About a month before school gets out and summer break begins, everyone tends to start daydreaming about how this summer is going to be the “best one yet.” Then summer break actually arrives and about two weeks in you find yourself sleeping until 2 P.M. and lounging on the couch in front of the T.V. until it’s time to go back to bed. You have so much time on your hands that you don’t know what to do with it, and before you know it, you have to go back to school. Well, here are some things you need to do in order to actually live up to your summer expectations.
1. Go outside.
This sounds like an obvious one, but you’d be surprised at how much of your summer you actually spend laying around the house. Make it a point to get outside each day, whether it be getting active like playing a sport or going for a run, or just lazy laying out in the sun on your patio. Plus, who doesn’t love a good tan?
2. Add water.
Yes, adding water can mean going to the beach or to the pool, but not everyone can just drop everything to go on a sandy vacation or have a pool membership. If you’re one of those people, adding water in the form of a kiddy pool in the backyard or a water balloon fight will do the trick, and this goes for all ages. You can have just as much, if not more fun pelting water balloons at one another when you’re 20 as you did when you were 8.
3. Travel
Whether it be one state over to visit an aquarium or a museum, or it be across the ocean to a different continent, try and see at least one new place. Traveling or road tripping with those closest to you can be a great bonding experience and give you lots of memories to look back on later. Traveling has also been shown to clear the mind and improve overall happiness.
4. Pick people whose company you enjoy.
Half of what makes most activities fun is those who surround you. Spend your time with those you love, because you never know how long you have together. Even if it’s simply sitting around doing nothing, having someone to do it with is better than being alone.
5. Have bonfires and cookouts.
This idea can be both romantic or just with a group of friends. Sitting around a fire under the stars and talking all night can be a great way to reminisce. Not to mention a good excuse for s’mores.
6. Find a summer job that you enjoy.
Chances are, something you’re going to want to do this summer is going to cost money. Working a summer job that you enjoy being at will help you to save money, have fun, and maintain some sort of scheduled activity amongst all the free time.
7. Attend concerts or music festivals.
Bank account permitting, buying tickets to go see live performances is always a good way to spend the day. It doesn’t matter if it’s your favorite band or someone you’ve never even heard of, surrounding yourself with others who have the same love for music as you is a great way to bond with new people.
8. Balance your spontaneity with planning.
Summer is basically 3 months of doing whatever you want. While it’s great to randomly decide to drive down and spend the day at the beach, also be aware of any big family or friend vacations that have been scheduled ahead of time, so you don’t double book yourself. That being said, any big trips that you have in mind that require a lot of packing or long distance travel, should also be planned ahead. Don’t decide to tell your friends you should go to Mexico on a Tuesday, and then try to leave Wednesday. It won’t work.
Keeping all these things in mind, simply going outside and enjoying the weather or going out to lunch with a friend will make it seem like you didn’t waste the whole day. You’d be surprised by how productive you feel at the end of summer when your phone’s photo storage is full and you didn’t re-watch all of Grey’s Anatomy for the 5th time.