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The Brain Bath?! Life’s a Beach

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Beach - Central Audiovisual Library, European Commission

Summertime and the living is easy… Ah the Brain Bath?! team loves this time of year. Long sunny days, warm sultry evenings and best of all the prospect of a bucket shop flight somewhere altogether more exotic than commutersville and the concrete jungle we flit between the rest of the year 'round. A fortnight without meetings, memos and paperwork is enough to keep us going until, well, Christmas at least.

But while the Brain Bath?! sun themselves on distant shores, they will be sparing a thought for the amazing one in six who choose to stay in touch with the office over their summer holidays, according to a survey by HR consultancy, Hudson. And let's not forget the one in seven who opt for a summer of office air conditioning and other people's holiday snaps over a few days in the sun.

But maybe these people have a point? Having saved all year for the annual two weeks in the sun, does it always live up to our dreams? The Brain Bath?! would love to hear your holiday stories, good and bad. Here are a few of our personal gripes to get you started.

1. One night sampling the local delicacies and the remainder of the holiday never venturing more than 100 yards from the nearest loo.
2. Endless flight delays – why do they always happen when the only entertainment is a coffee bar and a souvenir shop?
3. Mosquitoes.
4. Sunburn – yes we know we should be wearing factor 25 on first exposure, but how else are the people back home going to appreciate we've been on holiday?
5. Suntan lines – it was so relaxing lying by the pool and so easy to drift off, but you're regretting those Jackie O shades that have left looking like a negative of a panda.
6. Hangovers – those cocktails were so bursting with fruit, they should have been healthy…
7. Brits abroad – resort to school-French at first sight of Union Jack shorts.
8. Building works – that quiet resort you picked has had a sudden bout of development.
9. Money conversion – the only mental arithmetic we do all year.
10. Beach wear – oh how we now regret having let that gym membership lapse.