Festival Recovery Guide 101
Some of you may have already felt it, others may not have been able until now. With huge artists like Valentino Kahn and Yellow claw performing at awesome shows and festivals, the excitement to go to fests and shows is at an all time high. After over a year without them, you might be planning on going hard for the next fest. That being said, dealing with a festival comedown will most likely be in your near future. Even if you have never been to a festival, you’d still know the feeling. After having a wild weekend, you find yourself stumbling back to your place and spend the next few days in a fog, feeling the exact opposite of how you did before. As tough as it is having to adjust to the reality of conscious existence after what might’ve felt like being on top of the world, there are steps you can take to make it suck a whole lot less.
Clean Up Your Space
Whether or not you drank or indulged in substances during your fest, you still should expect some type of comedown when you get back home. After a fest, you may feel like a mess on the inside but having your environment mirror that is only going to make it worse.
That being said, setting your place up to be comedown friendly is a great place to start. During a comedown, you will most likely spend a great deal of your time in the bedroom, with the bathroom being a close second. Taking some time to clean up these spaces before you leave is crucial. Nothing makes a comedown/hangover worse than smelling week old dirty dishes sitting in your sink or even on your desk, not to mention whatever might have been brewing in your trash can while you were gone. Additionally, the trash may not be the only thing that stinks. Maybe it’s been a while since you washed your pillowcase and bed sheets. Nothing is worse than coming home from a festival exhausted, only to find a layer of hair, food crumbs, and dried drool on them. A quick round of laundry wouldn’t be the worst idea before leaving for your fest.
Restock The Fridge
Another place to check before your fest, is the pantry and fridge. Make sure you are stocked up on a whole bunch of fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, nuts, etc. You will want something easy to prepare and eat during your comedown while still remaining healthy. While you are going through your fridge, check to see if anything is about to expire, or worse, already is! It’s always an unpleasant surprise to hungrily open your fridge, only for your appetite to be soured by whatever science experiment may be going on in there.
Rehydrate
I’m sure you've done your fair share of sweating at the fest. Dancing in hot crowds for hours on end will most likely leave you dehydrated. On top of that, if you were drinking or doing anything else, you body is going to be craving fluids. Take care of yourself by making sure you drink plenty of water.
Chill Out
Whether you only spent a weekend or even longer at a festival, you probably spent most of your time dancing and celebrating your favorite artists with friends you went with or even new friends you met there. Maybe you went even harder and indulged in molly to make up for lost time during social distancing. If that's the case, then you will want to plan the next few days to chill out. After flooding your brain with Dopamine and Serotonin, it will have to recover. This recovery may take up to a whole week, so you may feel unmotivated or just plain out of it as your brain adjusts back. This is especially true, if you indulged in other substances as well. As tempting as it may be to take the spare pill you found in your pocket to “even you out,” you will only be putting your recovery off. On top of that, the comedown from that “Pick Me Up” will make you feel even worse than before. When you get back you may have your friends or a significant other wanting to spend time with you, but don’t be afraid to take time for yourself if you need it. It’s definitely better to wait until you are in a better mood to tell your friends what an awesome time you had and how they should come along next time, then trying to force it when you don’t feel ready. Sometimes a day of lounging in bed, binge watching whatever, could help you feel as right as rain again. This is also be a good time to bust out the fruits, vegetables, and nuts that you stocked up on.
In the end it is best to remember that as much as festival comedowns suck, it’s just a readjustment period. After it is over, you can have just as much if not more fun at your next fest. Hope to see you out there.