4 Ways to Deal with the Post-Adventure Blues
You did the thing! Hooray! 🥳
Whether it was a big mountain summit, a thru-hike, a river section you’ve spent months preparing for, a PR or any other awesome outdoor accomplishment, you reached your big, beautiful goal.
…But now what?
As the days or weeks pass and you start to feel “normal” again, you find that you feel sad, somehow. You wonder if you need to jump into the next Big Thing right away, or that you didn’t do the first one well enough, or whether you’re totally on the wrong track altogether.
It happens. The post-adventure blues affect tons of outdoor athletes.
If you struggle with feeling down after the excitement of a big accomplishment fades, try one of these tools.
How to Cope with Feeling Down After a Peak Experience:
1. Write the story of your adventure.
People love stories. And stories come in handy for your personal and professional life.
Think parties, networking, getting a speaking gig, talking to children in your family… It helps to know your story well before you get a chance to tell it. And people will want to hear it.
After your accomplishment, build some time to sit down and write out the story behind the adventure. Journal with pen and paper, type it out, use a voice transcription app… Find some way to put into words the lead-up, the execution, and the reflection of your experience.
Recounting your adventure helps you find closure and reach a deeper meaning. You might decide to keep it to yourself, but you could also share your message broadly.
While your photos and stoke are still fresh, turn your story into a slideshow presentation that you can have on hand if a speaking gig or opportunity at work pops up. Heck, you can even make it a YouTube video or a Reel if you’d prefer. Find some way to present your story to others who you can inspire.
2. Buy a memento to remind yourself of your accomplishment.
As a sometimes over-achiever, I struggle with feeling unsatisfied after achieving something big. I often celebrate for just a moment before thinking, “What’s next?” and moving onto planning something new.
My life coach suggested I purchase something small for myself that I love, and dedicating that item to the memory of my accomplishment.
For example, after my first 50k run, I bought a small pair of earrings off of Etsy. They’re fairly simple mini sparkly hoops that were less than $30. When I hit “Add to Cart,” I intentionally thought of them as “my 50k earrings.” Now, every time I wear them, I think about the accomplishment of finishing my first 50k.
Sounds weird, but for me, it totally works.
3. Help someone else with their goal.
One of the best parts of outdoor recreation is introducing someone else to what you love to do. How can you support somebody else in their outdoor goal?
Maybe you’re a mountain biker who can bike with beginners for a few hours and give tips, or teach your friends repair tricks.
Perhaps you’re a kayaker who can spend time teaching your new-to-kayaking buddy to have a bombproof roll.
If you just finished a huge trail run, lead an intro to trail running clinic in town.
Whether it’s helping a close friend train for their event, finding a leadership role in the local community or volunteering with a school or camp program, there are ways to give back to your sport that will add extra meaning to your adventure.
4. Plan your adventure to leave a legacy.
Before you even start your training, you can plan for the post-adventure period. And you can do so in a way that leaves positive impact on the community and world.
The Cairn Project melds adventure and activism to expand outdoor access to women, girls and NB youth. In their words, they’re “bringing together a community that is inspired to catalyze outdoor passion into a force for good, share learning and stories, and raise the profile of women and girls in outdoor adventure.” Sweet, huh?
Through their Adventure Fundraiser program, you can sign up to turn your own outdoor adventure into a community-supporting fundraiser that will expand access to wilderness and outdoor education programs for teens.
I did this in 2022, and it truly helped ease the post-adventure blues to know that all my efforts would have a lasting legacy in the world. Climbing five volcanoes went from being a typical individual goal to an impact-driven mission supported by The Cairn Project’s whole community. Consider it for your next big outdoor goal!
Be prepared…
Even if you take steps to prevent the post-adventure blues, they’ll probably still happen, anyway.
Can you work on accepting that? Be mindful of the feeling, and let it be. Feeling low after a Big Thing is normal and can be expected.
Ignore the “shoulds”— how you “should” be feeling, what you “should” do now, that you “should” feel only positive thoughts— and instead, accept that being a human comes with its ups and downs, just like all adventures.
By the way, congrats on doing the thing.