The burrow is the whole homecoming
A Pacman frog does not explore its way back to normal; it digs its way there. Prepare the enclosure before the frog returns by moistening the substrate until it holds together like a wrung-out sponge, deep enough for the frog to bury itself completely with only its eyes and back showing. Pacman frogs regulate moisture through their skin while buried, so substrate that dried out during your trip is the single biggest homecoming problem for this species. Set the shallow water dish flush with the surface in its usual corner, mist the walls, and only then place the frog on the substrate and let it excavate its own pit.
Leave a buried frog buried
The hardest part of a Pacman frog homecoming is doing nothing. A newly returned frog may stay buried for days without surfacing, and digging it up to confirm it is alive breaks the very settling behaviour you are trying to restore. Watch for the subtle signs instead: a slight shift in the burrow's position, eyes visible at the surface in the evening, or the burrow crater deepening as the frog settles its ambush site. Mist daily to keep the top layer from crusting, and keep the enclosure in its usual quiet spot, because vibration through the floor is how a buried ambush predator reads the world above it.
Feed the ambush, on the frog's schedule
Offer food only once the Pacman frog has taken up its ambush position with eyes at substrate level, usually at dusk. Present the usual prey item with long tongs, wiggling it gently at the edge of the frog's view, and accept a refusal without escalating to bigger or different foods. A frog that travelled recently and ate at the boarding facility may simply not be hungry, since this species eats large meals at long intervals. Never leave loose prey wandering the enclosure overnight, and remove refused items so the frog's burrow stays clean. Log each offer and response, because appetite is one of the few health signals a mostly buried frog gives you.
The water dish gives you a second signal worth reading. A Pacman frog that climbs in for a soak on its first night home is usually rehydrating after travel and will return to its burrow by morning, which is normal settling. A frog that soaks night after night and stops burrowing altogether may be telling you the substrate has dried below the surface even if the top looks damp, so push a finger deep into an unused corner and check the moisture where the frog actually lives before changing anything else.
Watch moisture and skin, not activity
Judge a Pacman frog's settling by its skin and its burrow, not by how much it moves. Skin should look moist and smooth when the frog surfaces; a dry, dull look or a frog soaking constantly in its dish can mean the substrate is too dry. Contact an amphibian-experienced veterinarian if the frog stops feeding across several weekly offers while losing its plump shape, develops redness or sores on the belly, or sits exposed on the surface for days. Writing the substrate moisture routine, feeding responses and soak behaviour into KinsLe's Care Pass means the next sitter knows this frog's silence is normal, and knows exactly which changes are not.