Habits to Bring Home (The Invisible Souvenirs)
There are lots of reasons a person may decide to take a trip- scenic reasons, food reasons, work reasons, family reasons, adventure reasons, shake-things-up reasons, rest and self-care reasons. But whenever I leave my daily routine and later return home to “normal life,” I always take a moment to pause and evaluate my reentry. Something special can happen in that tiny window of time before work emails start begging for attention and the laundry pile stares at you from the corner… it’s a delicate time to decide what habit souvenirs you want to bring into your life.
You don’t return from a travel experience the same person as when you left, so you don’t have to reenter the same life or routine you had either. Travel changes people. And if it hasn’t changed you, you’re doing it wrong! So take your newfound insights (good and bad) and make shifts in your everyday life. Coming home from a meaningful trip is a chance to see your routines from the outside, point out the positives and negatives, and make adjustments. Incorporate new habits, a new view of the world, cultural elements that you discovered, and remove the obvious bad habits you may have fallen into.
Use these questions to help debrief after a trip and find some new habit souvenirs:
What was nice about being away from home?
What was hard about being away from home? Why did I miss that?
What was a surprise that I really enjoyed? How can I include parts of that into everyday life?
What was my favorite day on the trip and what happened that day? How can I include elements of that into life at home?
What busy work overtakes me at home, but didn’t seem to matter on the trip? What bogs me down?
What aspects of the culture did I love and how can I borrow pieces of it for home?
What did I dread most about returning home and why? Are there ways I can minimize this thing’s negative power?
What changes have I been thinking about making for awhile, and what is stopping me? Why am I putting it off?
I’ve discovered many habit souvenirs over the years that have changed my life. Some of them are small (like recipes that bring back memories and smells of a place), to really big lifestyle changes (like choosing to have a more minimalist house after carrying all my possessions in a backpack for a year). Most of my habit souvenirs fall into 4 categories- Routine based, Time based, Culture based, and Organization based.
Routine Based:
I no longer check my emails first thing in the morning. I ease into my work day. There is nothing worse than seeing a needy email before you’ve had a chance to fully wake up. It sets a bad tone for the rest of my day and immediately derails my morning plans.
I create more time to walk. Americans drive EVERYWHERE, so I have to be very intentional about this. I always feel better after a little stroll through the park, walking after a meal, hiking with the boys around the lake, or having more fresh air moments. Your body wants to move, not be sedentary. The rest of the world walks.
I have less reliance on digital devices. I don’t always turn on my international phone plan when I travel because I enjoy being a little disconnected so that I can fully appreciate where I am and what I’m seeing abroad. In turn, I use paper maps, ask locals for directions or restaurant recommendations, pay in local currency, and only get on my phone back at the hotel wifi. At home I have 1/2 page of phone apps, have more peace of mind if my phone is lost/ stolen because it doesn’t have all my banking and credit card info on it, and it doesn’t pull my attention away with constant notifications.
Time Based:
When I didn’t have a car and transportation takes some planning overseas, I realized how many superfluous errands I do at home. I used to spend a ton of time driving around without a real reason (multiple stops at the grocery, casual visits to Target, forgetting to do something on the other side of town and then have to go back). Now I consolidate my errands and have a “going to town day.” It has given me back so much free time.
When your out of office reply is set you realize people can get along just fine without you and that email isn’t really so urgent. Not everything needs our immediate attention. Now I circle back to people and see if they still need me or if it was resolved. Most people can figure things out on their own, they just ask you because it’s easier and there’s no emergency.
Bring home afternoon siestas or afternoon tea time.
Bring home leaving time to engage with strangers instead of always in a hurry.
Bring home sundowners and recapping the day with family.
Culture Based:
Bring home new recipes to cook with fresh ingredients. Ditch the fast food eat-on-the-run culture. Bring home lingering dinners with good wine and music.
Bring home true “off work” days. Hell, France shuts down work for an entire month! Take a weekend and actually refuse to work.
Bring home slow days and “Il dolce far niente” (the sweetness of doing nothing). Nothing scheduled, planned, or committed to. Americans have such a fast culture, we don’t understand the importance of rest and face to face connection.
Organization Based:
Taking zero toys to Costa Rica = realizing we had too many toys at home and all the boys cared about was playing outside. We donated toys when we got home and the twins are just as happy playing outside with sticks and splashing in puddles.
Taking a year-long honeymoon with one backpack = standing in front of a storage unit in tears when we got home because all the material stuff was overwhelming. We realized how frugally we wanted to live.
Taking more pictures and buying less things = realizing we wanted memories, quality time, and less clutter so that we have the openness to breathe. Plus we spend less time cleaning the house!
I hope after your next trip you take the minute to pause upon reentry. Some changes may be glaring but some may be small and subtle. Bring home the tidbits you learned out there and incorporate some habit souvenirs.
