Back to work and feeling blue? Don’t be down in the dumps, check out these handy tips for beating the post-vacation blues and re-find your happy place!

Staring out of a rainy office window daydreaming of sandy beaches and far-off adventures is not fun. I’ve been there.

Coming back from vacation can be tough.

Your everyday life hits you in the face with a sharp slap and your next vacation seems a lifetime away.

But don’t be glum! Check out these 10 tips for beating the post-vacation blues and re-find your happy place!

1. Break  up Your Routine

Take a new route to work, go somewhere new for lunch, anything to break out of the monotony that’s making you miserable.

2. Do a Day Trip

Taking a road trip to someplace new can give you that same feeling of adventure and discovery as flying to the other side of the world. Brilliant!

3. Take up a New Hobby

Whether it’s language classes, painting or pottery, taking up a new hobby will inject something fresh and new into your life and distract you from your boredom.

4. Frame Your Photos

Don’t focus on how sad you are to be home, rejoice in the good times. Frame your travel photos, reminisce about your trip and take a mental trip back to vacation happiness.

5. Treat Yourself

A massage, new shoes, a big steak… Treat yourself to something nice, a sure-fire way to make you feel good.

6. Make a Grateful List

Remind yourself of all the great things in your life. Actually make a list -  it’ll leave you feeling incredibly grateful and perhaps even a little spoilt.

7. Book Another Trip

Sure you probably spent a bomb on the last vacation but have a look around for some cheap flights and book a little trip. It’ll give you a fixed date of something exciting to look forward to.

8. Write a Travel Article

Channel your love of traveling into something positive and write up an article about your trip. You might even get published, now that WOULD be cool!

9. Throw a Party

Organizing a fun party for all your friends and family will surround you with all your favorite people and remind you how great it is to be home.

10. Make a Travel Wish List

Write down all the places in the world that you’re burning to get to. Use the Web for inspiration if you need it.

Focusing your travel objectives might lead to unexpected opportunities to fulfill your dreams, you just never know!

Suffering from the post-vacation blues right now? Got more tips for bouncing back? Post up your comments below, we want to hear from you!

Coming soon, 10 sure-fire ways to get an upgrade. Fancy flying first class? Sign up for free updates and stay in the know!

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Wizards, sorcerers, hobbits and goblins. This maybe the stuff of fairy-tales but you can bring magic to life! Visit these breath-taking magical destinations and live out your own travel legend!

Travel and make-believe certainly go hand in hand.

Whether it’s royal palaces, enchanted forests or magical lagoons, traveling the world can bring your favorite fairy-tales to life!

So grab your wand, mount your white horse and take a virtual journey through the 15 most magical places in the world!

1. Sorcerer’s Castle, Lausanne, Switzerland

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2. The Enchanted Forest, Oberursel, Germany

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3. Wizards’ Town, Gent, Belgium

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4. Magical Lagoon, Mount Cook, New Zealand

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5. Emperor’s Palace, Versailles, France

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6. Knights’ Ship, River Elbe, Germany

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7. Prince Charming’s Castle, Gstaad, Switzerland

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8. Golden Pagodas, Bagan, Myanmar

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9. The Faraway Tree, Oxfordshire, UK

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10. Rapunzel’s Tower, Huddersfield, UK

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11. Wishing Bridge, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

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12. Warlocks’ Castle, Angus, Scotland

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13. The Snow Queen’s Lair, Hausham, Germany

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14. Hobbits’ House, Dordogne, France

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15. Lake of Dreams, Yuangshuo, China

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Been to any of these places? Got more magical travel recommendations? Which fairy-tale character would you be*?!

Post up your comments below, we want to hear from you!

Coming soon… the most spiritual places in the world. Don’t miss out, sign up for free blog updates below!

*(I’d be the Snow Queen!)

Bored of swimming lengths? Pick up an underwater camera for your next vacation and let the games begin!

Why is it that as soon as you become an “adult” pool-time gets confined to swimming lengths. Boring!

I recently challenged my friends to come up with as many juvenile things to do with an underwater camera that they could think of.

Here are the results!

1.    Hi Mom Pics

2.    Mermaid Pics

3.    Bezzie Mate Pics (trying not to cut your friend’s head off)

4.    Upside-Down Pics

5.    General Underwater Silliness

6.    Dead Straight Dives

7.    Back-Flips

8.    Air Somersaults

9.    Shoulder Launches

10.    Backward Shoulder Launches

11.    Bum Flops

12.    Balancing Shots

13.    Synchronized Side-Lunges

14.    Nice Splashy Pics

Like my pics or think they’re just plain silly? Got more cool underwater pics? Post up your comments below, we want to hear from you!

Coming soon… world’s most hilarious vacation pics. Don’t miss out.. sign up for free blog updates below!

It’s never that tough to find top travel content on the Net – there’s so much great stuff out there!

