Post-Vacation Recovery

We just returned from a two-week vacation (one excuse for so few blog posts lately).  It was an amazing, memorable trip but wow we are now in major vacation recovery mode. I've been thinking about all of the things I/we have to do to recover from vacation. Here are a few:

Food and Drinks: We spent over half of the vacation in a rental condominium with full kitchen so that we could cook our own food and avoid eating out every meal. Still, the time away, with new restaurants, fast food, and fruity adult beverages and local brews to tempt us, left us in need of some detoxing. My usual strategy when we get home from time away, even if it's just a weekend road trip, is to cook and eat as healthily as possible for the first week. My trip to the grocery store when we got home included lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and my meal plan for the week includes fish, chicken, and milk or water to drink instead of beer or mai tai's.

Spending: When on vacation, it's OK and expected to spend more money than when we're at home (and we budgeted for it). Fun outings that can't be done at home (like diving with manta rays) come up, as do extras, like that fun new candy or flavor of ice cream you don't see at home or a cold bottle of water when you're out and about. Now that we're home, it's back to buying only what's on the list and planning out our bigger expenditures ahead of time.

The Random Things: There are a bunch of random things that have taken up my time since we got home. Things like laundry, opening two weeks worth of mail, organizing the almost 1000 photos we took, catching up on email and blogs, even adjusting our family's sleep schedule have all taken time. I'm almost there, though.

Soon to come is a post wrapping up the thrifty strategies we used while on vacation, as well as some specific reviews and suggestions if you're ever traveling to The Big Island of Hawaii.