Do you still get that end-of-school excited feeling as summer approaches? With longer days, the season naturally encourages us to meet up with friends, spend more time al fresco or simply do something that’s out of our normal routine. But this can be a bit random and at the end of August, I often find myself wishing I’d done more with the 12 weeks of the season. So my suggestion is to design your summer.
I heard this idea last year on a podcast (of course) and thought it was genius, but I didn’t actually do it. So when they did a follow-up episode a few weeks ago, I resolved to take it more seriously.
What’s it all about? Basically, you consciously choose to make your summer different from the other seasons of the year with activities that aren’t the norm. When you make this effort, you’ll respark that extra bit of magic that summer brings when you doing something you’re really looking forward to.
Intrigued and need a few ideas? Review the outdoor summer movie schedule and find three to see with a group of friends and a picnic. Designate the third Saturday of each summer month to be devoted to a barbecue, taking advantage of our long summer days. Find a friend and a country walk with a pub along the way one Sunday in June, July and August.
You could also consider:
Laid-back lunch: give yourself a break in your day to refuel yourself physically and emotionally by catching up with someone you haven’t seen in a while. Choose one day and one friend each week and spend time reconnecting. It doesn’t need to be fancy, it just needs to be convenient for both of you so that it happens.
5K Friday: choose an activity such as running, cycling or swimming and set a goal of doing it for five kilometres, every Friday.
Restaurant roulette: gather a group of friends twice a month to try out a new to you dining experience. By the end of the summer, you’ll have sampled six new places.
This is also a great time to try out a fitness class, visit that art exhibition or experience new tastes at a food market.
What I’m really looking forward to this summer is extending my holiday beach reading. Rather than just keeping my trashy reads for my time in the sand, I’m having a whole season of light reading. I’m currently enjoying The Thorn Birds (ok, so I might have started a bit earlier than the solstice!) and will next be re-reading a couple of my favourite Sidney Sheldon books. If you have any suggestions for sand sizzlers, please let me know!
Do you have other ideas to savour your summer? I’d love to hear them.