I hope each of you, dear readers, had a wonderful summer! As an educator, this is the most wonderful time of the year for me. While I don't love the hot Texas summers I call home; every summer I travel, spend time with my family, relax, rejuvenate, and get ready for the busy days ahead. We are a family that loves to travel and have been lucky enough to travel every summer since we got married, and we just celebrated our 22nd birthday last month. In today’s post, I’ll share my experience on how I spend the summer and provide some tips on how to relax and rejuvenate during the hot season, so read on!
background
Let me give you some background. We are a family of four and love traveling. So travel or vacation is always the highlight of our summer vacation. But even when I was growing up, we would enjoy summer vacations because both my parents were teachers. This is the perfect time to visit extended family and travel to distant places. In addition to exploring places, I love making memories for my kids and letting them plan their summer vacation, making sure they are able to enjoy time with friends, do activities they enjoy, or give back to the community through volunteering, or Just a few lazy days or weeks at home…
Here are some of our trips from recent summers—
2024: Canada, Pennsylvania, and New York
Visited Calgary, Vancouver, Whistler and Kelowna in Canada in June. Visited Pittsburgh and New York in July.
2023: Penn State and India
Traveled to Pittsburgh for a Taylor Swift concert in June. Visited Faridabad, Leh and Ladakh in July.
2022: Canada and Italy
Visit Calgary, Canada. Visit Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Venice, Milan and Lake Como
2021: Pennsylvania and New York
Visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Visit New York City
2020: No travel due to COVID-19
2019: India and Europe
Visit Faridabad, India. Visited parts of Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic.
2018: Mexico
Visit Cancun
2017: Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.
Visit Des Moines, Minneapolis, Iowa; Bloomington and Mall of America, Minnesota; Portage & Chesterton, Indiana; and Chicago, Illinois.
2016: India
Visit Faridabad and New Delhi
2015: Texas
Visit San Antonio
2014: New England
Visited parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island
2013: Canada and India
Visit Calgary, Canada and Faridabad, India
2012: New York and Washington, D.C.
Visited Niagara Falls, Times Square Memorial Hall, and Ellis Island in New York. Visit the Pentagon Memorial and White House in Washington
2011: Local travel in Texas
2010: India
2009: San Antonio
2008: California and Las Vegas
2007: San Antonio
2006: Moved from Virginia to Texas
2005: Local travel to India and Virginia
2004: New York
12 ways to relax and rejuvenate this summer:
- travel
As you read above, traveling is our favorite way to spend a few weeks of summer vacation. This summer we took an overseas trip to Canada to visit my sister and her family and a second vacation in Pennsylvania and New York
2. Volunteer
We try to volunteer year-round, especially in the summer when we have more time. When the kids were little, we often volunteered at the Houston Food Bank. As they grew older, they began volunteering regularly at animal shelters. My oldest son worked at Special Pals for many years, and my younger son worked at Friends for Life for many years. We also foster from Pup Squads and Houston Pets Alive.
3. Library visit
Both my daughters are avid readers. Although we go to the library every month to borrow books, it's more frequent in the summer. The book I’m reading right now and loving is How to Die with Zero by Bill Perkins!
4. Party with friends
Socializing is something I enjoy. We try to see the family a few times a year, but I also see the girls in between. My children have their own circle of friends that they hang out with. They go to the mall, out to eat, to the movies or other activities.
5. Pursue your hobbies
Whether it's reading, crocheting, drawing or painting, it depends on their interests, my kids pursue their interests the most during the summer when they have extra time.
6. Summer internship or research or work
My oldest son had a job and an internship during the summer. My brother did 2 summer internships with SEWA and earned over 150 volunteer hours. She is a Girl Scout and dedicated over 50 hours in the summer of 2021 to earn her Silver Medal. This summer, she begins competing for a gold medal and plans to put in more than 100 hours to complete it by the end of the year. She is also doing summer research with a college professor and is keeping busy!
7. Plan ahead for fall
Although summer is the perfect time to rest, relax, and rejuvenate; it still takes some planning to prepare for the busy months ahead. For me, it might be planning job training, lesson plans, or calendar events. For children, this might be a summer study book for the next grade when they were young, or it might be a summer reading book for school or a summer assignment for junior high school. Some children attend summer programs to get ahead in school.
8. Start or finish something you have started
For me, this might be my blog writing or connecting with friends/family I haven’t spoken to in a while. For a child, it might be learning to cook, or getting a learner's permit or driver's license.
9. Do nothing
It's important for kids (and adults) to have some days where we do nothing. Laziness means relaxing and enjoying yourself, doing nothing. In our house, this might look like binge-watching TV, playing board games until late at night, sleeping in, skipping breakfast, and waking up late. We can just relax at home, or enjoy outdoor activities such as a pool or beach, or go for a hike, or go for a walk in the park. Some people stay at home and engage in leisure activities instead of spending the night outside. Talk to your family members and find your niche to decide what's best for your family.
10. Pamper yourself
There are many ways to treat yourself, especially when you don’t have a busy daily life. Think of some relaxing things you can look forward to during the summer and then do it! For us, it might be manicures, pedicures, massages, spa treatments or just eating out more.
11.Learn and grow
If you’ve been putting off something important that you think will help you learn and grow, do it now during the summer! For example, learn to swim, paint, do some adventure activities, learn a new language, get a certificate, etc.
12. Reflect and pause
Summer is the perfect time to relax and do things that will grow you and make you a better person. Take time to pause, reflect, be grateful, and find ways to feel whole and happy!
wrap up
All in all, there are many ways to enjoy summer. I've listed 12 ways to relax and rejuvenate. Dear readers, we love hearing from you. Share how you spend your summer and make the most of the hottest months of the year. You can comment below or send an email to nishtha@dawnandhope.com. We'd love to add it to our list.
related articles:
10 Summer Activities for Teens
10 goals to work towards during the summer