Hot Girl Summer But Make It Locked-down - Summer Bucket List (Day 10)

#30dayglowup - Day 10

Can you have a hot girl summer while still protecting the NHS and the vulnerable? Let's have a look at some ideas...

Browsing through summer bucket lists is pretty depressing these days knowing that a lot of those places are closed, and you can’t be close to your friends due to social distancing measures taking place. However, we can work around this and still have an amazing summer while still protecting those more vulnerable and not putting strain on the NHS - which after all, are the priority here way more than any summer plans could ever be.

 

Even though lockdown has been lifted slightly in the UK now there are still many measures in place; a lot of places such a bars/ clubs and cinemas are unable to reopen, you must stay socially distanced from other households and not meet people in groups of more than 6, and even then still outside. Taking that into consideration, these bucket list ideas are all things you should still be able to do abiding by the rules that are in place and that is an assumption that is carried through all of the ideas. Also, these are very UK based and does contain quite a bit of drinking related stuff but I hope that you’d be able to adapt your bucket list to suit you.

 

Here are 20 ideas to have an incredible hot girl summer whilst still locked down – I’m going to be crossing them off as I do them (some of them I’ve done already in fact) and writing about how it went and how I managed to stay responsible according to the rules.

 

Go to the pub whilst it’s locked down (for the novelty)

Host a garden cocktail party

I purchased more alcohol than I want to admit, set up a menu and a cocktail station outside and invited a load of friends over. We had martinis, daiquiris, blue lagoons, screwdrivers, mojitos, all sorts. It's actually not too difficult to get a wide range of cocktails from not a lot of alcohol because most of them share common ingredients. Later into the night we set up the fire pit and stayed up late - all in all, a very fun evening.

Run a 5K

Rekindle an old friendship

Watch the sunrise

Roast marshmallows

The other week I had a couple of friends over in the evening, so I set up a fire pit to keep us warm – perfect opportunities for roasting marshmallows, and luckily we had some in! Unfortunately, you do have some awkwardness taking turns over the fire, making sure to not cross-contaminate your sticks and sitting far enough apart but overall it is very easily done. All in all a very pleasant evening with friends and I’d highly recommend.

Make jello shots

Visit a waterfall

Start a journal or a blog

You’re on it right now! If there’s one thing I regret, it’s not starting this closer to the start of lockdown, so I had more to do. But, I’m very chuffed that I did, and you wouldn’t be reading this right now if I hadn’t! I would really suggest that if you're leaning towards it just go for it - I've already learned so much just in 2 weeks that I wouldn't have if I hadn't taken the plunge. What have you got to lose?

Learn conversational BSL

Spend a day at the park

Hike in the Dales

Have a silent disco

This is a very cute memory to me – post Zoom pub quiz a lot earlier into lockdown (When they were more of a thing) when I was feeling we were a bit waved we decided to have a silent disco by connecting up our spotifies. We put on over ear headphones and played music at the same time – very and I’d highly recommend. Not exactly a night out but I have always loved a silent disco and this way you can adapt it to lockdown.

Make a monthly summer playlist

• June 

• July

• August

Host a BBQ

Stargaze

Luckily for me, my dad is very knowledgablyabout space and astronomy and has an interest in developments within that field. Because of that he knew when the series of SpaceX telescopes were going to be launched and so we got to see them as they happened in April – a series of moving lights across the night sky which looked rather disturbingly life UFOs. Still, they were very cool to see and I think keeping track of when astronomy events are going to happen in your area allows for some very cool experiences.

Visit a waterfall

Buy a paddling pool

I made the genius decision to buy a paddling pool towards the beginning of lockdown and it has served me very well. Although the weather in the UK has taken a bit of the turn for the worst recently, when it was full lockdown (as in, you could only go out for essentials and exercise) when the weather was glorious I really made the most out of chilling in that paddling pool – cider or pimms in hand, listening to true crime podcasts. Makes me nostalgic now to think about it.

Learn to cook a new meal

Have a lake day

Dinner date

 

In conclusion

This post is maybe a bit of a tenuous link to the whole glow up journey, but I still think it fits. Enjoying time with friends is, not surprisingly, very good for my mental health and that has a direct effect on my self-confidence. Lockdown hasn’t been the easiest for me, which I’m sure is true for most people, and spending a lot of time on my own has allowed more opportunity for self-reflection. Since I struggle with not putting too much pressure on myself, this sometimes hasn’t been the best for me. However, by starting this blog as a way to document my mental as well as physical ‘glow up’ i.e. my journey to become happier and more confident in myself, it’s holding me accountable to face not just the aesthetic parts.

 

Adapting the whole ‘hot girl summer’ trope to a summer that has mostly been in isolation isn’t the easiest thing, and even though rules are lifting slightly now we still need to be careful with how our actions and how they affect other people. However, we can still make the most of it safely and I hope these ideas will be things you want to try out and that you’ll enjoy!

 

Let me know if you give any of these a go or have any recommendations to add that I can do (safely) whilst in lockdown. Thank you for reading and be sure to tune back in tomorrow for day 11!