How To Make A House Feel Like Home After Travelling

This one might apply more to those who travelled for vacation rather than work, but even a business trip can yield some unforgettable memories.

• By installing photographs or memorabilia from your trip, you’re allowing the travelling experience into your life while still setting up a base to settle down.
• That market you visited with your colleagues, the mountain you climbed, or the show you went to will give you cause to pause and smile every time you walk past the photo.

Be a Flâneur

Nineteenth-century French poet Charles Baudelaire described the flâneur as one who wanders around and observes society.

• The word itself literally means “stroller” or “saunterer,” and it described a certain set of people who simply walked through the urban streets of their city and observed others.
• Doing so yourself can really help to make you feel integrated into your surroundings again.
• If you’re based in a more rural location, going for an extended walk doesn’t just centre your emotions; it can make you feel like your surroundings are truly yours.

Have a wander and you won’t regret it.

Take a New Set of Pictures

While you’re wandering, it’s a good idea to document the place in which you find yourself in pictures.

• Doing so can help you feel like you’re creating new memories and not just thinking about the ones you made while you were travelling.
• When you hang out with your friends, take lots of pictures.
• When you’re going for that evening walk and the sky looks just right, snap it.
• Photos can even make a solo cooking session feel livelier.

The more photos you take of your life, the more you’ll feel grounded in it, and the more your once-unfamiliar home will start to take root in your heart again.

Take Up a New Hobby

One of the most difficult things about returning home after a lengthy journey is feeling as though your friends aren’t around anymore.

• When a long period of time passes, people often move on just as you have.
• Your friends might be on journeys of their own, whether they be extended business trips like yours or more permanent stays in other countries.

As such, taking up a new hobby and meeting new people is a great way to make your surroundings feel like home.

• Giving yourself something to do each week and a specific set of people with which to do it centres you in your location.
• Who knows, you might discover your new favourite thing!

Visit Family (or Talk to Them)

If you’re coming home to the place where you grew up, it’s a great idea to go visit any family members with whom you’re close.

• There’s no better way to be reminded of your roots and the permanence of your heritage than by chatting with your family.
• If you’re coming back to somewhere different, then call up your parents, siblings, or even your kids and talk to them.

You’d be amazed how settled and calm you feel when you’re talking to family you get on with. If you’re not too close with your family, then substitute family for friends, and the effect will be largely the same.