The effects of a family holiday to Thailand
It’s 10pm.
Two very different wails are assaulting my ear drums. One is a deeper guttural sound, the other a smaller, yet piercing cry.
Two little body clocks messed up. Two little girls used to sleeping in the same room as Mummy and Daddy, having comfort while drifting off.
One little baby used to having her hair stroked, back patted, or rocked to sleep in the pram. Desperate tactics employed while on an airplane, in a restaurant or exploring the busy Thai streets.
Habits are difficult to break, but they need to be broken. I can’t spend every evening patting two children to sleep.
Readjustment after an overseas holiday is tough.
I walk in and out, little pats, and soft word of encouragement,
“Sleepy time now. You can put yourself to sleep because you are so clever. Mummy loves you.”
Each time I let the screams go for a little longer. Eventually she’ll drift off…. I hope.
There’s a lull. Could she have done it?
Kalyra wanders out
“I can’t sleep because Savannah is crying.” Any excuse to come outside.
Savannah starts up again. And the cycle goes round.
Breathe. Take sip of wine.
Usually I’m starting to fade at this time of night too, but my eyes are wide open. My body still thinks it is 6pm.
It takes a while to return back to normal.
I went to lunch today with friends. I ate a salmon fillet with mashed potato and feta salad. I still felt the fullness of that meal 5 hours later.
Welcome back to Western eating. I remember the readjustment well when we moved to Dublin after 6 months living in Bangkok eating a fresh Asian diet which kept me clean and healthy. After every western meal for a week I felt sluggish, full and slightly squeezy.
I thought I chose well today with the salmon- gluten free and healthy, yet still the heaviness lives.
My soul alternates between happy to be home and wanting to be back on Thai soil eating a papaya salad, sipping on a coconut water and relaxing with a Thai massage.
This trip to Thailand was challenging. There was a lot of frustration. Sickness, teething, toddler travel nightmares, website issues, and a broken computer. (You’ll find all those stories about Thailand on y travel blog)
It nearly broke me.
Now it seems as if the return home may break me even more.
How have you struggled with returning home from an overseas holiday before?
Comments
Nikki @ Styling You
I hear you sister … struggling today big time. A long delay at Denpasar meant we lost a night’s sleep and came home to some damage from the bad weather. Have been walking around like a zombie! School’s back tomorrow so will snap myself back into a routine!
Caz Makepeace
You had a shocking return home. How awful. It’s bad enough to be delayed but to return home to that chaos. Hope it all settles down soon and the return to school is calm. xx
Simo
Give it a few dayz Caz and all will seem ok…. I hope
Caz Makepeace
Thank Simo– I do too else I’ll be drinking lots of wine
PlanningQueen
I struggled just coming back from Mildura and time off line. Hope the adjustment is a quick one Caz. xx
Caz Makepeace
Thanks Nic! Things seem a little more settled tonight. Fingers crossed
Mandy
Oh I’m so familiar with this! We travel to Singapore to visit my family and I always feel so unsettled in the first few weeks of coming back!
Caz Makepeace
It definitely takes a few weeks to resettle again.
Karen
Travelling with teething toddlers is Sooo hard, we are camping right now and my toddler just cut his first canine, so horrible! I know how travelling messes with routines and creates bad habits! Hope everything gets back to normal soon! x Karen #teamIBOT
Caz Makepeace
Oh the teething thing is awful!!! She really suffered this time. It’s worrying as well because you can’t tell if there is something else upsetting them apart from the teething as well.
Lisa@RandomActsOfZen
It’s so hard to get back into routine sometimes. Thankfully little ones are usually pretty adaptable. Good luck 🙂
Caz Makepeace
Yes they are! So much more so than adults. All is good tonight here!
Dianne Travelletto
Post travel blues are the worst. After years of suffering from them I soon learned that the only way to cure post travel blues is to have another trip booked. It’s the only way. Even if it is just a weekend away, it really does help knowing when the next holiday is going to be.
Good luck xx
Caz Makepeace
I so agree Dianne! Just keep on travelling. One of the best ways is to explore your own home town as a traveller. It helps so much!
Amanda
I can really relate to how you feel. When my family returned home after 6 weeks in Europe in 2011, I suffered quite severe post holiday depression for almost two months. Everything I did was a chore – and as for work, I almost handed in my resignation. I think the fact that about 12 months planning went into the holiday played a big role in all this. Great anticipation, living the dream, then it was over. On a plus side, this lead to me setting up my website. I still need to work to pay the bills and everyday life can get me down, but developing my website and hopefully helping some families find great accommodation, is keeping me excited and inspired.
