Adjusting to life after holidays

So I’m back. And as predicted, Japan was an absolute blast. It never fails to delight as a holiday destination and I think this break was the best yet!

I’ll share my adventures from Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Tokyo in a lot more detail over the coming weeks, but for now a few thoughts on adjusting to life back in London.

Simply put, it’s been tough!

Jet lag on the way out was sorted in a little under 48 hours. But coming home, I’ve noticed that I’m still feeling grim. Still waking up too early, still feeling very slow. It’s like someone needs to insert new batteries in me, like the ads with the energiser bunny.

Additionally, the weather has been pants in London – cloudy and a lot cooler than when we left. Which is a far cry from the 34C and sunshine of Tokyo. Finally, I’m back to work, and although I love my job, it’s been a less than stellar couple of day this week.

I have, quite simply, a dose of the post-holiday blues.

I miss our routine in Tokyo. I miss breakfasts on the 37th floor of our hotel, looking out at Tokyo’s skyscrapers.

I miss luxuriating in the hot water of the onsen in the evening, soaking tired feet and relaxing in the sauna between soaks. I miss zipping around Tokyo on the metro, brandishing my Suica Card like a local and knowing exactly how to get everywhere.

I miss the fantastic food. I miss the friendliness and politeness of the people and how everything just seems to work. I miss the comfort and efficiency of the trains.

I miss wandering through the bars of Shinjuku Ni-Chome, then randomly ending up in a tiny, smoke-filled karaoke bar and singing my heart out to strangers until 3am. I miss walking home from nights out, feeling fulfilled and safe.

I even miss my abysmal attempts at communicating with people through my meagre Japanese and I miss watching the expression on the barman’s face when I ordered our drinks in Japanese.

That said, I wouldn’t be a good psychologist if I wasn’t able to see this from more than one perspective.

So what are the positives of coming home from such a wonderful holiday?

The experiences themselves were fantastic, and so I have some great memories from the holiday. I learnt even more about Japan and the Japanese people, topics I’m incredibly interested in. We also made some new friends while in Tokyo and managed to catch up with people we’ve met before.

We also visited a couple of new cities – Fukuoka and Nagasaki – giving us inspiration for future visits.

We came home on a Wednesday, meaning I only had to work a two-day week before the weekend. And I have literally hundreds of photos to review and remind me of everything great we saw and did while in Japan. And despite all the eating and drinking, I seem to have only gained 1kg while abroad!

And let’s not forget, we traveled to and from Japan in style! First Class with British Airways.

So my post-holiday blues are evaporating – just more slowly than I’d like. And as of writing, its only 160 days until our next visit to Tokyo!!

So yes, holidays can be a double-edged sword. They’re a fantastic break from the day to day routine, but they’re also finite. Obviously! So for me, it’s about enjoying every moment while you’re away (and I think I did!) to minimise unhelpful regrets once you’re back. I don’t think we could have done any more with our time in Japan and I enjoyed every single day.

But now it’s back to reality and life in London.

And blogging about my adventures!