Coming Home – Post Travel Depression & Reverse Culture Shock

Coming home after traveling the world for 1 1/2 years, facing post travel depression and reverse culturre shock almost seems unavoidable. This video is about how it feels to come back from traveling longterm and how I deal with the situation.

Fun fact (not really funny) I realized through making this video, how much I'm actually going through this process without conciously noticing it throughout the last months. The effect of traveling longterm and what it does with you after returning is real.

Subscribe with this link and get 2 extra months for free!

Gear I use ⤵️

_____________________________________________________
Some of the links in this description may be affiliate links that allow me to earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) - Thanks for your support

#traveltheworld #posttraveldepression #reversecultureshock

post travel blues, vacation blues, coming home after traveling, coming home after traveling the world, coming home after traveling abroad, culture shock, after travel depression, travel depression, how to deal with travel, how to deal with post travel depression, travel thoughts, travel tips and hacks, returning home from traveling

[diegogarcia]

It’s like you are at an airport, moving, going down, going up, looking for passport, and everything and you suddenly find yourself in your house without any movement or hurry.

That’s like a big temperature change or like everything was going fast and then you are quiet.

[miapaddon]

I returned "home" for the first time in 2 years a few days ago...I quickly realised how out of place I felt, how fragile my identity felt after everyone imposing their views of who they thought I was back onto me.
The growth and the experiences that shape you during your travels do not stay in those places, you carry them wherever you go within your character. Its hard not to become a product of your environment but ultimately you have the power to choose who you want to be. My advice is to let this experience of being home contrast what you do and dont want in life and to use it as opportunity to show up as the person you know you are.

[lrozenburga]

going through it right now! recently got back from my year on the suitcase. Never experienced such a thing before - absolute numbness & extreme feeling of not belonging in my own home country. Isolation And at the same time "over-analyzing" on the next steps (lack of direction). Weird! thank you for this video, at least now I know what's up :)

[vlogsbyindiana]

I just flew home from an amazing trip and can’t stop crying because I just want to go back on holiday and I don’t want to go back to school so thank you

[reubenmele]

“I’ve lost home” I hear you man! I haven’t traveled (much) since February. I relate to that feeling of just wanting to leave and not say goodbye. It’s a bit of escapism for me I think. I dunno. We will figure it out someday I guess. Also I wanted to say I love that KL video! I found your channel last night. So glad I did. Absolutely, love the style of that video! It is exactly what I like. Cinematic with real substance!! Now I will gently smash the like button. ✊🏻

[dogilives]

this happen on my trip a couple weeks ago. It felt like I was entering a new life when it was my regular way of living. It effects all of us.

[niconico]

What you say at 10:14 about not trying to be the person you were in the past...that is what stays with me from this video. It also provides a meaningful thing to reflect on regularly, regardless of whether you have travelled to other places or not. Interesting to see that the person you think you are is a construction, based on subjective narratives and emotional imprints that are largely generated by the mind and its desires for stable identity. i travelled for more than a decade non-stop, and am familiar with the depression of returning to the US (which i still see as one of the most psychologically disturbed cultures on earth) and grieving deeply. the thing is tho...while traveling, i also experienced the ups and downs of life, except the novelty of experience served as stimulation and i could chalk up the challenges to being on an adventure. yet the same thing is possible even if you never step outside your backyard...it is an attitude. whenever an identity gets solidified, along comes the feeling of being trapped and wanting to be somewhere else, to even be someone else. travel is an easy shift to make to temporarily fulfill these desires...and i mean temporarily. because it also becomes an identity in itself. and to my view, the attitudes we carry define our experience much more profoundly than any external condition. there is no home and no refuge in a world of continually changing conditions...there isnt even refuge in one's own identity, which also changes....but the heart, the awareness, and refining attitudes of heart...there is where refuge is found...for me anyway. sometimes it takes traveling around the world to discover this... thanks for sharing. wishing you well.

[Biciklom_oko_sveta]

Thanks for this video and honesty. I traveled around the world by bicycle for 13 years, during that time I came home 3 times for a short time (2-3 months each), and on the last occasion I was not home for 5 years. And now I'm completely lost and I think I have depression. Life on the road became my comfort zone, and this return to the "previous life" is for me a step out of the comfort zone, and because of that I feel bad, scared, lost..

[tdh]

Thanks man. I only went away for two weeks to the U.K., where I lived previously and saw all my friends and my brother, had so much fun in those two weeks.

