Making the most of Autumn

November is literally just around the corner. And the clocks changing this weekend is another sign that we’re quickly approaching winter. The darkness and cold is definitely on my top list of things I’ve been worrying about with my move back to Sweden, so I’m trying to think of ways to make the most of autumn and not falling into the trap of giving up and locking myself indoors just waiting for summer to come back (up north, in this part of the world, this will take a while…).

I know people who see autumn as their favourite time of the year, and even though I can’t quite agree, I sort of see what they mean. The refreshing air, the beautiful colours, the season for excellent layering fashion, the time to start getting cosy. And I want to be better at embracing this – so here are my top tips of making the most of autumn.

Continue enjoying the outdoors. The summer days and evening of seeing friends and enjoying the outdoors are over but don’t let that stop you – keep it up. Make plans with friends, make room for a healthy work/life balance. Go outside as often as you can. If it’s a sunny Sunday and you had made plans of being productive (laundry/cleaning/shopping etc), cancel the plans and go outside instead. Just wrap up warm, go for a walk up a hill (like we had done in the picture above) and just look at those beautiful leaves on the trees.

Declutter your home. Use the rainy and cold days to declutter your home. We are about to move again (this time permanently as we’ve bought a lovely flat) so we’re doing this anyway. But even if you’re not moving, this is the perfect time to clear your space and prepare for a cosy winter indoors with tidy spaces to fill with blankets and candles. There are always things we can get rid of as we don’t need or use them anymore, and now is the time. With the stuff you’re clearing out, have a look to see what you could sell, give away to family members, wrap up as Christmas presents for friends or charities collecting Christmas presents for those in need, to avoid your waste going to waste.

Invest in yourself. Dark cold days can be the perfect days to use retail therapy to cheer yourself up. But instead of buying loads of stuff you don’t need (an ruin the decluttering you’ve just done), invest in a nice dinner with a loved one, a pottery course, a massage, a spa visit. Or maybe buy some organic bath oil and an organic body scrub and face mask and have a home spa.

Explore, don’t travel. You don’t need to spend loads of money and add to your carbon footprint by going away for an autumn weekend away – explore places in your local area that you haven’t been to before. A new museum, a new cafe, stay a night in an eco-friendly hotel to get a change of scenery, or get on a train to visit somewhere new outside of your city.