Have you ever been on a mind-blowing vacation only to come back to real life and realize that you feel isolated when sharing your travel stories with friends? Don’t worry, you aren't the first person to experience it and won’t be the last. It can be hard when you want to share all the exciting moments of your travels with people you care about only to be met with blank faces and a feeling of detachment. There’s no need to withdraw into your shell though, with this post you will be able to fix these common problems and get back to connecting with your non-travel friends again in no time.
The green-eyed monster
Of course your non-travel friends will be jealous of you. While they’re up to their elbows in dirty diapers and mortgage payments, they see selfies of you in exciting locations, trying new food, seeing awe-inspiring landscapes and all-around having the time of your life. They are not seeing the hours spent behind a computer screen planning your trips, the missed coffee dates because you are saving money for travel or the long uncomfortable flights that leave you feeling like a zombie with muscle cramps. It’s only natural to be jealous when you only see the good stuff.
If you’re chatting with your friends and you sense some jealousy brewing, remember to share more of the complete experience instead of just focusing on all of the amazing things. Still share the great stuff that genuinely excites you, but remember to bring your stories down to Earth by showing both sides of the travel story.
You’re a bit braggy
Come on, admit it, there’s every chance you’re coming off a little braggadocios when you share your travel stories. It’s hard not to when you are genuinely excited about your experience but perhaps you are overdoing it? After all, you don’t really need to check in on Facebook at every single airport, for every single flight to remind people you are traveling right? Your friends get the idea. Your travel stories are interesting but everyone needs a break once in a while and your friends probably find many other things about you interesting as well as just your travel tales.
Braggy behavior is a quick trip down the ‘I’ve got no friends left highway’ so to fix this one just jump right off that high horse and tone it down a notch. Go easy on the ‘you have no idea’, ‘it completely changed my life’, ‘you just have to see it to understand’ and of course the excessive social media posts. Your friends probably want you to share stories, not preach to them. Bonus points if you take a break from your stories and ask about your friends day, job or recent hot date.
They don't care
Simply put, some people just don't care about traveling. To these people it doesn't matter, it’s not interesting and they have a million other things more worthy of occupying their time and thoughts. Don't take it personally, it’s the same as if an accountant tried to give you a play by play of their day, including every little detail like each form they filled in and why it was important to the process. You’d probably go blank too.
To fix this one just know when to share your stories and when not to. Maybe travel is just something that’s not compatible ground with some friends, but remember there is something that brought you together so focus on all the wonderful and interesting things you do enjoy talking about together.
It’s hard to relate
If you are out and about traveling, constantly exposed to new experiences and ideas, chances are that you are going to have some exciting stories to share. The downside is that this can make it hard for your non travel friends to relate to when their most exciting story of the week was trying a new muffin recipe or binge watching a new series. On the flipside, you read that and had trouble relating didn’t you, I mean why would anyone want to binge watch anything when there’s a whole world out there?
You can’t control whether your friends can relate to you and you shouldn't have to not share your stories because they are different, but you can lead by example to improve your own acceptance of your friends, remembering that we are all fulfilled by different things. Next time your friend tells you stories about their day/week/month, don't imagine it as if it’s in your life which subsequently places judgement, instead, simply see their excitement and be excited with them.
Have you ever had trouble connecting with friends after a vacation?