Since I moved to my current country, I did online schooling so don’t have that many people to talk to here and coming back felt like such a isolating and depressing feeling. Appreciate this video. Helps me feel at ease and more accepting.

[jonnokim]

i've been living the nomad lifestyle for 5 years now, and i only visit home during the holidays (like right now) once or twice a year. and EVERYTIME i come back home... i go through this. i try to keep myself as occupied as much as possible, gym, meeting friends, etc... i've also tried isolating myself last year i was here and it was okay... but i still felt very much depressed and not "at home." i feel like i've evolved, changed, and gained new perspectives while traveling and whenever i come home.. nothing has changed, friends/family all still very much like how they were before i last saw them. it's almost as if they live in a "bubble"... and i feel like i've escaped that bubble and can't go back in (nor do i ever want to go back in). it's really difficult to describe that feeling but i feel like you'd understand (at least the 4 year ago you that i'm watching right now). not sure if you've seen anthony bourdain documentary but i would totally understand what he's gone through, it's definitely a real struggle. great video, thank you!

[KarelPGKarelPG]

My dude! You are hitting the nail on the head! Thank you so much for making this video :) all my mates from abroad I accumulated over the last several years just keep on travelling cuz they don't like this feelling or they chose to ignore it. Thank you for this, I feel a bit better because of this :)

[luiseamelie]

People Not understanding what you experienced and pressing you into your old mold is really exhausting.

[wilmafistfit]

I just hit the road for a month to the USA and got to see my parents whobl left canada. It was my first time leaving canada in 11 years. I saw joshua trees, the grand canyon, zion, the insanity that is LA, the beaches of san diego. I feel like the people i met and my experiences have me in a mindset far removed from everyone here. Its an adjustment. You dont experience that much without having an adjustment afterwards.

[ohnesinn]

I just came back home from traveling and I just want to say thank you for this video. it made me feel less alone with all these feelings I've been feeling since I'm back.

[behemoth]

Having 2 places I can call home makes it really hard to travel between the two because once I get used to one again going back to the other one feels wrong. When I moved countries I was able to begin a new life and improve myself a bit which was great but when I was back in my country of birth and where most of my family lives, where I didn’t have the best experiences as a child, and now that I’m older and people have changed I felt good there as I was happy to see my old classmates even though I didn’t really talk to the when we were younger and leaving that hurt so much.
Now I just wish that I could bring the two worlds together.

[jeanniem]

I went abroad for the first time to France, Switzerland, and Germany in September. I have been so empty since returning, which is strange because towards the end of my trip I was homesick a bit, but here I am mourning over what I feel I am losing out on. My eyes have been opened to such beauty, such history, some places so magical beyond description. I miss the exhaustion of endless walking, I miss finding new and interesting things. I miss the strangeness and newness of it all.

[AndyJamerson]

Totally feel you. 1:1 same situation and I feel like everything is just a phase. And if you see it like that nothing can stress you out too much. Just making the best decisions in certain situations all in all to not have regrets.

[chubbatheBOSS]

I just got back to the US from a 7 day trip to Japan and I spent only one day with friends.. the time was very short but I am extremely sensitive and I already feel a kind of depression and lost. It’s a loss of identity and I don’t know where I belong. I’ve been sleeping all through the day and feels like I don’t fit in here. I feel isolated and disconnected from my current setting. It feels like part of my heart is still back there. It was only 7 days, but I cannot imagine how I would feel if I had stayed there for longer or lived there. The way I am handling it is by being gentle and meditating and allowing myself to grow. Definitely good advice thanks

[maxmccall]

This is great content! It resonated with me unbelievably deeply, thank you!

[leichin]

I don't know if you'll read this, but thank you for that video. It makes me feel less alone. I returned home 2 years ago and even after this long time, I wasn't able to overcome my negative feelings of coming home. I feel like I don't belong here and never will. I think it would be different if my relatives and friends were more understanding of what I experienced and if they accepted that I'm a different person now. People here also don't seem to be very happy in my country and they complain all the time about the most minuscule things. Which is crazy to me, considering that I slept in dirt, saw children in the streets, died almost at least one time etc.. It's so surreal. And at home it's hard to socialize on top of that, because people here aren't as open minded unfortunately. My travels entirely changed me and the way I feel about life. I've been through crazy things and overcame many struggles by myself. The things that I saw and felt are things I can never forget. I came to this realization now that I will never be able to fit back in. What hurt me the most is that most people didn't care about my experiences at all. I never talk about it, unless they ask me, just to be clear - I don't want to come across as arrogant, because I'm not. I just feel so different about life in general.