Returning Home After a Trip—How to Make It Less Terrible

I’ve been there more times than I can count. Three weeks away, ten hours of flying and changing planes to get back, dogs picked up from the kennel, and then I walk into Home Sweet Home.

The mail is stacked up in the doorway. The house temperature is either way too hot or too cold. All I can think about is food—but the refrigerator contains little more than condiments and some berries and zucchini that have seen better days. The dogs are jumping all over me, ready for a walk.

I stare at my suitcase like it’s a dreaded enemy. I know I need to unpack, but if I do, there will be laundry to do—and an even bigger mess. Do I really want to wear my travel wardrobe ever again anyway?

And to top it all off, I’m still starving.

Many of us have gone through this more times than we can count, and yet we still travel. In fact, before the plane has even landed, we’re probably already thinking about where we want to go next.

🍽️ My Single Best Tip In the week before you leave, make three freezer meals. They don’t have to be elaborate—a soup, a casserole, a pasta sauce will do. Future jet-lagged you will be absurdly grateful not to have to think about dinner for the first few nights home.

My Worst Trip Return Ever

We once returned from a two-week camping trip to discover that our cat had staged a protest. Cats are relatively easy pets to leave behind—you find someone to provide food, fresh water, and a clean litter box, and everyone is happy. We had arranged for a neighbor’s daughter, probably around eleven years old, to take care of ours while we were away. We paid her in advance.

When we walked in the back door, our cat greeted us with what can only be described as righteous indignation. Then we noticed the smell. The food bowls had been filled. The water had been replenished. But the litter box had apparently been ignored for two weeks. Being a cat with impeccable standards, she had decided that if her designated facilities weren’t being maintained, she would select an alternate location—specifically, the corner of our family room behind the television console. Did I mention we had recently installed lovely white Berber carpeting? It was the 1980s. The carpet never fully recovered.

The lesson? Before entrusting your home or pets to someone, make sure they understand exactly what the job entails. The child handled daily tasks. We needed an adult responsible for quality control. And maybe have a backup plan—someone who can check in every few days to make sure things are on track. Our white Berber carpet never forgot.

Ways to Avoid the Post-Trip Overwhelm

It all starts before you leave. The question to ask yourself is:

“What will jet-lagged you thank you for?”

Before You Leave

Clean sheets on the bed.
Milk for coffee—even if you have to freeze it.
Prepared meals for three nights waiting in the freezer.
Breakfast food of some sort (cereal, frozen croissants).
A week’s worth of dog food.
No appointments or plans on the calendar for the first week home. Exceptions for a manicure, haircut, or massage.
A grooming appointment already scheduled for the dogs on or near the day they arrive home.
Optional: board the dogs one extra day before bringing them home.
A pre-made list for the next week’s meals, so you won’t have to think before that first grocery run (or food delivery, if that’s an option).

The Day Before Departure

Run the dishwasher the night before leaving—but never right as you’re walking out the door, because that will be the time it chooses to overflow and flood the entire first floor.
Hand wash anything else before leaving.
Place a penny on top of a cup of frozen water in the freezer. When you return, if the penny has sunk to the bottom, the freezer lost power while you were gone and the food may have thawed and refrozen—a helpful signal to check everything before eating it.

Dealing with Jet Lag

Here’s the thing I’ve never fully mastered: jet lag. It takes me a week to recover from a Daylight Saving Time change, much less an eight-hour time shift. One thing that helps is avoiding time commitments during the first week home. That buffer makes it easier to deal with both jet lag and the general post-trip chaos.

Beyond that, my strategies are simple: drink plenty of water, get outside into the morning sun, take a walk, and try to eat meals on the home time zone schedule as quickly as possible. I also try to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime, even when an afternoon nap sounds very tempting.

The First Thing I Do When I Walk In

I don’t know if it’s the recycled airplane air, sitting in the same clothes for twelve hours, or simply the accumulated grime of touching every escalator handrail between Istanbul and Denver—but I always feel grimy after a long travel day. A hot shower and clean pajamas can do wonders for my outlook on life. There’s something about washing off the airport that makes everything feel more manageable.

Give Yourself Permission

It’s tempting to blame travel for the chaos that greets you at home. But the truth is:

The mail was going to pile up whether you traveled or not.
You still would have needed groceries.
Those library books weren’t going to return themselves.
You would have laundry to do anyway.

Travel didn’t create these problems. It merely postponed them.

So give yourself permission:

To ignore invitations from friends for the first few days.
To order pizza or Uber Eats rather than cook a meal.
To live out of your suitcase for a few days.

Because despite it all, eventually: the mail will get sorted, the laundry will be done, and the suitcases will be put away. The dogs will calm down and the refrigerator will be restocked.

But the memories of that sunset in Rovinj, the serpentine drive above the Bay of Kotor, and the conversation with the bookseller in Ljubljana? Those will stay.

I’d Love to Hear From You

I’ve shared one strategy on jet lag, but I’d love to hear what works for you. And what are your own strategies for making the return home less of an ordeal? Please share in the comments below.