If, like me, you are counting the days until summer arrives in the Northern Hemisphere, then you will already know that we have just 18 sleeps to go until we can indulge in the glorious sunshine, daily BBQs, chilled white wines and alfresco lifestyles that come with the summer season…! Well, that’s the hope, at least!

But, with grey skies, wet weather conditions, and a flooded vegetable patch, I am starting to wonder if summer is going to grace us with its presence at all in 2013 (spring obviously opted out!), and feel it might be time to give up on our dreams of a ‘great British summer’, pack our bags, and head off somewhere warm and exotic instead!

Having lived in warmer climes for over 15 years, I am no longer acclimatised to the icy winters of Northern Europe, and after what can only be described as a ‘brutal’ winter in the Austrian Alps (snow from November to March, minus 15, rain, hail… you get the picture) I am more than ready to pack away the long johns and dig out some summer attire… but where’s the sun?

I may be used to rain (I am from Blighty, after all), but these constant downpours and chilly temperatures are starting provoke the travel bug in me… and so in order to cheer myself (and other water-logged travellers) up, I thought I would share a few shots of where I would rather be right now…

After climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and standing above the clouds, my better half came up with this fun quote…

“There is no such thing as bad weather – You just don’t have enough altitude!”