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Anna Posyniak‑Dutka How to Spend Your Holidays Differently This Year

Are you bored travelling to the same destinations year after year? Are you fed up with hotels, pools, planes, and crowds? Why not try to do things differently for a change? Check out our guide to unusual ways to spend holidays. You will surely find something exciting for yourself.

1. Many towns and cities hold cultural events in the summer to keep local residents entertained. There are street performancesstreet performances [street performance]street performances and theatre festivals of all sorts. Some of them are meant to be watched, which is a great way to spend warm summer days outside. You can volunteer and gaingain insight intogain a valuable insight intogain insight intoinsight into how theatre functions. Some such festivals are international, so you may have a chance to meet people from all over the world and honehone language skillshone your foreign language skillshone language skillslanguage skills. Some theatre groups organise workshops which are more inclusive and participatoryparticipatoryparticipatory and invite residents to try their acting skills in practice. Why not check if a stage career is for you? Even if it turns out that you have stage frightstage frightstage fright, you still will acquire some useful skills and gain confidencegain confidencegain confidence.

2. Go on a scavenger huntscavenger huntscavenger hunt or make one for others. Who doesn’t like running around searching for hidden treasures and solving riddlessolving riddles [solve a riddle]solving riddles? If you think people grow out ofgrow out ofgrow out of it, think again. The perspective may change a bit and as you get older, you may focus on getting to know more about your area and not just on finding the treasure, but it’s still a lot of real‑life fun. Make it participatory and experientialexperientialexperiential. It will take time to plan and orchestrateorchestrateorchestrate it, but this stage is also very pleasurablepleasurablepleasurable. Base it on the local landmarkslandmarks [landmark]landmarks but include some less‑known points of interestpoints of interest [point of interest]points of interest, too. Decide where the start and end points will be. The first should be located centrally to make it easy for everyone to find. The latter should be at a place where people can linger and minglelinger and minglelinger and mingle after the game finishes. The cluesclues [clue]clues to follow can be written, photographic, or even spoken if you manage to get some local entrepreneurs involved.

3. Those townhousestownhouses [townhouse]townhouses in the centre with beautiful architecture, or some run‑downrun‑downrun‑down buildings on the outskirts of the city: do you know their history? What do you know about their past owners or tenantstenants [tenant]tenants? Investigating the history of such places may lead to some surprising discoveries and exciting encountersencounters [encounter]encounters.  It will give you an opportunity to practise your library research  skills as well as your ability to analyse and interpret primary sources.interpret primary sources [interpret primary source]interpret primary sources. You can start with going after local archives, but if you fancy contact with other people more than flipping through yellowish and dusty documents, pluck up your couragepluck up your couragepluck up your courage and try to contact the inhabitants. You never know and you may stumble uponstumble uponstumble upon a real treasure trovetreasure trovetreasure trove of stories that you will have a chance to bring to the daylightbring to the daylightbring to the daylight. If you arrange a meeting, remember about a few precautionsprecautions [precaution]precautions, and always take a companioncompanioncompanion with you. It’s also good manners to bring a small gift. The storyteller will definitely appreciate a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates.

4. How about trying to eat outside more? Yes, eat outside, not necessarily eat out! Summer days are usually long and sunny, so you can get a suntan. Trees are in full bloomin full bloomin full bloom and their leaves provide balmybalmybalmy shade to hide in. Why not invite your friends to enjoy some picnic dinners, breakfasts, or lunches in a local park? It does not really require that much preparation. You don’t need to buy a special picnic hamperpicnic hamperpicnic hamper and utensilsutensilsutensils, just grab a couple of plates and cups, lay out a blanket on the grass, and share some home‑made specialities with people important to you. Some cities actually organise breakfast fairsbreakfast fairs [breakfast fair]breakfast fairs outdoors during the summer months where local residents bring their own food and have it together with their neighbours. It could be a chance to try out some of the recipes which have been sitting at the bottom of the drawer for some time. And don’t forget that summer is the time to boost the production of vitamin D, so every occasion to bask in the sunbask in the sunbask in the sun should be used.

Obviously these are only four examples of how to spend your holidays in an unusual way, all of them rather on a budgeton a budgeton a budget and not requiring travelling far from your place of living. The list of options, however, is limitlesslimitlesslimitless. You could try couchsurfingcouchsurfingcouchsurfing, backpackingbackpackingbackpacking, sightseeing Europe by train, or hitch‑hikinghitch‑hikinghitch‑hiking across your own country to a destination you’ve never visited before. It feels good to do things differently once in a whileonce in a whileonce in a while.

1 Źródło: Anna Posyniak‑Dutka, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.