THANK goodness they're almost over. Holidays are bad for you - and its not just the weather.

Of course, when you're actually on holiday it's great.

When you've settled into your hotel, cottage, caravan or tent and got into a routine of getting up when you please, doing nothing much all day, downing a bottle or two of wine every night, and contentedly retiring to bed.

But before you slot into that lazy holiday routine, there's the nightmare of tying up loose ends.

There's work - frantically trying to finish outstanding stuff and remembering to pass on vital information that might be needed while you are away.

And home - sorting out care for pets, asking neighbours to kindly keep an eye on your house, cancelling the papers, the milk, the internet shop and whatever else you get delivered regularly.

Then there's all the packing - making sure you've got everything to avoid unnecessary expense. And money to be changed if you're going abroad. The preparations can seem endless.

Once you're away, it all seems worth it. But then, in the blink of an eye, you're back, and that brings extra workloads and extra stresses, the worst being: Unpacking: Unless you're hugely organised, then you'll be faced with having to sift through the suitcase asking yourself "Is this clean?" as you create piles of things to be put away and stuff for the laundry bin.

If you've been to the seaside, as we have this year, there's the added nightmare of half-a-ton of sand that has embedded itself into clothes and shoes. No matter how much shaking you do, every fresh shake seems to bring more mini dunes from the creases.

Restocking: Because no-one wants to go away leaving a full fridge, most families need to shop once they are come home. Thank goodness for late-night opening. We returned from holiday to a tub of out-of-date humous and a bowl of mouldy potato slices. Together I'm sure the two would have made a tasty meal (after all, food containing bacteria is supposed to be good for you), but with the supermarket just ten minutes away, the take-away option got more votes. Next to work, the last thing I feel like doing after a holiday is hacking around an obscenely massive supermarket, but needs must.

Rewinding: As most people, particularly those with pressurised jobs, know, it is difficult enough to unwind at the beginning of your holiday.

But, equally, it is hard to rewind - to get back into the swing of things when you come back. I'm always amazed by those people who fly back from holiday the night before they go back to work, giving themselves just a handful of hours to adjust. One afternoon they're beside the pool, the next morning they're sitting in front of their computer, not even having unpacked. I need at least a full day in between, just to mentally adjust.

Remembering: All the things you pushed to the back of your mind when you went away - the huge pile of laundry, the rotten windows.

You have to ask yourself, is it all worth it. It must be. Some of my colleagues books next year's break the day they returned from this year's. And I wasn't far behind them.