Post-Holiday Depression and Miscellaneous Holiday Photos

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I’m not really sure how much sympathy I’ll get on this one – obviously the best way to avoid post-holiday depression is not to go on holidays, particularly month-long ones.

You can see how cold the wine is! Typical German 20 cl glass.
You can see how cold the wine is! Typical German 20 cl glass.

It’s amazing how quickly you get used to not working and being stress-free. No boring mundane activities either.

A quartet fountain in Germany at the source of the Danube
A  quintet fountain in Germany at the source of the Danube

A typical day during our cycling holiday was to get up around 8.30, get dressed, straighten the hotel room (after we discovered the cleaners usually came during breakfast) and go to the breakfast room. We would then put what we needed for the day in our sac de liaison and go out/down to the car. Jean Michel would take the bikes off the rack (unless we drove to our starting point first) while I would get the bags and paniers ready. Then we put on sunscreen plus insect screen for me and donned our caps.

Watch out for snakes on the bike path, particularly this one. I wasn't game to put my feet down.
Watch out for snakes on the bike path, particularly this one. I wasn’t game to put my feet down.

After cycling about half the day’s distance, we’d stop somewhere for lunch, then cycle the remaining distance, visiting various places along the way and picking up something for dinner towards the end of the journey. Sometimes we got back to the hotel around 5, but it was usually 7 or 8, because we wanted to make the most of the long twilight.

Reserved parking for mothers with small children in a supermarket car park
Reserved parking for mothers with small children in a supermarket car park

We then had an apéritif (except on fast days), followed by a light dinner in our room or on the balcony if we had one. After that, Jean Michel would write up the travel diary while I answered emails and wrote a blog post. We eventually got to bed around eleven or twelve, then read for a while. We usually fell asleep pretty quickly.

A foot bath along the Danube in Germany
A foot bath along the Danube in Germany

Now, I can’t say there is really a typical day at home because I freelance and weekends and weekdays are different as well. Jean Michel usually gets up earlier than I do to go to work so we don’t have breakfast together during the week so I wake up when I’m ready.

A flood gate to be used when the Danube is in spate in Austria
A flood gate to be used when the Danube is in spate in Austria

I prefer to work as much as I can in the mornings though because that is when I am the most efficient, but other things often get in the way. Also with the unusually hot weather we’ve been having so I would much rather stay in my air-conditioned office in the afternoon.

A traditional clothes shop in Austria with a traditional sales assistant
A traditional clothes shop in Austria with a traditional sales assistant

I came home to two very boring translations – one about a patent for an eye dropper that’s designed to use up the last drops in the bottle (I thought they purposely made droppers so you’d waste half the contents to tell you the truth) and another, much longer one, consisting of often cryptic messages in a software program for a company that sells industrial gas cylinders.

Calf kennels in Germany
Calf kennels in Germany

My work is not usually THAT boring but my most interesting clients all seem to be on holidays now (state-of-the-art bridges, cosmetics, contracts, etc.). Fortunately I’ve had some light relief for the last couple of days translating IT security recommendations. At least there are real sentences! But now I have to go back to the messages.

Vertical rubbish bins in Linz in Austria
Vertical rubbish bins in Linz in Austria

We went down to Blois for the weekend so that we could do something about the jungle that had developed during our 7-week absence. It’s amazing how quickly the vegetation takes over. Virginia creeper was completely covering the number of the house,  which isn’t very useful for the guests renting Closerie Falaiseau.

Bike parking in Germany
Bike parking in Germany

Apart from spending an hour cycling to and from the mushroom wood to no avail, and a couple of hours with our friends and neighbours on Saturday, the two days were completely taken up with gardening. On the Saturday evening, our lovely young German guests invited us to a most enjoyable barbecue!

Special bike locks at Melk Abbey in Austria
Special bike locks at Melk Abbey in Austria

So today I’m feeling very depressed, particularly since Leonardo’s now gone to Berlin to work for a few months and I have to get back to the software messages. Looking at the photos has made me even more nostalgic. I selected some I thought were typical.

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10 thoughts on “Post-Holiday Depression and Miscellaneous Holiday Photos”

  1. I find the best remedy for post-holiday depression is to start planning the next one! Then I always have something to look forward to and have something to occupy my “travel brain”.

    1. Having another holiday booked certainly helps, but even September seems a little far away at the moment!

  2. I know what you mean…so I will for sorry for you…..if you do the same for me after our French trip! ;). And yes definitely start planning the next one…tho I have a feeling you will already be doing that…you get around girl!

    1. I promise to feel the same for you after your French holiday. Looking forward to seeing you!

  3. Mild sympathy from me 🙂 Your holiday sounds wonderful, but it’s always better to come home while you are still enjoying it rather than risk spoiling it by being away too long. Your blues may also have a physical reason — back to less being active and outdoors, causing a chemical change in your body. I was super impressed by the places you went and the amount of cycling you did. Come down to Blois for longer than the weekend so you can do more than just gardening — that should sort you out 🙂 Feel free to lob in on us at any time if you are in the area.

    1. Susan, it’s very nice to have even mild sympathy from you as I know you’re working all summer! I quite agree that going from the outdoors and so much exercise to being static indoors must be contributing to my post-holiday blues. We’d love to be in Blois but it’s a bit complicated when we have guests staying downstairs. We’ll have a few days there around 15th August though, which I’m looking forward to. We might be able to schedule a visit!

      1. PS. I forgot to say that the sign warning you about snakes is for the snakes’ benefit, not yours — it’s a non-venomous protected species that they don’t want people harassing or injuring, and the bike path is perfect snake sunbathing territory (except when there’s a bike whizzing down it).

        1. I specifically took that photo thinking of you so I’m glad you answered. I don’t know if I’m reassured or not thinking that the bike path is perfect sunbathing territory even for a non-venomous protected species but I’m glad it’s for the snakes’ benefit.

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