Recovering After Vacation

No makeup. No real clothes. No exiting the house.

That’s what our weekend looked like. And, it was the most beautiful weekend.

I know I say that every weekend. No matter what we are doing, it’s a beautiful weekend. What can I say other than that we live our best life every weekend, and that’s because we do what makes our hearts happy. This weekend, it was cancelling all the plans. It was a rainy, nasty weekend. Everything we had planned suddenly seemed like a chore, and that’s no fun.

After six days in Washington D.C. – on a bus – with 33 kids and 20 adults, it was necessary. We had a wonderful week with our oldest daughter, but being one of the two sponsors for the trip is WORK. Let me say that again – it’s WORK. It’s hard. It was a year of constant movement, planning, preparation, and it wasn’t less work when we got there. Room assignments, key-holding, bedtime rulers, counting kids, dealing with a small handful of ungrateful, unhappy, unkind chaperones (thank you, Lord, for the amazing group we did have, but there were three or four who were like whoa).

It was 5 am wake-up calls, 1 am bedtimes, constant phone calls in the middle of the night waking me and my husband up in bed from parents at home, kids who didn’t feel well down the hall, kids who got hurt and needed medical attention. My husband and I worked hard all week handling that, and we walked 27 miles throughout the week, visited countless monuments, museums, and food courts. I starved all week because I’m a food snob – and fast food and buffets just don’t cut it for me. I also slept like death each night because we stayed in a motel.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a bona fide travel snob. We love to travel, and we do it frequently, but we prefer 4 and 5 star resorts and hotels. We like room service. We don’t like serve yourself buffets. We don’t like parking our own car or carrying our own luggage. This trip was the equivalent of camping. But not like nice camping in a luxe camper. Like camping in the dirt with the bugs and the insects and the critters and the murders camping. Literally, our bus driver told us to be careful in the parking lot because of the vagrants.

I mean…I’m just saying.

But, this weekend, we were tired. Cancelled all plans except taking the kids to see Aladdin on Friday, and then it was home, home, and more home Saturday and Sunday. And it was glorious. Recovering from vacation – or a trip in this case – is never easy. But, I do have some tips that make it a bit easier.

Do Nothing

Busy is something we are, but it’s not something we are proud of. We are happy to have fulfilled lives with so many friends, so many activities, and so much fun, but we don’t love to be busy. We love to have downtime, but it’s not always easy with four kids and our lives. This weekend, we had plans. But, we decided to cancel them.

When we returned home at 8 pm on Thursday night from six days in Washington D.C. for Addison’s Safety Patrol Trip, we were officially 11 out of 15 nights traveling and away from our own beds, our own home, and our own favorite place. Not that we regret any of it, nor would we trade it. But, we were tired. Plans to go away for the weekend – again – did seem like good ones when we made them, but they seemed like nothing more than a burden by the time we got home.

So, we took the kids to see Aladdin, we came home, and we did not leave the house again for two solid days. It was the best choice. It’s always my recommendation that you allow yourself one night at home at the end of your vacation or trip where you can go to bed, sleep in, and have a day at home before you go back to real life. It’s never let us down.

Prepare For Relaxation

Anyone who knows me knows I am a total and complete neat freak, and I’m a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to cleanliness and order. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s so helpful when we come home from traveling. Coming home to a spotless home without laundry waiting is a gem (not that we don’t bring laundry home with us, of course). Knowing the bathrooms, the floors, the counters, all bedrooms, and everything is clean and spotless when we walk in the door makes me feel at peace.

Nothing is worse than coming home to a mess. Trust me – I feel like that every single time we leave the kids home and return to them. Not that our moms don’t clean, but they definitely don’t clean anywhere close to my standards. I love coming home and knowing the only thing I need to do is unpack. It helps prepare for relaxation when you come home.

Unpack Right Away

You guys…I do not understand people who come home from a trip, ignore their luggage and laundry, and do nothing productive. I. Do. Not. Get. It.

I can’t. How can you just ignore a mess and leave things undone when you get home? Where is your sense of peace? I can come home from a trip with my family of six, 5 pieces of luggage, and have everyone unpacked, clean laundry put away, dirty laundry washing, and everything put in its rightful place in under 30 minutes. It’s so easy, and it takes all the stress away.

If you want to relax and recover from a trip or vacation, you have to unpack and situate yourself right away. You have to. It’s not an option. I promise you will thank yourself for that one later.

Order Your Groceries

One more thing I’m not a huge fan of – ordering my groceries. I know it’s meant to be easier and to make your life better, but I am too much of a control freak. We buy so much fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, and I swear to you no one can pick out the best stuff. I detest groceries delivered to me that aren’t the ones I would have chosen. It seems people who are shopping for others often don’t put forth the same thoughtfulness and carefulness when choosing fruit and veggies, and we often end up with things that are already going bad, soft, rotten, or gross in general.

But, I always order groceries for delivery when we travel. I know it won’t get us through more than a day or two, but nothing is nicer than coming home and knowing I don’t need to add a trip to the store to my list of things to do upon arrival.

Make A Plan

It sounds a bit like an oxymoron, right? You’re home to relax and enjoy yourself, yet here you are making a plan. Of course, I don’t mean you have to make a plan to go anywhere or do anything. Just make a plan to make no plans. Our favorite thing to do when we are finished unpacking is to take showers and baths no matter how early it is, and then we climb onto the couch with blankets and pajamas and popcorn, and we watch movies as a family. Our kids don’t love to watch television as a whole, but they will sit down and enjoy with us when we have a day like this. And, I promise, it’s totally worth every moment.

How do you typically recover after vacation?