Keep the Vacation Going with an Organized Re-Entry! 

Why?

A friend suggested that, for every day we’re on vacation, it takes an equal number of days to get back to normal.  If you’re gone a week, it will take a week when you get back to feel like you’re caught back up, organized, focused, productive, etc.

We travel several times a summer.  Weekends at a family lake house, trips to see friends a few states away, and destinations like Washington, DC and Philmont, NM this summer.  But using my friend’s math, if we travel 2 or 3 times a month, and the first day or two back are a struggle, we could spend a lot of time struggling.

Instead, I would love to keep that relaxed vacation feeling as long as possible, and not ruin it with the ‘just got back struggle’!  So plan ahead for your “Re-Entry”!  When you get home:

• Unpack your car.  All the way.  Clothes, shoes, food wrappers, etc.  If you’ve been to the beach, do a quick vacuum (or have the teenager do it).
• In my case, repack the car for your business week (i.e., put briefcase, tool kit and supplies back in my van).
• Start a load of laundry.
• Eat dinner.
• Check mail and messages.
• Unpack your bags, and put everything away.  Yes, everything.
• Keep a running to-do list with you all the time, and add ideas for when you get home to it as you travel.

There are lots of ways to travel better, too, to make re-entry easier. 

• Tidy up before you leave.  Nothing kills a vacation buzz quicker than coming home to a mess. 
• For longer trips, keep a large envelope for receipts, programs / brochures / tickets from destinations, and other keepsakes, to look at later.
• Employ a laundry bag.  We always use a dirty laundry bag or standing cloth hamper when we travel.  As we unload the car, the dirty stuff goes straight to the laundry room, while the clean items (if there are any) get unpacked and doled out to their owners to put away.
• Leave your travel toiletry kit packed all the time.  I have a purple travel kit with all sorts of “Mom” stuff in it (first aid kit, small sewing kit, and eyeglass repair kit, etc) packed all the time.  In addition, we carry personal toiletries in a couple of Ziploc bags inside the purple kit.  Upon arrival home, the purple kit goes back in the closet, the Ziplocs get emptied immediately, and our stuff gets put away (at least by the next morning, when we use it all to get ready on a Monday!).
• If you go the same place regularly, leave an empty bag in your closet or near the door to toss things for next time.  Right now, I have ready 2 bags:  1 bag of items to take to the lake house; and a bag of gifts for a big family birthday party the end of the month.   You can organize your next trip as warp up from your most recent trip.

So, organize your Re-Entry and keep the relaxed vacation feelings going!  Dedicated to my awesome accountability partner, Jan!