How to Bring Your Holiday Home

The lovely beach at Playa Flamingo

We all love being on holiday.

For many of us, the highlight of our year is when we get to set foot in the place we've never been and go explore. Or even reconnecting with good memories somewhere we've travelled to many times.

Sometimes holidays are busy and hectic but exciting, sometimes they are chilled out and soothing for the soul.

But everyone dreads coming home. So I had a few thoughts about how we can bring that holiday feeling back home with us, to make the weeks we while away at work and home that bit brighter...

(some are more serious than others!)

Bring that holiday feeling home on the plane!

1. Being friendlier: When we were heading out in Lanzarote, I left the hotel room while Phil was dillydallying and when I realised it was raining out I called back: 'It's spitting!' just as a British bloke walked by at the exact moment and shouted "Everybody in! Everybody in!" a la Peter Kaye... Can't escape ha. But my point is, on holiday it seems like jokes shared with strangers, or just chatting to different people and making random friends at the buffet queue or by the pool is par for the course. I'm lucky to live 'up north' where people are in general friendly to each other, but not quite as friendly as on holiday. Maybe we need to bring more of the holiday spirit back with us in this way?

2. Caring less about body image: I felt like on holiday, even though I was sometimes forced to reveal way more flesh than is normal to reveal in pasty, flabby January, I didn't seem to care quite as much about what I looked like. A couple of days I went without make-up, I tied up my hair in the wind, I even wore a bikini for the first time in 12 years! It seems like everyone is way more relaxed with their bodies on holiday, maybe we should feel more at ease at home, too.

3. Making more chill out time: It feels like sometimes the purpose of a holiday is to just take a break. Some days we literally sat by the pool and dozed and couldn't even be bothered to read a book. And it was great. But at home, it feels like there's always something to do. On weekends I feel bad if the laundry pile is building up or the hall needs a hoover (thanks Mrs Hinch), and there's always something I need from the shops. I think feeling less guilty over taking a break while at home is something to incorporate more.

4. Treating yourself: You tell yourself: fuck it, we're on holiday, as we order another litre of sangria. Usually that kind of attitude is reserved only for Christmas. But. What if we said 'why not?' a lot more. Have that bottle of wine on a Tuesday. Splurge on some nice flowers, a random meal out. Why else are we all working 40+ hours a week if we can't treat ourselves?

5. Trying different foods: I think we all get stuck in a rut at home. Sometimes we walk around the supermarket almost with blinkers on, getting the same stuff we've tried and we know we like. It's even easier with online shopping, where a list of our favourites is already there waiting for us. But why not try something different? Why not pick a cuisine you maybe haven't tried, like a Thai green curry, or some Korean barbecue ribs, just to try and mix stuff up and not be in a rut?

6. Not worrying about a change of plans/being more spontaneous: Not everything goes right on holiday, we might get a cloudy day and change our plans to an indoor activity, we might find somewhere is closed unexpectedly, we might find we just don't get round to something because there just isn't enough time. This kind of flexibility is needed in our day to day lives too, I feel like I'm too rigid in my routine sometimes, whereas it's good to switch things up.

7. Taking some more screen-free time: Not having great signal and sometimes having no data while on holiday means you get a lot more time away from your phone. Also, people don't tend to bother taking their laptops, and TV abroad is rubbish let's face it! It's so nice to look up from a screen and really take in what you're seeing. It's also great not to get bogged down in other things - Brexit drama, Facebook notifications from work (this happens when you both work for newspapers), people spouting off on Twitter - it makes you realise how much time you spend wasted on things, and what it is you actually enjoy about your time online, rather than just doing it as a habit.

8. Changing your sheets and towels more regularly: I know this is silly, but think about it. One of the best things about staying in a hotel surely has to be all those fresh towels and sheets everyday! Sure, it's better for the environment (and the longevity of your washer/dryer) not to be changing them every day, but I think I might invest in some nice Lenor Unstoppables or something to keep mine fresher that bit longer and bring a bit of holiday freshness back ha!

I hope you've enjoyed my list... is there anything you'd like to add? Do you disagree with anything on my list? Let me know!