SUMMER PLANS FOR THE ORGANISATIONALLY CHALLENGED

Summer is finally here. You’ve finished rolling your eyes at inexplicably clever friends’ banal “See you at retakes!” comments and the remains of your commitment to themed sports socials are fast leaving you. In short, its time for you to wave goodbye to your University bubble and experience the outside world once more.

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Of course, the way you do this does not have to involve an obscenely famous swing in Bali. Perhaps you’ll finally get around to updating your CV and asking your local workplaces if they have any vacancies. On the other hand, perhaps you will undertake a meaningful personal challenge. For fitness fans this three or four month stretch would be the perfect time to train for a race, such as a half-marathon. Even if you’ve never seen yourself as a particularly athletic person before, websites such as www.runnersworld.com have plans for beginners to train for a half-marathon which you can access free of charge. The convenient thing about running, of course, is that it can be done for free, anywhere and at any time.

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Personal challenges are not just for those of us who enjoy exercise – perhaps you’d prefer to try and learn or brush up on your foreign language skills. If you are willing to pay for this, a three-month online course from Rosetta Stone will cost you £49 (www.rosettastone.co.uk). Alternatively, you could take advantage of free podcasts such as ‘Coffee Break Spanish’ which are available on Spotify.

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To some these options will certainly be too tame – surely summer is for adventure and exploration? One easy way to catapult yourself directly out of your comfort zone is to spend some time abroad among people native to an interesting area. If you are as disorganised as me, you’ll have left the task of finding somewhere to travel to until now, but this doesn’t have to close all the doors. Try surfing on the www.workaway.info website. The concept of a ‘work away’ involves hosts posting jobs they need doing in exotic locations (such as needing a babysitter or someone to help with gardening). They volunteer to provide food and a place to stay in return for the cultural immersion that comes with the job. After some research I have found that many hosts are requesting guests on short notice and therefore this would be a wonderful way to work around your past self’s laziness.

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If you are the rare type of person to already be planning for summer 2020, I would recommend applying to work at a children’s summer camp such as those offered by the Camp America agency (www.campamerica.co.uk). Although applying for a visa and paying for long-haul flights may seem like a hassle, the work tends to pay very well and friends who have been employed in similar situations often speak about how rewarding and thought-provoking the experience was.

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But however far or near you decide to spend your summer remember to make your time away meaningful – the university grind will be back before you know it!