According to whoever it is that works such things out, today is officially the most depressing day of the year, when a perfect storm of soggy weather, post-Christmas debt and broken resolutions comes together to unite the nation in misery. But fear not: if the winter gloom has descended like a cartoon raincloud over your head, experts say the following will help to get your mojo back:

1. Performing a random act of kindness.
2. Receiving an unexpected complement.
3. (Our favourite!) Planning your next holiday...

Joaquin Dedomenici, who covers Operations for our Group Tours department, shares his personal recommendation as to where to seek the sun during the British winter.

Being a patriotic young Argentinean, I didn’t think that it was a great idea when my dad told us that we were going to go to Florianópolis in neighbouring Brazil for the summer. I was 15 years old, and I can tell you that I was mistaken. Now many years later, and after spending many subsequent summers there, I consider Florianópolis the place to be during the summertime in South America – the UK winter...

Machu Picchu, the legendary ‘lost city’ of the Incas, will be celebrating the centenary of its discovery by explorer Hiram Bingham in July this year.

Perched on a remote mountaintop and hidden by neighbouring Andean peaks, the secluded citadel was never found by the Spanish invaders and escaped plundering, making it the most complete and intact...
 

On New Year's Eve I was lucky to find myself – along with my Golondrina group and two million other people – on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

From early afternoon there had been a constant flow of people walking towards the beach and all anyone could talk about were the fireworks, and how this year they were going to be even bigger and better than normal to celebrate the World Cup and Olympics...