As soon as my plane touched the ground, I felt excited to see my dog, boyfriend, and return to the comfort of my own bed. But not long after I had been back in my apartment, bags unpacked, I felt sad to be back home. A sense of stagnancy overwhelmed me as I looked around my messy apartment and when I returned to work less than 12 hours later. I was already back in my same, boring routine instead of exploring new places with friends.

If you've ever felt this way, you can relate to the adjustment period needed after an extended vacation. The trip was great — but now you're back, in reality, sitting in class scrolling through your vacation pictures. It may seem like a silly problem, but it's actually a scientifically-proven phenomenon. The findings in a quality of life study reveal that "generally, there is no difference between vacationers' and non-vacationer's post-trip happiness." Some people even experience anxiety-like symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, headaches and poor concentration.

While having time off is normal and sometimes necessary, getting back to normal life is often a wake-up call that most of us don't appreciate. Part of the reason for this is that taking time away can make us realize that there are parts of our lives we'd like to change.

When you're feeling irritable, making changes in your daily life is probably the last thing on your mind. I feel as if I am on auto-pilot, just going through the motions and wishing things were different. But the fact is, you always have the power to do things differently and don't have to accept your current position.

When you return home, it's definitely important to catch up on work or schoolwork. You also need to make sure you're getting enough rest, especially if you traveled to another time zone. But I recommend making a list of the things you want to change while it's fresh on your mind. Once you're settled in, you can start to tackle that list. Do you need to refresh your living space? Or do you need to work on the relationships that are bringing you down? Maybe you just need to find more time to do things in your daily life that make you happy and feel more fulfilled? Make changes to your routines for the better.

You don't have to let the sinking feeling of being back in your reality overwhelm you. It's easy to come back home and feel stagnant and bummed. Your daily life may never feel as blissful as a beach vacation or as fulfilling as a trip abroad, but it doesn't have to be a life that makes you feel depressed and trapped. If you can recognize the parts of your life that truly make you unhappy, you can make a plan for how to address these areas and bring yourself to a better state of mind.

We often don't notice certain negative aspects of our lives while we are in the middle of it, but taking a step back during a vacation brings more clarity to things we may need to change in our lives. It's normal for your heart and mind to still be at the beach even if you are back in class. But if your post-vacation slump doesn't fade after a few days, it might be time to reexamine what's going on in your life because your subconscious is speaking up about things in your life that need attention.