Check out this week’s travel treats:

8 Awesome Natural Phenomena You Probably Didn’t Know About @ZME Science

Amazing Hong Kong Laser Show @CheapOair
(Be sure to listen out for the crowd’s reactions)!

Coffee Culture Around the Globe @Nileguide

88 Incredible Galapagos Creatures @Uncornered Market

Girfriend Getaway: San Juan @Traveling Mamas

Happy Travels!

Hitting the road this Labor Day? Steer clear of road-trip hell by checking out these 20 common holiday driving blunders and get it right this year!

It all sounds very nice in theory doesn’t it? Hop into the car, speed off onto the open road with the wind in your hair for a fun-filled Labor Day road trip.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out like this, I’ve certainly had some road trip shockers that’s for sure.

But this is the year to turn it all around! Check out these 20 sure-fire ways to screw up your Labor Day road trip and get it right this time!

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1. Neglect Your Vehicle

It seems pretty obvious that you should give your car a maintenance check before you set off on a long road trip but you’d be amazed how many people don’t think of this.

Oil, water, wipers, headlamps, brakes – check it all out!

2. Drive Dirty

It’s not the nicest experience being stuck in a filthy car for 7 hours so why not give it a clean – inside and out? If not now, when?!

3. Be Spontaneous

Road trips and spontaneity are not the most comfortable of bedfellows.

Plan, plan and plan some more.

Get tips and recommendations from friends and use an road trip planner online to work out ideal destinations, distances and driving times.

4. Believe “Breakdowns Don’t Happen to Me”

Let’s hope you don’t break down but you just might.

Pay up for roadside rescue, if the unspeakable happens, you’ll be overjoyed you did.

5. Leave Your Papers at Home

License, registration, insurance – put the documents in your glove box. Now!

6. Jump in the Car with Anyone

You receive a last-minute offer to bunk in on someone else’s road trip, great!

But you need to STOP and THINK: “will I enjoy being stuck in a tin can with these people for many, many hours”?

If the answer’s no then DON”T GO!

7. Join the “Follow the Signs” School of Thought

Believe it or not the road people didn’t have you in mind when they made their signs.

Get a map.

Plan your route.

Sure, you can use GPS but take the map too. Just in case.

8. Starve Your Family/Friends

Food and drink is important. Gas station food sucks. Bring your own.

9. Put Style over Comfort

It’s not a fashion parade. You’re sitting in a car. For hours. Dress comfortably. Slip-off shoes are great for all those “in the car, out the car” stop-offs.

10. Forget that Children Get Bored

Don’t expect the kids to sit like angels in the back for hours on end. It’s just not going to happen.

Games, puzzles, crosswords, car games. Have some ammunition in your armory – you’ll need it.

11. Sentence Your Passengers to Silence

Singing along to your all-time favorite songs is one the very best things about road trips.

Sort out the tunes before you go and get ready to belt it out!

12. Be the Hare not the Tortoise

Your road trip is meant to be fun and enjoyable. And, at the risk of sounding like your mother, it’s a marathon not a sprint!

You’ll lose time along the way (possibly even hours) but don’t sweat it. It’s not worth it.

Break up with your trip with stop-offs every hour and half.

Your passengers will love you for it.

13. Assign Rigid Roles

The driver will get bored of driving and the navigator will get bored of navigating.

So swop.

Much more fun for everyone.

14. Become a Road Trip Dictator

Consult your fellow road trippers about diversions and activities otherwise your bossiness will spoil everyone’s fun.

Get the kids involved in tracking your route. It will keep them occupied. Maybe.

15. Be Slap-dash with Gas

Don’t wait until you’re running on empty until you think about filling up. You can never be sure when the next gas station will appear.

Cool widgets like this Gas Calculator helps you work out exactly how far your fuel will take you. So there’s no excuse!

16. Be Stingy with Bathroom Breaks

If someone really wants to go then let them.

Refer to Hare and the Tortoise and Road Trip Dictator points above!

17. Work Yourself up into a “Lost Frenzy”

Yes getting lost can be stressful and sometimes scary but panicking/shouting/blaming your significant other isn’t going to help the situation.

Breathe, relax, get some perspective and I guarantee you’ll find your way. Eventually.

18. Be a Traffic Fool

Tailback misery, it’s not fun. Set off early, come back late. Even better, take an extra day either side of the holiday weekend.

19. Get Arrested

A sure-fire way to screw up your trip if ever there was one.

Don’t speed, belt up and don’t get arrested.

20. Take the Whole Thing too Seriously

Let me remind you again that this whole thing is meant to be FUN. If you happen to pass a cool place to stop off, take a detour and if it works out that way (shock, horror) change your route.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Got more road trip tips or Labor Day disaster stories?? Post up your comments below, we want to hear from you!

Coming soon… How to Beat the Post-Vacation Blues. Don’t miss out, sign up for free blog updates below.