Post-trip depression not going away

[DaisyDuck001]

I think you need to seek out and develop more sources of joy in your everyday life, so that you don't have to wait for an expensive vacation to have all those happy feelings. Planning some shorter trips to less expensive places is also a good idea.

 

[Cheburashka]

Plan a short and less expensive Disney trip and take it without your husband, either with or without your children depending on their/your feelings about that. Spouses don't always have to travel together. I'm sure there are things he enjoys and indulges in that you do not.

 

[Beck1]

I think you need to seek out and develop more sources of joy in your everyday life, so that you don't have to wait for an expensive vacation to have all those happy feelings. Planning some shorter trips to less expensive places is also a good idea.

Thank you - I think you're right!

 

[Beck1]

Plan a short and less expensive Disney trip and take it without your husband, either with or without your children depending on their/your feelings about that. Spouses don't always have to travel together. I'm sure there are things he enjoys and indulges in that you do not.

Good point! I've never traveled without him unless it was necessary to do so. But it's never too late to start.

 

[Beck1]

I think all of us deal with this feeling at some point. Many have giving you good tips. Watching those YouTubers are fun and we like to do it as a family. You just have to find one you like - there are just so many!

I think it's natural to feel the "loss" of a magical trip. I always feel "away from the real world" at Disney even if I'm sweating and walking 15 miles a day. I just focus on the fun we are having and it's a great break from reality. At home it's easy to be overloaded with so much going on, in your work life, personal life, even just stuff in the news. I totally disconnect from that at Disney so it's really missed when you get back home.

I hope you find a happy place at home via some of the above suggestions. I watch Mr. Morrow a lot because he tends to giggle and just enjoy stuff like a child. He makes me laugh.

Thanks for suggesting Mr. Morrow! He's pretty adorable, and I really felt like I was there while watching his videos. It's fun to watch someone who is so giddy about being there.

 

[Beck1]

You've come to the right place! All of us here feel the same way about Disney parks, so you are DEFINITELY not alone. Online fan communities exist for a reason.

That said, if you are feeling THAT depressed, still, you may need to figure out what about your life is so unfulfilling. There is post Disney blues, sure, but you sound a little beyond that harmless feeling. So, I encourage you to examine what else is going on that is causing you to dwell so much on the escape you had at WDW. And trust me, I get it. I live 15 minutes from Disneyland and have gone over 500 times, and during the pandemic, being shut out for 14 months was hard, BUT I was still happy being at home with my family and going nowhere.

What I would suggest is find a friend to travel with you! Reach out to all your friends and extended family. There is bound to be SOMEONE who loves WDW as much as you do. If not, plan a solo trip! As a mom, you deserve time away to recharge, and your husband should support that. This is especially true if you are a stay at home mom, which I assume you are since your husband is calling the shots financially (which isn't really okay, but that's another discussion). You can go pretty cheap if you split hotel costs with someone or if you stay in a value resort solo. I've been doing either solo trips or friend trips without my husband and kids regularly for the last 17 years. It really helps bridge the gap between big family trips to WDW. I can usually get away with spending under $2000 for a week long trip, airfare included. It's even less when I go with my friend, as we split meals, the hotel, Uber fares, etc).

Thank you, this is helpful advice! When we went as a family, we went all out with lots of sit-down dining, etc. We spent enough money that we could have gone to Europe, which really freaked my husband (and me) out! We both work and we decide our finances together, but he's not used to traveling and he didn't do much of it as a kid. So I think it's just hard for him to justify spending thousands of dollars on each trip. But I think a $2000 trip is totally reasonable, and I could pull it off going just with a friend.

 

[sk!mom]

I’m well acquainted with post trip blues (depression is way too strong a word for my feelings.) For me this is after pretty much every vacation and seems to be greater the better the vacation went and the more time I took planning it. If I put lots of hours in planning, I now need to fill that time.

Disney has never been our only destination but would rise to the top about every 3 years as the destination of choice when our kids were growing up. That being said, I haven’t been in 4 or 5 years and think I may be done with Disney.

However, I just returned from Ireland. Due to the pandemic, we spent a couple of years planning and dreaming. It was a trip of a lifetime. I felt tired and down for a few days, then spent about a week offering advice in the Ireland travel group that helped me, and finally this week I left that group and joined a couple for the destinations DH and I think might be up next.

My best advice is to get active here…maybe relive it a bit by writing a trip report on that board, or offer advice on other planning boards, or start planning your next vacation wherever that may be. Does your DH not want another Disney trip or he doesn’t want to spend money on travel at all?

All that said, to be depressed six months later seems unusual and concerning. Do you have a job? For me, work would start filling time. If not, maybe taking on some work would give you a source of vacation savings.

 

[sk!mom]

Thank you, this is helpful advice! When we went as a family, we went all out with lots of sit-down dining, etc. We spent enough money that we could have gone to Europe, which really freaked my husband (and me) out! We both work and we decide our finances together, but he's not used to traveling and he didn't do much of it as a kid. So I think it's just hard for him to justify spending thousands of dollars on each trip. But I think a $2000 trip is totally reasonable, and I could pull it off going just with a friend.

In that case, it seems like it's time to discuss your desire to build vacation money into the budget. Then maybe try a less "all out" Disney trip and see if it works for you.

Funnily enough, the cost of our first onsite Disney trip over 20 years ago is what spurred us to start traveling to Europe and beyond- Places that felt out of reach to the way we were raised. We realized that if we could budget and afford a Disney trip, we could afford many other destinations. Our first trip to France was the very next summer.