Shay's Ways: MY BEST TIPS FOR RETURNING FROM TRAVEL {WITH EASE!}

Happy happy WEDNESDAY!

It’s another edition of SHAY’S WAYS!

Today, I swapped out our “regularly scheduled programming” for a little update/reminder/help regarding RETURNING FROM TRAVEL {WITH EASE!}.

Yesterday, I shared our FALL BREAK AT WALT DISNEY WORLD RECAP and any time I do a trip recap, I get a lot of follow up questions about “how I recover” so quickly. I always send people back to both my first post on HOW I PREP FOR A TRIP as well as HOW I RETURN HOME FROM A TRIP, but after receiving so many DMs/emails yesterday, I thought I would do a little refresher.

I want you guys to travel, and I don’t want you to be scared off by the “big return home”. If I can offer any suggestions to make that part easier, I’m happy to do so.

Listen, it’s no joke returning from traveling. It doesn’t matter if you were gone on a road trip, a long haul flight, a work trip, a cruise, a “handled obligations/wasn’t traveling for pleasure” kind of trip…it’s work. I also think that it doesn’t really matter if you’re gone one night or one month, when you get out of your routine, it just complicates your normal life. I have shared so many posts of my love (and frequency) of travel and honestly, just having a solid re-entry makes it easier for me.

I’m going to share my best tips (a.k.a. my “ways”) pulled from both posts with a few bonus ones added in and then I hope you share your best tips too!

I have 27 tips between those two posts, so don’t forget to go back and read the specifics and details from both HOW I PREP FOR A TRIP as well as HOW I RETURN HOME FROM A TRIP.

Thirteen is my favorite number, so today, I’ve narrowed it down to 13 of my best tips 🙂 .

Alrighty, should you be traveling anywhere soon and anxious about the return, keep these “ways” in mind as you prep to leave and/or return home:

#1: DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO UNPACK RIGHT AWAY.

I used to be someone who thought she had to come home and immediately unpack, start the laundry, and put the suitcases away. I blame my mom. My mom is that person. I give her MAJOR props for being that person. Even when we were kids, and she was a fulltime working mom, she would do this every single time. I tried to be like my mom for years and years but guess what? I’m not my mom. It was too much added stress. Now, we leave our luggage in the garage (so it’s out of the way and not inside my house making me feel like a luggage emptying failure) and when I have time, I empty it/drag the kids out there to empty it with me. And sometimes, it takes days (maybe even almost a week!), and guess what? No one cares, and it reduces a lot of my stress. Simple, silly and kind of stupid that unpacking could cause me stress, but it did and now, it doesn’t. You do you…and if that means that it takes you two weeks to unpack, own it.

#2: COME HOME WITH SORTED LAUNDRY.

Laundry is 90% of the battle when you return home from a long trip, so we have become ruthless about sorting it WHILE ON our trip. I always pack several garbage bags, and as we acquire dirty laundry on our trip, we keep things sorted. Each kiddo has their own bag, we will use a bag for items that will need to be dry cleaned, perhaps a bag for whites and/or swimsuits…you get the point. The bottom line is that when we return, it’s so much easier to do the laundry when we have it organized. If Smith really needs something from the trip washed for school the next day, instead of sorting through six peoples’ clothes, we can just do his laundry. It makes us so much more efficient when we are washing, drying, and giving each family member their laundry to put away when we don’t have to pause to sort a single thing. It also prevents items like wet swimsuits from bleeding on a white dress or a dress shirt from accidentally getting washed when it really needed to be dry-cleaned. It’s a game changer for us.

#3: DO NOT SCHEDULE ANY APPOINTMENTS THE FIRST DAY/WEEK BACK.

For the love, avoid making any appointments the week after you return. Do not go to the dentist. Don’t you dare schedule that meeting with your CPA. Give your calendar open space as you handle re-entry. The very last thing you want to do the morning after you get back from a trip is go for your annual skin check. Give those days some space.

#4: DON’T HAVE YOUR MAIL COME THAT DAY.

When we travel, we always have the post office hold our mail. I learned years ago that it’s so helpful to have that mail delivered at least one day AFTER we return home. Because who likes coming home tired, with luggage to unpack, laundry to do, and now a bunch of mail to sort through? Giving myself that extra day to get caught up on life before the mail arrives is really lovely. Even if it’s mostly just junk that’s going to be recycled, I prefer not to do that in the middle of all the other re-entry things.

#5: HANDLE YOUR FRIDGE BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Handle it, friends. Just handle it. This does not have to be a 20 minute ordeal. Just grab a trash bag, open that sucker up, and start tossing. Throw out leftovers, anything that could spoil (like milk, sour cream, yogurt, etc), anything that you honest to goodness are not going to want/be able to eat when you return, and anything on the verge of expiring. Work fast, toss it, and be done.

It is so much easier to handle your fridge before you leave than when you return home and something has gone bad. That is a much bigger ordeal to clean up, and after being away, that will also be the last thing you want on your plate. Just handle it quickly before you go.

Speaking of food…

#6: HAVE SOME SORT OF MEAL PLAN READY TO GO

I don’t care what your meal plan is, just have one. Your meal plan might be “when we get home from our trip, I’m Door Dashing dinner”. Awesome. That’s great because it’s a P-L-A-N.

