Take your closest friends, sun, sea, sand, cocktails, bars, clubs and combine it with watching the sun rise, sun bathing, pool parties, no responsibilities and no rules.

Now picture this: stepping off the plane to be greeted by a cold gust of wind that doesn’t even hit half as hard as reality will as you touch down to spy the glorious rainy skies of England. You can almost feel your tan fading away the further you walk and glance back in desperation at the plane, wondering if they’ll do a return flight, immediately.

Believe me, they won’t, and I speak from experience having just returned from a girl’s holiday to Malia. I am now finding myself in a state of self-torment by listening to my holiday playlist on repeat, constantly flicking through photos and wondering what I’d be doing if it was this time last week.

I am well and truly suffering with the ‘Post Holiday Blues’ a common side effect of experiencing just a mere 24 hours of being back in England subsequent to your holiday. It’s painful and you grow to despise everything to do with this country, which begs the question: are the Holiday Blues ever beatable?

Honestly, not really. Reality never compares to doing whatever you damn well please whilst getting tanned simultaneously. But there becomes a time where you have to realise that you can no longer mosey on down to the poolside bar and tuck into Sambuca shots for breakfast and face life.

So how can you at least ease the pain of the blues?

1-      Stay busy. Remaining confined in your room, scrolling up and down Facebook will just make you agitated and you’ll be stuck in a rut before you can declare “I’m bored” to anyone that will listen. Get out the house, go the gym, read a book, walk the dog, see your friends, go clubbing (we can at least kid ourselves that it compares to the Malia strip), literally do anything to take your mind of it.

2-      Following on from tip 1, a great way to get busy is to get a job. Not only are you occupied but also earning money which means holiday round 2 is on the cards. If anything will motivate you through a 9-5 shift it’s knowing that this will fund your return trip. It will be worth it!

3-      Don’t compare your time to anyone else’s. It’s easy to fear that you’re missing out, but don’t forget you had your week and those people currently in ‘your’ hotel room have to return too and their fate of holiday blues will await them also.

4-      Accept that it’s over. If you really can’t again this year, keep the memories you have and smile that you’ve had them. Once you’ve accepted that, you find a way, any way, to make damn sure you go again and have an even better time.

Until next year, avoid tormenting yourself by Googling “cheap flights to chosen destination” and know that you are not alone in tweeting #takemeback