We love going on hunting trips. We don’t love coming back. In fact, the return to normal life from a great trip is often accompanied by what I call the post-trip depression caused by the descent from a peak experience.

Turn these three tasks into post-trip habits to ease that re-entry.

1. Clean/Detail the truck.
   Cleaning the truck gives your body something to do while your soul processes the experience. It also keeps your vehicle in tip top condition. And if your hunting rig is your daily driver, you’re removing the reminder of where else you’d rather be every time you look at it.
   
2. Keep your reflections in a field journal.
   A field journal is a place to create after-action reports of your adventures. Focus your reflection on what you did well, where you messed up, and what to change next time. It could be that you shot straight, or that you missed. Why did you miss? Maybe you didn’t need gear you took. Or maybe you wish you’d had something you didn’t. Write it down so you remember the lessons of the trip, not just the highlights.
   
3. Put your next trip on the calendar
   What causes the depression is that something you anticipated is now in the rearview. Putting your next trip (whether it’s big or a smaller micro adventure) on the calendar gives you a new peak on the horizon, another destination to look forward to. If it’s already on your calendar, all you have to do is shift your focus.
   

These three habits help you come down clean, learn from the experience, and set a new direction to move in. Post-trip depression is proof you did something worth missing. Don’t wallow, and don’t rush it.