30 AM
2008
P R E P A R E F O R R E E N T R Y
considered a clinical problem — i.e., we
wouldn’t find the term listed in the
Diag-
nostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders
(onourbookshelf)or inanypeer-
reviewed medical journals. Moreover, we
didn’t catch the PVBs from anyone on the
island, and they don’t require medicine or
therapy. Phew! The bad news? They aren’t
something to just brush off lightly, and
there is a good chance we will experience
themagain in the future.
“Anecdotally, it’s certainlyaphenomenon
that exists,” explains Christopher Rotolo,
PhD, a professor of industrial/organiza-
tional psychology at New York University.
“But if you’re trying to get answers as to
why it exists, you’ll probably get a differ-
ent answer from everyone you ask.” Tohelp
us put these various perspectives in con-
text, Rotolo suggests we examineGartner’s
HypeCycle,whichessentiallyseeks tobreak
down the emergenceof anynew technology
by category.
“Anything,whether itbeaproduct launch
or starting a new job, has this initial high,
followed by, asGartner calls it, ‘a trough of
disillusionment’ anda stasis,whereyou lev-
el off,” says Rotolo. “It’s sort of a sad state-
ment, but in any vacation, specifically one
to an exotic locale, there’s typically nothing
that great that awaits you when you come
back home. It’s the difference between do-
ing what you want and doing something
youhave todo— andmost people see their
jobs as the latter.”
As a freelance writer, my schedule is
moreor lessflexible.Mygirlfriend’s?Not so
much. Hence the disproportionate tear ra-
tio on the boat ride to SanPedro.Working
a “fun but highly stressful” job in the New
York fashion industry, B basically lives and
breathes workMonday through Friday. So
getting her to commit to a four-day jaunt,
evenone thatpartially fallsonaweekend, is
a feat, one accomplishedonly afterher boss
orders her to go. Usually, though, come the
Mondayafteroneof these raregetaways, it’s
back tobusiness asusual.
Unfortunately,uponourreturn this time,
phones, whichwere practically nonexistent
on Cayo, delivered a steady cacophony of
loud messages and even louder ringtones.
And lunch, which was now eaten in a cu-
bicle, became a lifeless disappointment,
compared with the fruit-infused surf and
turfwe’dhad round-the-clock inBelize.
“I think the majority of people who go
on vacation, if they haven’t planned, will
be affected in some way when they come
back,” saysDianneFlaherty, a clinical social
worker at the Providence Center in Rhode
Island.Fornearly twodecades,Flahertyhas
conductedstress-management seminars for
various companies — frommanufacturing
corporations to accounting firms — teach-
ing employees how to avoid postvacation
doldrums. She believes it’s not a matter of
where you go on vacation, be it Bali or the
backyard, but rather how much you pre-
pare for thepostvacation thatwillkeepyour
mood in check.
“I just went toWest PalmBeach to visit
family in April. It’s a familiar vacation; I
go there every year,” says Flaherty. How-
ever, the introduction of a new pocket PC,
and some procrastination over an annual
marketing report, left her not onlywith the
PVBs but alsowith some serious postvaca-
FiveTips forBattling thePVBs
Don’t leave amess:
The day before you go
away, clean off your desk and organize every-
thing so that there’s at least calm and organi-
zationwhen you return. Also, assign someone
to answer questions for you during your ab-
sence so you don’t come back to a deluge.
Plan for theworst:
Depression (or bad
weather) can set in anytime during your vaca-
tion.What you do during your time away has
an impact. Somake it count.
Stay connected—but only if youhave
to:
Make sure there are specific timeswhen
people can contact you in case of an emergen-
cy, but don’tmake your availability open-ended.
And if you’ve got to check your e-mail, do it
just once a day.
Get home earlyandworkout:
Spend a day
or two at home before you go back towork.
Thatway, you can have a normal weekend to
get readjusted to your time zone. And try to do
some physical exercisewhen you get back; it
helps battle jet lag.
Make somemoreplans:
As is the casewith
anyonewho’s planned awedding, you’ve prob-
ably looked forward to andplanned this vaca-
tion for a long time. But once the honeymoon’s
over, it’s back to reality. So start looking ahead
to your next big (or small) event.
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