Summer in the UK: Lessons on the Beauty of Embracing the Temporary
By Arya Desai
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Where Did Summer Go?
Ask anyone in the United States where the best place to spend the summer is, and odds are they will answer somewhere along the coast of one of our many beach towns. From the tropical Florida Keys, to the picturesque California coastline, it's no wonder that these destinations would seem the optimal spot to spend warmer months: slathered in SPF, sipping a sweet alcoholic drink by the poolside or ocean, and laughing alongside your friends and family.
At least that's what friends from out-of-state would always assume about my life as a native Angeleno, who spent most of her summers in the constant heat of the San Fernando Valley.
Indeed, childhood summers consisted of sticky popsicles, pool days at friends’ houses, and the general excitement that came from school break. Though the weather remained about the same year-round, the mixture of childhood optimism and absence of our school-day structure created an easy-going feeling.
In other words, we embraced the fleeting, the temporary, the brief gift that was our summer break season.
But as we grew, something began to happen. We graduated, grew up, and summer twisted from a carefree break to a commitment. Now, this is something I would wager to guess most young adults experience. Add in a touch of financial freedom, increased autonomy, internships, semi-flexible work days, and the notion of a summer break/ vacation, becomes a choice, rather than rest time allotted to us.
Not to mention, the weather is temperate year-round. Putting off that beach day, afternoon drink with friends, picnic at that local park you’ve always loved, and so many other summer activities, isn’t such a tragedy as it was in middle school. Odds are, you can just revisit this in October.
As a result, summer becomes a time that we take for granted. Instead of taking a dip in the pool, we choose to drown in our own boredom, looking around and complaining about what an uneventful summer we had, as if it’s the fault of the summer season itself, and not the phone we stared at for hours.
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Summer in the UK
I’ll admit there was no culprit more guilty than myself. So when friends from elsewhere would comment on how lucky I was to spend summers in Los Angeles, I simply waved this off and assumed it was a “grass-is-always-greener” scenario.
Until I went to London this summer for a program.
My second admission is that as an Angeleno, I carried a certain ego with me overseas when I traveled to the UK for the summer session, prepared to lament about the lack of California sunshine and beachfronts at my disposal.
I could not have been more incorrect.
Weekends and even weekdays consisted of visits to the park, meetups at outdoor beer gardens, dips in the local ponds, and more, for the locals. When work was finished in the afternoon, the day was far from over, because the weather outside was simply too beautiful for Londoners not to enjoy.
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Lesson 1: Take Advantage of Parks
A favorite haunt of mine during my stay was Primrose Hill, a popular park within Regents’ that featured a grassy hill perfect for sunset picnics and unobstructed views of the City.
No matter the day, the crest of Primrose Hill could be seen packed with visitors of all kinds on their picnics, simply throwing a ball around, or stopping for a brief glance before continuing on their stroll. Everyone on the Hill remained for hours at a time, enjoying that rare dose of summer sunshine.
In between pours of cheap grocery wine, card games, football matches, charcuterie boards, and laughs, I recognized the old spirit of summer that had been missing from my home in the United States. It was bittersweet, but a wake-up call.
Being a foreigner, I found myself in a unique position where I could observe this phenomenon from an outsider's perspective. From then on, I marked times when I noticed this communal, shared feeling of wanting to take advantage of summer: get out, see your friends, and enjoy the fleeting conditions of UK summer.
By the time I had begun to make friends, if the day was clear and the sun was out, we would likely end up at the park on weekends and evenings. A no-brainer.
No blanket? It didn't matter. Half the time we would roll up in casual clothing, sitting on jackets or the ground with cheap snacks from M & S or Waitrose. Around me, others did the same. Picnic and the park was a casual affair. There was no time to fuss about muddy ground, lack of a proper “picnic” outfit, or the mess of eating/ drinking outside the comfort of a restaurant, when the weather was ideal and sky blue.
