REALITY BITES

THE worst part of any holiday isn't the packing or the airport queues, it's that moment when reality slowly clears its throat and reminds you that emails, routines and responsibilities are waiting.

- BY VUYILE MADWANTSI

The out-of-office is about to switch off. Adulting is back online. And suddenly, the beach feels like a distant dream.

If you've ever wondered why returning from a break feels heavier than the exhaustion that sent you on holiday in the first place, you're not imagining it.

Post-holiday fatigue, sometimes called post-holiday syndrome, is real, deeply relatable, and increasingly common in our always-on culture.

As someone in my thirties who loves travel but also knows the weight of returning home, I've learnt this: the problem isn't the holiday. It's what we're carrying back with us.

Post-holiday syndrome describes the mental and physical exhaustion many people feel immediately after time off.

While your body is expected to jump straight back into work mode, your mind is still barefoot, still moving slowly, still adjusting to a world without alarms.

Experts point out that the abrupt switch from rest to responsibility overwhelms the nervous system.

According to psychologists who study burnout and work-related stress, it's not just physical tiredness we're dealing with, it's emotional depletion, decision fatigue and mental overload.

In simple terms: you're not lazy. You're overfunctioning.

Burnout doesn't always look like needing a nap. Sometimes it shows up as: