It’s here! Summer is finally here! That means longer days, afternoons spent at the beach, late night festivities and overall summer bliss. Yet, for all the good that summer brings, there is one pressing issue that many are faced with during the season: finding a good way to spend it. So, if that’s where you find yourself, let me share some ideas about how to spend your summer and some tips to help you get the balance just right.
Before we get into the list, it’s a good idea to remember that summer is more than just a season of ice cream and pool parties. It is the season of possibility. In many ways, it is a world of its own. After a long and gruesome academic year, this is the time when you can finally slow the pace, let loose, and relax without that nagging sense that you should be working instead. Time loses its meaning; days are no longer filled with deadlines and all the stress of university melts away. However, the summer months- December, January, and February- have potential to be even more substantial. They present a time for reflection, reassessment, and redirection. During the course of the summer, you can review your year by considering what you have learnt, taking stock of everything that happened, celebrating the achievements you have accomplished and toasting to the mere fact that you’ve survived another year. Then, as you prepare for the new year, you can set your sights on new goals by intentionally implementing what you have learnt the previous year. And all the while, you can refer to this list for ideas on how to seize every day.
Things to do:
- Go fruit picking – find a local farm and set a day aside to go pick seasonal fruits, take pictures, and bask in the sun.
- Open Air Cinema – create a unique movie night experience alone or with friends. In Cape Town, Galileo Open Air Cinema hosts outdoor movie experiences in venues like Kirstenbosch, the V&A Waterfront and many more.
- Have a self-care day – curate a relaxing playlist, buy a candle or two, and freestyle a self care day. This doesn’t need to be expensive, just find what works for you. That may mean incorporating a bubble bath, a soothing walk or meditating.
- Have a craft day – this is another activity that you can do alone or with friends. There are tons of crafts you can have fun with: pottery, beaded jewellery making, watercolor painting, flower pressing and more.
- Explore new places – visit rooftop bars, the botanical gardens, hotel pools, new hike routes and even ice cream parlours. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a favourite spot that you can come back to.
- Try new foods – you can make this summer all about stepping out of your shell. Browse the internet for new delicious looking foods and either cook it yourself, or find a restaurant where you can try it out.
- Make a vision board – this can work as a goal setting tool for the new year or a template for keeping track of all the ideas you have for your summer. Use an app like Pinterest and enjoy visualising all the things you want to do.
- Curate a shared playlist with someone – choose a friend (or group of friends) to create a shared playlist with. You don’t need to have the exact same tastes in music for this to work. Whenever you’re with this person you can have a soundtrack ready for your time with them. When summer has ended, those songs will be permanently imprinted in your mind, and hearing them will remind you of the time you shared.
- Clean and clear out your space – clean out your closet, donate old clothes, books, and other items to make space for everything you’ll want to acquire in the new year.
- Visit a secondhand book store – find new books to dive into for the season. You’re likely to have a lot more time on your hands so, why not read?
Remember that summer can be anything and everything you want it to be. This is the season to pour energy back into yourself and all the things you love because, you deserve it!