With summer around the corner, we, college students, get prepared to spend our summer vacations either working, going on family vacations or simply just relaxing at home. By the end of the spring semester, I am itching to pack up my dorm room, drive home and delete every school work related thing off my computer to decompress. With all this being said, I want to dive into how I and/or other girls prepare for a summer vacation in their hometowns.
Tanning:
One thing that’s important to me in the summertime is my tan. Like many people, I feel the most confident in myself and my appearance when I’m tan. Growing up, I had the privilege of getting tan easily and fast. How I do so well in having a tan is just being outside. Since my parents have a pool in our backyard, I am always taking advantage of it by laying out, listening to music and reading a book. Last summer, I was in my backyard almost every day before I went to work. Spending as little as 30 minutes to an hour outside every day will help impact your summer tan little by little each day! This technique is not for everyone, however. Other people prefer to self-tan at the beginning of summer to have their bronzy look right away. I’m not saying that this is a useless method, more so I’ve just been afraid to try it out. You can try a tanning bed at the salon or test their self-tanning lotions at the store. If you had to choose one, I would want to try the lotion over the tanning bed. The tanning bed freaks me out, personally.
Nails:
Another trick that gets me in the summer spirit is getting my nails done. I have never liked how my nails look when they’re plain or me trying to make them look good. When having a summer job, I like to splurge on my nails every two to three weeks. Something that I will say helps me budget with this is testing out the different nail salons around our town and figuring out the cheapest and if it’s reasonably priced. No one should spend $75 to $100 on their nails when having a minimum-wage job. An even less expensive option is that I do sometimes get fake press-on nails at my local convenience store. If I know my nails need a break from gel heating but I still want them to look nice, I tend to go this route. There are also times when I prefer to spend less money on nails.
Curfews and Nightlife:
This might not be the case for everyone this summer but I know a lot of college students go back home for the summer and live with their parents again. The transition of going from living in a dorm on your own and doing whatever you want to move back in with your parents and being restricted is a challenge. Now that my boyfriend has his place, I’ve practically moved in there so I won’t have this issue anymore. Moving back in with your parents can be difficult coping with not getting to stay out as late as you’re used to. With the school year almost ending, it might be helpful to have a mature conversation with your parents to explain how this will become a challenge losing some privileges and ask if you all can compromise on an agreement.
If this isn’t a problem for you and you will continue going out all night, I would say to stay as safe as possible. Going out bar crawling with friends and seeing people from high school who you hated sounds fun in theory, but the night can easily take a dangerous turn. Something to prepare for in this situation is to always have protection on you and make sure you get in the car with a sober person behind the wheel.
Beach and Pool Trips:
One last thing, I would advise everyone to have a beach bag always packed and ready in their car at all times. Something about me is that I can be very spontaneous and decide to travel to the beach at the very last second. In my beach bag, I always have sunscreen, a bathing suit, a towel, sunglasses and money for the boardwalk. Going to the beach has always been an escape from reality and it’s something that I want to prioritize more this summer.
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