It was all so easy, so present, and the best part…so definitively summer. The best part is: it’s free!
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Lesson 2: A Casual Drink, Can Just Be a Casual Drink
So often in Los Angeles, committing to post-work or weekend afternoon drinks is a chore, and carries the weight that a night out needs to follow. Plus, no one dares head to the local bar without first changing into a proper “going out” fit.
“I need to freshen up,” I’d say while rushing home, throwing on heavy eye makeup and gloss, and grabbing a small bag and some cute heels. Now I know I’m generalizing, but most people would admit that they have a version of this “going out” fit in some way or another. You don’t usually come as you are.
It’s no wonder that this would turn a visit to the local bar into a hassle. The expectations and pressures are enough that suddenly a night-in sounds nice, even if we acknowledge that it's a warm summer evening and it's been a minute since we last saw old friends.
Next time. We tell ourselves, and this pattern repeats. After all, when most nights are temperate, it's easy to take a rain check.
But what if we removed the social stigma, pressure, and need to perform for others, while meeting up with people for afternoon/evening drinks? This was certainly what I witnessed while I sat in my first “beer garden” this summer.
All around me, friends, co-workers, and family would gather for drinks and snacks in one of the local beer gardens outside of restaurants, pubs, and taverns. Trainers and work bags could be seen in all directions, and it was no big deal.
There was an ease and good spirit in the air. Most people were genuinely happy to be present with one another on a beautiful evening, because in a few months’ time, it would be dreary at that hour. It was a much-needed way to unwind and rest from the stresses of daily life and busy schedules.
Some of my favorite evenings out consisted of meeting friends and classmates at the pub or beer garden. People came and went as they pleased. There was no expectation; no judgement.
No one cared what the other was wearing or what state their hair was in. We grabbed a cheap drink, sat or even stood outside, and chatted for hours about nonsense. As long as the sun was out, we were.
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Lesson 3: Take Advantage of Outdoor Events
Summers in the UK aren’t complete without the occasional outdoor event, from music sets, to day parties, to outdoor cinemas, to festivals. It’s a common agreement that half the fun comes from the outdoor aspect of the event. Not to mention, many of these were free.
It was nearly impossible to stroll around the City on weekends without seeing at least an open-air event or two. Simply open your ears, listen for a mixture of music or chatter, and you’d be led to the right spot.
One lovely summer day, I decided to stave off my lethargy from the week’s classes by meeting some friends in Trafalgar Square for a bite to eat. We had no initial plan, but this was quickly solved when we found ourselves at a free West End Live concert in the center of the Square. Once again, friends and families could be seen leaning on the railing, sitting in the shade, and pausing as they enjoyed a refreshment and a free dose of music.
If I had chosen to stay inside, waving off the opportunistic weather, I’d have missed this completely.
For those willing to spend a little, festivals in Hyde Park or nearby were easy to access. Similarly, for the thrifty (myself included), I witnessed friends pull up on blankets and lawn chairs near the periphery of the park festival, looking perfectly content as they shared a snack and listened to the setlist from afar. London's high costs would not cause them to spend their summer day inside a flat.
Once again, a little inconvenience was hardly that when considering the bitter cold that would inevitably descend upon London in the coming months.
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UK Summer is a State of Mind
During this time, I often reflected on the times when I’d said ‘no’ back home. I had adopted a defeatist attitude about my lack of social time, stimulation, and relaxation over the course of my summers as an adult.
The truth is, factors like the cost of drink/food, lack of public transportation, and the setup of our American capitalist economy are to blame for many of the differences in summer culture.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a page out of the UK’s book when it comes to attitude.
Ultimately, if we choose to reconsider the importance of quality time with friends/family, appreciation of nature and the outdoors, and utilization of resources around us in our communities, I’d wager to guess “summer” may start to feel like popsicles by the poolside again.
The sun may shine longer, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate its presence more often.
