Whether you’re staying on campus or expanding your horizons to different places, here are ideas to fill time.
As summertime approaches, a big question stands— “What am I going to do for four months?” Here is a list full of ideas and adventures to embark on and to fill your memory bank. I’ll start with the cheapest and then progress towards the most expensive options.
If you’re staying on campus and need some entertainment, a few free or low-cost options include having a picnic on Trinity Lawn, flying a kite or setting up a hammock to lounge in. While on Trinity Lawn, if possible or if campus safety lets you set up sprinklers or a slip n’ slide to have water fun.
Since the sun will hopefully be out, some additional outdoor activities are climbing a tree, biking around town, stargazing and doing some sporty activities: think volleyball, basketball, soccer, Spikeball or taking up running.
If the heat gets too much, some indoor activities to do are getting better at cooking or baking, cleaning out your closet, movie and game nights and hosting a bake-off with your friends.
If you’re itching to see something other than APU because we see it every day for a year, here are a few adventures and these are where it gets a little more pricey. You’ll most likely need a car or knowledge of public transportation.
The beach is always a fun day outing. Newport, Huntington or Venice Boardwalk are pretty good options. You can get there by car or by the Metro. Beach day events could consist of picnics, swimming, tanning, playing Spikeball, or surf lessons which you can find on AirBnB.
There are theme parks to choose from too. Disneyland, Knott’s Universal are each great, but pretty spendy so this is great if a group of friends want to go and do it together.
If you’re more of an outdoorsy person then in Southern California there are beautiful places to visit where you can hike, and go to national parks or reserves. Joshua Tree is a great place to check out and disconnect from the world for a little bit–people tend to love Joshua Tree as a way to connect with spirituality.
Channel Islands is a national park that entails five islands that preserve the land and culture there. It is a marine sanctuary, so if you love sea life this might be a place for you to check out. National parks are a great place to spend time in nature and to get a change of pace from city life.
A state park to check out is the Torrey Pines Reserve, a wilderness island. It preserves not only the trees that grow there but also it is home to some of the last salt marshes and waterfowl refuges. It is beautiful there and they work hard to make sure that all things that make a home there continue to flourish.
On the topic of animals, the San Diego Zoo is a cool place to check out, they have a lot of rare and endangered animals split into different enclosures and sections. In La Jolla there is the Birch Aquarium full of aquatic animals and creatures. You can see sharks, sea turtles, kelp and little seahorses.
There are some very pretty lookouts, architectural structures and art presentations in SoCal. For a bit of all of this, check out the Griffith Observatory and Huntington Library. The library is filled with art, literary history and a few varieties of gardens. The observatory is a lookout where you can see from the ocean to downtown LA and a view of the Hollywood sign.
If you’re interested in hikes there are a few great ones in the area. On the mountains with the giant “A”, there is a cross that you can hike up to. It is called the Azsua Cross Trailhead. It’s a moderate hike that takes a little over two hours to complete, but the view is awesome and there is a cross at the top where you can spend time with God.
Burbank Peak Trail is a hike near Griffith Park. It’s a moderate hike that has limited shade but is only about one mile out and back with breathtaking views over the city and hills.
Murphy’s Ranch is a cool hike with an interesting history. It’s about two hours and 3.8 miles. There are few abandoned buildings up there that were either demolished or going to be, so be wary of that. Some of the buildings were used as a hideout for Nazi sympathizers till the FBI arrested them and shut down their houses. In the canyon, there are graffiti-covered buildings and 500 stairs to climb up to see the view.
One of the big LA attractions that tourists seem to flock to is the Hollywood sign. There’s a hike that goes behind the sign and overlooks the city. The Hollywood sign hike has a bunch of different trails to adventure, some going from 4-6 miles and 2-3 hours.
These are just a handful of activities to do besides your usual job and internship responsibilities. These can be just day adventures so while you sit at a desk or talk to customers you can take a day to go exploring. Make the most of it, because, for a lot of us, these summers are some of our last.