Five reasons a person may experience Post Travel Depression

Post Travel Depression (PTA) is a very real phenomenon where a person feels depressed and misplaced after returning home. Depending on the duration of stay and overall experience, a person experiencing PTA can expect to feel a wave of emotions for an undetermined length of time, mourning the experience and relationships accumulated in their time overseas. Here are a few reasons why someone may experience PTA:

1. You miss the culture

A no brainer, many people experiencing post travel depression often attribute these feelings to having lost a sense of community. After walking the streets of Paris, playing with the local children in Chile or caring forendangered speciesin Far North Queensland, normal life just doesn't seem to cut it anymore. Learning about other cultures is often a very enriching experience and it can be difficult to assimilate back into your own country especially depending on the length involved in your overseas stay. This can especially be the case if there has been a special connection made with someone, something, or a particular place.

2. Relationships

Travelling is all about learning about different cultures, exploring lands and making friends. Leaving people you've formed a bond with (and not knowing if, or when you'll ever see them again) can be a very sad experience, especially if they were what got you through your initial overseas loneliness. Visiting a different country is proven to change you in many ways, often leaving your feeling out of place with friends and family back home. Your mind has matured, your world view broadened, and perhaps you even find yourself not caring about the things you used to before. It’s very normal to feel this way and so it is important to stay in touch with your foreign friends who have contributed to shaping the person you've now become.

3. Everything is too familiar

There's a lack of romance and magic, everything seems too predictable and the air feels rife with a general malaise. The saying 'familiarity breeds contempt' though usually spoken in regards to relationships, rings true in this sense. Visiting a new country is exciting and wonderful, igniting in people the need to explore their once hidden childhood curiosity. Even the novelty of a new supermarket somehow made food shopping that little bit more exciting (London has a whole section dedicated to vegetarian cuisine!)

4. No one understands

Maybe the first couple of weeks is a blissful blur. Catching up with friends and family, sleeping in your own bed again, being able to eat certain foods not available where you travelled. Or maybe it was a disaster from the beginning. You had so much to tell, but no one was interested in your heavy dialogue and preaching of climate change, deforestation and animal cruelty. But being back home seems...pointless. Don’t people know that palm oil is killing or orangutans and pigmy elephants! Animal welfare projects can be the hardest as animals are involved and people can find it hard to cope with some of the things they have learnt and seen while

5. No need to explore

Let's face it, other countries are so much more fun to tour than the one you grew up in, with many people often opting to explore every nook and cranny of their visited country despite barely being out of state in their own. The shops are different, the smells are foreign, and there are different rules, procedures and norms (dogs on trains!) It's just such more exciting! Furthermore if you have come from a more laidback country, visiting a culture that appreciates and promotes music, art and theatre can really change your perspective on things.

6. Back to reality

Many reasons people travel in the first place (other than curiosity) can often be attributed to an unsatisfactory home life or the need to seek a greater purpose. Coming back home after temporarily suspending life and responsibility can be hard, especially when it comes to re-adjusting back to reality. Opting for commiseration from friends can prove detrimental and often result in a lack of sympathy (I.e the exact opposite of what you need) and trying to swing back into the usual routine can just be... disheartening.

This article is written by Josephine Kent, Marketing Coordinator of Oceans 2 Earth Volunteers, an organization that provides opportunities for volunteers to work with animals on a variety of animal.