Only a beach will do...

I have just spent a cushty two weeks cocooned in the comfy bubble that is living back at home. Being welcomed into a clean and cosy house, full of family, with well-stocked cupboards and warm radiators is always a treat; even more so at Christmas when friends and family from the four corners return and the house oozes christmas cheer. After a few months of pushing my comfort zones in Madrid, relaxing into the easy fold of familiarity had never been so sweet.

The upshot of this of course, is that it amplified the annual bout of January Blues ten fold. In fact, it so magnified my reluctance to return to Madrid that I inadvertently found myself scanning recruitment websites for jobs in London. Far from bouncing back to Madrid refreshed and eager, it was a struggle to heave my weary self to the airport.

When I initially moved to Spain in September, the sky-high temperatures, bohemian lifestyle and buzz of arriving somewhere new made it difficult to miss the daily grind of a 9 to 5 in London. Now, when Madrid´s cloudy grey skies are identical to London´s, a forever-changing timetable and no set income is less appealing.

However, despite my grumbles, I am under no delusions that returning to a job in London would be any less unpleasant, and am well aware that January melancholy is a common affliction suffered by all. It seems that after two weeks of over-indulgence and excess, almost everyone is battling a stubborn hangover that has been lingering since New Year´s Day. Relatively speaking, returning to a part-time teaching post in a cultural capital is nothing to complain about. Even so, I am still dragging my feet...

I´ve come to the conclusion that the best solution is to don the backpack again and head off in search of a sandy shore for a few months. Not only a tried and tested remedy for solving back to work blues, it is also an effective, if drastic, way to comfortably push aside the reality of finding a career and making a living. What´s more, the constant barrage of new experiences when travelling waylays any longings for home. A win-win situation whichever way you look at it!