Snow days: Cabin fever survival guide
Winter is approaching. What can you do about the impending cabin fever?
As winter begins to eclipse my final memories of warm summer nights, I find myself romanticising nights by the log fire. Reality often sets in when I realise that I don’t, in fact, have a log fire.
My hometown has spent the past week in a cast of white light. Snow is nearing. It’s freezing. It always looks so pretty in the postcards, but when we’re faced with long days of cabin fever, the novelty soon wears off.
When snow approaches, the panic sets in. The motorways get gridlocked, so we can’t go anywhere. The local shops run out of bread and milk, so we get to catch a glimpse at what the apocalypse might look like. The ground ices over, so, unless we want to do our own rendition of Bambi on ice, we can’t even go for a pleasant walk.
What can we do? Fear not. Hope is not lost. Here are five ideas to make sure you keep the winter cabin fever at bay.
Tip one: Embrace your inner Mary Berry.
We all agree that Mary Berry is the Queen of Baking, right? How many hours have you sat binge-watching The Great British Bake Off on Netflix and promised yourself, “I’m going to try that one day”, while religiously saving the recipe in your notes? Well, now’s the time to take that note and create that cake. It doesn’t matter if the cake turns out, you still get to lick the bowl of cake mix; cabin fever reduction level: 100.
Tip two: Rediscover your favourite book.
Sometimes life can be so… over-organised. With work comes schedules, meetings, and little time to enjoy the sweet side of life. It’s snowing outside, you can’t go anywhere, so pull out that book from the shelf and lose yourself for a couple of hours. There’s nothing quite like letting your imagination sweep you away from the gloomy sights outside.
Tip three: Rearrange your furniture.
Don’t worry, I don’t mean you should start stressing yourself out with feng shui. When was the last time you did something a little ridiculous… like, maybe, building a den? Don’t laugh it off, hear me out. Think about it: you move that couch, upturn that armchair, and throw a couple of sheets over. Hey presto! You have a cosy little den to chill out in — or maybe the perfect place to read that book.
Tip four: Get creative with the snow.
OK, this might be the obvious one. It’s not all about the snowmen though. You can be super creative — allow your imagination to go wild. Dig out your hat and gloves and go make the most of the white fluffy stuff outside. Igloos, snow caves, snow sculptures — the list is endless. Check out these for some inspiration.
Tip five: Plan your summer holiday.
The best thing about winter is thinking about summer, and promising ourselves that, next year, we will not take the heat for granted. Beach holiday in Spain? Trip to Italy to devour pizzas? A walk along the Champs-Élysées in France? So many options; what are you waiting for? Time to pull up Google and start planning your summer getaway. Now you just need to choose: Pina Coladas or Mojitos?
Spring will be here before you know it. For now, enjoy the cosy nights, treat yourself to that hot chocolate, and, yes, it’s perfectly fine to add the cream and marshmallows.
Thanks for reading. What ideas to you have for curbing cabin fever?
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