I know, y'all have missed me- but I'm back, and just in time for the new school year. Just to get warmed up and back into the swing of writing regularly again, I've decided to go with a classic topic today: What I Learned On My Summer Vacation.
This was the first summer since my junior year of high school that I didn't spend working full time. I did continue working the part time job I have throughout the school year, but I finally got a much needed break. I am, unfortunately, the quintessential broke college student, so I was unable to do any traveling, but I still managed to have a great time near home, and on a budget.
So what fun is to be had close to home with a tight budget? I'll tell you some of the things I did:
1) Spent time with family- I had lots of great bonding time with my niece and nephews, and things like taking them to the park, the mall, or swimming cost little to nothing. This is a great way to kill an afternoon and provide a little chill time for their parents. If you don't have offspring of your own, or nieces or nephews, it would probably be all the more welcome if you offered to babysit a good friend's kids for an afternoon. Kids give you an opportunity to do a lot of things you might not want to do by yourself, like go to the zoo (free in my city).
2) Found some volunteering opportunities- Bored? Get outside your bubble a bit. There are so many benefits to giving up a little of your abundant vacation free time! You can meet a whole new group of people, who are more likely to be genuine, giving and down to earth than people you'd meet pretty much anywhere else. You can support and aid a cause that is important to you, and contribute a small but crucial part to conquering a big problem. You can have an opportunity to learn new skills, like painting, organizing, food service, cooking, and hone your people-skills, learning to talk and interact with strangers who come from a different background than you.
3) Took a class- Admittedly, I took classes that were required for the degree program I am working on, but even if you've finished school, it can be a great way to continue growing and learning new things that interest you. You can take a hobby class like painting or wood-burning, or you could take a creative writing class. If you love reading but never seem to be able to make the time, a literature class at the local community college might just provide the motivation you need, or perhaps if you're on an even lower budget, you could join a local book club- or start your own!
4) Started a new fitness regime- I took a short break from my usual workout routine at the start of the summer, and then came back into it with extra motivation. This was a time when I could guiltlessly spend extra time working on my personal fitness goals- really, I had no excuse because for once I not only had the time, but I had it in abundance. Yes, I pay a monthly fee for a gym membership, but even if I didn't, I could take long walks, try out different exercise videos from the library or Movie Trading Company, or swim in my apartment pool.
5) Tuned in to local events- My city, Dallas, has a great resource; Pegasusnews.com, where I can find most of the events happening at any time on any day, and the prices are listed so I can narrow my search to only those things which are free. I use it to find local band performances to check out new talent, events like nature walks, special exhibits at the museum or botanical gardens, and occasionally, when I do feel like spending a little bit of money, I will go to a show. Personally I like comedy shows the best, and this summer I discovered a great local gem called the Pocket Sandwich Theater, where they feature Parody and Comedy plays, and the audience is provided stale popcorn to hurl at the actors whenever the fancy strikes them. I also attended this year's Taste of Dallas, which was a rather expensive ($15 at the door, $5 parking, + $1-$3 for each food item) but exceptionally fun time. I got so much free stuff at the Taste of Dallas, too, that I probably broke even on the initial charge to get in.
6) Caught up on sleep- I am being completely serious here, it makes such a difference to your health, your mood, and your life to take advantage of every opportunity to get adequate sleep. Most people don't realize, when we fail to get adequate sleep, we build a deficit. If you miss 2 hours one night, and 3 hours the next night, sleeping in an extra hour that weekend still leaves you with a 4 hour deficit. Now I'm sure the math isn't necessarily that cut and dry, but the point is, sleeping in one day a week to make up for the other 6 isn't effective. So when you have a vacation, and you make a choice to catnap and "have a lie-in", that's not laziness, it's a great choice, like choosing water over coke. It also allows your body to rejuvenate itself, making your workouts show better and more immediate results, keeping your skin healthy and youthful... Great stuff.
7) Read some books, spent time on my hobbies
8) Took time to focus on my walk with God- I went on a weekend women's retreat at the early part of the summer, where I was encouraged and given a chance to worship, had alone time for prayer, and opportunities to fellowship with other people of my faith. I will be going on another retreat for Young Singles from my church this Labor day, and at the beginning of the summer I bought and started a new devotional workbook just for myself. Now I will admit right here that I am not even halfway through that workbook, and there is still a lot of work that I need to continue to do on prioritizing time for my spiritual walk, but the summer has been a great time to reinvigorate my passion for Christ and His work in my life.
Anyway, that's how I spent my summer, hopefully it'll give some of y'all a few ideas for your own down time, whether vacations, weekends or just evenings off. One thing is for sure, I did miss writing this blog, so I hopefully won't be taking another long break like that until next summer.
Now that I'm back, I'm looking for fresh material, so send me your questions, topics, etc at asksuzyadvice@gmail.com, or just click the "email us" link on the right hand side of this page. Thanks!
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