How do you deal with re-entry (from the wilderness or backcountry)

Take the experiences you had and the lessons your learned from that trip and apply them to your working life.
Plan your next trip as well. This way you have something to look forward to.

@aviona: Explore Central Park, Prospect Park and Palisades Park (across the river in Jersey.) On week-ends check out Bear Mt. Park and the Shawangunks.

Keep the backwoods and trails in your memory as your ‘happy place’ where you go when your eyes go bleary and thoughts wander in tedious staff meetings. (been there, do that all the time) Section hiking the AT N to S. only got 800 miles in before illness grounded me. ascending ‘the Priest’ from the north side is definitely NOT one of my happy places.

Wow, 6-weeks is a good time out. The most I’ve gone off the grid was 3 weeks of an outdoor survival trek and going home and back to work/school was really emotional, odd and it took me another two weeks to get back into the reality of city life again. Long soaks in the bathtub, writing about the beauty and joys experienced, chatting with your trek friends, that should help ease you back.

I discovered long ago that the only way for me to cope is to avoid large cities like the plague, and move somewhere that I can at least pretend I am still away from civilization. That is why the neighborhood kids call our house “The Jungle.”

I having been living in the bush (250k from the nearest town of any size) for the last almost 5 years. I hope soon to be moving back to civilization and I CAN’T WAIT. I do so long to be able to go out and get a slice of pizza at any time of day or night, or go to an allnight convenience store for milk. Have a variety of restaurants to choose from, movies to see, art galleries, classes to be taken.

Kick back and enjoy the difference. If you decide you like the isolation better, then try to find another situation like the one you describe.

I do think though I personally am a grass is always greener type person and I definitely have wanderlust, so a couple of years in the city and I will probably be ready for the bush again.

When you really get nostalgic for the backcountry, take your sleeping bag and spend the night in Central Park with some of it’s residents. That ought to do it!

Welcome back @aviona! We’ve missed you. :)

I’ve never been on such a long trip, but wanted to let you know that there are numerous hiking and adventure groups in the New York area on Meetup.com if you are seeking opportunities for weekend or day trips to help you cope until your next major getaway. It is also a chance to meet like-minded people in the region, who might also help you with their adjustment strategies.

Welcome back!

Thanks @everyone

Following an 8 week trip to Alaska with a group of 15, about 10 of us met up in Chicago for the weekend. It was a nice transition. Can you have a little reunion in the city with your group?

@SammyG Sounds lovely. Welcome to Fluther!

Sorry, but being a resident New Yorker myself, all I can think of to say is:

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, AVIONA. YOU’RE GONNA DIEEEEEEEEEEEEE

(eventually)

@SammyG not really because they all live in California… :/

Former Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker (6 months trekking wilderness mountain ridgelines from Georgia to Maine). My return home (Miami area) was weird, wild, confusing. I was afraid of cars, for example…they move so fast…I now understood why so many creatues are killed on highways…they cannot possibly fathom the speed of the oncoming auto…nothing moves that fast in the woods. They either are taken by complete surprise, or think they can get out of the way in time, based on the distance of the oncoming vehicle. See? Sad. Many good answers above. Keep the memory of your experience in a special place; refer to it for pleasure, also, you will find that many of the things you learned, observed, will be of help to you in the most unlikely way. Spiritually, for example. How to overcome difficulties, improvise. It’s still hard to explain, convey, my “re-entry” experience. One thing I did was keep in touch with some of the friends I made along the Trail, both other hikers and local townsfolk in small mountain communities. In fact, I’m still in touch with some of them today and that particular hike was decades ago. Brief glance at an answer above…what a great idea to go to Central Park, other pastoral spots…golf courses are always available, in nearly every decent-sized city; usually the most readily available pastoral spot in town. I don’t golf; just hang out on the perimeter. My strongest spiritual connection is via nature, in particular birdwatching. Consider it, in a serious way invest a few dollars in the book “National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America.” read the introductory chapters, and get a decent pair of binoculars if you don’t already have one. Final thought, a quote, not sure of the source: “If you see God through a window, go back to that window often.” I just burst into tears. Goodnight.

@Dilettante: Lovely answer, but please use breaks for those of us who find masses of text a little hard on the eyes.

My son spent a summer in the WindRiver mts. at NOLS. The last task was to bushwack with a partner for four days, foraging and eating off the land. They caught one fish and ate plants.

When he re-entered, he made home-made donuts. Grease and dough everywhere, in my kitchen.

I just moved back to civilization after 5 years in the bush and I am absolutely loving it!
There are grocery stores open until 9 pm and restaurants and doctors and dentists and vets and a fish store and pretty much anything I could want within 5 min scoot and with an hours drive I am in a large city. It is heavenly!

Woof, woofwufwof, wufwuf, whoof.
(Translation: Welcome Back! google the literary term, “Pastoral Genre of English Literature.” unless you’re already familiar with it; the conventions, characteristics, examples of famous pastoral novels, plays, poems, Theocritus, Virgil’s eclogues, Shakespeare, etc…long list. Central Theme: Dissatisfaction with life in the “courts,” (big city), travel to the “country,” encounter shepherds, creatures both real and mystical from which one learns, return to the city,. Conventions: Love, Death, Politics, Religion.
Seems apropos for your situation. woof woof. .
grrrr, yipyip woofwoodwoof (all for now).