It’s an amazing time of year. The sun is out, bright and shining, cheering you up and helping you get a tan. You can go months without thinking about snow and all of the layers you likely have to wear in winter to stay warm. And it’s time for summer vacation!
Whether you’re going to a new city, the beach, or just staying home and relaxing, summer vacation is one of the year’s highlights. The only part of summer vacation that’s more important than location is the people with whom you spend it. Therefore, we here at Pillowfights wanted to know with whom you most enjoy spending your summer vacation.
Your three options were with your friends, your significant other, or your family. The results show a clear consensus for the preferred way to spend this time, which I will get to shortly.
So don’t tell mom and dad, but only 11% of our audience said they wanted to spend summer vacation with family. I’m sure a lot of this depends on how well you get along with your family for a prolonged period of time. If you can all be together, all of the time, for a week or two (or more) then by all means travel with your family. This can be especially nice if you all live far away and it will give you a chance to catch up with everyone. Plus this option can be a bit nicer on the bank account if your family will help finance your trip together or even just buy you a meal or two. Plus it’s always good spending time with family. But if after two days together everyone is arguing, angry, and annoyed then summer vacation with the family can quickly turn dreadful, and what a waste of summer! I feel fairly confident that this 11% gets along well with their family.
I must say, I wasn’t really surprised that traveling with one’s family was the least desired option, but the rest of the results did surprise me. 29% of you said that you want to spend your summer vacation with your significant other. This is actually way lower than I expected. I bet we have a lot of romantics in this group. After a stressful first half of the year, what is more relaxing and exciting then a romantic getaway with your partner? The two of you can go to the beach, get a nice meal together, and then call it a night early so to enjoy some alone time in the privacy of your room. During the year, you and your partner may always be surrounded by friends and family, making this the perfect opportunity to bond and enjoy one another’s company.
Finally, we have the overwhelming winner. The results are in and 61% of you want to spend your summer vacation with friends. I don’t blame you. Hanging out with friends makes for a truly exciting summer vacation. During the rest of the year you have other looming obligations, so when you get together with friends you’re always thinking about some other responsibility. But not right now!
Now it’s summer vacation. You and your friends can go out to the bars more often, stay later, and drink more. Will you be hung over in the morning? Yes, undoubtedly. But, that’s okay because you don’t have to be up for work or school the next morning, so you’ll have time to recuperate. This vacation should be all about unwinding and having a good time. You can eat together, drink together, and party together. Or you can just hang out on the beach relaxing with a fruity cocktail in hand that you would likely be too embarrassed to drink any other time because, let’s be honest, it’s probably served in a coconut shell or some touristy tiki glass (don’t lie, you know what I’m talking about. We’ve all been there).
But if you’re traveling with friends, choose people who enjoy the same types of trips. Your friend who wants to spend the whole time relaxing on the beach will not enjoy a weeklong trip to New York City where you spend the entire time on the move exploring the city (I vote for the city trip!). If you want to spend the whole time going to tourist spots and museums then make sure you’ve explained your plans to the friend who wants to spend their entire trip drunk. Plan a bit ahead and it should go off without a hitch.
But whomever you decide to spend your summer vacation with, try to make sure you are doing something you enjoy. Summer will be over before you know it and you’ll be back to your typical routine for the rest of the year, counting down the days until next year’s summer vacation, so make the most of the one that’s coming up!
Author: Dani Howell
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