1. Run barefoot through tall grass.
2. Treat yourself to a Mr. Whippy, two flakes, unashamedly.
3. Bury your friends in the sand.
4. Watch the sunset from a rooftop, any rooftop.
5. Make your own Pimms, stuffed with fruit, for the main course of your picnic.
6. Dip your feet in the sea, a river, anything wet.
7. Take a long walk in the country and have deep and absurd conversations about being trees. Don’t forget snacks.
8. Drive a convertible, top down, speakers blaring One Direction, Missy Elliot, or (insert-other-cheesy-music-hit.)
9. Dance on a hilltop at sunset.
10. Dance on a hilltop at sunrise.
11. Dance on a hilltop in the middle of the night.
12. Just make sure you dance on a hilltop.
13. Take creative photos of tiny monuments balanced on your head.
14. Skinny dip with new friends.
15. Lie perfectly still in the grass and make conversations out of clouds.
16. Rifle through those books on the shelf that you haven’t gotten around to yet.
17. Put handfuls of sand in your housemate’s pockets and watch their reaction when you ask for a mint.
18. Choose a hot day and jump straight into an ice cold outdoor swimming pool, eyes shut, legs tucked.
19. Enjoy the cinema from a rooftop or a drive in — no need to shut yourself away from the sun and stars.
20. Don’t miss out on a summer fair if there is one — eat drink ride.
21. Stock your freezer with Jubblies and fight the brain freeze as you eat all of them in one sitting.
22. Discover the beauties of the ocean floor with a bit of snorkeling.
23. Swim alone in an empty freshwater lake in the early morning sunlight.
24. Get lost in a foreign city and spend the day finding new things.
25. Play volleyball on the beach.
26. Throw a BBQ and invite everyone – not just the usual crowd. Get the world to mingle with your Pringles.
27. Have a good old-fashioned water fight while the sun’s out and you’re feeling silly.
28. Go for a long cycle and enjoy fast-paced breezy moments in the hot weather.
29. Have a brunch that turns into lunch that turns into dinner and let your day blow in the wind like a leaf.
30. Stand with your feet in the sea and feel the water dragging the sand away from your toes.
31. Have a jamming session in a field at noon and let out your inner hipster with some acoustic guitar or a throaty song.
32. Enjoy the simple fact that the sun is shining and choose a walk over that taxi — think of that happy vitamin D.
33. Enjoy a dose of outdoor theatre and let the outside world dissolve around you as a whole new host of quality entertainment whisks you away, while you tan effortlessly in the summer rays.
34. Sleep outside beneath the stars (or the sun, depending on how demanding your daily routine is…)
35. Indulge yourself in the magic of fondue. Dip ALL THE THINGS in a chocolate fountain — strawberries, short -breads, chocolate. Dip chocolate in chocolate. Don’t think, just do.
36. Walk around, freely, unencumbered by winter coats, layers, or wooly accessories. Living that light life.
37. Invest in a hammock or befriend someone who has, because there’s nothing like hovering in the warm fresh air on the most comfortable bed there is, staring up at that beautiful blue sky.
38. Enjoy your chance to picnic — scoff your favourite finger foods: that’s right, cocktail sausages, strawberries, carrot sticks, and hummus, all the very best of fresh summer food. And don’t forget that checkered blanket on the grass. It just isn’t a picnic without it. 39. Notice how different the world looks through sunglasses and then through your own eyes.
40. Appreciate a breeze when it blows.
Featured photo credit: Flikr – Thomas Mues via flickr.com
