The trouble with f l lying

T r a v e l i s p r o b a b ly T h e o n ly a d d i c T i o n T h a T g e T s b e T T e r a s i T g e T s w o r s e . b u T p o s T - T r a v e l b l u e s i s m o r e T h a n j u s T a w i T h d r a wa l s y m p T o m — i T ’ s T h e b a n e o f e v e r

ou hear a familiar ping as the seat belt sign is illuminated and the stewardesses start collecti ng headphones down the aisles. The familiar whirr of the flaps being engaged and the landing gear extending is accompanied by a crackle over the PA system. “Cabin crew, take your seats for landing.” The map on the screen has a little plane circling above its destination, one that is, for many on this flight, home. This is about the time you get a terrible sinking feeling you just can’t shake. You’re hoping, for the entire 15 minutes or so that the plane is coasting towards the runway, that you’ll pull up and fly somewhere; anywhere. And then the wheels hit the tarmac and the realisation hits: there is no escape. You’re back.

This year alone, I’ve taken nine flights to six cities in five countries and myworst was inbound to Dubai. Not the flight, but just ruminating what was to come after — going back to the grind and everything that it entails. That aforementioned sinking feeling... If you have felt this, or feel this every time you return to wherever it is you call home, you may have post- travel blues — and it’s a very real thing. Believe it or not, there are entire articles on this, and doctors have even weighed in on this problem that, at first glance, might be dismissed as a ‘# firstworldproblem’. But, for those of us that do travel frequently — for pleasure, not for business — it’s an all too familiar feeling.

“Travelling is an addiction,” says Gustasp Irani, one half of the renowned globetrotting travel and photography duo behind gustaspandjeroo. com, “and it gets worse as you get older,” he tells me. Until recently, the couple, well into their sixties now, used to travel for 10- 12 days every month, but since the arrival of their granddaughter, travel time has been rather drastically cut down. “We like to think of ourselves as ‘ grandparents on the go’”, says Jeroo, despite the reduced travel. The addiction is not far behind though…

“There have been times when we have stared at a month devoid of travel and told each other, ‘ let’s just hop onto a train/ plane and go somewhere’. And we do.” Dealing with post- travel blues becomes much easier when you’re on the move, they add. “We always have a trip to look forward to, the following month. We do feel twinges of regret when we leave a destination that we