Top Tips For Summer Fun

Summer is officially here, and with sunny days and late nights, it is the best season when it comes to having fun. It is the ideal time to see more of the world and go traveling, do some good in the world and gain new skills and friends through volunteering either abroad or at home, learn a new skill just for fun or to enhance your resume, or get your friends together and throw the party to end all parties. If you want to make the most of your summer before fall rolls around again, then it is time to get organized and plan your summer of fun.  

Go Traveling

Whatever kind of traveler you are, whether it’s beautiful beaches and blue seas, historical sites or a buzzing nightlife that makes a destination perfect for you, it is not too late to plan a summer of traveling. If you are traveling abroad then before you pack your bag, make sure to check that your passport is in date for the entire time you will be away and that you have applied for any relevant visas. Get vaccinated if you are traveling to an area of risk, and stock up on the appropriate medication. Make sure you sort your travel insurance too should anything unexpected happen while you are abroad and make copies of all your important documents in case you lose your bag. It is also a good idea to check whether your phone contract will work abroad and ensure you have the appropriate plug adaptor to charge your electronic devices. If you are traveling domestically, then plan your trip and work out whether you need to fly or if you can make the traveling part of the fun with a road trip. Check the weather for your destinations so you can be sure to pack appropriately. If you are a young driver, then read these tips from Bonsai Finance about how to save money and keep your car insurance costs down, so that you have more to spend on fun activities.  

Become a volunteer

Becoming a volunteer can be a brilliant way to develop your skills, meet new people and do good for your local community or a cause you care about. It can also give an important boost to your college application or job resume and show employers that you are committed and reliable. Search for the appropriate volunteering position for you, as not every role will suit every person. Volunteer positions can vary hugely, so you could offer your time and skills to a local charity or community group, or offer to run a fundraising or awareness-raising event for them, help out with the admin, or simply be another pair of hands for whatever is needed. If you would like to combine volunteering with travel, then research the volunteer abroad schemes that can help you to do just that. You could, for example, teach English as a foreign language to children in other countries, work on a farm in exchange for your board and food, volunteer on a conservation project or on building work abroad, to name but a few options. Volunteering abroad can broaden your cultural awareness and allow you to experience different ways of living, develop your language skills and help you to make friends worldwide. Volunteering is good for your health as well, giving people more sense of purpose and a greater feeling of happiness, so there is no reason to delay signing up today.

Throw a great party

Celebrate summertime by throwing the biggest and best party ever. It’s the ideal time to be outside so put fairy lights in the trees, hang colored lanterns from the porch and string bunting in your garden to set the scene. Keep the menu simple and make a help-yourself buffet with a selection of fresh salads, dips and tortilla chips, and a BBQ for burgers and skewered kebabs. Focus on ensuring there are cold drinks available, so set up buckets of ice to store beer and wine for people to help themselves, with soft drinks available for children or anyone who is not drinking alcohol. Keep the atmosphere relaxed and lay out picnic rugs for people to sit on or giant beanbags and floor cushions. Set some citronella candles burning to keep the mosquitos away. Every party needs music so create a playlist that will get your guests dancing if it’s an evening party or as gentle background music for a daytime affair.  

Learn a new skill

Summer is a great time to get active and dedicate some time to learning a new skill. Not only can this be a fun way to get fit, but it can also open up new networks and be a good way to make new friends. If you live or are on vacation near a beach, then try out some surfing lessons. Not only is surfing fun and a great way to spend time in a naturally beautiful location, but it also provides a range of health benefits such as improved cardiovascular fitness, increased core and leg strength, and a workout for your back and shoulder muscles. If the ocean is not your style, then you could try out rock climbing or another outdoor adventure sport, or simply gather your friends and family together for a hike and picnic, combining fresh air, exercise and socializing. Or perhaps something more sedate is your style, in which case you could take a course in learning to sew and be making your own original and bespoke clothes by September. Summer offers the perfect opportunity to develop your skills for your resume too, giving it a boost that could see you get the job over another candidate, and there are a variety of skills that can be mastered in a relatively short period of time, such as video editing, scuba diving or first aid. Assess what interests you the most and which skills might open up future career opportunities and then enroll in a local class and let this summer be a season of learning.