Unless you’re a teacher (or just happen to become unemployed at the start of each summer and then get hired again each fall aka THE LIFE), summer vacation no longer exists after you graduate college. Summer vaca started fading when you were in college and you interned and worked during the days of your summer – but let’s be serious – you weren’t getting paid and it didn’t really matter if you took a day off to hit up the beach. People would just have to get their own coffee that day.
So now you’re at work. It’s nearly 90 degrees outside. The sun is shining. The beach is CALLING YOUR NAME – I repeat – calling your name. And you can’t go.
When I was in college, I sometimes would skip class just because it was nice out. That option isn’t really there anymore. You can’t just “skip work.” Although wouldn’t that be AWESOME? Anyway, how the hell am I supposed to get a tan this summer? Last summer, I was a college grad – but I was infinitely unemployed. Or so I thought. Now I’ve got this job thing going on, and I can’t just take off tomorrow because it is going to be a high of 97 degrees.
So, back to my question – How am I supposed to get a tan this summer? Here are some ways to still soak up the summer sun during your work week:
Go outside on your lunch break. Don’t say “I don’t have a lunch break.” You have an effing lunch break. Everyone has a lunch break. Maybe there’s that one day that you have to sit at your desk and finish up some work or go to an indoor meeting during lunch, but you have enough other days to eat lunch outside to make up for it. You can get some color in 30 minutes. And if you’re lucky and get an hour lunch break, you can surely get a lot of color every day. If you have no one to eat with, still go outside! You can hang out by yourself. Bring a book or something.
Take walks throughout the day. You can take a break to go to the bathroom, so guess what? You can take breaks to take a walk too. Take advantage of that sunshine and get some exercise. Maybe you could start a walking club? Or maybe your office already has a walking club. You can walk with a friend, a group, or by yourself. Maybe you could even go running outside during the day? But that depends how you would feel about going back to work after sweating up a storm. And how casual your office is.
Take a vacation! No one wants to be a workaholic… Take a vacation or two! Vacations are awesome. And you appreciate them much more now that they are earned. And the best part – most of us still get paid when we are on vacation soaking up the sun. I recommend vacationing to where the heat always is during the winter (aka the Bahamas) – and vacationing near you during the summer. Personally, I love taking time off to go to Cape Cod or to just go to a more local beach with friends (I am from outside Boston).
Take days off here and there to keep up with your tan. Instead of taking a week off to bake in the sun – and then watching it slowly fade as you sit in the office every day of the rest of the summer – take off a few days here and there. Maybe some long weekends to go visit college friends or to spend a weekend at the beach with your significant other. Short weekends are the best! Also, when you’re planning time off way in advance, what if those days end up totally sucking? AKA rain, cold temps, thunderstorms? That would suck. So save some days to take off when you know its going to be a beyond awesome beach day!
Remember that the days are longer. During the summer, the sun does not go down until after 8pm. You prob get out of work around 5 (or earlier if you have “Summer Hours”), so you still have time to get some sun. Also, you won’t feel rushed to get all your stuff done and go home and sleep because as long as the sun is shining, you won’t feel like its night time. Also, I don’t know about anyone else, but I have more energy and am so much more happier when it is nice out.
Work out outside. There is one thing I do after work every single day – Run. Now that it’s nice out, I can run outside. Running outside is an awesome way to get a tan (just don’t forget to put on sunscreen!). You can also train for a 5k or even a marathon while running outside – a great summer fitness goal!
Get sun on the weekends. Duh. If you work a 9-5, you may have to sit in the office Monday through Friday, but your weekends still exist. Although, it always seems like it is super nice during the week and then once the weekend hits, it sucks. But that’s definitely not the case every weekend (I hope). You will appreciate your weekends much more now too. And I know the weekends aren’t the most relaxing when you have to cram 5 million things that you couldn’t do Mon-Fri into 2 days… but during the summer, lying on the beach is as relaxing as it gets. Anything is relaxing during the summer. Except trying to fall asleep in a room with no air conditioning with some shit ass fan blowing on you every few seconds… but that isn’t the point! You will get tan each weekend! (Fingers crossed)
Bring it on, tan lines & sunshine.
