Reflections on the mixed feelings that follow the festive season, as Singaporeans share their experiences of the return to daily routines.
As the holiday season comes to an end and Singaporeans step into the first workweek of the new year, many are feeling the familiar weight of post-holiday blues. The days between Christmas and New Year’s are often a rare respite, where work slows down, and people take time to unwind and recharge. However, once the holiday ends, the shift back to regular routines can bring a sense of longing for the leisurely days just passed.
For Danica, 32, the holidays offered a rare opportunity to focus on herself. She spent the time ticking off some items on her New Year’s resolution list, including baking a pie, reading a book, and attending a few Pilates classes. “I didn’t feel guilty for spending time on myself, and it was great not having the constant pressure of deadlines hanging over my head,” she shares. Despite the inevitable return to work, Danica reflects positively on the break: “Now that I’m back at work, I’m glad I took the time to decompress and refocus myself. You’re always going to feel stressed at work. It’s never going to go away, but I feel better equipped to cope with everything.”
However, not everyone experienced the same sense of rejuvenation. Jiaying, 30, found herself deeply affected by the end of her holiday. After spending some time in Seoul, she says, “The post-holiday blues really hit me hard. I’ve been looking at my Instagram posts from my trip. I even caught myself thinking yesterday, ‘Wow, this time last week, I was still in Korea.’” For Jiaying, the feeling of emptiness lingers, and the idea of booking another trip is the only thing that helps. “But then, I’m already dreading the post-holiday blues I’ll feel after that next trip,” she admits. This sentiment reflects a common cycle of anticipating and then dreading the end of vacations.
Kimberly, 29, experienced a different kind of post-holiday sadness after spending her December break in Malaysia with family. She had been so caught up with work and life in Singapore that she hadn’t seen her relatives in a long time. “I expected it to be a chill time—just plenty of catching up with everyone and stuffing my face. And it was great, but I was already mourning the end of the trip before I even got back to Singapore,” she recalls. What made it even harder was the fact that being away from her family again meant being separated from the comforting presence of her loved ones. “It wasn’t just having to get back to real life and all the responsibilities. It was also knowing that I’d be further away from family,” she says, adding that she especially missed the sound of her relatives all together, the bustle of the kitchen, and even the small squabbles of the children. “I’d love to get together more often, but we’re all in different cities and busy with our own lives,” Kimberly explains.
On the other hand, Shane, 29, had a different perspective after his 10-day road trip in Hokkaido with his army mates. They explored off-the-beaten-path destinations, hiked through lesser-known trails, and enjoyed onsen baths and fresh sashimi. For Shane, the most nostalgic part of the trip wasn’t the scenery or the food, but the time spent with his friends. “The one thing I miss most is spending time with the guys—doing stupid stuff together, exploring the unknown together, and living together,” he says. Despite the inevitable sadness of the trip ending, the thought of reuniting with his partner helped him push through the post-holiday blues. “It sucked that the trip had to end, but the prospect of seeing my partner again after 10 days apart quickly quashed any post-holiday depression that arose,” Shane shares. As a way of reliving the memories, one of his friends had vlogged the entire trip, and Shane says, “We’ve all been rewatching it whenever the post-holiday blues strike.” For Shane, work wasn’t a burden after the trip either, as he enjoys his job and was excited to dive back in. “I’m lucky enough to enjoy what I do, and I’m excited to dive back into work to make money to fund the next great adventure,” he says with a sense of optimism.
Not everyone felt the need to travel, though. Joey, 26, spent his holidays at home, catching up on true crime documentaries. “Unlike half the country, I didn’t have any travel plans in December. All I did for a week was stay home and catch up on documentaries. I just wanted to be able to switch my brain off for a while,” Joey shares. He found this time to be just as effective in recharging his batteries as a grand overseas trip would have been. “It probably did more to recharge my batteries than planning a whole overseas trip, booking things, and finding activities to do,” he says. Back at work now, he adds that the shared sense of melancholy among his colleagues confirms he made the right choice. “We’re all equally depressed, so I think I made the right choice,” he laughs.
Despite these varying experiences, one common sentiment shared by several respondents is the unique atmosphere of December—when the pressure of work seems to take a backseat, and the days between Christmas and New Year’s offer a break from the usual hustle. “I think I just miss the atmosphere of being in limbo in December,” says one individual. “Nobody says it out loud, but you can feel that everyone’s slowly not caring so much about work anymore—and nobody’s expecting you to put in 100 percent too. That air of comfortable ease in the office at the end of the year was so… freeing.” This sense of unburdened freedom allowed people to reflect on the year past and think about how they might approach the year ahead. For this person, the anticipation of the next December is already palpable: “It’s that magic of being unencumbered by responsibilities. You can just focus on yourself and have some space to personally reflect back on what you went through that year and how you might want to change things up in the next one. I, for one, can’t wait for December to arrive again.”
In the end, whether it’s the dread of returning to work, the longing for family, or the desire for future travel, the post-holiday blues are a shared experience for many Singaporeans. It’s a reminder of the temporary nature of rest and the inevitable return to routine. But it’s also an opportunity to reflect on the past and plan for the future, knowing that another holiday will eventually come to lift the spirits once again.
