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!

If you’re a city-dweller, and have been so all your life, then you may never have even seen a shooting star. Throughout centuries in songs and literature, shooting stars have been documented and romanticised.

But even if you understand the symbol well, it’s still a special moment seeing one for the first time.  Imagine taking a vacation deep in the heart of the French country-side. Rustic farm-houses, lazy vintage tractors mowing down the windy, dusty roads, a heavy, roving sun beating down. Vine-yards.

Then imagine a chalky, warm evening. Outside in the garden you can tuck in to a light dinner, with some authentic, fruity wine. Then, with the over-whelming sound of the orchestra of crickets, you can look up to the clearest sky you’ve ever seen. So deep in the French country-side, so far away from either pollution or light-pollution, the sky clear, bright and striking.

The stars seem a lot closer, and you can see so many of them shoot across the sky as they give out their final blare of brilliance to the universe. It really is like nothing else. It’s the perfect romantic evening, either spent with a partner, or simply alone enjoying the aesthetic quality of the surroundings.

As with many types of cuisine, you can try home recipes and various restuarants that claim to offer the genuine dishes… But without actually being there, in the local zone, there’s nothing quite like the real McCoy.

This is particularly true of the marisco from the Galician coast. Sea-food lovers will know that to get the full sensation of mouth-watering, juicy fresh plates of sea-food, you really need to go to the local area. Galician marisco has such a world-wide reputation that it’s almost a cliche to mention it.

Octupus, seasoned in paprika and sprinkled with olive oil can truly make your mouth think that it’s died and gone to heaven. Or, try the shrimp and squid, fried and served in its natural ink, alongside a whole wealth of shell-fish dishes.

Of course, there are also the fresh-water fish like salmon, baby eels, trout and sea-trout. All of which can be complemented by one of the many delicious Galician cheeses. To be washed down, of course, with one of the velvety Galician made wines, for example on of the three most famous kinds of Rias Baixas, Ribeiro or Valdeorras. Why not propose a home exchange with a home on the Galician coast and decide for yourself?