How do you cope with post travel depression. I just came back two weeks ago from a month long trip in Japan. I felt like I had some of the most beautiful and inspiring experiences of my life. But now that I am back in the states I feel myself rotting away unable to cope with the reverse culture shock. That trip made me inspired to change my life for the better and that God might actually have a plan for me. Where do I go from here? Was I just naive that travel would have a prolonged affect on my life since this was my first trip out of the states?
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Well I would like to know from more experienced people if travel had a long lasting positive affect on there life. Does travel just create a high while you are there and then dissipate upon return until you travel again like the Hedonic Treadmill theory suggests?
Look up astrocartography. You need to know your birth time.
You know I know you are probably just trolling and I am inviting more trolling by saying this but the first day I awoke in my hostel in Tokyo, the first person I met and spoke to had the same birthday as me.
And I am 26 and had never met anyone in my life up to that point who had the same birthday as me.
Travel does have a prolonged impact on your life, for me it's mostly in how I see others and cultural patterns.
Homeless people in America no longer bother me by their existence since they simply do not exist in the same way in other nations and are a product of forces at least partially outside their control. I also often pay attention to differences in how we live, like when prompted by someone that I or my children have to live a certain way because that way is good - it's usually culturally defined and should be seen from a practical rather than moral viewpoint, if I am to ethically raise my children.
Even my meta-understanding of the world and knowledge itself has changed as I've learned about other religions and their expressions.
It's not about becoming positive but rather reaching a state where you're on the path to enlightenment about the world and can accept it, and others, for who they are, since you've seen countless manifestations of what seemingly was so simple. Think of it like Dunning-Kruger; with the knowledge of how Americans live, many here feel arrogant in their understanding of culture and human behavior. You're now breaking that barrier, knowing you know so little, and you want to know more. Integrate what you learned into your daily life, have some sweet reminders of your travels by eating fancy ramens and watching anime, and prepare for your next outing. That's all you can do now, and acceptance is how you come back from depression, so try to accept it.
I feel like you are really putting it in a good perspective and I can completely relate to what you are saying. For example I follow a disciplined workout routine. But for my entire month in Japan I didn't workout at all. Upon return back to the states I go to the gym again to get back into my old routine and I feel like I see working out in a whole new perspective. I see people lifting trying to build muscle and I feel like it's completely culturally enforced by western ideals and portrayals of beauty. This view of mine is also reinforced by seeing advertisements downtown in my city containing modeling athletes trying to sell fitness apparel. In japan people do not workout and you do not see advertisements like this. Fitness and portrayals of these beauty standards are not an aspect of their culture. When I go to the gym now I ask myself if this is something I'm doing for fulfillment or to to meet cultural standards of the people around me. On another note I feel like I've really noticed how selfish American are and the lack of respect they have for one-another. The culture shock I experienced coming back to America and witnessing people fighting on the first bus I get on along with how people drive, yell and honk at each other so aggressively on the roads. Not to mention how loud everything is. It's convinced me against racism because now I see how rude and anti-social ALL Americans are to one-another as a basis level of interaction not just on specific race, gender or class motivations. I also feel a greater sense of self acceptance but also a corresponding lack of motivation to take action in my life because of how I feel the action would only serve the purpose of fulfilling the cultural norms and morality of the constructs around me.
Find moral and philosophical constructs that you, yourself, believe in regardless of their cultural significance. Utilitarianism, egoism, stoicism, nihilism, a religion, or just an organization of thoughts which you adhere to.
Find the good in America. What does the relative lack of assumed societal respect grant you, if not a freedom lacking in much of the old world? Is the portrayal of working out as a good thing really so untrue if it allows you to have more physical and mental capacity for more of your life? What does "beauty" even mean anyways?
Remember that, in accordance with the removal of racism, everyone is angry, everyone wants to honk sometimes, and there are always people who, given the circumstances of the NYC concrete jungle, would start a fight on the bus. Japanese people are as flawed as we are, so don't blame individual Americans for their cultural norms which you now find undesirable.