I don’t know about you and your family, but the perfect storm is when we are tired, dirty from traveling, have a lot of laundry to do, and a dash of jet lag. The LAST thing we need to add to that equation is “what’s for dinner?”. Um, no. No, thank you.

Sometimes, I get really good and on the flight home, I’ll make an actual meal plan for the week and have Walmart deliver my groceries so that we actually have food in the house. If we are only gone a few nights, I’ll even shop in advance and have the ingredients ready for us so that I can make something super simple when we get home.

I think just having the plan is 90% of the work. Have a plan.

#7: MAKE SURE YOUR LAUNDRY IS UNDER CONTROL BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Before I leave to go out of town, I try and get alllllll of the laundry done and put away in our house. Is that the easiest thing to do on top of packing for a trip? No. Does it pay off in dividends when I return home with a bunch of *new* dirty laundry from my trip? YES!

This does several things:

It frees up my washer and dryer for the vacation clothes.

It gives me extra time to tackle those vacation clothes because we have other clean clothes put away we can wear in the interim.

It helps me stay on top of the laundry so that the problem doesn’t grow exponentially large.

#8: TRY TO RETURN HOME ON A FRIDAY OR SATURDAY OR IF YOU CAN, TAKE THAT NEXT DAY OFF

I know it’s not always possible, but if you can’t come home over a weekend, coming home and taking that following day off from work is really the easiest way to get your life in order fast. I know it’s not always an option, but if you can do it, it helps.

#9: ANY MONTHLY “TO DOS”, GET THOSE OUT OF THE WAY

I don’t know about you, but I have some monthly “to dos” that are always on my calendar. You know, things like paying the bills, or refilling prescriptions…you know, just things like that that you manage each month/quarter/etc. If I see that I have any of those around the time of my trip, I try and do as many as I can in advance. There are certain work obligations that I do bimonthly/monthly, and I always try to get those completed before I leave. Coming back from a trip with “must dos” at the top of your re-entry list is stressful.

#10: PREP YOUR YARD FOR YOUR DEPARTURE IN ADVANCE

We try and prep our yard before we leave. We’ll bring in outdoor pillows or make sure the grass is mowed/trashcans brought in/etc. Is there anything more defeating than pulling up after a trip to find your exterior in disarray? Before you even cross the threshold, you already see a long list of “to dos” just based on the yard. As much as we can, we’ll sweep, water plants, put away pool floats, etc so that it’s less chaos on arrival.

#11: COME HOME TO CLEAN BEDDING

One of my favorite pleasures in life is clean bedding. As often as I can, I put fresh sheets on my bed before I leave so that when I return home, they are ready and waiting for me.

#12: LEAVE A TIDY HOUSE

Before we leave, I make sure the beds are made, the dishes are put away, trashcans emptied, and the house is tidy. The last thing I want to do is come home and find breakfast from a week ago sitting in my sink. It just creates one more “thing” to do when I return home. It’s so nice to come back and find a tidy house.

#13: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GAS

That next morning after you’ve returned home…when you get in your car to head to carpool or work or wherever, make sure you have gas. Trust me…you will not want to stop that morning 😉 .

And those are 13 OF MY BEST TIPS FOR RETURNING FROM TRAVEL {WITH EASE!}!

I hope this helps those of you who reached out yesterday! Don’t forget to check out the details from both HOW I PREP FOR A TRIP as well as HOW I RETURN HOME FROM A TRIP as well!

Alrighty, I want to know what YOU do to make returning from a trip easier. I know you have ideas! You ladies always give me the best ideas.

Please comment and share.

I also have other SHAY’S WAYS you might want to check out today too:

25 Keys to a Peaceful Morning
22 Keys to making Fall Cozy
19 Key Fall Kitchen Essentials
18 Keys to Prepping for a Trip
14 Keys to Simplify BACK TO SCHOOL
21 Keys to Savoring Summer
21 Keys for Working at Home {Summer Edition}
25 Keys to Outdoor Summer Entertaining
25 Keys to Maintaining our Yard
17 Keys to my Holiday Prep
11 Keys to a Cozy Winter
9 Keys to Returning from a Trip
12 Keys to Leaving Your Kiddos When You Travel
13 Keys to Meal Planning
8 Keys to Creating Daily Routines You Love
21 Keys to Elevating the Everyday
13 Keys to Managing Jet Lag
9 Keys to a Cozy Halloween Night
19 Keys to Hosting Festive & Easy Holiday Parties
12 Keys to Adding Activity into the Everyday
17 Keys to Working From Home
9 Easy Afternoon Energizers
14 Simple Luxuries
8 Keys to Finding a Gym
21 Ways I Hygge
12 Ways for a Happier Day
7 Keys to Reducing/Avoiding Motion Sickness
8 Ways to Add “Vacation” to the Everyday
10 Keys to Getting Ready to Workout
8 Ways I Stay Healthy When I Travel
7 Ways to Make the Holidays Fun for Teens
9 Things NOT to do at the Gym
7 Ways to Find Community
11 Travel Finds in my Home
18 Ways to be Summer Chic
10 Ways it’s Good to be Neighborly
10 Ways to Fly with Ease
8 Keys to Traveling with Other Families