With exams over and the summer months upon us almost one thing is on everybody’s mind – holidays. HOLIDAYS. Unfortunately for students, we are dirt poor. After a year of heavy drinking in order to preserve our sanity from annoying housemates/deadlines/lecturers that only know how to read off a PowerPoint presentation, we have no money to go abroad. So if you have no idea what to do this summer here are some ideas of fun things that you can do, in Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s country, to create the perfect ‘staycation’.
Festivals:
I’m yet to really meet anyone who doesn’t like a good festival, albeit in Britain they are somewhat muddy. Reading and Leeds are two usual go-to festivals in the UK but honestly, they are so expensive and if you have the money for that you may as well pay an extra £50 and go to Benicassim in Spain where it’s 1. Hot. 2. Next to the beach. 3. Not muddy. A good, fairly cheap British festival is YNOT in Derbyshire from the 29th to the 31st of July. It being a good two months away gives you time to save up the £100 it costs for a ticket and with the line-up consisting of acts such as Catfish and the Bottlemen, Noel Gallagher, Editors and Everything Everything, it’s well worth the money. It’s a bit like a mini Glasto, with various bars, people selling weird rubbish and huge campfires at the end of the night. It’s not huge, but it’s FAB.
Golden Mile:
Remember the last instalment of the Cornetto trilogy, The World’s End? That is where I’m taking my inspiration from. No doubt you’ll have friends from University that don’t live in the same town as you so, travel to them. Go and have some ~face to face~ interaction and while you’re at it spend one, two, however many days and nights it takes you, to have a drink at every pub in their hometown. If you’re lucky you’ll have more than one friend and can have multiple Miles! Go you for being sociable. Pat on the back.
Camping:
Of course, the only downfall of doing a Golden Mile is that your friend’s parents might not be too impressed with multiple drunk students piling into their house at whatever time in the morning. Thankfully when we were sixteen we discovered the imponderable joy of getting drunk in a tent. Re-live the year 10 happiness and find somewhere in Britain to put up a tent and drink a crate of Desperadoes and pretend you’re abroad. Fortunately, Great Britain holds some of the most beautiful views in the world (in my opinion, anyway) so finding a scenic camping spot isn’t too difficult. Some places are – Aberafon (South Wales), Robin Hood’s Bay (North Yorkshire), Deep Dale Farm (Norfolk). But once you start drinking with your mates, you’ll definitely be too drunk to care where you are.
Get a job:
Exactly as it sounds. Might not be a ‘fun’ thing to do this summer but at least you’ll be able to save up money to get away next year…