You can find enlightenment anywhere and traveling is usually the easy path.
As said, seeing the patterns you followed unconsciously and being able to accept them or not, work around, improve them etc is often accompanied by some euphoria and high energy.
It's a well known effect, in buddhism it's actually known as a fake enlightenment that will lead to the real one later. You can look at positive disintegration too for exemple, a lot of people talked about it.
Good thing is that it'll actually a huge opportunity for growth, bad news is that it's not as incredible as you think now. You'll integrate it as your daily life and forget about it soon until the next revelation and high.
Last one I personally got was when I deeply realised how important eye contact between human was, got me in the same state than my first solo travel at 19.
>You can find enlightenment anywhere and traveling is usually the easy path.
no. not escapist travoooling like what OP and most on this board are doing, just getting out of what you perceive as your boring life to experience something heckin new and interesting in another place, and then getting out before the novelty wears off. That is an ultimately empty and shallow experience like casual sex, that shit will not lead you to enlightenment. Verification not required
I dont know... I mean I am fully aware that living in Japan and having a job would be a completely different experience than just visiting. But while I was there I felt like I could process the traumas I had experienced upto this point in my life. I also feel that hedonism in moderation is something that one needs in order to lead a rich and fulfilled life. Being able to see the difference in culture and contrast that with my life back in the States regardless of not working in Japan I think was a very valuable experience.
If you're using travel as a form of escapism from your dull life then what do you expect. You're literally trying to run from yourself. Fix things in your home life first. Find purpose and fulfillment in the day to day routine life.
Absolute masturbatory drivel. No you're not going to find enlightenment by traveling holy frick
>Find purpose and fulfillment in the day to day routine life.
Modern america does everything it can to make this difficult
I'm American but it's seemingly easier to have a fulfilled life in Japan based on my experience there
Yeah Japan seems great because you were there for like a minute. I wonder how you'd feel about it after living there for years
>Modern america does everything it can to make this difficult
homie wtf are you talking about
>Modern america does everything it can to make this difficult
Skill issue
Unsurprisingly this is just another anti-American circlejerk featuring the same exact points as all of the other ones
I don't want this post to turn into that. Have you ever experienced post travel depression?
I've been all over Asia and parts of Europe and not once have I felt travel depression. Every country does something better than the USA, but generally speaking, have it very rough in many different ways. When I come home I am thankful for the opportunities my country provides, but I do wish we could do better, but I wouldn't trade my entire way of life for a better public transit system or free health care....
I think you are probably in a bad place in your own life. Be it the environment your in or the mistakes you've made. Escaping all that shit for a few weeks probably feels like living. Fix yourself anon, japan won't make you a better person.
>I don't want this post to turn into that.
>creates a thread with the same exact fricking Breezewood, PA bait image that every other anti-America thread uses
kys
Honestly dude get a remote job and I mean actual skills like cybersecurity, IT, coding or learn how to juxtapose between periods of rotting and reading Walt Whitman poetry at work and periods of drowning in alcohol and hookers in Thailand.
The US has been deliberately designed to be as demoralizing and as torturous as possible for white men specifically. It is a uniquely anti-human and wretched place, and literally anywhere is the world you go as a white man outside of the shithole anglo countries will be a massive improvement for your mental well-being. You aren't crazy and this has nothing to do with babby's first travel. The system is starting to get nervous about white men leaving the US because they need their slaves to work on the plantation, any negative comment towards the US on this board immediately gets attacked by fed shills.
I get over it because when I travel I'm spending $100-500 a day. Eating out, having my room cleaned, seeing new stuff that would be boring by next week.
If you lived on $259 a day in any decent city and are out everyday and had people clean your place for you you'd just feel Good everyday.
after I typed that out I now feel terrible lmao
The problem is that the West is clearly dying.