Hello lovely readers!
In only the last two weeks, we were asked this question by different people in different settings. Then there were a slew of posts here on Substack of summer stories of adventure & rest. Also, Mr Hanson’s colleagues took weeks off on summer holidays and I almost remembered how last year when we had decided to give up our life in NYC and travel around the US for a year then how one aunt had told me we had a great summer plan. only, I did not think much of it then. For us, it was more about taking a chance when opportunity struck than making summer plans.
To be clear, I’ve nothing against summer plans. I’m just unaware of this Western phenomenon. Back in India, the summers only mean something to those who have kids in school. It has been quiet for some time, all of my siblings, cousins & friends are out of school. Although, most of my close friends have kids in school somehow we never discussed their ‘summer plans‘.
Summer Holidays Used To Be My Favorite When I Was In School
My favorite summer holidays were going to Kerala to my maternal grandmother’s house. It would be a 2-day journey from Delhi to Kerala on the Rajdhani Express train. My mom would pack some really amazing food options and we could have as many lays potato chips as we wanted. We would get the whole section with 4 births (seats ) for our family and I was always on the top seat where I would lie on my stomach and read champak, chacha Chaudhari & some other comics we would find on the station. Later I developed a taste for readers digest and that became a jam. When I would get bored, I would listen to my Walkman. In between all this, there would be fights with my younger sister on how long each of us will get a window seat to graze the fields our superfast train was passing quickly. We would also have some fun moments but it’s kind of hard to remember why were we having laughter. Pretty sure my dad would do something funny to make us laugh.
Back in my amuma’s ( grandma in Malayalam ) house, we would meet all our cousins of our 3 uncles, and 1 aunt. Our amuma welcomed us with the delicious food she would make specially for us since we were coming from far and would come every two years or so. The house in Kerala was in between trees and open lands and we were roaming around in our frocks, munching on ripe jackfruits and chitchatting with all our cousins. I would sneak out from time to time and go to these big trees and act like I was in the song, ‘Gazab ka hai din’ from the movie ‘Qyamat Se Qyamat Tak’ where she was dancing around trees.
Then sneaking into the store room with a cousin and eating all the ripe bananas and letting the peel be there so no one will find us.
Big FOMO Alert!
So what now? Do I Really Need One?
Are we supposed to have some summer rules like the one person who mentioned she and her husband go to the beach once with coolers, mats & food so they can stay at the beach the whole day? Should we make some rules around our summers even when we have no kids right now who have their summer holidays? Should we as adults enjoy summer holidays like we used to in childhood?
For us, we have noticed that we hike more during this time. Maybe that is our summer life? I am not anchored to making some life rules at this point but it did give me FOMO when I see people sharing their travel plans. But the fact is, we traveled the last whole year and the craving is still on. What the eff?
The Big Thing That Is On The Mind Now
Ya so we may not have any summer plans this year and honestly, I kind of like it. There is a lot of catching up to be done. For me, July & Aug is going to be busy, and hoping that we can take a week off around our anniversary with just us two, no phones, and no work. Last year, we went to Sonoma Valley on this rustic charming Airbnb on a hill. There was no phone, no talk for most of the time and we just enjoyed being. This is my favorite summer plan I think - a complete mind-body rest.
This whole thing gave birth to new thinking in us and mostly me. What is it we want from life in terms of fun & enjoyment? Maybe it is good to see what we really like doing. Maybe we experiment and talk about our vision for our life?
What’s your summer plan?
My only plan is going to Tennessee in august. Other than that, one day at a time. Just take it as it comes.