Finals week seems like a years-past blur of caffeine and highlighters and recycled flashcards. We all feel a lot of things that week – pressure, stress, blah, blah, blah, but mostly anticipation for summer. For a lot of us, that means heading back home. Home sweet home. In the high pressure slice of life that’s academic crunch time, we tend to romanticize home; our own cozy bed, our car, laundry service, home-cooked meals. Once we’re home the shine fades pretty fast. Left with piles of stuff to unpack (how did I fit all that crap in my tiny dorm room?!?), boredom sets in. I quickly realized I was much more excited about a break from academics than actually returning to my sleepy little town. That’s not to say my town’s a total bore – my friends all live nearby and I’ve got stacks of for-fun books I’ve got time to read now. After a steady stream of Netflix, clothes-folding and Goodwill trips, however, I realized I need to shake up my summer agenda – yay for spontaneity and randomness! Time to make a list. (I realize it’s a total oxymoron to make a list of things to do spontaneously. Whoops.)

Here’s my tentative summer to-do:

1)     Go to a music festival – I’m thinking the Newport Folk Festival this July

2)     Actually use my kayak

3)     Go camping

4)     Take piano lessons

5)     Get as tan as possible (safely, of course)

6)     Earn (or beg, borrow and steal) enough money to buy everything on my to-buy list, which consists of a couple different types of shoes, new shades, a new bikini to go with my tan (If it isn’t evident yet, I’m fond of lists)

7)     Start learning Polish

8)     Return to Boston. Frequently.

The list is in-the-making. I’m taking suggestions. Number 8 has arisen from the sort of reverse-homesickness I’m feeling these days. I’ve taken to proposing road trips to Boston to all of my friends.  But for now – sweet summertime! Back to doing that pressing, urgent thing I had to do – nothing.

Finals, Home, Ingrid, Spontaneity, Summer Kickin' Back