Post-sailing-holiday blues

One day, you’re on a beautiful hundred-plus-thousand pound boat, with the sun in the sky, the wind in your hair (and the sails), warm crystal-clear waters beneath you, exciting places to visit, interesting things to eat, and with a crew of friends who you live, sail, eat, drink and play with.

The next, you’re back at work with a giant to-do list, four hundred emails, the usual boring sandwich, and a huge sense of depression that you’re not still out at sea on a boat.

Yep, returning from any holiday is hard, but returning from a sailing holiday is surely the hardest – sailing gives you a sense of relaxation and being away from it all that is hard to match on other holidays, it also involves bonding with a team of crew-mates, and the freedom to go in any which direction you like ignites a certain adventurousness in you.

So how can you cope and readjust to life on a boat? Here’s our top tips:

 Bring some of the holiday back with you 

The sailing holiday might be over, but that doesn’t mean that everything has to stop – think about what you most enjoyed from the holiday and see how you can incorporate it back into your daily life to make every day that bit more enjoyable or exciting: if the bit you most enjoyed was having time to read a good book, then make time in your diary for reading. If you enjoyed the cooking, then get yourself into the kitchen more often – make time for it. The sailing? Why not sign up to get a sailing qualification, or join a local sailing club? Enjoyed chatting in Greek or Croatian? There’s courses for that too!

Put simply, do more of the things you love.

 Relive the highlights 

Sailing holidays can be expensive, so get the most out of your holiday by making a photo-book or collage or poster of the best photo’s, edit a video from all the best go-pro moments, plot your route on a chart, write about your experiences: a log of the trip with all the best bits, or a play about life on board, etc...

Reliving your holiday will take you back to your happier self, and help you to appreciate just how good the holiday was. Using your time productively also means that you’ll have an amazing keepsake or memory which you can return to in future years.

 Re-gather your crew 

Often it’s the people, not the boat, that you’ll miss the most. From being constantly in each other’s pockets 24/7, you’ll be reduced to having the occasional chat or group WhatsApp. Pretty miserable, huh?

So now is the time to build on those friendships – gather the crew round to yours for a Greek salad one night, or organise to meet each week for a pub quiz, or instigate a crew restaurant meal night once a month.

Organising and planning stuff together will also give you something to look forward to when you’re wading through those emails.

 Commit to do something new 

You should arrive back from your sailing holiday brimming with energy, after a week away of recharging your batteries, so there’s never been a better time to re-assess your life and see what you could be doing to be happier.

Use that energy to commit to doing something that you’ve been wanting to do for a while but couldn’t be bothered, or to find a new hobby – maybe you want to start taking sailing seriously? Maybe you want to get fitter or stronger? Maybe you want to spend more time thinking or being creative? There’s never been a better time to make a fresh start.

 Book your next sailing holiday 

And finally, if you loved your sailing holiday this year, then why not start planning another one already. You don’t have to spend the money straight away – just research where are amazing places to sail, what itineraries you’d take, and what things you’d see – the PlainSailing.com destination guides are a great place to start.

Once you’ve found a dream location, then get your crewmates on board, find your perfect yacht, and get it booked to give you the ultimate holiday to look forward next summer (or, if you have the time, later this year!).