The Bug

I have a bug. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember and every year my bug gets bigger. Now we’ve never met before so let me tell you a little bit about myself. I’m in my early 20s and I love being outside. I was made for the outdoors. Hiking, climbing, skiing, waterskiing, snowshoeing, picnicking, biking, the list could go on and on. It doesn’t matter what time of year, I want to be outside. But I’ll admit it gets worse in the summer. I don’t want to sit still. I want to be out moving, exploring, and doing cool things with cool people. So do I take my bug with me? No. This desired lifestyle is my bug. It’s always with me. Torturing me.

Well now I’m an adult, the kind with a job and responsibilities and limited spontaneous trips. It’s a good thing, in a painful sort of way. How will I complete my ever-growing bucket list when I have responsibilities? I’ll tell you how. Because I’m pretty sure a lot of you have the similar bug.

First thing’s first, prioritize. I’ve planned a few longer trips to places I’ve been dying to see or visit. I’m going to ensure that I meet my beach quota for the summer as well as feed my craving for travel. And it’s a given that I’ll go on numerous short weekend hiking and camping trips throughout Utah. If I make them short I can hit more places.

The next step is to research where you live. Did you know there are festivals all over Utah in the summer time? Provo has the Freedom Days, Pleasant Grove has Strawberry Days, Payson has Onion Days, Midway has Swiss Days. Again, the list goes on and on. Go to your local city website and find out about your festival. There are also free concerts, art exhibits and other low cost activities every week. Do your research and you’ll find those hidden gems.

The final step is to remember the beauty of simplicity. I have a friend who did something with water balloons every week last summer. We played water balloon baseball, water balloon four square and water balloon volleyball. Trust me, you can get creative. I want to have barbecues and lots of them. Full of Frisbee, ladder golf, slacklining and other games. You see, you don’t have to go somewhere to feed the bug or lead an extravagant lifestyle. You feed the bug with quality activities and people. I’m convinced this will make my transition into adult summers very enjoyable. But tell me, how are you going to feed the bug? I love new ideas.