I’ve been reading your articles and I’m wondering what you would do if you had the bad weather blues. I live in PA and it’s always cold out here.
- Melissa (Mella) B.
Dear Mella,

If I was you, I would move back to my beloved California! Hehe. Now of course if you truly love living there and have no desire to move, read on. But I still want you to examine the idea of moving. Often people don’t move because they worry they can’t handle it. Often they haven’t even been to many other places. Don’t get stuck living somewhere you’re not happy. If you feel another place or climate calling you, start packing! If I could move to Hawaii all alone and with virtually no money, no job, no friends, you can move there or anywhere else too.

Speaking of Hawaii, I used to have a friend there who previously lived in New York and had all kinds of health problems. She made the bold choice of moving to Hawaii and voila, most of her discomfort went away. My point being, people don’t realize how much their body and soul might be asking for a different climate. Only you can tell so be honest with yourself.

Next: Really examine the blues. You’ll often find that it’s really more about having nothing to do that excites you than it is about crummy weather. How do I know? Because I get the blues even here in California sometimes! When you are passionate about things you’re doing, you pay less attention to the weather. Sometimes cold weather is actually perfect. Like when you’re snuggling with someone and watching movies all day: a cold rainy day makes it cozy. You really need to ask yourself a lot of questions about just how miserable you are and why. Get to the core of the issue. Is it really the cold or is it the lack of excitement?

My most important advice is this: Travel often. People tend to think of travel and holidays as a frivolous luxury, but I couldn’t disagree more. I think that frequent travel keeps the doctor and depression away. You just can’t replace the experience of leaving the same-old-same-old behind and discovering yourself in a new way, expanding through new places and cultures, and different ways of living and thinking. It gets you out of ruts you didn’t even know you were in. I’m not kidding. TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL. Then travel some more!

Of course, you may say, “but Len, travel takes time and money” especially if you’re like me and want the queen’s treatment. But so what? There is nothing that you can’t do. If you start visualizing your perfect holiday, it will come. The universe knows how to make it all work by giving you time off from work, a free trip, your boss sending you to a beautiful location, or whichever path is the path of least resistance.

You just have to quit whining and get excited about creating a new experience.

I also highly recommend renting movies where people travel to gorgeous locales. Some of my favorites are Only You (Venice ‘n Rome) , The Holiday (UK cottage and glamorous LA mansion) , and Fool’s Gold (Australia- at sea).

Prepare for the departure. Bon Voyage!