How do you cope?

[Mellon collie]

I hope I don't suffer too much I have a packed schedule in three weekends i have glasto my 20th and TITP.

[glastonbury2008]

ive cried a few tears at the end of each glastonbury,

i know its because its the place i feel most at home

this year i know i will probably get upset when the show ends even though its not the end of the festival for me, there are hours left to party but for me this year ill be happy knowing ive done everything i can just to get there so yeah ill be depressed but it was bloomin worth it.

Edited May 7, 2009 by glastonbury2008

[Storm_NL]

I totally agree. That drive home is the longest ever and the thought of re-entering this mean horrible world fills me with dread. I think I may take some 5-HTP with me this yer and give them a go

[beamends]

The last year I went I was on duty in my Signal Box at 7.00am Monday. In the middle of nowhere, a sunny morning, old fashioned clock ticking, looking at the gorgeous view out of the window..... just the odd train to disturb the peace. Bliss!

[FforFreddie]

Last year was my first, and I was 29 then. I left not knowing why I had missed out for all these years, I've been to Leeds and other smaller events but I was overawed by how amazing Glastonbury is. I'm now really anxious and want the summer to come around asap, 10am on Wednesday I'm hoping to be pitching my tent and starting on the cider!

[MissB]

Beamends.. I suspect you may be a fellow NR emplyee ;-)

This year I have done something I mean to do every year and don't.

I went onto the Travelodge sale back in February and booked 2 £9 family rooms that sleep three people each in Podimore about half hour from Glasto.

So instead of doing the killer drive 4 hours home I am going to trundle along country lanes for a half hour with my mates have a hot shower a pub dinner a nights sleep in a bed and then head to the Tor and for a wander around Glasto the next day before driving home later that evening showered and contented...

...ease myself into civilisation gently and return feeling far more refreshed rather than the overtired, cramped post 7 hour carpark wait 4 hour drive mess I usually am :-)

YAY!

[beamends]

Beamends.. I suspect you may be a fellow NR emplyee ;-)

<snip>

[MissB]

Not for a long time... the buggers pulled the box down and I didn't fancy an office job in the panel box! I used to commute from the box to the Shepton Mallet Greens Festival when I couldn't get time off - to work the bar! Now there was a cr*p festival..... "No Generators - but we demand cold lager........"

Happy days ;-)

[emmmmma]

I don't feel sad immediately, I am too happy to see my bed, fridge and hair straighteners. I think it hit me about a week later that I had to wait for a whole year before I could go again and that made me sad. But no! I can't start thinking about this now, we're going to be there next month! Hooray!!!

[xxscousaxx]

i hit the bottle... its like losing a family member, i mourn the fun times we had and the experience of a life time. im actually still mourning now, me and my mates always find a way 2 put last years experience in our conversations which normally ends in squeals of delight for this year and tears shedding for last!! the time your there flys like nothing..... it aint fair!!!!!

i find myself watchin glasto videos on bbc and you tube over and over again.. think it was surreal that it had been and gone and that i was there!!!

[Filthy]

It's less mourning and more listless for me. I definitely get a need to see the people I was there with as soon as possible, going through the in jokes and brilliant times and getting reminded of those that I was too hammered to remember The trouble is it brings on a need to be able to converse and explore fun to its limits in the same way all the time and that's the problem. However I'd rather experience the brilliance and have to suffer the readjustment a million times over than not go and have none of the highs.

[Blaze]

I had the most tireing journy back home ever after last year, got a 10h coach trip up to glasgow when I met up with my bro, bought fish and chips and crashed out on a line of chairs put together in his student halls, the next morning I got the megabus to dundee, lay on the ground of the buss station, then up to aberdeen. Arrived back at my flat with bright red contact lense eyes, smelling not my best and caked in mud I think the best thing to do is to not stop taking pictures while you are on the site, enough pictures to last you a good few days when you get back...

[sprocketrocket]

Beamends.. I suspect you may be a fellow NR emplyee ;-)

YAY!

[Paul ™]

The way i cope is to make sure i have another festival to go to after Glastonbury, this year i'm off to womad. Not the same as Glasto but something to look forward to.

[Forever_Reeling]

it's sad to know it's the the last time in a while you get to spend so much free time with my friends.

you then have to go back to work, paying rent/mortgage, car insurance adverts on tv, the daily commute, chavs, cloned high streets, rude people

make no mistake - glasto is an escape from the mindane, so i don't blame anyone for tears at the end - and i think it's quite patronising to suggest that people have something missing in their lives if they do get emotional at the end.

it's himan nature.

