By; Sophie Cagnoli
Everyone wants to have a spectacular coming of age movie summer, but it can be hard—in practice—to come up with ways to stay connected over the long break, especially when some friends work or are going away to summer camp. Fear not, the Chronicle is here to help!
The first step is to gather information. Do this as soon as possible! While the school year is still going on, get to know everything about schedules, plans, and interests. From then, it’s easy to compare that with personal data. Ask friends questions like, “Are you taking any big trips over the summer?”, “How much do you think you’re going to work over break?” or something even more direct, “Do you want to set up some times to meet up before we get back to school?”.
Over the summer, it’s important to plan things in advance. To have the dramatic, aesthetic, The Summer I Turned Pretty summer, frequent interactions are a must. If possible, establish some reoccurring event, like weekly movie nights. Use this time to do activities that school usually makes difficult, like parties that stretch longer into the night, and sleepovers.
Be sure to stay cool under the blistering death ray of the sun with a pool party, or, if someone has a car available, go all out and take a trip out to the California Coast! Imperial Beach is only a five-and-a-half-hour drive away and makes an excellent day trip as long as everyone is willing to wake up early and get home late, as well as a friendship strength test with everyone sitting in a car together for that long.
For those that need a little help with gathering ideas, consider these options: backyard or national park camping, picnics, baking, playing board games, stargazing, shopping, hikes, water parks, water balloon fights, biking, city sports, urban exploration, trampoline parks, or just your typical gab sesh! In real life, or over the phone.
The goal is just to make sure nobody forgets everybody else exists. Don’t get lonely this summer! The key to a fantastic summer is solid planning and communication, just remember to enjoy it!
Everyone has the opportunity to have an awesome summer, it’s just a matter of taking action! Photo from: Getty Images
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