5 Tips for When you get Home
If you regularly travel twice a month, you may feel like you’re never really home. Always trying to play catch up and getting ready for the next trip. If you travel every week, it can feel like you never touch down.
I travel at least twice a month and many months I am gone a few days every week. I used to live out of a suitcase and why bother putting away my toothbrush, my bags were like my portable home sweet home. Although my bags were neatly organized, the rest of my home became pure chaos. Why bother? I am just going to leave again.
I was listening to a yoga teacher talk about the importance of being grounded in your present and I immediately applied it to my travels. Whereever I was, I would be fully present. Then it dawned on me that I was fully present everywhere except at home.
No matter how often you travel or how long you will be home, to keep from feeling out of sorts learn to be grounded whereever you are. Here are 5 tips for quickly finding your present when you get home.
#1 Make Your Bed– Before you leave, make your bed. You know from your travels that when you’ve been at meetings all day, it’s nice to open the door to your hotel room and see your bed has been made. When you come home from traveling, it’s nice to walk into your room and see your bed nicely made and calling to you. If you are gone for a few days, you may even forget it was a you who made it. Give yourself this little gift for when you get home.
#2 Unpack Your Bags– When you travel every week, it seems efficient to leave what you didn’t wear in your suitcase. You’re half way packed for the next trip. You won’t forget the chargers this time, they are already in there. Just throw in new socks and underwear and you’re ready to go. But there is something about having one foot home and one foot ready to leave that keeps you from really being present at home. Unpacking your bag and putting things away sends a clear message to your brain– I am home.
#3 Update Your List– To expedite packing for your next trip, have a packing list. While you are unpacking your bags, update your list with any items you wished you would have brought with you but forgot. It is also helpful to notice the items you brought along but never needed. Can you take them off your list? Now that you have an updated list, you won’t have to be worried about your next trip and you’ll need less time to pack and more time to enjoy being home. Relax, when it is time to prepare for the next trip, you will be able to just go down your check list and be confident you’ll have packed everything you need.
#4 Plan some time to Recharge– Try to give yourself a few hours to chill once your bag is unpacked. Maybe throw a load clothes in the washer, make a cool drink, and relax in the recliner with the book that has been waiting for you. Whether you have a whole day or just a few hours, it really helps to have a buffer between getting home from your travels and your ‘active’ home life.
#5 Resume your Home Routines– With exception of whatever buffer time you have decided on, have and resume your home routines. Routines help you feel grounded and enjoy your home while you are here. Routines help keep the house organized and keep you fit and healthy. The sooner you get back on your regular routine the less travel stress you will experience.
Traveling can be stressful but if you are prepared to be present both home and away the better off you’ll be. You’ll expereince less chaos, feel grounded, and be able to enjoy both your home and your travels fully.