..

plus drugs don't help (e.g. the dreaded 'suicide tuesday')

Edited May 7, 2009 by Forever_Reeling

[Forever_Reeling]

anyway my advice for the original poster is:

1. Don't try and build it up too much (hard i know)

2. Try and sort any pesonal issues out before you leave....e.g bills, places you've got to ring, appointments you have to keep

3. Fill your fridge with comfort food - upon return, consume said food.

4. Prepare before you leave. Take spare camera batteries and take hundreds of photos during the fest. then look at them on the journey home

5. set the sky plus box to record anything glasto related, and your fave tv shows

6. take the tuesday after off

Edited May 7, 2009 by Forever_Reeling

[scappaflow]

I have never experienced the withdrawal you describe, and I think it's very sad that you do. I'm glad of being clean for the first time in days, and a long sleep in a comfy bed. I look at my photos. I come here and reminisce. I look forward to my next weekend away, whatever that might be. I wait excitedly for GCams to arrive...

I'm probably not at all qualified to give advice, but I'm going to stick my oar in anyway.

(I'm assuming it's not some sort of drug comedown, because I have no advice about that).

It seems like you need to take a good hard look at your lifestyle outside the festival, and why it's not making you happy. Even if you need to make huge changes, it's worth it. Obviously it's not easy to change job, or move to another part of the country, dump a partner, find a partner or whatever it is that needs to happen, but if you're unhappy it has to be done.

Perhaps there are elements of Glastonbury that you can identify as things you could make part of your daily life. Is it the fresh air and the views? Move to the country. Is it the hippy stuff? Maybe you'd thrive in a commune? Music? Get involved in the music scene locally.

etc.

Edited May 7, 2009 by scappaflow

[mandypants]

Oh god I'm so glad I don't do drugs any more, I get post-fest depression and cry at the end of Leeds, the end of Glasto is going to be so much worse! I'll have to see if I can take 5HTP on top of my other meds, think I may need it. If not, I can recommend valium

That period of re-adjustment is so weird, the first shower is amazing, as is a nice comfy sofa and bed. It takes me a few days to remember to flush the loo automatically and not go digging in my bag for my antibac hand gel though

[mandypants]

3. Fill your fridge with comfort food - upon return, consume said food.

[glasto_freak]

Just reading this thread has made me want to cry. I feel like its the 28th june already. Must watch some glasto sets on youtube

[Rachie]

yeah deffo had this. It helps to have another festival booked...i know its not glasto - but somthing to look forward to.

if you cant do that - mabye a camping trip, long weekend away somwhwere?

I have to do this, as glasto is early in the summer, i dont want the rest of my summer to be on a downer.

edit to add... i get that ...you know feeling, like the worlds not a nice place, and like Katster would say 'why cant glasto be life'...that fades in time...you just have to distract yourself with other things you like to do.

Edited May 7, 2009 by Rachie

[glastoman417]

yeah deffo had this. It helps to have another festival booked...i know its not glasto - but somthing to look forward to.

if you cant do that - mabye a camping trip, long weekend away somwhwere?

I have to do this, as glasto is early in the summer, i dont want the rest of my summer to be on a downer.

edit to add... i get that ...you know feeling, like the worlds not a nice place, and like Katster would say 'why cant glasto be life'...that fades in time...you just have to distract yourself with other things you like to do.

[kloot]

make no mistake - glasto is an escape from the mindane, so i don't blame anyone for tears at the end - and i think it's quite patronising to suggest that people have something missing in their lives if they do get emotional at the end.

it's himan nature.

[kyjenni]

I have never experienced the withdrawal you describe, and I think it's very sad that you do. I'm glad of being clean for the first time in days, and a long sleep in a comfy bed. I look at my photos. I come here and reminisce. I look forward to my next weekend away, whatever that might be. I wait excitedly for GCams to arrive...

I'm probably not at all qualified to give advice, but I'm going to stick my oar in anyway.

(I'm assuming it's not some sort of drug comedown, because I have no advice about that).

It seems like you need to take a good hard look at your lifestyle outside the festival, and why it's not making you happy. Even if you need to make huge changes, it's worth it. Obviously it's not easy to change job, or move to another part of the country, dump a partner, find a partner or whatever it is that needs to happen, but if you're unhappy it has to be done.

Perhaps there are elements of Glastonbury that you can identify as things you could make part of your daily life. Is it the fresh air and the views? Move to the country. Is it the hippy stuff? Maybe you'd thrive in a commune? Music? Get involved in the music scene locally.

etc.

[grumpyhack]

I tell everyone I know who's never been that Glastonbury is a life-changing experience. After one Glasto my daughter decided to go off to West Africa as a UN volunteer. After another she decided to do a degree in politics and after another to do a Masters in Interrnational Relations.

I always find Glasto thought provoking and come home with a lot of questions about my life and lifestyle.

However after last year I came home quite upset about the throw-away disposible world that we live in. I was horrified by the mess that people left, perfectly good tents and camping equipment that they couldn't be bothered to pack.

My usual answer to the come down is a long soak in the bath and a night in a comfortable bed that the air doesn't leak from and to reflect on my luck.

This year five days after Glasto I'll be going away for a weekend with my oldest friend who's got terminal cancer, which will put a lot in perspective.

On the up-side, I'll Glastobate with anyone who'll listen, try and catch BBC re-runs of the best bits and the bits I missed, repair the tent and check all of the gear for the next fest which will be at the end of July.