Experts Say Vacation Guilt Is Totally Normal—Here's How To Deal With It. For many of us, vacations are something precious and revered, a chance to explore, unwind, and spend time with friends and loved ones—they've also been linked to longevity.
It can be as simple as when you're given an annual number of hours or days for vacation but you don't use them because you fear something may happen at work while you're away.
But when you're feeling that guilt about spending money on a vacation or spending money on this or that nice thing or whatever, that guilt can come from one of two places: 1) the spending is out of line with your priorities, or 2) your priorities are out of line with your spending.
Stress at work, dissatisfaction with life, and lack of relaxation while vacationing can all cause post-vacation depression. To cope with post-vacation blues, try easing back to your normal routine, planning your next vacation, and addressing work stress.
While travel anxiety isn't an official diagnosis, it is a common cause of anxiety. Anytime you have to or want to travel, it can seriously impact your well-being. Even though travel anxiety can feel overwhelming, there are strategies that can help you overcome it.
Even a short trip can completely change your future path. Of course, the longer you travel, there is more time to think and reconsider whether you are fully satisfied with your personal and work life. Decisions you will make abroad do not have to be somehow fundamental, but it can change your life indefinitely.
Post-vacation syndrome is not an official disorder, but someone can experience depressed mood, distress, insomnia, irritability, and fatigue after a vacation. Basically, the return to the home environment and/or the re-direction of life after periods of leisure (time off work, holidays, traveling etc.)
The relief of freedom from responsibility that is often experienced on vacation can then make returning to them much more overwhelming, with the full weight of them returning all at once. Many may even come back from vacation with more work to do than when they left, due to work or school demands.