Tips on Returning Home from Your Trip
Tips on Returning Home
When travelers return home after a cultural tour abroad, they often experience “reverse culture shock,” as they start to process the trip in their minds as well as re-adjust to life back home. Here are some practical tips for those first couple of days back home:
1. Empty Your Bags Outside
Empty the contents in your driveway, garage or even sidewalk. Why? There may be insects (like bed bugs) that may have gotten into your suitcase, carry-on, clothes, shoes, electronics etc. on the trip. So inspect your bags and belongings for creepy crawlies. Leave your bags and even electronics outside of the house (if feasible) for 24 hours. I have had ants and spiders from places like Ghana and India crawl out of my bags and laptops over the years!
2. Disinfect Your Bags
Clean the suitcase and bags inside and out with a disinfectant spray. Do the handles and wheels too which usually have the most germs. Hand sanitizer on a soft cloth works well too.
3. Take Clothes to a Laundromat
Put all of your clothes into a plastic trash bag. Take them to a public laundry instead of using your own washer/dryer. Use the hottest water temperature setting. Again, you do not want to bring in any unwanted insects / dirt / bacteria into your house.
4. Disinfect Your Shoes
Use the same cleaning method with your shoes as with your bags — on both the soles and insides the shoes. This includes the shoes on your feet as well as the ones in your luggage.
5. Handle Jet Lag
Jet lag can be an issue if your hometown is in a different time zone than the country(s) you went to. Common jet lag symptoms include insomnia, headaches, and fatigue. Some of the best remedies for jet lag are gentle exercise, fresh air, sunshine, and plenty of water.
6. Go Easy on the Greasy Food
Ease your digestive system back into your normal diet back home. Air travel can slow your digestive system down. And you were likely eating different types of food and spices on your trip. Now that you’re home, focus on light, easily-digested meals, and go easy on the grease the first couple of days. Your gut will thank you!
7. Gather Documents
If you have any paper documents from the trip, put them in folder. Same goes for electronic documents. This includes things like store receipts, ATM slips, luggage receipts, immigration forms, currency exchange receipts, and any medical reports if you were sick. This folder can be a source of scrapbook material and nostalgia but also of practical use — say, if you need to submit a medical claim to your insurance company.
8. Backup Everything
Backup your photos, videos, and journal (whether paper or electronic) to either a cloud service like Amazon, Google Drive, iCloud OR to an external hard drive or pen drive. Relying exclusively on the cloud for your backups leaves you vulnerable to hackers who could lock you out of your account(s).
9. Check Online Accounts
Change the passwords to your email account(s) and bank and credit card accounts. Check for any unauthorized financial transactions. This is in case your phone or electronics were compromised by hackers via WIFI networks. Or hackers stole your debit card PIN’s and account numbers from an ATM machine.
10. Journal Your Trip
This could be a paper journal, video log, or a note-taking app like Simplenote with voice-to-text capability. Memories are fleeting, so if you don’t journal, you will likely forget not just the who/what/when/where but your impressions, feelings and reflections related to the trip.