When blue-sky holidays turn into post-holiday blues
With the summer holiday season drawing to a close, the New Year can be one of the most depressing times of the year for
people who have slipped into holiday bliss and are facing the reality of returning to work.
Cheapflights.co.nz travel expert Pleasance Coddington says it’s a reality that all good things must come to an end and that mourning the
loss of a holiday can be a painstaking process.
According to Pleasance, there here are five stages of post-holiday grief.
“The first stage is denial. It simply can’t be over. It feels like yesterday that you were being massaged on the beach
and sleeping in until lunchtime.
“The easiest way to get over this stage is to bring a bit of the vacation vibe back to the office, like a souvenir to
make you smile and remember the good times,” says Pleasance.
The next stage is anger. “The smallest stress might send you into a blind rage as you pine for someone to bring you a
drink or a meal, clean your room and do your laundry.
“At this time, it’s common to enter a bargaining phase where you are ready to make a deal with anyone if it means
extending your holiday. Short of talking your boss into working remotely from your beachside bungalow, this sort of
bargaining rarely results in a deal,” says Pleasance.
She says the onset of being back in reality can make some people depressed and identify missing aspects of their
work/life balance.
“This makes way for the final stage of post-holiday grief – acceptance. The anger, sadness and resentfulness are finally
replaced with appreciation and gratitude for the happy times you had on your holiday.
“This is the time where we see people give up the pipedream of a life-long vacation and buckle down to work in order to
save and plan for their next getaway.”
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