Things were a lot easier when you got out of grade school for the summer and already had tons of plans with your friends. Even your parents had vacations planned, and with so much free time on your hands, you were happy no matter what -- especially since you had no more homework over the summer. But when you come back to your hometown after your spring college semester is over and all you have planned for the summer is to work, you feel bored out of your mind. The small town where you could once find millions of things to do now seems like a place where there's nothing to do.
Your parents no longer want to entertain you, and you don’t exactly want to spend all your days with your parents whom you haven’t seen or had to put up with for months. Even your high school friends are quite different than before college, so even if you decided to hang out with them again, it's not the same.
The boredom just gets worse when you realize how much you miss your friends and your life back at college, so eventually you feel sad all the time because you’d rather be back at school -- even if that means doing homework.
So instead of sitting around, here are some fun things to occupy your time rather than moping around all day.
1. Take your car for a little adventure.
Even on the dullest days, take a little ride around your small town or go exploring in places you’ve never gone before, because it's really a good time. Go take a ride to your favorite store or mall and just go shop around a little bit. Even if you can’t buy anything, there’s no harm in window shopping. There’s nothing more fun than enjoying the nice weather with your windows down and playing some good music. Even the shortest car ride can occupy a little of your time.
2. Treat yourself to a little dinner movie date.
It’s not a bad thing to do things by yourself every once in awhile. Go spend some money on yourself -- go to your favorite restaurant and enjoy a nice peaceful dinner. As depressing as that may sound, it’s actually a great time to enjoy the time you have on your hands. Go to the movies afterwards, too, and see a film you know you could enjoy by yourself. A little you time every once in a while never hurts.
3. Enjoy your job, and use it to occupy your time.
We all know that it's nearly impossible as college students to go home over the summer and not work at all. If you don’t find a job while you have time, you’ll either be broke all summer or broke all next semester. Some of us are lucky enough to return to the jobs we had in high school, and most of them are actually ones we quite enjoy. So don’t go to work every day annoyed that you're there -- use that time to enjoy your coworkers' company, and make the best of the situation.
4. Soak up some sun and enjoy the outdoors.
Don’t spend all your time inside this summer -- that alone will make you miserable. Use the hot sunny weather to lay outside with a book or maybe just listen to some great music. Nothing’s better than enjoying your natural surroundings. Even if you don't like to sit outside all day, go somewhere that you can enjoy besides inside your house. Go to a creek, explore a beach, or hike a trail near you to take up some time. You may actually enjoy this enough to keep going back every now and then.
5. Binge on some good ol' Netflix shows.
Of course, don’t forget to catch up on the TV shows and movies that you've wanted to enjoy but couldn't, because you didn't have enough free time at school. It’s okay to just stay in your room at night, lay in your bed with some snacks and watch your favorite shows. Not only does it take up a lot of time, but you will be wondering where all the time went when you're done watching. You can never get too much Netflix.
