I Always Take an “Invisible Day” on This Exact Day — And You Should Too

I love a good vacation. My family and I just had an amazing one — we traveled to a wedding in Greece this past August. But upon returning home, I find that instead of feeling totally ready to tackle my life, I feel a little sluggish. It’s no wonder why that’s the case: There’s hectic travel time, an unfamiliar bed, living out of a carry-on, abandoned daily self-care rituals, and being go-go-go through foreign sites and situations. There’s a reason why American philosopher Elbert Hubbard quipped that “no man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.”

Hubbard was spot-on. After my break, I need a break. There needs to be a buffer day before I return to real life. So I give myself one. It’s called an “invisible day.”

 An “invisible day” is what it sounds like. It’s a 24-hour period where one goes totally and completely off-grid. You can do anything you want with that day — you can take a break from talking to anyone or doing chores, or you can take a break from screens and just read books and go analog. 

It’s been well-documented on how taking this break helps you reset, so I implement my own version after every long vacation. This is off-the-grid at its best: I unpack, decompress from travel stress, have healthy and fresh home-cooked meals, and return to my at-home self-care routines. 

The day after every vacation, I lean into the viral concept of taking a dedicated 24-hour block day to disappear. I fully clear my calendar, turn off phone and social notifications, and stay completely out of sight to reset my baseline. 

Holidays away often come with itineraries, so my invisible day doesn’t. I let the day take me where it wants me to go. Schedule? I don’t have one. Consider this my plan without a plan.

Before I go off the grid, I make sure everyone (especially my mom) knows that I won’t be answering my phone. The phone stays on the charger, as I recharge. The world won’t miss me for one day.  

And for emails, I always set an extra day on my out-of-office bounce-back.

Rich restaurant foods and luxury cocktails are guaranteed during my trips. In Greece, I left my dietary cares at home and had plenty of succulent lamb, creamy taramasalata, and ouzo. I need to reset when I get home. 

I start my invisible day with my favorite coffee, complete with creatine, collagen, and froth from my favorite foamer. Throughout the day, I make simple whole-food meals with plenty of fresh veggies and fruits. I feel refreshed as I step away from all that restaurant food.

A spritz of hydrating mist during the flight is a nice touch, but most trips don’t allow the space for my entire skincare routine. And a trip is typically when I need it the most, thanks to a change in water (both my intake and for washing), sleep patterns, weather, and more. 

On my first day back, I lean into the works — my red light face mask, a disappearing hydrating sheet mask, deep conditioning hair mask, dry brush, scalp massage, cuticle oil, and hand-softening gloves — everything I need to refresh and get back on my beauty track. It feels great to cleanse away all that travel time. 

When I travel with my family, actual exercise isn’t usually part of the journey. While I get well over my 10,000 steps per day, I don’t really have time or space to stretch or lift weights. During my invisible day, instead of heading for the gym, I refresh myself at home. I grab my yoga mat and hit the floor for deep stretches (long plane and car rides do a number on my body), then I take a nice long walk through our town forest with our dog (I’ve missed her, and she appreciates the attention). Anything to get my body moving on my own terms. As for exercising my mind, there are word searches on the couch and reading on the deck.

After a full day of self-imposed isolation from the outside world and “me” time, I’m back to business the following day. And who knows? I’m probably even ready to plan my next vacation.