Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah………And then you’re back. Right back. Back to September, back to autumn, back to work, back to earth.

You were just settling in to relazzzzing (yes! with a “z” because it’s even more chilled out that “relaxing”!), by the pool, absorbing the sun, enjoying your cocktail… In a flash, you’re back at the office, jostling your way through the underground, bleak, work, staring at the screen again. Upon returning from holidays, it is not uncommon to undergo a small bout of depression. So. How can we avoid the back-to-work blues?

Tip # 1: Find new activities!

During the holidays, you may have tried a new sport, or dabbled with a new activity that you like! You may even have started learning a new language! Now that you’ve got the taste for it, it is the perfect time to get yourself enrolled in that salsa class! Make time to do an evening class or take up a new hobby. All you needed was that little extra kick of motivation, and now you have it, so voilá! Up and at ‘em!

Tip # 2: Cocoon at home with friends

Winter is the time to sit around the fire with a glass of wine, snuggling up and watching films! Forget the gloom that can accompany the dawning of the colder seasons. This is an opportunity to organize a good party mode cocooning at home to tell your friends about your summer adventures and new home exchange projects.

Tip # No. 3: Take care of yourself

Just because the summer has ended and there’s no more beach-wear horror to endure, it’s not a reason to sit back and slide into bad habits. You can continue to go to the gym, eat lots of fresh fruit and veg, and even enjoy wrapping up in your charming winter wardrobe.

Tip # 4: Start thinking about your next home exchange

The summer holidays are over, certainly, but nothing prevents you planning  good weekend with friends or couples. Ticket prices are often cheaper, and you will discover charming destinations in the autumn and winter. Finland in December, Sicily to find a holiday or the Oktoberfest in Munich, enjoy the events and opportunities available to you via home exchange!

Just because the summer’s over does not mean that you have to wait a further year until the next vacation! Log on, get your thinking cap on, and start planning your next home exchange! This is the beauty of such low cost-vacations. Vacations and fun times away all year round!

Home cinema is by no means a new concept.  There are plenty of people who have a been screen, or even a wall, and they can can take the home movie idea to new extremes.

Old news, right? Wrong! Just imagine doing open air cinema! If you live in a built up area, this is an option that can evade you. Well, for starters it’s outright impossible if you don’t have a garden. Even if you do, more times than not in a city area it just won’t be practical, comfortable, and depending on what part you come from, the weather could be horrific.

But just imagine doing a home exchange in a large, rural country house in Europe. Think: a big, fat barn. Think: softly humming crickets. Think: a pollen-flooded scent in the evening air. Think: twiddling a glass of sparkling rosé wine between your fingers. Think: your favourite film, projected onto the huge screen of a centuries old, rustic barn or farm house.

You can take the projector with you on holiday, and you can buy a screen when you’re there for a low price. With home exchange, if you use your imagination you can really bring the magic home (exchange).