming of where you were and of Greece.

We got back from Italy Friday night, unfortunately our luggage is on an extended vacation but is expected today. I completely understand your depression. We were so jetlagged yesterday we watched "Only You" & "Under the Tuscan Sun" all day because that's all we could physically do & it kept us 'there' a little longer. Italy was magical--it succeeded my expectations tremendously--even after 8mos of preparation & research. I'll file a trip report as soon as my travel notes arrive with the luggage. I'm giving myself until Monday to mope, then back to life--but I'm promising myself that I'll not get back to the frantic pace of before. I think the Italians are right when they say Americans live too much for work and not enough to enjoy life.
PattyB

Hi ucsun,

You are suffering from post-partum depression.

It is very common.

Symptoms usually dissipate in about a week.

Hey thanks *ucsun* for starting an interesting thread.

Good points by several about how we view our own home towns. Plenty of people visit Seattle as tourists, but living here I take it for granted. After a trip overseas I feel my powers of observation are refreshed, and I notice all kinds of things around me, see them in a whole new light. So maybe that's advice... act like a tourist in your own city!

Profound coping philosophies aside (kidding), I just bought a ticket for Switzerland in August and that certainly put me in a better mood!

Mahalo lyb and chepar,

It is a pity about Liberty House closing down..

Where do you live in Hawaii? I lived in Hickam AFB in Honolulu, we were there over 4 years. The first year while waiting for base Housing we lived in Kalihi? Valley. My younger daughter was in kindergarten, the school was behind my house, I could always recognize her from a distance, she was the only little blonde.

My son went to the Holy Family..

It was for US a very happy experience and we had the fortune to know many nice locals families.

We lived in a small cul de sac, only 4 families lived there..
From the Philippine and Japanese families we learned and enjoyed different food: Huli huli Pig,Sashimi and other delicacies.
I will always cherish my years spent there...
Ciao,

Suze- that is so true! I was suddenly viewing things around me as if I were still traveling with a camera poised to capture the feel of the place. I did see things with a fresh eye.

Kismet, that is so cute! My company has 2 transfers from California--two blondie blue guys--and they decided to buy a place in Ewa Beach. "Ewa Beach!" everyone exclaims in disbelief, since these guys look like they belong in Waikiki or Diamond Head. But they said the local families in their neighborhood are also great, invite them over for dinner all the time and helped them with moving and everything.