.It’s the next day returning from your wonderful family vacation, the GIGANTIC list of things to get done is overwhelmingly depressing and the thought of getting out of bed is an impossible task in itself. Am I right or am I the only one? I for one love repeat LOVE to travel. It is the one thing I said having a baby wouldn’t stop me from doing. Vacation hangovers don’t just happen when you have a baby or kids they happen regardless, it just becomes 10x harder with them. Your laundry plus the baby’s laundry and anyone else in the household to me is seriously the most dreadful thing coming back from a vacation. I loath laundry. Before having Michael my vaca laundry would take like a few weeks to get done (I have too many clothes). This time for vacation however the laundry, the dishes, the cleaning, the food, and all the other “to-do” list items got done the day after we got home! How might you ask, planning ahead and a butt load of coffee. No, not really a butt load because I’m nursing but there was for sure coffee involved. If you remember how frantic and insistent you were to perfect your house in your “nesting phase” of pregnancy, think of that for prior going on your vaca.
When we got back from Hawaii we finally got to our car around midnight California time, and we got our stroller back broken. Joy! Michael is an early riser (at least for me, I’m a NOT a morning person) so 6:30-7 am he was ready to go the next day. UGH. Let me tell ya “keeping a baby calm on an airplane” would’ve been so helpful for us on the way back. Michael had a grand ol’ time on our flight back. Kevin had already left for work and all the after vacation tasks were just sitting there, staring me down. Hi, yea no. Bye felicia! Honestly it wasn’t too much to do besides laundry because I’m a badass and did EVERYTHING before we left. That’s it, that is the secret. Kinda. When you plan your vaca, put into your plan the week before for preparing and slaying those tasks you know you’re not going to want to do upon return from your glorious destination.
So obviously you’ve gotta pack, I packed for myself and Michael a day before. The ONLY reason I did this was because we were going to Hawaii, you’re in a bikini or dinner outfit, that’s about it. Michael is in the same thing plus some extra stuff but, it is an easy place to pack for. If you haven’t yet, make sure to check out (traveling with a baby: what to pack) for all the baby needs on a vacation! There is also a FREE downloadable checklist for you to make sure you have all your babies travel needs. For any other get away I’m going to be packing 2 days before. Why 2 days? Depending on how long you’re gone, you’ve gotta have clothes for at home as well as your vacation. 2 days gives you enough to pack and have plenty of clothes at home… without an even bigger amount of laundry. To make your laundry easier upon return, we pack each persons things in their own suitcase and do our laundry the same way. Each suitcase gets their own load.
Cleaning! I do a DEEP clean of the house before any vacation.
There is such a wonderful feeling coming home knowing your house is spotless and you don’t need to worry about cleaning!
Making sure your place is deep cleaned before you go ensures (as much as possible) no messes being made right before you take off. I even go to the extent of having a night out for dinner so dishes aren’t an issue either. I’m telling, it is the greatest feeling coming home from vacation knowing your house is clean and there isn’t anything to pick up or chores on top of vacation chores.
Schedule an extra day off for when you return. If you have a limited number of days off take one of your days for the day after you return. Yea yea, sucks but you’ll thank me for requiring it! There’s nothing worse coming back from a vacation and having to be up right back into work mode in less than 24hrs. You go back to all the things you took a vacation from piled high on your desk and way backed up. Um yea no thanks. AND on top of that pile of crap you have all your laundry to do waiting for you when you get back home. Taking that day after your return helps mentally preparing you for the pile of crap waiting on your desk. Also, you get to tackle the laundry, yay! You can the day to decompress and sit back to review everything that y’all got to do while away.
While you have your laundry going on that day after you return binge watch movies or any shows you have been wanting to watch or catch up. Remember I said start planning a week ahead? Getting that DVR pre-set before you leave will make this much easier. Why might I say to binge after you get back from vaca? You are going to be jet-lagged and readjusting to your time-zone and will be too zombified to sleep or get up and actually be productive. So binge watch and order a pizza. Keep that kitchen clean just one day more.
Now you could be like me and can’t sit still for too long to binge watch TV. I am not a big television person per say but I enjoy relaxing and letting the brain not run for a little while. If this is you too, then do like I do and grab a large coffee from your favorite coffee shop and tackle your extra tasks you would’ve done on a “stay-cation”. You know, getting the oil changed, car washed, returning things to stores you have been saying you will for the past couple months. You know, those tasks. Nothing too strenuous but getting these done in between your laundry loads is a major accomplishment. I got back and reorganized my closet and swapped out the maternity clothes and other items that weren’t going to be worn anymore for new and up to date items. Only months later…but luckily that day after returning I was on a mission mindset and it finally got done!
When you get up and start your first load of laundry go for a light walk or run outside. Getting out into some fresh air and blood flowing will help you feel more energized and flood those feel good endorphins back into your jet lagged body. When you get back make yourself a big cup of coffee and do your best to stay awake and jump yourself into the time zone. Then begin the binge watching or start tackling those “honey-do” tasks.
The basis of everything I am saying about avoiding the vacation hangover is get everything done BEFORE you go on vacation. Simple as that. Do your dishes BEFORE you leave. Deep clean your house BEFORE you go. Take care of your work to-do list BEFORE you go on vacation. When you get back from vacation, if you have done as prescribed, the biggest task you need to get done is vacation laundry and ordering a pizza. Boom.
These things are what work for me. Every time without fail it has treated me so well upon returning tired, jetlagged, and in no mood to do actually do anything. Try it out and let me know how it helps you and your family! If you haven’t done so yet, make sure and subscribe to get updated on my latest posts! Cheers!