P.S I really enjoy your stories and photos. Thanks for sharing them.
Caz Makepeace
Pleasure and thank you Amanda.
I so totally understand what you went through. I had a terrible time when we returned home after 5 years travel. I slid into a serious funk that led me to make really stupid decisions that cost us a lot!! Post holiday blues can be a really serious condition. I’m more prepared for it now.
Forest Parks
Sounds a little like post holiday blues for everyone! It’s odd because you feel you should be immune to it after traveling so much but I actually think it gets worse!
I hope the next week everything gets back to normal.
Caz Makepeace
I think it gets worst too Forest. I reckon by next week we’ll all be good again!
Annie
Why do those nurturing habits need to be broken?
Your children need you. I still help my girls
to sleep every night of their lives. They’re 7 & 4.
Sounds like a wonderful lifestyle in Thailand.
Thanks for the inspiration, We would love to try
try it with our girls. You might like to check
out Our Muddy Boots on fb. All the best
with the adjustment 🙂
Caz Makepeace
Thailand is a wonderful lifestyle I hope you get to visit. Your kids will love it.
Nichola
I hear ya. Changing timezones, climates, lifestyles, can be hard. With kids, even harder.
I’m with Annie though, whats so bad about hairstroking and back patting?
I like to help my little ones to sleep; They snuggle up with Mummy and Daddy to drift off at home and abroad.
All should be back to normal soon though, good luck 🙂
Teething is really no fun either!
xx
Caz Makepeace
Teething is a giant pain! I’m not having another child unless they are born with a full set 🙂 I don’t think there is anything wrong with back-patting and hair-stroking at all and I do it often. I love having it done to me! I just don’t want them to have to rely on that to get to sleep.
EssentiallyJess
We haven’t done an overseas holiday with the kids before, but it’s harder enough just doing a domestic one, so I can only imagine how tricky this would be!
Caz Makepeace
I think the domestic ones are much better until they are about 3– out of nappies, bottles, prams and have all their teeth. Then you can relax!
Emily @ Have a laugh on me
You look so happy in that photo. It’s hard with kids, especially when they wake each other up. My youngest, 16 months is now opening doors and screaming and waking his 3 and 4.5 year siblings. I wish I was in Thailand right now xx
Caz Makepeace
Oh our youngests are the same age!! They make you laugh so much but at other times–geez you need to hold it together. Thailand is such a great place to go. I loved drinking my coconut waters every day and I’m having severe withdrawals
Kathy
Hi Caz – travel certainly messes with routines, and little ones, especially Savannah’s age love routines don’t they. If Kalra remembers the holiday in the future I suspect you’ll think of it as a time when her family were really close just chilling out before she went out into the world of school (cramped hotel rooms do that), so the disruptions and hassles will have been worth it. When it comes to travelling with little ones I wonder whether you can ‘top’ what we did in adopting our kids and being stuck in small hotel rooms, trying to sterilise bottles (that went out with our second adoption), soothe sick kids and deal with all the attachment issues of adoption…oh God I could go on. The upshot is that those experiences have made me appreciate when travel is ‘relatively’ smoother – so I can laugh now at being in bed by 9.30pm 4 out of 5 nights in New York with the kids (then 7 and 18 months).
Caz Makepeace
What a hassle!! It is such a draining, yet as you say, rewarding experience. The whole sterilizing bottle thing is a nightmare!! It’s amazing how much you let go with the second!
Kate
Oh I totally agree, as much as a holiday is amazing, the transition back to the real world is so hard!
I hope it doesnt take too long for the body clocks to be back in sync!
Caz Makepeace
I’m hoping Kate. I was up and down most of last night!! It usually takes around a week so a few more days to go.
Becc
Oh, that adjustment is just so hard! The good thing though is that this time next week, you will be getting closer to normal 🙂
Becc @ Take Charge Now
Heidi Wagoner
Oh, I feel your pain. I don’t look forward to the day we go home. That is always the worst part of any trip. I like to have a few things planned out, so when you return home from one there is another just around the corner. At least now we are living in Spain and no clue when we will end, but I dread the day. Thanks for sharing!
Caz Makepeace
Return home is awful, but I like your idea of planning the next trip. That really helps us as does exploring our local area like a tourist